808 State

808 State are an English electronic music outfit formed in 1988 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the "state of mind" shared by the members. The name has a second meaning, in the USA the "808 state" is Hawaii, the 808 coming from its telephone area code. A second probable reference to this is the name of their first hit single. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson, and they released their debut Newbuild in 1988. The band really hit the big time during the "second summer of love" in 1989 when their song "Pacific State" was picked up by Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies. Davies played the record every day for 3 months on his national primetime lunchtime show until it was released as a single. His promotion singlehandedly helped propel the acid house group to the top of the UK charts and into the public consciousness.