Mickey Biscuits

29th Jul 2003

Also spotted hanging around South Main Street this week, grieving for Sir Henrys, was Mickey Biscuits - a man for whom there will never be a time like '92 again..."Everyone calls me Mickey Biscuits, and people are usually amazed when they eventually find out it's not my real name. See, I was christened Michéal Ó Chnoichteaghn and picked up the nickname because of my taste for Ginger Snaps, Mint Viscounts and White Doves. I've always loved hardcore rave dance and I was at Henrys every single Thursday and Saturday night in '92, keeping the vibe alive! Nice one! I'm devastated to see it close.

"1992's chart music was all about that irresistible surge of a full-on energy rush and top-notch lyrical content like 'I'm the one and only Dominator'..... 'Injected with a poision - Are you listening to me?'..... 'The Rave Generator generates the Ecstasy in You'..... 'Emergency, Emergency'..... and, perhaps most profound of all, 'Everybody is in the Place'. They don't make them like that any more. Every record worth its salt included a sample of a piercing whistle, a police siren, and a Dutch or German voice warning of grave impending danger. Sorted! A copy of "Essential Hardcore" was a must for anyone serious about their tunes, despite the fact that Simply Red were on it. 13 to 25 year-old males aspired to making a career out of wearing dentist's masks not in a surgery but on Top of the Pops, while lusting after the ol doll who presented MTV's Party Zone and yer one from 2 Unlimited. They don't make them like that any more, either.

"Fashion has gone downhill a lot since '92. Back in the good old days you were nobody unless you wore a black or maroon nylon jacket with 'NAFF CO 54', 'MICHIKO LONDON KOSHINO', 'DEA (Drug Enforcement Authority)' or, imaginatively, '1992' on the back. Top one! Last I heard the guy who came up with the legendary Naff Jacket had moved to a luxury villa in San Antonio to enjoy the millions he had made on the backs of Corkonians - literally. The designer item formed the basis of the city's economy during the early nineties recession, when several dozen hundred thousand were sold. Teamed with white Gravity jeans, a two-tone Eclipse top, purple New Balance boots and a child's soother, it created a killer look that had ol dolls drooling and feens green with envy... apart from the countless others wearing the exact same thing of course. Nice one! And to show we had a sense of humour, we also wore some classic t-shirts that spoofed popular advertising slogans of the day: 'Highz Meanz Ease, E's Meanz Highz'..... 'Fortified with Vitamin E'..... 'Campbell's Yokes'..... 'You Rave on Ecstasy Forever' - seemingly innocuous to the general public, but hilarious to those of us in the know! Top one, nice one, get sorted!

"Henrys in '92 was a black room at the top of a flight of stairs - magic. I used to be good friends with the Henrys DJ back in those days, a fella called Gregashane. Some stories from back then! I was in there recently for the first time in ten years, just for a nostalgia ride, one last buzz, one final trip to the moon, taking my brain to another dimension one more time. I was horrified by how it had changed, how far it had fallen from its glory days of groove, vibe and mind-expansion. Imagine my disappointment when I returned to find nothing but a black room at the top of a flight of stairs."