Shoom

Shoom was a weekly all-nighter dance music event in London, England, between September 1987 and early 1990. It is widely credited with initiating the acid house movement in the UK. Shoom was founded by Danny Rampling, then an unknown DJ and record producer, and managed by his wife Jenni. The club began at a 300-capacity basement gym on Southwark Street in South London. By May 1988, its growing popularity necessitated a move to the larger Raw venue on Tottenham Court Road, Central London, and a switch from Saturday to Thursday nights. Later relocations were to The Park Nightclub, Kensington and Busby's venue on Charing Cross Road.

The early nights featured Danny Rampling and Terry Farley as the in-house DJs, playing a mixture of Chicago house, Balearic and Detroit techno, mixed with contemporary pop and post-punk music. The club favoured modern, minimalist architectural interior designs, filled with strawberry-scented smoke machines and strobe lights. Its musical and visual culture evolved around the psychedelic drug LSD, and MDMA, an empathogen commonly known in the UK as ecstasy or "E".^{[n 1]} Over time, regular guest DJs included Carl Cox, Mark Moore and Andrew Weatherall.

Within weeks of its opening, far more people were trying to get into Shoom than the venue could hold. The Ramplings were forced to adopt a strict entrance policy, with Jenni taking on the unpopular role of doorman. Shoom closed early in 1990 after drug use at the club began to attract police attention. By this time, electronic music had crossed into the mainstream as the heavier sounding rave style became popular, making Shoom appear outdated.

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