This version of Ancodia is something of a collector’s item for 808 State, as it’s actually built around the Roland TR-808 drum machine after which the band is named.

At the time of its release in 1990, the band had recently signed to ZTT Records, the label run by producer Trevor Horn, his wife Jill Sinclair, and journalist Paul Morley.

ZTT had released some of the 1980s' biggest hits for ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Propaganda, Grace Jones, and Art of Noise. 808 State were something different for the label, being part of the acid house scene and hailing from Manchester.

Morley had also grown up in Manchester, and was the link to their landing the deal, as band member Andy Barker explains: "He spent quite a lot of time with us before we signed. Lots of nights out just chatting, talking business. He had an idea what he could do with us.”

Before signing with ZTT, 808 State had released their first two albums – Newbuild and Quadrastate – in quick succession. They also had an underground dance track called Pacific State gaining increasing attention.

Pacific State was remixed and retitled as Pacific 707, and became a UK Top 10 hit as the band’s first release on ZTT.

Being an electronic dance act – and one with jazz undertones – there were few obvious contenders for a follow-up single.

So Morley and the band cooked up a scheme to release EPs instead of singles, with remixed versions of existing tracks alongside new material. In the end, this was the only such EP released. It featured three tracks: remixes of album tracks Cobra Bora and Ancodia, and a new track called Cübik, which was later released as a single in its own right and which also made it to the UK Top 10.

"I remember us doing the remixes in Sarm West Studios near Portobello Road in London in the run-up to Christmas 1989," says 808 State founder Graham Massey. "Trevor Horn popped in to observe and offer suggestions. I think his head exploded with our strange methods of not composing to tape, rather carving from loops on the multitrack, not to mention all the larking about and shouting."

The original version of Ancodia is quite an early 808 State track, dating back to when the band was formed of Massey, Martin Price, and Gerald Simpson (A Guy Called Gerald). DJs Darren Partington and Andy Barker – who joined 808 State fully after Simpson left – would also visit the studio to record as The Spinmasters.

Massey says Ancodia was originally an electro-style track with Andy’s Sequential Circuits TOM drum machine as the foundation, which Darren fleshed out, and over which Massey added melodies using a Juno 106 keyboard.

It also contains some prominent vocal samples – specifically from You Used to Hold Me So Tight by Thelma Houston, What I Got Is What You Need by Unique, and sounds from Texas Instruments’ Speak & Spell toy, which had been popular with younger children in the 1980s.

The title refers to an area of Manchester called Ancoats, which in 1990 was a rundown district just outside the city centre where Andy and Darren lived. Massey’s great-great-grandma had also run a pub there called The Cross Keys.

"Ancoats was actually the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and is not short of dark satanic mills," he explains. "The Italian community was strong there and built some churches and it was the ice cream capital of England for a while in the early 1900s. Now it’s all loft living and restaurants. To me, it will always be where Darren’s mum used to deliver excellent plated Sunday dinners directly to the studio and home to Crusty Cob’s legendary pies."

Ancodia was released as part of The Extended Pleasure of Dance EP in March, featuring the “Taters Deep Nit Funky Beat Mix” of the track along with remixes of Cobra Bora and Cübik. It was released on 12-inch vinyl only and reached number 56 in the UK chart.

The sleeve was an early example of computer-generated art on a record, created by Phil Wolstenholme, who went on to work with Cabaret Voltaire, The Shamen, The Orb, and Warp Records.

As for the unusual name of the remix, even as founder of the band Massey is none the wiser as to its origins: "I'm not sure what it means. Maybe someone from Bolton will translate?"

Year: 1990 Label: ZTT Cat no: ZANG 2T