Pacific State (song)


"Pacific" is a single by English electronic music group 808 State, released in 1989. It exists in several alternate mixes known by different titles, such as "Pacific State" and "Pacific 202".
The song charted for 11 weeks in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
"There's about 42 different versions of 'Pacific'," quipped Graham Massey, "and 'Pacific 707' is the single version we put out on ZTT. It was the last track at The Haçienda for the six months before it even got out. Then Gary Davies heard it in Ibiza and started playing it on daytime Radio 1. A few features made it stand out: the birdsong and the saxophone. I played the sax part – which is good because I didn't really play saxophone at the time. It's a moot point whether I can play that part properly now."

Release

The single was released by Tommy Boy Records on 15 March 1990 in the United States.

Reception

In retrospective reviews, The Independent reviewed a live concert by 808 State in 1997, describing "Pacific State" as "the song that made a nation chill out. Mellow but insistent beats, a light garnishing of wildlife noises, and a soprano sax threading through it like a viper in the Eden undergrowth. It was the aural equivalent of throwing a party inside a giant flotation tank. That was 808 State."