In 1965, the London Borough of Islington was expanded to include the former metropolitan boroughs of Finsbury and Clerkenwell. This chapter is a cultural survey of Islington from 1965 to 1985. It looks at early gentrification in the borough (which, importantly, is a term that was first used in relation to Islington), council estates, crime and structural inequalities, and the ways in which the borough is separated into north and South Islington. It shows how the areas in the north were historically racially integrated, while the areas around South Islington were whiter. The chapter then turns to some of the earliest warehouse parties in London, pre-rave era, and the creatives from Islington (and from other areas) steeped in the tradition of reggae and soul sound system culture that were involved in these events. The chapter thus sets the scene for the rest of the book and argues that all these conditions set the stage for the acid house and rave scene of the late 1980s, and the following jungle and house scenes that dominated Islington’s clubs during the 1990s.