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T O P I C R E V I E W
Trones
Just read Claxton's "Slump or Surge" blog and I thought that maybe a way to get non-hardcore friends into hardcore would be introducing them into the same artists/tracks that originally got us into happy hardcore.
So how did you get into happy hardcore?
Elipton
Lime wire.
When I was 15 or 16, Lime wire was a great instant access to individual tracks. I started with Trance and eventually found harder and harder styles of music. My path led from classic late-90's melodic trance, through hard dance, hard house, a bit of Lisa Lashes on the way, and then finally I discovered commercial Hardcore.
Darren Styles tracks like 'Come Running' and 'Save Me' were the first I heard, along with individual tracks from the Bonkers series.
That was about a decade ago now!
wong
hearing it at friends houses
Captain Triceps
In the mid 90s, aged about 13. I hated it at first, not so much because of the music, I barely actually heard it but because at my school it seemed you had to be an utter cunt to be into this stuff called 'hardcore' I assumed I wouldn't like it. I was aware of it because my uncle used to go to Kinetic every week and would bang on about Vibes and Livelee, trying to get my dad to go with him.
I used to love Ridge Racer Revolution and the soundtrack (in particular one called Rotterdam Nation '94), and used to play the game disc in my stereo, and decided this rave stuff wasn't so bad after all, in fact it was bloody good fun, and when we went back to school after the holidays a mate had bought The Sound Of Happycore '97, insisted I have a listen and that was it. I took it home, copied it to tape and my obsession began. I hadn't really heard 'mixing' as such, and I then decided that I wanted to be a DJ. I pestered my parents for some decks, eventually got some Technics 1200s (spoilt kid, I guess!) and I still have them to this day.
Triquatra
Being from an island just off the UK (with no CD store) my "journey" is somewhat disjointed.
John peel on national BBC Radio 1 in 1996 played Force and Styles - Fireworks and GL2 and Selecta - Incognito. on a sidenote this lead to an absolutely rip-roaring hilarious mistake where my mum bought be Incognitos album "100? And Rising" and left me confused.
the next year (1997) I was on holiday in the lake district and some kid, James, was staying in Skelwith Fold Camp Site and he was listening to a cassette "Hardcore Heaven Volume 1".
Like most other UK kids in the early/mid-90s I was into dance music anyway, but I liked this "new" faster sounder. He told me what to look for in CD shops. I still only had Fireworks and Incognito recorded off the radio on cassette.
Whilst on holiday in Scotland in 1998 I picked up a copy of M8 magazine with an Off Yer Nut 2 sampler CD (still got it!) then a few weeks later picked up the best CD that Arcade Music ever released "Happy 100" for 10 guilders in the second part of our family holiday, in Holland.
Then I had dad buying Bonkers albums for me whenever he visited mainland UK until I had all 5 of them.
Stage One (100) started advertising their albums in DJ Mag, which I bought and then I was on the mail order list for them and bought their hardcore cds WOW What A Rush, Just 4 U Hardcore Happiness, Hardcore Alliance etc etc.
By the time I moved to mainland UK in 2001, hardcore had died down. Then I moved to the states in 2003.....just as hardcore was picking up....Then I moved back to the UK in 2007...guess what. LOL
danielseven
Happened randomly. I was browsing through Hands Up releases back to the 2009, and accidentally I found a release which had both Hands Up and Hardcore mixes.
Since then, I was searching for UK Hardcore releases and ways to discover new hardcore, so I found the Clubland Xtreme Hardcore series first and Kraftyradio after.
But the thing that made me get really into Hardcore was the Hardcore Underground Volume 4 CD, at my advice one of the best compilation CDs released by that label. In the end of 2010 I tried making Hardcore myself, sent the track to a few friends that motivated me in doing this style, and then Blessed Loneliness was signed and released on the next Hardcore Underground volume in the 2011. In the same year, I decided to experience the UK rave experience by myself, and so I went to UK, where I met Fracus, Darwin, CDJay and other cool people.
GrahamC
A mate brought round the original 1997 Hardcore Heaven 2 as he needed it taped for his Walkman and his stereo did not record tapes for some reason.
I listened to it, loved it and went down to Woolworths the next day and bought my own copy. Never looked back. The same mate directed me at Bonkers 1 & 2, 3 came out shortly after, Hardcore Heaven 3 early on in 1998.
Getting the first Hardcore Heaven was a nightmare, had to take several 90min trips each way to Edinburgh to HMV at the weekend- they kept ordering it in for me but selling them through the week to other people, eventually impressed upon the manager what my situation was and he made sure it was there the next weekend.
Good thing about the repeated trips was that I started and kept buying vinyl from there & Virgin Megastore. Sill got my Vinyl Bonkers 2 & Hardcore Heaven 4 :)
The Stisk
I started senior school in 1995 and coloseum and afterdark tapes were doing the rounds and pretty much everyone was lending and re-recording them, but the big push for me was listening to Hixxy's mix on Bonkers 1 at hmv in 1996, thats when my 12 year old self became amazed with hardcore and DJ'ing as a whole. I miss the 90's
oldskool.andy
In the late 80's or very early I herd Adamski's Killer, I would have been around 9 or so.. Then I saw an advert for rave 92 and asked for that for christmas, played it to death whilst playing on my Commodore 64 ;)
I was hooked on pianos and uplifting rifts even at that young age... My mum used to do some kind of mail order music club and I stumbled across a tape mixed by Dr S Gachet - it was a green cover with a graffiti kind of art work but can't remember what it was called.
I remember the 1st tune and it's flowing synths but didn't know it as jungle, although it was my first taste of the Amen break and that really got me interested in that kind of early jungle sound but I was more into the harmonies rather than bass etc...
Fast forward to a summer holiday when I was 13 and a local market selling copied mix tapes and thats where my 1st 2 early hardcore tapes came from, It reminded me of some of the early rave I herd but faster and more intense but either way I was hooked... that summer consisted of those 2 tapes and white lightning cider ;)
The 1st tape was Vinylgroover and SY (I think the event was Pandemonium) and the other was Dreamscape 20 Vibes and Dougal.
This would have been 1995 and thats where the love of Happy Hardcore was born and even though my days of going to events hadn't started my collection grew rapidly and thankfully most of it remains in my 'Studio'
I must confess I never really ventured pasted 1998 or so even though I continued to buy albums and vinyl and to this day I spend most of my hardcore listening in the 94-96 era. I closely follow what Luna-C is producing and still love 'that' sound that he releases.
In amongst all that I became a DJ and tried to produce but never followed either through fully although I still dabble when time allows.
Andy :)
Guest
got bonged up to all the fusion in bath pavilion tapes too much
wong
im doing the fusion in april in northampton, wicked lineup
Guest
they were in they`re own little world back then, its was all 100% cheese happy hardcore and dreamscape and helter, fusion was all the stomping darkside
bit like your gabba of today with a happy hardcore kick
Samination
quite a weird story actually. Other than listening to Scooter around 96-99, I got the 2 first Off Yer Nut!! 1 and 2 around 2000. I fell for the DJ Demo CD (funny, considering the stuff that appears on Brisk's mixes are what got me into hardcore later on).
But it wasn't until after I started using software to illegally download tracks I actually got into it through the Happy2bHardcore series
Warnman
I grew up being surounded with all the commercial music that which played on the radio: Synthie Pop, Electro Pop in the 80s; Hip House, Eurodance and Happy Hardcore in the 90s. I did miss the overkill in between 96 and 97, because my family had lived in the US and I was totally shocked after our return to Germany how music had developed itself. Thankfully Trance was successfull enough to get played on the radio so I got interested in it and have never lost my touch to electronic music. My teen life had been tough times, because everyone was into Hip-Hop or other music and all of them were disgusted by anything that could be connected to Rave. It was the time when I started to buy albums and listened to music on the internet. After good Trance died in Germany around the millenium I got interested to the Dutch progressive Style of this genre, but always keeped on listening to old Eurodance and Happy Hardcore. My first touch with the modern UK Hardcore genre was back in 2002 when I listened to "Dougal & Gammer - Fire In The Sky" and was totally amazed by it. My mistake back then was that I thought only a handful of nerds were trying to remember the older Happy Hardcore sound, so I turned away.
I think it was back in 2007 or 2008 after I had bought my last Armin van Buuren album, I found a link to DJ Ravine and he got me hooked on his mixes. From thereon I quicky travelled over to DJ Cotts and in 2009 I finally found this forum. After having read the posts for about one year I developed the balls to register.
Considering my talent in finding a scene in its contemplation of death, I shall better start to rename myself Scooter instead.
jordesuvi
I love finding out about how people got into a genre they love.
Around late 2007ish:
My younger brother had a phase where he was really into roller coasters. Always playing games like Rollercoaster Tycoon and Thrillville. He was in my room on my laptop showing me a video of a POV rollercoaster ride made on some simulator/constructing game on YouTube that had Groove Coverage's club mix of "21'st Century Digital Girl" playing.
I really liked that track, so after a bit of digging I discovered hands up, nightcore, happy hardcore and AMV's/anime.
Side note: I grew out of nightcore tho... and I haven't watched anime in years.
DjZelous
Dj Cotts got me into hardcore :)
DJ D-Luc-D
I had already heard some Ultrabeat and Scooter stuff from NOW albums plus stuff like Manian, Cascada and Blackout Crew, but once I was at my grandparents' house when I was 9 or 10 and turned on Clubland TV. I saw Caramelldansen and thought it was hilarious but kinda cool too. I kept watching it and I ended up turning it on all day every day after that. I got a few of the albums and started to grow a collection. I hadn't got any hardcore stuff at this time but I think about a year later I got Hardcore Til I Die 2 after hearing some hardcore on Clubland TV/AATW YouTube channel. Then Clubland started to get shit (which you probably all thought anyway) around the 17 mark and I just stuck to my hardcore and basically didn't listen to anything else. Ended up finding out more stuff through Hardcore Highlights and Kutski's show after that which led me to J-Core, which led me to Doujin, which led me to footwork (my second love at the moment) and has made me appreciate most electronic genres. In a way, gone full circle. :P
Cyrax
I hate Hardcore it's for sissy boys, i'm just here for the banter
Samination
quote:Originally posted by Cyrax:
I hate Hardcore it's for sissy boys, i'm just here for the banter
I knew it! :P
DJ Flintlock3r
I pretty much had to go through every basic four-to-the-floor style to get to hardcore. I basically started with the slow, 128 BPM house music and made my up to about a year ago, when I discovered Nu Style Gabber.
I'm a relatively new electronic music fan, starting in 2011. I was simply browsing iTunes on my ipod and came across Deadmau5 and house music (2011 commercial house music. I never heard classic/traditional house until a year ago).
I kinda went from the Deadmau5 stage into the progressive house and trance realm. I officially discovered trance on Pandora (online radio) in 2012 and fell in love with it instantly. I also discovered Scooter around this time as well as some Eurodance, so I began to make my way into hard dance as early as the summer of that year. I began to DJ and produce in 2012 as well.
I got into Hands-Up music in 2013 and that progressed into Happy Hardcore and UK hardcore in the early days of 2014. since then, my styles of preference have narrowed down to uplifting trance, classic trance, happy hardcore, uk hardcore, gabber, and hardstyle.
However, I feel like I'm just scratching the surface. I would love to discover more early hardcore, so I get an appreciation of how the styles developed.
Samination
quote:Originally posted by DJ Flintlock3r:
I pretty much had to go through every basic four-to-the-floor style to get to hardcore. I basically started with the slow, 128 BPM house music and made my up to about a year ago, when I discovered Nu Style Gabber.
I'm a relatively new electronic music fan, starting in 2011. I was simply browsing iTunes on my ipod and came across Deadmau5 and house music (2011 commercial house music. I never heard classic/traditional house until a year ago).
I kinda went from the Deadmau5 stage into the progressive house and trance realm. I officially discovered trance on Pandora (online radio) in 2012 and fell in love with it instantly. I also discovered Scooter around this time as well as some Eurodance, so I began to make my way into hard dance as early as the summer of that year. I began to DJ and produce in 2012 as well.
I got into Hands-Up music in 2013 and that progressed into Happy Hardcore and UK hardcore in the early days of 2014. since then, my styles of preference have narrowed down to uplifting trance, classic trance, happy hardcore, uk hardcore, gabber, and hardstyle.
However, I feel like I'm just scratching the surface. I would love to discover more early hardcore, so I get an appreciation of how the styles developed.
Proof that Trance isn't dead yet, and people can still get into Hardcore through that style. Not everything needs to get updated to EDM
DJ Flintlock3r
quote:Originally posted by Samination:
[quote]Proof that Trance isn't dead yet, and people can still get into Hardcore through that style. Not everything needs to get updated to EDM
I completely agree. I personally like the older stuff better.
Guest
buy a sub, and nu skool gabba will be like
downside of it, you have to be able todo the ghetto deeejaaaay
make all the babies at uk hardcore event cry who like they`re bags of ******** with 80hz kicks at a million bpm and try and think they is hard
in the real world, the whole bass scene is mine
carldj90
counter-strike got me into hardcore.
Samination
quote:Originally posted by carldj90:
counter-strike got me into hardcore.
russians screaming cyka blyat while blasting gabber? :P
warped_candykid
I love how none of the other people from the States has posted about Anabolic Frolic. Guess that shows the age difference :P
It was around 2001 or 2002, and I was out shopping at the Murphy, NC Wal-Mart with my aunt. I was in the CD section looking for anything techno related, and I looked up and saw these green smiley faces with amplifiers behind them. The title read, "Happy2bHardcore Chapter 4". So, seeing the term "Hardcore" made me think about rock music, so I almost disregarded it, and that's when I read the caption at the bottom, "15 happy hardcore breakbeat techno anthems continuously mixed by Anabolic Frolic." I picked it up and scanned it on the CD samplers Wal-Mart had back in that time, put the headphones on, and heard magic. I had never heard music that fast; the vocals were chipmunky, and the drums were hard. After some serious begging, my aunt and her husband bought it for me. And that's how it all started!
I highly encourage any people from the States on here who are new to HHC/UK Hardcore to pick up the Happy2bHardcore series off amazon or ebay. The mixing's a bit off, but it's a part of history of a time when we people here in the States could walk into a store and buy Happy Hardcore music. Plus, these were the core albums of the candy kids!
On a side note, DJ Triquatra stated: "Then I moved to the states in 2003.....just as hardcore was picking up...."
That's when I ran into him somehow! We would chat on msn messenger, and he would tell me all about these CD series I needed to have. Small world!
Guest
americans think lenny dee invented hardcore and that all they need to know
djDMS
I was waiting for it.
Chose Happy over dark when Hardcore rave evolved into Hardcore and Jungle.
Claxton
By accident and as a result of naivety really.
As a kid (who knew nothing) I used to by the Clubland albums. I just kept buying them and then one called Clubland X-Treme Hardcore came out. To me I just assumed it was the same as the others so bought it not knowing any different or having any kind of genre identification.
I completely fell for the increased tempo and energy over the commercial trance CDs and how in your face the melodies were. The riffs completely controlled the music and were a lot sharper than the commercial trance ones.
I also had an interest in the North East Makina scene at this point, but again, didn't really relate the significance of this till a later date.
wong
tbf the older normal clublands were great
carldj90
quote:Originally posted by Samination:
quote:Originally posted by carldj90:
counter-strike got me into hardcore.
russians screaming cyka blyat while blasting gabber? :P
What makes this better: first song I ever heard was Gabber.
Art of fighters - earthquake
Claxton
quote:Originally posted by wong:
tbf the older normal clublands were great
They were. Up until around number 5. The hardcore was just.... different. more...
Captain Triceps
quote:Originally posted by Claxton:
By accident and as a result of naivety really.
As a kid (who knew nothing) I used to by the Clubland albums. I just kept buying them and then one called Clubland X-Treme Hardcore came out. To me I just assumed it was the same as the others so bought it not knowing any different or having any kind of genre identification.
I completely fell for the increased tempo and energy over the commercial trance CDs and how in your face the melodies were. The riffs completely controlled the music and were a lot sharper than the commercial trance ones.
I also had an interest in the North East Makina scene at this point, but again, didn't really relate the significance of this till a later date.
Did you spend the first minute or so looking at your stereo going "what the fuck is wrong with this thing?"
latininxtc
My first experience with hardcore is in the late 90s from hearing random tracks from Dune, Blumchen/Blossom and Scooter (his Our Happy Hardcore stuff). I ran into those tracks through some friends and on napster, but as a whole genre I didn't think much of it because I was heavily into trance and vocal trance at that time.
It wasn't until late 2000 that I really got into the genre when a friend of mine lent me the Happy 2B Hardcore Ch3 album that I instantly fell in love with the fast uplifting beats. After that I ran into the rest or the H2BH series at stores and various other albums from the HighBorn label. And I also ran into the Happy Hour Radio show that Anabolic Frolic hosted. It's a shame I never learned how my friend discovered the album I would have liked to know that story.
warped_candykid
quote:Originally posted by latininxtc:
My first experience with hardcore is in the late 90s from hearing random tracks from Dune, Blumchen/Blossom and Scooter (his Our Happy Hardcore stuff). I ran into those tracks through some friends and on napster, but as a whole genre I didn't think much of it because I was heavily into trance and vocal trance at that time.
It wasn't until late 2000 that I really got into the genre when a friend of mine lent me the Happy 2B Hardcore Ch3 album that I instantly fell in love with the fast uplifting beats. After that I ran into the rest or the H2BH series at stores and various other albums from the HighBorn label. And I also ran into the Happy Hour Radio show that Anabolic Frolic hosted. It's a shame I never learned how my friend discovered the album I would have liked to know that story.
Yay!! Happy2bHardcore!
latininxtc
quote:Originally posted by Claxton:
quote:Originally posted by wong:
tbf the older normal clublands were great
They were. Up until around number 5. The hardcore was just.... different. more...
Wait, are y'all talking about the same compilation, or different ones? I thought Wong was saying the original regular Clubland non-hardcore albums were great, while you Claxton are thinking that Wong is talking about the Clubland X-Treme Hardcore ones.
But yea the CXH albums 5 and after, just fell flat compared to the previous ones. 4 is the last great one.
rafferty
quote:Originally posted by Guest:
got bonged up to all the fusion in bath pavilion tapes too much
Similar way for me. I grew up not far from Bath. Hardcore sounded alot more real back then.
Thumpa
As a kid I was into rave music (I got Rave 92 on cassette when I was 10 for Christmas) but I didn't really know about raves, I just liked the music like The Prodigy, SL2, 2 Unlimited etc.
Then in 1996 I was cleaning my room was Radio 1 on and they had a broadcast from Tribal Gathering, John Peel was on air and said 'and now, time for DJ Vibes' and I just stood there transfixed by Vibes & Livelee playing music over the loudest whistles and horns I'd ever heard. The next week I went and bought my first records and got some decks, I was 14!
I'm now 33 and still obsessing over it.
wong
latininxtc i was talking about the original clublands, not the hardcore ones
SPOOX
My older cousin introduced me to pirate radio late 1990. I used to record the shows to cassette. One of the very first tapes i recorded is dated October '90 (i still have the tape now but unfortunately most of the others either got lost or chewed up by my crappy walkman i had back then) so this is pretty much when i first began liking the music.
I basically just followed the scene from then on. When the Old Skool split & one way went Jungle, the other Hardcore i followed both scenes. It's over 25 years now & i still regularly buy CD albums/packs & love buying some of the older vinyl i missed years ago.
latininxtc
quote:Originally posted by wong:
latininxtc i was talking about the original clublands, not the hardcore ones
Yea that's what I meant. I forgot to add the 'non-' part to hardcore in that sentence.
Vladel
A girl i wanted to bang listened to scooter (the more poppy stuff) and i explored on from there.
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