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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Mansy |
So i dont know if anyone really knows me but ive been a solid hardcore listener/collector now for about 18 years and a producer for around 17 years as i instantly fell in love with it and wanted to learn the trade myself...its actually before tho as my dad listened to everything bonkers 1 era for years as i was growing up in the early 90's and i always enjoyed it.. i became fully hooked on hardcore when i listened to scott browns mix on bokers 11!
anyway as a long time fan i always wonderd what the scene was like around 1999 (bonkers 7) as thats when hardcore aparently died before being ressurected in the 01/02 (bonkers 8). did people still do events? did people still make tracks? would we even know if thats appening now? i sometimes feel its like that now because events dont always seem that full, htid in the sun doesnt happen and that was huge! anyway just wonderd if anyone could shed any light on it. |
| DJ_FunDaBounce |
quote:
Originally posted by Mansy:
did people still do events? did people still make tracks?
I lived in Southern California the between '96 and '99. Started raving in '98 while I was there. Due to use and abuse of drugs I was forced to return to Colombia (where I'm from). Long story short: if it wasn't for the internet, this site included, I would've lost touch completely of what was going on in the hardcore world.
Right before I left LA I found out about a few record stores that sold hardcore like subsonic underground. I kept up with the releases as much as I could. Again, I could still observe the evolution hardcore went through, even if at a distance.
I think part of the change was technology. People were still using/pressing vinyl. Computers were getting better. So good you could make it all inside the box. Keep in mind that back in '99 it was all hardware still, minus the sequencer (cubase in my case).
so yes, people still made tracks. This website is proof of that as well as of it's evolution. |
| Si Thompson |
During 1999/00 there was only really Scott Brown, Sy & Unknown, Vinylgroover, Brisk & Ham consistently releasing stuff. Scott Brown carried Hardcore for sure during that period.
I actually really liked 1999. I also liked Bonkers 7. Others didn't.
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| Samination |
when I got into hardcore in very late 2001 (even though I already own Off Yer Nut!! 1 and 2 by summer 2000), Dutch Happy Hardcore had already died a horrible quick death and the brittish side was on lifesupport. Bonkers 8 was just around the corner to re-vitalize the scene. But tbh, I still prefer the 99-01 era over most other. |
| Winterlake |
I love all of the Eras of Hardcore, for better or worse.
I have very little memory of the "first wave" as I was very young, but used to try and get tapes off some lad at the top of my street, I had no other way to find the music.
When I come of age, and was old enough to pretend I was old enough, Trance was hitting hard and I used to go to the big Hard House and Trance nights.
On the way to one of those nights, a girl I knew played me a tape and 'Turn up the Music' was on that, might have been a Helter Skelter Tape, and I went mad for it, it was like Trance + Hard House + More Everything.... a few months later someone played me "You're Shining" and asked me if I wanted to go to a hardcore night.... and the rest was history from that.
I now listen back to both of those eras, and wish I had the chance to experience that first wave.
I genuinely think now, we are seeing slow but steady growth in the scene again post pandemic, the sound has matured and is at ease with itself I think, the term Happy Hardcore seems to be dominant again (with no shame), and the sub-genres all seem to be merging back together into a singular sound, which is great to help attract new people in I think, as there isnt the support there yet for the various sub-genres. The breakbeat hardcore is also on the march and dragging some of the DnB heads back in too.
The "Happy Hardstyle" type tracks I welcome in that mix too, as it broadens the appeal to fans of the harder styles to maybe experiment a little more with our niche.
I think it is exciting times right now, however the "scene" needs some leadership like it had first wave (Slipmatt/dougal) and the second wave (raverbaby crew)... I think we are starting to see some leadership emerge now with Ben Nicky, Jakka, Kutski, Vinylgroover, Al Storm and Fracus/Darwin etc, so lets hope we can grow the sounds again!
All these guys are working their utter guts off in and around the hardcore genre and while the scene may not be as pure as it once was, I think will grow and hold its own within the harder styles. |
| Gazza1712 |
Yep loads of promoters were still putting on events, helter skelter, slammin vinyl bought the hardcore heaven brand and were putting events on in 99 plus the United dance events,
Was also a couple of dreamscape events in 1999.
Music wise there was some very good music made in 99. Like already mentioned Scott brown. Sy and unknown, etc, I also enjoyed the Hixxy stuff that him and slowed down slightly and featured on his bonkers 7 mix. Labels like B Trax, cover up, legendary music. |
| warped_candykid |
For us Stateside peeps, this was when Happy2bHardcore Chapters 5, 6, & 7 were released. Frolic did a great job at finding what happy hardcore was still going around during that time between Bonkers 7 - 9. Happy2bHardcore Chapter 5 had more happy hardcore tracks on it than Bonkers 7 did, so it's odd that Bonkers 7 only featured 4 tracks out of the 15 that were on H2bH5.
I was just discovering Happy Hardcore in the 2001/2002 era so the Happy2bHardcore series was pretty much all we had here at the time.
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| Sc@r |
I been listening to the music since 94 and raving since 2000, depends who you talk to but theres always stories about when the scene died, on who saved it and kept it going even in the 90s... its 2022 and its still dieing to some people, longest death ever! ha ha even though theres events every weekend, no producers all the time and we even survived the pandemic . gotta love this scene, we ain't going no where! |
| Mansy |
Nice one guys! A nice little gap of knowledge filled in now as ive always been curious! |
| Smoogie |
quote:
Originally posted by Si Thompson:
During 1999/00 there was only really Scott Brown, Sy & Unknown, Vinylgroover, Brisk & Ham consistently releasing stuff. Scott Brown carried Hardcore for sure during that period.
I actually really liked 1999. I also liked Bonkers 7. Others didn't.
Everyone knows that Bonkers 7 was underrated. It was not quite Bonkers 1 but there where a lot of hidden and a few unreleased gems on there. I think had Bonkers 8 been released in 2000 that would have been what it sounded like. There where some pretty good tunes from 2000 even though in a very small number from some of the bigger names which sound like a continuation of the late 90s. I have discovered a Hixxy mix from 2000 with a couple of tracks that he eventually released in 2001 as the first of the Raverbaby releases so he was clearly still producing then.
I think that 2001 might have had a bit more to it though. In 2000 every one seemed to be trying their hand at being a Trance DJ and I think even Scott Brown did give in and had one or two mostly unknown Trance releases |
| Sparkz_LuckyStrike |
1999. Well...
No online stuff. It was a case of who knows who. Most were having engineering done by the likes of Bradley Carter which also came with having a release (why would any label turn down a bradley carter engineered track?). Otherwise artists would have to get lucky by mailing something in the post to a label and hoping they like it.
Most wouldn't have had the hardware thus most around that time either knew someone else who produced and could afford it, or had a rich family to pay for it (or used machines at uni's, colleges). A lot of it was done I recall using tracker software on the atari st. Events previous to that had massive combinations of Jungle, Old Skool and Happy Hardcore in 1 arena, alternating.
As of 1999....
The scene could have literally carried on with that "Happy Hardcore" sound for at least a few more years. Yet the more people making hardcore, the more the scene was subject to change. Slowly a more trancey sound was being pushed forward (I guess namely by various songs by "quest" like ying yang and reach for love, as well as the general commercial sound at the time making people want to do things a bit more trancey).
The big flop though was what was the idea of how it was going to evolve? Hixxy was even out of ideas come bonkers 5 in 1998 as his mix consisted of makina released songs.
It's impossible to say what happened during that death period but my belief is:
Someone who has scene power, Hixxy, maybe even Dougal at that point (via Gammer), came up with some sort of basis for a new sound. Actually it could have even been UFO as he did some very unreleased and unknown work back then like "don't let me go" (yes nobody would have heard of it but "I see your face, it's on my mind, blah blah blah... reach out for me, our love will grow, reach out for me and don't let me go"...)
The biggest artists at the time then started with releases.
I know from contact with several oldies from 1999 that they left because of that trance scene take. They'd heard it and just on their old software and techniques couldn't quite create the "new" sound (Stompy had a go with tkk but it wasn't the best and he didn't fully make it). I guess you could say many during that time had a go behind closed doors of this new style, didn't do too well and then decided to just walk from the scene. |
| silver |
what you talking about? hardcore will never die :) |
| Samination |
quote:
Originally posted by Sparkz_LuckyStrike:
Hixxy was even out of ideas come bonkers 5 in 1998 as his mix consisted of makina released songs.
Here's Hixxy's tracklists for his 4, 5 and 6th Bonkers mixes
Bonkers 4:
quote:
Slashing Fun Kids*? Imagination 5:07
Los Bonitos? The Lights 4:10
Sequel Base*? The Third Chapter 3:05
O.M.G.*? Different Outlooks 5:22
The Saints? Fire 4:56
Sub-Ace & Aura? A Guiding Light 2:12
O.M.G.*? 14th Dream 4:58
Bananaman & Blitz (2)? The Quickening 1:51
Q-Tex? Equazion Pt. 9 4:03
2 Without Heads? U & Me (Scott Brown Mix) 2:23
Visa? Don't Go Away 4:03
Devil Licious*? By My Side 5:30
O.M.G.*? The One 4:24
Q-Tex? The Power Of Love (Scott Brown '98 Remix) 3:40
Unique? Distant Skies 3:20
Devil Licious*? Better Days
Bonkers 5:
quote:
Hixxy & UFO? Eternity Has Passed 4:43
Elevate (2)? Virtual Dreams (Euro Mix) 4:08
O.M.G.*? Definition Of Hardcore 5:30
Quest (6)? Reach For Love 6:21
Hixxy & UFO? Back In Business 4:00
Hixxy & Sunset Regime? New Day Dawning 5:05
Vinylgroover & Ed C*? Bright Eyes (Select Remix) 4:21
Hixxy & Sunset Regime? Legends 5:37
Elevate (2)? Together Again 4:10
Sy & Unknown? Listen To The Ace (Hixxy Remix) 4:21
Hixxy & Sunset Regime? Desire 4:10
Sy & Unknown? Scratchin' (Remix) 4:54
Triple J? Follow The Sun (Hixxy & Sunset Regime Remix) 6:00
Scott Brown? Hardcore Vibes 4:10
Scott Brown? Rockin' Strong 4:43
Scott Brown? Liberation 4:08
Bonkers 6:
quote:
Innovate? Captured 5:11
TKM? Sitar 5:16
Dougal & Mickey Skeedale? Revival 4:08
Force & The Evolution*? Perfect Dreams (DB7 Back For 99 Mix) 4:21
Innovate? Higher Ground 5:16
DJ Seduction? Holding On (Vinylgroover Remix) 3:45
Eumovator? Funk Rave Brother 3:23
Dougal & TKM? The Chant 5:56
Breeze*? I Feel U 3:35
Ramos? Sunshine (Dougal & Skeedale Mix) 3:01
Brisk & Trixxy? Eye Opener (Remix) 4:09
Mickey Skeedale & Doctor Who*? Emotion 4:42
Stealth? See Me Climb (Brisk's Electro Flava Mix) 4:39
Eumovator? Musical Life 4:19
Bang!? Hyperspace (Brisk Mix) 2:42
The Projek? Rhythm On Time 5:51
Euphony? Space Invader (Scott Brown Remix) 4:08
Quest (6)? Yin Yang 4:25
Neither of this mixes (all from 1998) had Makina. The only 3 outliers are the 3 first tracks on Bonkers 4 which are german hard trance, which spanish dj's tend to play faster with their makina sets. The track closest to being Makina-ish was Vinylgroover's The Rave Theme, which was on DJ Vibes' Bonkers 5 mix |
| Icewind |
Bonkers 7 is mint...Innovate (dougal & tkm) made some great tracks.
The hardcore fans are still out there, waiting for a comeback in a big way, and personally I'm glad this site is still up. Without it, the only place left to discuss hardcore would be...Facebook! Wow.
Up and coming producers with some hidden gems abound... |
| Thumpa |
I went raving a lot in 99 including a few Skelters and to be honest the raves I went to were absolutely rammed, yes a lot of cheesy stuff was being made including a lot of rip offs but hardcore always had a healthy amount of rip offs from 92 onwards.
Scott Brown's music got played by everyone during 99 and Hixxy would play whole sets of B Trax at Skelter etc, it was an exciting time musically if you could ignore the cheese...but then again looking back some of it wasn't too bad. |
| Craig Cairney |
There was a lot of brilliant music produced during 1999. Unfortunately it wasn't always represented. There was some great Vinylgroover B-sides. Scott Brown, Ham, Sy and Unknown, Helix, Fury, DJ Energy all wrote some incredible stuff.
Events were doing fairly well, there was still regular albums (Bonkers, Hardcore Heaven, Slammin' Vinyl, This Is Noize) and heroes such as Matt Carton and Jim Sullivan were still writing Hardcore/Freeform. I'd happily go back to January 1st 1999 and relive that year again. |
| Cencore |
Personally I think it was from a whole generation of ravers turning 18 at this time and getting into club music like Trance & House instead.
A lot of guys I used to dj with stopped buying Hardcore at this time and went to Hard House & Trance. Because of this, the record stores stopped ordering lots of Hardcore Records from the UK & Netherlands because there was no longer a huge demand like back in 1995 -1998.
I am only talking from my experience in Sydney Australia so it could have been different in other countries. But I know for a fact Australia was one of the largest buyers of UK Happy Hardcore music outside of the UK back in the mid 90s. If not the largest.
So to have that customer base suddenly shrink wouldn't have been any help to the UK Hardcore scene which was struggling at that time..
Not only that, a lot of Raves at this time stopped having Hardcore all night in the main room. Hard House & Trance Progressive type stuff was played a lot more. Also we no longer had Hardcore djs touring here much either in 99/2000.
One of my funniest memories was record stores trying to get me to convert to Hard House & Trance and I basically told them if you don't get Hardcore I simply won't buy:).
Eventually they relented and would call me when they had ordered a few Evolution Records tracks or Infinity Records tunes. Pretty sure Cover Up was then too which was all Trance Bootlegs and Edits at a Hardcore Tempo.
But the amount of tunes available was very few. |
| Craigavon raver |
I actually got into hardcore properly in 1999! A guy from school got bonkers 6 and i heard that and i then bought bonkers 7 later that year, my first bonkers cd! (dougals mix is my fav) and the rest is history, i obviously own all the bonkers cds plus hundreds other, and i like and listen to all types of hardcore, though happy hardcore is my favorite style, don't listen to or buy as much now as don't have as much time and obviously not as much released these days, but like been said heard its died how many times over the years and its still here, HARDCORE WILL NEVER DIE! |
| Craigavon raver |
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
quote:
Originally posted by Sparkz_LuckyStrike:
Hixxy was even out of ideas come bonkers 5 in 1998 as his mix consisted of makina released songs.
Here's Hixxy's tracklists for his 4, 5 and 6th Bonkers mixes
Bonkers 4:
quote:
Slashing Fun Kids*? Imagination 5:07
Los Bonitos? The Lights 4:10
Sequel Base*? The Third Chapter 3:05
O.M.G.*? Different Outlooks 5:22
The Saints? Fire 4:56
Sub-Ace & Aura? A Guiding Light 2:12
O.M.G.*? 14th Dream 4:58
Bananaman & Blitz (2)? The Quickening 1:51
Q-Tex? Equazion Pt. 9 4:03
2 Without Heads? U & Me (Scott Brown Mix) 2:23
Visa? Don't Go Away 4:03
Devil Licious*? By My Side 5:30
O.M.G.*? The One 4:24
Q-Tex? The Power Of Love (Scott Brown '98 Remix) 3:40
Unique? Distant Skies 3:20
Devil Licious*? Better Days
Bonkers 5:
quote:
Hixxy & UFO? Eternity Has Passed 4:43
Elevate (2)? Virtual Dreams (Euro Mix) 4:08
O.M.G.*? Definition Of Hardcore 5:30
Quest (6)? Reach For Love 6:21
Hixxy & UFO? Back In Business 4:00
Hixxy & Sunset Regime? New Day Dawning 5:05
Vinylgroover & Ed C*? Bright Eyes (Select Remix) 4:21
Hixxy & Sunset Regime? Legends 5:37
Elevate (2)? Together Again 4:10
Sy & Unknown? Listen To The Ace (Hixxy Remix) 4:21
Hixxy & Sunset Regime? Desire 4:10
Sy & Unknown? Scratchin' (Remix) 4:54
Triple J? Follow The Sun (Hixxy & Sunset Regime Remix) 6:00
Scott Brown? Hardcore Vibes 4:10
Scott Brown? Rockin' Strong 4:43
Scott Brown? Liberation 4:08
Bonkers 6:
quote:
Innovate? Captured 5:11
TKM? Sitar 5:16
Dougal & Mickey Skeedale? Revival 4:08
Force & The Evolution*? Perfect Dreams (DB7 Back For 99 Mix) 4:21
Innovate? Higher Ground 5:16
DJ Seduction? Holding On (Vinylgroover Remix) 3:45
Eumovator? Funk Rave Brother 3:23
Dougal & TKM? The Chant 5:56
Breeze*? I Feel U 3:35
Ramos? Sunshine (Dougal & Skeedale Mix) 3:01
Brisk & Trixxy? Eye Opener (Remix) 4:09
Mickey Skeedale & Doctor Who*? Emotion 4:42
Stealth? See Me Climb (Brisk's Electro Flava Mix) 4:39
Eumovator? Musical Life 4:19
Bang!? Hyperspace (Brisk Mix) 2:42
The Projek? Rhythm On Time 5:51
Euphony? Space Invader (Scott Brown Remix) 4:08
Quest (6)? Yin Yang 4:25
Neither of this mixes (all from 1998) had Makina. The only 3 outliers are the 3 first tracks on Bonkers 4 which are german hard trance, which spanish dj's tend to play faster with their makina sets. The track closest to being Makina-ish was Vinylgroover's The Rave Theme, which was on DJ Vibes' Bonkers 5 mix
Hixxy didn't mix bonkers 6, thats dougals mix, and vibes mixed bonkers 6 FYI |
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