The Wikipedia page on HappyHardcore is really poor, it contains fragments of this and that and doesn't really flow. I would like to see this change. Although I would love to correct the problem myself I don't have the time and I'm asking the community to create a definition of HappyHardcore and important information it contains.
This is not a HappyHardcore.com page (we can create a wikipedia entry for that if we need to at a later stage) but more of a non website specific and more about the music itself. We then may split from here into other forms of hardcore such as UK Hardcore, Makina and freeform, but for starters lets get HappyHardcore done and then move on to the next ones.
Please post these comments on any other website you might visit (that would be interested in this project) - keep this page as a central forum thread for communication on the subject.
I recommend we vote a person in charge of the project as a "too many chiefs and not enough Indians" situation might occur...
I am suggesting the following sections: - History & Beginnings - Early Pioneers - Split of jungle and hardcore - Rebirth of hardcore in 2001 - Key players - Events (past and present) - UK - Europe - Asia - North America - Australia
- Record Labels - Artists - Stores - Online radio stations - Recommend albums - Recommend books? - Equipment used? - Websites - External links of reference
Evel Advanced Member
United Kingdom
604 posts Joined: Jul, 2005
Posted - 2006/01/13 : 09:22:46
Although i find the site useful it can be a bit misleading as difefrent sites say different things
This seems to be true
In the UK, happy hardcore was at its peak between 1994 and 1997. In the more current past Happy Hardcore has made a large re-emergence into the mainstream, more specifically it has received coverage in Mixmag. It has spawned various new record labels in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Japan and continues to grow in popularity.
This is also true
Also around this time the UK Happy Hardcore had started taking influences from the mainstream trance tunes heard virtually everywhere. While this move attracted new listeners it also began to alienate some of its long time producers, many of which switched to producing Hard house or simply retired. It was this merging of trance influences with hardcore that caused the birth of a new genre Freeform Hardcore.
These tracks made the charts but where never Happy Hardcore, most old skool classics went into the charts but never had hardcore remixes, ecept Flip and Fill- Heart of Gold (Hixxy Remix)
Freeform hardcore, and other trance influenced happy hardcore attracted a new audience to the music and caused a major upsurge in interest among the European and American ravers, causing remixes of classic happy hardcore anthems to reach the pop charts. Examples include tracks such as "You're Shining" or "Heartbeats" by Breeze & Styles.
Some people say Happy Hadcore began in 1994, others say 1993
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As from 14.3.06 Evel became Smoogie as he got bored with being Evel.
Posted - 2006/01/13 : 10:27:04
I don't think we need people cut and pasting things from other sites, we really need people to write this that know what they are talking about, if your 15 and just got into the scene then your not a good person to write the article but could provide facts.
For example a mentionable fact is Smart-e's (Nick from Bang! / Luna-C) getting to number 2 in the UK nation charts with Seseme's treet.
Glen Average Member
United Kingdom
180 posts Joined: Dec, 2004
Posted - 2006/01/13 : 11:04:59
Yeah I notcied how poor the article was, You got the right idea there Silver, there is already some poeple contibuting, maybe we need to discuss with them also. But i'd be willing to help.
ferocious New Member
United Kingdom
74 posts Joined: Nov, 2005
Posted - 2006/01/13 : 16:47:29
Thanks for starting this initiative Silver. For me, what Happy Hardcore is/was has changed through the years both musically and in general acknowledged terms. This may be why different sites say different things.
I do think we should talk about it here and discuss as there is a lot of users here. I've thrown together some random stuff. Some things to think about.
*) Smart-E's - Sesame's Treet (from 1992) is not Happy Hardcore as such - it is from England's "Breakbeat Hardcore" 1992 era that did likely play a part in creating the "English" breakbeat driven Happy Hardcore. There is other stuff before Smart-E's that samples similar things. For example, Boris Badenough - Hey Rocky! from 1986 that samples the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon is House not Happy Hardcore.
*) In the early 1990s there was different types of music all called Happy Hardcore. Most articles that start out usually just refer to the English breakbeat side. Whilst what is written is not wrong, there was also other non-breakbeat things as important to the contribution of Happy Hardcore in places like Germany, Netherlands, Scotland and Italy. All these elements contributed to the more universal "Happy Hardcore" of the late 1990s.
*) The breakbeats in the English Happy Hardcore were pushed to the back (and later vanished) for a Bouncy Techno feel around 1995/6. That being fast 4/4 kicks and offbeat bouncy stabs but keeping the happy vibe. This is quite well detailed.
*) In addition, by around 1996/7 (and thereafter) - out of this fusion along with the dance stuff from Europe, created a new direction with full on vocals and cover versions. This is more the universally accepted "Happy Hardcore" style most people around the world would be familar.
*) This introduced a new audience with a much younger demographic. It was now found worldwide in places like USA, Japan etc. However, many ravers and producers in the UK did leave the scene for what ever reason.
*) In the UK, things like "Trancecore", "Freeform" and "UK Hardcore" had been introduced to bring something new to the table through musical evolution.
*) In the UK today, some people do not associate the old English breakbeat Happy Hardcore stuff with the later vocal 4/4 Happy Hardcore stuff and regard them as two different things - but are related. Recently, DJ Brisk (I think) in a magazine grouped the happy breakbeat stuff with the early breakbeat hardcore stuff.
There's some okay stuff here too in this article, more or less along the same lines, from a UK perspective. >
whittle1 Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,191 posts Joined: Jan, 2005
25 hardcore releases
Posted - 2006/01/13 : 16:48:43
There wasn't enough info, that's for sure.
But there are a few facts that i picked up (about gabba especially) that i originally did not know about.
Eomund New Member
United States
25 posts Joined: Jan, 2006
Posted - 2006/01/13 : 17:28:19
I'm not sure if any one will follow me on this path, but what we really need is a good 'Definition' of what Happy Hardcore actually is. I'm just a draftsman not a writer, or a musician. So if any one could give a real definition, I think that would be a good way to start.
i'll dig up waht facts i got, but as silver so greatly said if youre new to the scene you aint the best person to help. but just thought i'd say that hardcore isn't jsut a sub culture for me, its a way of life, like surfing and biking an whatnot!
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A very wise man once said
quote:"If they shall complain, thou shall turn it up"
Posted - 2006/01/16 : 03:19:29
I'm not sure if we should define "Bouncy Techno" as a totally different genre, I think it is just another word for HappyHardcore... i.e same music, different name. Thoughts?
DJDURSTAN Senior Member
Trinidad And Tobago
342 posts Joined: Apr, 2005
156 hardcore releases
Posted - 2006/01/16 : 15:09:05
quote:Originally posted by silver:
I'm not sure if we should define "Bouncy Techno" as a totally different genre, I think it is just another word for HappyHardcore... i.e same music, different name. Thoughts?
Agreed!!!!
I feel that to be honest people are always far too eager to start defining genre instead of just remembering that no matter what form it takes it is all just hardcore.
Just as a note many people would say that the first happy hardcore tune was Nasty by Sy Kick others would say that it was SMD1 I think this needs to be one of the first things that is cleared up. The thing to remember is that whatever the first documented happy hardcore tune was it will be found in the 'genre' now known as OLD SKOOL.
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like looking a naked men
Chris B Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,964 posts Joined: Dec, 2003
Posted - 2006/01/16 : 15:09:20
quote:Originally posted by silver:
I'm not sure if we should define "Bouncy Techno" as a totally different genre, I think it is just another word for HappyHardcore... i.e same music, different name. Thoughts?
bouncy techno's different to happy hardcore in my eyes anyway, is harder, has more varying bpm's and less stricht structure.
Though the progressing breakbeat hardcore splinter of 4-beat and jungle music had been oblivious in the Scottish scene, the 4-beat DJs experimented by increasingly combining bouncy techno with 4-beat into their sets at raves. This mixing of two different styles is widely considered the point where bouncy techno traits in-part influenced the 4-beat sound.
By late 1995, 4-beat had gradually dropped its inherent breakbeat traits and instead utilised a 4/4 tempo heavy kick drum. With the breakbeats gone, the remaining sub-bassline was also no longer needed - replaced with an off-beat techno stab; effectively becoming a hybrid of the two styles of varying amounts.
DJ Vibes, one of the important happy hardcore producers in the 1990s mentions this evolution in 1995 by saying, "Happy Bouncy Techno is Happy Hardcore with stronger drums. It seems to be the new happening thing at the moment". Vibes and many others would produce this new musical fusion of styles.
New English based labels such as Bounce!, Bouncy Tunes, Mental Platinum, Techno Tunes, started to produce bouncy techno music outright. Major English raves like Dreamscape, Helter Skelter and Hysteria, also started to add the bouncy techno term on their flyers, mailing letters and tape packs.
Elsewhere, the sound also had grabbed Northern Ireland, with DJ Tizer at the forefront. During an interview for the Fantazia rave promotion in 1995, DJ Tizer said that, "The Scottish scene is really buzzin' at the moment, which is good, because I'm really into the Scottish bouncy techno that is so popular here." [9] DJ Tizer would later produce and remix bouncy techno tracks on the Scottish label called Pressure Tracks.
Predominantly happy hardcore styled compilations started to include some bouncy techno tracks. The most noticeable being Happy Anthems 3 (RAID 526, Rumour Records, 1995), containing Scott Brown vs. DJ Rab S - Now Is The Time. This was something musically unlike all the other songs found on the compilation and as such, believed to be the first major crossover bouncy techno track into the English scene.
By now, bouncy techno was common across the United Kingdom rave scene with the HappyNet review for Diehard, Milton Keynes on April 27, 1996, mentioning this terminology becoming customary in England. "When we first got there they were playing some excellent happy hardcore / bouncy techno upstairs" [10]
Where previously the English 4-beat style had been all but unheard of in the Scottish rave scene due to its original breakbeat nature, it returned under its new breakbeat-less guise. The additional uplifting pianos and vocals introduced from the south likely needed to combat what was becoming a rather repetitive bouncy techno production formula. By 1996, the south based DJs returned to play at raves in the north.
This influx of the new music into the north also had a knock-on effect whereby bouncy techno also exhibited a happy slant with similar chords and piano melodies adorning its compositions. Both styles were mostly indistinguishable to one another - they were now more or less one combined style.
I think that explains pretty much what happened perfectly, they started off very different then merged into one.
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Posted - 2006/01/13 : 07:10:04
Vibes and many others would produce this new musical fusion of styles. 
