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bunnyrabbit2000
Starting Member
United Kingdom
4 posts
Joined: Dec, 2024
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 Posted - 2024/12/17 : 15:57:40
Disclaimer: The following article explains the fall of the UK happy hardcore scene.
I absolutely promise that this information doesn’t come with any negative intention. It hasn’t been communicated to harm or mentally injure anybody in any way, shape or form.
Why would you cancel an extremely popular genre of music that's nearly going mainstream, and would have made Britain the most elevated country on Earth, due to the substantial spiritual nature of euphoric UK happy hardcore, from 1994 until around 2005?
The quality of the music sadly transitioned from being OK to incredibly worse during and after 1998, and probably won't be missed by most ravers.
However, there were many belters amongst a backdrop of lacklustre productions.
For example, Liquid Nights by DJ Fade, Timebomb by Jon Doe and Lisa Abbot and Ultimate High by Stargazer.
They rocked the dance floors, living rooms and bedrooms across Britain and further afield for a considerable length of time.
The same is also true for many hundreds of other excellent UK hardcore productions, created from 1993 onwards.
The number of timeless happy hardcore tracks decreased sharply and continuously until the count reached zero.
Happy hardcore is a music scene that never died. This may be due to a high number of timeless productions that altered (and alters) many thousands of lives for the better.
The main reason behind one’s energy and elevated mood increase is due to the supreme listenability, genius creativity, and euphoria level of hundreds of tracks that may link you to your natural soul frequency.
The kickdrum and other percussive elements of most UK happy hardcore was surreptitiously reduced in volume from 1997 onwards. This made the music a little flat compared to how stomp-worthy it used to sound. The mandatory bounce from a previous time was lowered by a significant degree.
At the same time, elements were added to English and Scottish happy hardcore that enhanced its listenability and level of happiness.
Pop music with a kickdrum wasn’t the best course of action for a rave scene that thrived on its underground success.
However, with these new measures in place, the UK hardcore sound that amassed legendary status across Britain and multiple countries for its stomping danceability, high tempo and unbridled dance energy was castaway to the doldrums of yesteryear.
The music was replaced with a brand new sound that was mostly different to the year before, 1996, arguably the most successful year for banging kickdrum based UK hardcore.
The happy hardcore sound of 1997 and beyond was heavily influenced by highly uplifting female vocals. Much of the music from 97 and beyond was produced in a way that might encourage you to sing-along.
The dominant nature of euphoric female vocals alongside a weaker sounding percussion for most new tracks didn’t appear to be as popular as the hardcore of previous years.
Depressingly, a high percentage of UK hardcore ravers chose to leave the scene in 1998 through to the year 2000, when it unexpectedly experienced sudden death.
At around the Y2K mark, Hard House was added to a happy hardcore line-up of a multi-genre large scale event.
This unkind and deliberate action noticeably eroded the popularity of UK hardcore in London and beyond.
The music became unrecognisable from its former brilliance.
The scene appeared to fall apart at the seams after Helter Skelter organised its last ever event on new years eve, in the year 2000.
The great majority of the UK happy hardcore scene crumbled at that same moment in time, on or around new years day 2001.
The deliberate degradation of the UK hardcore sound that previously made it highly popular on a national and international scale, had a dramatic knock-on effect with the rest of the scene.
Out of nowhere, all major and smaller events concluded their operations.
From 98-Y2K, the music quality was lowered by a substantial degree, and the number of high quality bangers that commanded the dance-floor, almost reduced to zero by the year 2000.
I wonder why the incredibly popular and uplifting happy hardcore sound of 1996 wasn't given a chance to flourish, and almost vanished from existence after such a short run?
There were many tracks before and beyond 1996 that had the same vibe and were engineered to a higher standard, or a considerably higher standard.
1996-style UK hardcore should have remained in place for a further 10 years at least, or perhaps this genre should have been allowed to continue on a permanent basis.
This approach works for pop music, and a few other musical genres, like Jazz and Reggae, for example.
I see no reason why this approach wouldn’t have worked for happy hardcore too, especially after the production quality universally increased from 1997 and beyond.
Long-term 1996 to 1999-style happy hardcore may have elevated the energy and happiness level of Britain and further afield for a considerable length of time.
The popularity of 1996-style UK hardcore may evidence something extremely substantial, it confirms that UK happy hardcore could return in an incredible way if enough HQ music was produced in a 1996-style format.
Imagine if you will, creative and uplifting 1996 UK hardcore, produced with the technology of the current day.
A few of my favourites from 1996:
Eruption - Surrender
DJ Fade - Sky High (Remix)
Bang the Future - Body Slam
Hixxy & Sunset Regime – Peoples Party Remix
DJ Demo - '96 Style (DJ Ham Remix)
Triple J - Eternity
Supreme & UFO - Broken Wings
Stu J & UFO - We're Flying
Force & Styles - Shining Down
DJ Ham - Most Uplifting
DJ Ham - Is Anybody Out There?
DJ Brisk - Airhead
Billy Bunter & D-Zyne – Ride Like The Wind
Force & Styles - Pretty Green Eyes
DJ Vibes - Oxygen
Force & Styles - Paradise and Dreams
DJ Vibes – Techno Wonderland
Happymen – Love Is You (Happy Version)
Eruption - Let The Music
My Little Fantasy - 4 Tune Fairytales
DJ Ham, Derno & Justin Time - Here I Am
Slipmatt - After Dark
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Edited by - bunnyrabbit2000 on 2024/12/19 13:12:39 |
silver
Admin
Japan
12,565 posts
Joined: Feb, 2001
894 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2024/12/17 : 22:01:14
Demise is a word other media outlets liked to use to catch headlines and clicks. It's never died, never had demise despite what other genres and magazines want you to believe. There are listeners all over the world listening to the music and not even knowing it's name. I've heard 175bpm tracks on commerial radio that would be considered "too fast" or "happy hardcore" several years back.
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bunnyrabbit2000
Starting Member
United Kingdom
4 posts
Joined: Dec, 2024
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Posted - 2024/12/18 : 00:11:47
I understand what you mean, however the perspective from those living in the UK, especially England, is vastly different. All the big names and most of the lesser known celebrities who were responsible for many magical and timeless productions ceased production of UK hardcore. This all happened at the same time, does this strike you as a little strange, to say the very least?
Not only was the quality of UK happy hardcore surreptitiously lowered over the course of a couple of years, the sound was also completely changed from how it used to be in its hey day.
I don't mean to offend you by stating that quality 10/10 UK happy hardcore was intentionally removed from Earth, but it was and has never really returned. If you know of any bangers in the last few years (what you consider to be 10/10 British hardcore productions), then I'd be happy to take a listen.
Demise is just another word for ended. I don't mean to sound like a media personality, I'm just your average ex-raver/ex-party person who's blowing his horn in a wild way.
I'm happy to attempt to answer any follow-up questions you may have.
All the best,
The writer of the article.
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Edited by - bunnyrabbit2000 on 2024/12/18 00:12:30 |
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