Vibealite @ Venue 44, Mansfield 01/12/1995

 

Brisk

Another rave and another end of an era coming up. This was the penultimate Vibealite event to be held at Venue 44 with the final one coming on Boxing Day. It had been the home of Vibealite since they began in 1993 and they had held at least one rave every month there since except for in January.

In an era where DJs sets were getting shorter in order to get as many names on the line up, Vibealite made a point with this event to buck that trend by giving the DJs 2 hours each.

I've posted the Brisk set which follows his usual first half Scottish/Dutch followed by the 2nd half of English records, just more time of each.

These are the new for 1995 hardcore records:

Wedlock - Reactor

Phoenix - Now (Who's In Control?)

General Noise - Dance Till I Drop

General Noise - Pump This Groove

Damage Inc. - I Feel Like Dancing

Re-Charge - Bumrush

Technotrance - D.E.A.

T3 - Gimme The Night

DJ Quicksilver - What Is A Beat?

Eko - Rush 'n' Roulette

Paul Elstak - Dont Leave Me  Alone

Anabaptists Of Munster - Singer Of Tales

Cut & Run - Lets Go

Temptation & Innersense - Hi N.R.G.

4 The Floor - Vol.11A

Unknown Artist - Beasty Peaks

DJ Gozzy - Vol.1B

DJ Seduction - Step To The Side

On this list, "Bumrush" by Re-Charge appears on the Brisk tape which is part of the reason I've posted it as it's a record I knew at the time but have only just discovered what it actually is. Didn't help by the fact I thought it was saying "pump up the sound".

Also something to note is that DJ Quicksilver in this list isn't the same DJ who had a hit with "Belissima" a couple of years later, it was an alias of Brisk himself. 

We also have "Don't Leave Me Alone" which was Paul Elstak's next big hit in Holland.

There's also plenty of new for 1995 drum & bass tunes:

Just Jungle - Listen Tune

Maldini - Daze

DJ Rap - Hardstep

Tribe of Issachar Feat Pete Bouncer - Junglist

Rude Bwoy Monty - Bastard

Bonafide - Superbad

Elementz of Noize ft. MC Det - Stick Up!

Cool Breeze & Steelie I - Finger On The Trigger

Paul Z - Yeah

No Questions - What Must I Do

Deependance - Broke My Heart

T.Power - Amber Light

Dope Skillz - Yo' Son

B Jam - Show Me

Sub Sub - Mo' Bass

Unknown Artist - Promo #7

With just 4 weekends of the year left it's safe to see each event featured from now on will be the last time it features this year, so it's farewell to Vibealite and Venue 44.

Pandemonium & Kinetic @ Mr B's Willenhall 22/07/1995

Brisk

We've been to Pandemonium twice so far this year and to Kinetic once. This time we're going to a joint event between the two which is at the home of Pandemonium in Willenhall. 

There were 3 tapes from this event which were all hardcore. They were Stu Allan, Dougal and Brisk.

What was notable about both the Brisk and Stu Allan sets earlier on in the year was the number of Scott Brown records in them. Both have cut back this time though still do feature 3 Scott Brown records each.

Brisk still plays a set that's roughly half English records and half rest of the world that notably includes Scotland and Holland. Stu Allan did a predominantly Scottish and Dutch set last time but is more English this time. This was perhaps an indication that the English records were starting to sound more like the Scottish and Dutch ones.

I've posted the Brisk set because it's the first set of his I'm aware of where he plays "Jiiieehaaaa" by Diss Reaction which was a Dutch record that he became quite famous for playing.

Also new for 1995 in the Brisk set is "Faze 1" by Forbes & Cyclone. This had made it's rave debut earlier on in the year but it's the first time it's been played on the tapes at the raves which have featured so far.

The final new for 1995 tune in the Brisk set is "Starjump" by DJ Chewy. It's the flip side to the much better known "Rock This Place" which was yet to be played at any of the raves so far in 1995. This would be the only release from DJ Chewy who sadly died in a car crash shortly after the release. He came from Stoke-on-Trent, the home of Club Kinetic.

Just the one new for 1995 tune on the Stu Allan set which was a hardcore version of "Everybody" by Clock, the commercial eurodance duo that Stu Allan was part of. The chart version of this was the 3rd highest new entry of the week of the Blur vs Oasis chart battle.

The Dougal set is 100% English records. The only new for 1995 record in there was "Love of my Life" by Dougal himself, but it had already made it's rave debut earlier on in the year at a rave not featured.

Given the sheer quantity of new records we get at raves sometimes, it's quite nice to be able to say something about all of them for a change.

Dance Paradise @ Tiffanys, Great Yarmouth 22/04/1995

  

Brisk

This week sees us go to the East Coast with Dance Paradise in Great Yarmouth. They started off at a place just south of Great Yarmouth called Gorleston On Sea in 1990. They another event in Gorleston On Sea in 1991 but wouldn't have another event until 1993 which was at Tiffanys in Great Yarmouth.

Throughout their existence the bulk of their events were held in Great Yarmouth with the remaining ones held in nearby Lowestoft. In 1993 and 1994 they held events regularly, every week at times. By 1995 they became much more occasional.

This was the 2nd of 4 events in 1995. They had a further event in 1996 before stopping for over 18 months. When they returned in 1997 they became a house music promotor with a dress code but finally called it a day in 1998.

An 8 pack was released from this event which included both happy hardcore and drum & bass and also included 2 sets from Clarkee, one in the main arena and one in the techno room. 

Also included in the tape pack is a HMS tape which was before he started doing more extreme gabber music and still had it's overlaps with happy hardcore.

What does set the Clarkee and HMS sets apart though is their leaning towards Dutch and Scottish music. Both are mainly Dutch which I guess is appropriate given we're at one of the closest points of England to Holland. The HMS set contains no English records at all.

Elsewhere the Brisk set has more of an even split with the first half being Scottish and Dutch and the second half being English and this is why I've decided to post his set.

The rest of the happy hardcore set's are mostly English with the Seduction and Billy Bunter sets being 100% English.

After last weeks Helter Skelter only brought us 4 new for 1995 records, this event brought us a whopping 27:

E-Rick & Tactic - Move Dammit

Search & Destroy - Work It

Stingray & Sonicdriver – As Cold As Ice

El Bruto – Hypnotizing

Too Fast For Mellow - M.F. Bass In Your Face

Bertocucci Feranzano - Ravers Movement

Bass D & King Matthew ft. DJ XD - Hard As Hell

Stunned Guys - Fuck All

Stunned Guys - Country Crash

Psy-Quest - Sky High

Ultra-Sonic - 1,2,3,4

DJ Demand - Jump' In Pump' In

Sub Source - Cyber Source

DJ E-Rick & Tactic - It's Showtime

Dysector - Tempo Head

Marc Smith & Dave Murray - Over Me

Stingray & Sonicdriver - Power Of Darkness

Stingray & Sonicdriver - In The Name Of God

Smile - A Good Time

Simon C - Fuck You

Omar Santana - Phat Beats

Mass Hypnosis - Mind Controlling

Overlord vs Prince Of Darkness - Acid Thunder

DJ Edge - Bb6

Mercurial - I Get Lifted

Menace II Society - Get Down

DJ Pooch - Generator

The happy hardcore tune which got the most plays this night was "Happy Vibes" by The Scotchman which was played in 4 of the sets. This was one of the early new for 1995 tunes which made its debut at Tazzmania back in January.

With the drum & bass sets we go 1 better with 28 new for 1995 records:

Fallen Angels - Frequency

The Committee - Final Conflict

DJ Krust - Represent

Mask - Reese

DJ Krust - Poison

Stakka & K-Tee - After Hours

Source Direct - Fabric Of Space

Source Direct - Approach & Identify

JMJ & Richie - Universal Horn

Photek - The Seven Samurai

X-Files - Intensity

Ils & Solo - In The Area

Oblivion - Night Windows

PFM - One & Only

The Sentinel - Awakening

Lion Man - Wheel Up

DJ Shock C & DJ Ellis The Menace - On The Level

Rude & Deadly - Mash Dem Down

B-Jam - Gunshot Me Head

Redrose - Hotter Junglematical Style

Dr S Gachet & Audio Maze - The Dreamer

3 Thieves & A Liar - Feel So Good

B-Jam - Rukus

Easy Life - Untitled

Big Bud - Faceless

DJ Phantasy - Knowledge & Wisdom

R.N.M. - Jazzy Groove

Outcast - Protocol Roll

The most played record though is "Hearing Is Believing" by MA2 which appears in 3 sets. That's not the first time that's happened.

Despite there being so much new drum & bass at the time being played, the impression I get is this event leans a bit more towards happy hardcore given the line up.

For a start we have Phantasy and Swane on the tapes but not the flyer. They presumably replaced Randall and DJ Rap who were on the flyers but not the tapes. Whilst the remaining drum & bass DJs Ratty, Mastervibe, LTJ Bukem, Dr S Gatchet and GE Real were all pretty big, I feel it does lack a Hype or Grooverider to bring your drum & bass fan all the way to Great Yarmouth.

Funnily enough they did include drum & bass in the line up at their final event in 1998, but not happy hardcore.

I would say this event alone demonstrates just how quickly dance music was moving in the 90s. Even with the benefit of 27 years passing and the possibility of listening to sets from almost every week on the internet I'm finding just the new tunes from this event a lot to take in.

Club Kinetic @ The Leisure Bowl, Stoke-on-Trent 03/02/1995

 

Brisk

We're heading north west this week to Club Kinetic in Stoke-on-Trent. We also have notably more northern DJs with Stu Allan from Manchester, Demand from St Helens, Dream from Sheffield and whilst he moved to Brighton at a young age Carl Cox was born in Oldham. Resident DJ Brisk who's birthday it was came from Southampton though. Completing the line up was Slipmatt from Essex.

Although Stoke is in the north, it's still a long way from Scotland. The influence Scotland had on this particular night was evident though with more Scottish tunes appearing on the recordings than any other country.

As it's from Brisk's birthday I've posted the Brisk set. It's really a set of 2 halves, the first being mainly Scottish tunes which all involved Scott Brown and a couple of Dutch ones. The 2nd half is mainly English tunes but none of his own. The last 6 tunes of the set are exactly the same as the first 6 tunes of his Dreamscape 15 vs 16 mix.

It would be the last time Carl Cox would play Club Kinetic and one of the last times he would play a hardcore set. It's possibly the most international hardcore set I've ever heard, in addition to Scotland and Holland there's tunes from USA, Australia and Germany with just the final tune being English.

The Stu Allan and Demand sets are predominantly Scottish and Dutch with Scott Brown tunes heavily featured in both of them.

The Dream and Slipmatt sets are more English tunes but both still have some Scottish and Dutch tunes in them. The Slipmatt set starts heading in the Scottish/Dutch direction but is cut short because he was feeling unwell so we could have had more had he played a full set.

There are 2 tunes which appear the most frequently, appearing in 4 of the sets. There's "Technophobia" by Bass Reaction, a Scottish tune, and "Dark & Light" by DJ Demand.

These are the new for 1995 tunes that appear:

Lord Of Hardcore - Attack The Dancefloor

Ramos, Supreme & Sunset Regime - Life Force Generator

Rise and Shine - The Rusher

Q-Bass - Hardcore Friday

Q-Bass - Blow Your Mind

Bush Brothers - I'm Alright

GT Sampler - Cheese N' Onion

GSI - GSI 2 (A)

Happy Tunes - The Anthem

Happy Rollers - 95 Style

Although all the sets from the night were hardcore ones, Club Kinetic wasn't a strictly hardcore event. It would run every Friday until The Leisure Bowl closed down at the beginning of 1997.

 

Bonkers Part 18

 

The Best of Bonkers album didn't get a number therefore the 18th Bonkers album to be released was Bonkers 17. More accurately it was called "Bonkers 17 Rebooted" which could be to do with the fact it had been over a year since a Bonkers album with new material had been released.

By late 2007 when this album was released the new hardcore I was listening to was hardcore breaks i.e. new music being made early 90s style before the kick drum came in. One of the main DJs doing this was Luna C who had been asked to mix on this but would have had to change his style so he refused.

When it comes to 21st century Bonkers albums the highlight more often than not is the Next Generation tunes. Now for the first time we have Brisk & Ham who make the bulk of these Next Generation tunes doing a mix.

In theory this should be a welcome change, but I'm also aware that there came a point where Next Generation tunes started to become more like the other modern hardcore tunes. I also was told by someone who knew Brisk personally that he no longer liked the tunes he was making but had to make them in order to make a living. This became evident when he started a sauce business and stopped making hardcore.

I think we've reached the point here where Brisk no longer liked his tunes. It is an improvement on the likes of Raverbaby but nowhere near the standard of the tunes they were doing a few years prior. But maybe it was making tunes like these that enabled them to mix a Bonkers album.

Sharkey was joined this time by Kevin Energy, the owner of Nu Energy which accounts for a big chunk of the freeform records of the 21st century.

If freeform was the type of hardcore music you were supposed to take seriously then they're not doing a very good job of it on this mix. It includes a remix of "Techno Wonderland" which is one of the cheesiest hardcore records ever to be made.

Scott Brown is joined by Marc Smith who had previously mix a Bonkers with Sharkey. The result is less Scott Brown records than there would likely of been had he mixed on his own. Judging by the actual Scott Brown records on here though that can only be a good thing.

Scott Brown had been a breath of fresh air compared to Raverbaby and co but these records now wouldn't have sounded out of place on Raverbaby. A stand out example of this is the irritating vocals on "Hold You In My Arms".

In theory because of this line up this should have been the best Bonkers of the 21st century. The reality was that happy hardcore has always been seen as kids music. As I was a kid when I first got into it I can't really argue with that. By the time this Bonkers came out I was nearer to 30 than 20. Around the same period I was at a wedding reception where I saw a kid who was probably 12 listening to happy hardcore on their iPod. I was no longer the target audience.

It would be another 2 years until the next Bonkers was released. During that time the ownership of Bonkers changed to All Around the World records. This was the label responsible for much of the commercial dance music and the Clubland albums. More on that next week.