Even though we've now passed the halfway point of 1995, this was just the 2nd Helter Skelter of the year. In fact it was just their 7th event since they moved to The Sanctuary in September 1993. To put that into perspective, at their previous venue at the Old Cinema in Telford they had 8 events in the space of 2 months.
The event was called "The Best Of Both Worlds" which I would take to mean the best of happy hardcore and drum & bass. The 2 genres were mixed together in the main arena, but just 3 of the 12 DJs were drum & bass ones so definitely leaning more towards happy hardcore.
The drum & bass DJs playing were Fabio, Grooverider and Jumpin Jack Frost. No tunes appeared in all 3 sets, but there were 3 tunes that appeared in 2 sets which were "Sing Time" by The Terrorist, "Some Justice 95 by Urban Shakedown and the ever familiar "Hearing Is Believing" by MA2.
Just the 3 new for 1995 drum & bass records which were:
Skanna - Find Me
Jonny L - This Time
Intense - Breathless
Happy hardcore wise I've posted the DJ Vibes set. The reason for this is the first record in the set "Pump Up The Noise" by Marc Smith. It's a tune you need to listen to all the way through to see how good it is, and this is the only set I've heard it in full.
Like with the previous Helter Skelter it's somewhat lacking in new for 1995 records with these being the happy hardcore ones:
Omar Santana - Shake that Ass
El Bruto - Watch me Dance
Omar Santana - Come On
Brisk vs. Rebel Alliance - Party Pumper
Hixxy - Saturday Night
DJ Seduction - Imagination
Dougal & Eruption - Party Time
DJ Ham - Break It Down Like This
DJ Hood - Dance With me
Ramos, Supreme & Sunset Regime - Higher and Higher
The first five of those records appear in the Brisk set. "Saturday Night" by Hixxy is a rip off of the Whigfield record and is an early example of why people started to regard happy hardcore as a joke. Also upping the cheese factor and sort of following the "Toytown" formula is "Party Time" by Dougal & Eruption, but this is a record I like.
Despite this being the period that Force & Styles were starting to establish itself, it's a previous group they were in who have the most played tune on the tapes. The tune is "On Top" by A Sense Of Summer which had been remixed by Hixxy.
There was no Hixxy, or Force & Styles for that matter playing at this Helter Skelter. Neither of them would make their Helter Skelter debut until the following year after which they were at pretty much every Helter Skelter for the rest of the decade.
There were also tape from the Technodrome, the smaller upstairs rooms at The Sanctuary. No tracklists are available and it seems a bit of a mystery what the DJs used to play there.
Interestingly the DJs included The Destroyer from Italy, and Warlock and Madness both from Holland. It's strange to think they travelled all that way to play in such a small room. That said the size of the overall venue probably gave Helter Skelter the funds required to get them to travel all that way.
It's rumoured that these tapes are actually studio recording as opposed to live sets from the night. I used to have the video which included Technodrome footage and I have to say none of the tapes are ringing any bells so they probably were.
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