One Hit Wonders - Part II

Hardcore Rave/Old Skool

The most complex part of searching through some of the 90's back catalogue comes when you're looking at the Hardcore Rave/Old Skool genre, and some of the incredible tracks that are out there. This is predominantly because a lot of them were white label releases, not yet affiliated to a record company or even with a specific depth of production or polish to them, but designed to be circulated around labels and clubs in an attempt to get played and/or signed. Many artists didn't want the commercial music sector to pick up the tunes; moreover rebelled against the idea so wanted just to get the tunes spun in DJ sets around the illegal raves and clubs in UK and Europe.

The Hardcore Rave genre includes all derivatives such as House, Acid House, Jungle and Drum 'n Bass with many of the beats actually originating from Hip Hop. Some of these tracks have been salvaged by various diehards online, and reposted to YouTube and other platforms, with the Top 100 list created on www.rateyourmusic.com pretty much being the definitive list, in my eyes. Check it out here if you want.

I have picked out my favorites and of course alongside these are many from artists we all know and remember who did go on to do more such as The Prodigy, Joey Beltram, N-Joi, Moby, Orbital and CJ Bolland. Many of these though are the consummate One Hit Wonders. And boy, how wondrous they must have been when played into a tent with 10,000 ravers all sweating and girating to the rhythms. I have said it before and I will say it again: I was born 5 years too late!

Cybersonik - Technarchy

The first EP from the Cybersonik trio featuring one Richie Hawtin, latterly of Plastikman and F.U.S.E. fame as part of Warp Records. This has a thumping Detroit Techno beat and the usual bleeps and bips you'd expect from a track of this era.

Origin Unknown - Valley Of The Shadows

This is such an iconic and influential Jungle track of the era, and it was widely played in mixes by the likes of Ellis Dee, Slipmatt, Fabio & Grooverider as well as by its co-creator of Origin Unknown, Andy C. It is such a driving beat and the sampling from TV programme Q.E.D concerning out of body experiences with a woman's voice going "I was in this long, dark tunnel" over and over makes it compelling listening.

Cubic 22 - Night In Motion

Created by Belgian duo Peter Ramson (AKA Jos Borremans) and Danny Van Wauwe this tune is styled as a House/Rave crossover track and actually made it into the UK charts peaking at number 15 after quite a lot of play in clubs. The main hook for this track was latterly used in Strike's popular House track, U Sure Do.

Messiah - Temple Of Dreams

British Techno/Acid house duo of Mark Davies and Ali Ghani were formed in London in 1988. They actually had two UK top 20 hits including this, as well as two studio albums. Their music was frequently played in mixes and clubs around the UK.

The Scientist - The Bee (Base Mix)

Phivos (Phill) Sebastiane (aka The Scientist) was introduced to DJ Hype in 1990, who at the time was was Shut Up and Dance's live DJ and with his help created The Exorcist. It was was Kevin (Hype's) demo that Phill added the bass lines, synths, melodies to and also co-arranged. The Bee was Phill's demo that Hype supplied the breaks and vocal samples to and then also co-arranged. Both tracks hit No.1 on the independent and dance charts in the UK selling more than 35,000 records each.

Eon - Spice (Original Mix With Notes)

Ian Loveday is credited as being one of the first Rave artists to have a major label release on Columbia records with Spice, which sample David Lynch's film, Dune. The track itself has some great techno rhythms with breakbeats, sampling and a very eerie computerized synth aesthetic throughout.

Acen - Close Your Eyes

Acen Razvi created some of the best Breakbeat/Hardcore tracks of the 90s, and Close Your Eyes is probably the standout. He later would go on to work in the Production House Records label, which helped bring fame to Baby D (a true One Hit Wonder, for sure!)

I have spent some considerable time putting together a compilation of these tracks and many others which makes for great listening (contact me if you want a copy), and it truly is a nostalgic look back at how Electronic music evolved through the work of some of these artists in the Hardcore Rave/Old Skool scene. There is nothing quite like hearing the scratch of the record as the track starts, knowing that someone somewhere had a precious limited copy of this tune, and had enough consideration to preserve and share for others who loved this era and continue to explore it with gusto.

I am not sure music can be or does get made this way any more, but thankfully for emerging artists there are platforms like Soundcloud and Bandcamp to showcase your skills to others, and perhaps gain more circulation in the post-COVID world than people would have done in the 90s hawking their wares around and hand delivering vinyls to DJs and radio stations. The world of music is constantly evolving and perhaps access and opportunity are two of the things that differentiate from the preceding decades. Hopefully that can be followed by creativity from artists, and maybe some using the blueprints of the Rave generation to form new ideas; as many invariably are or have done....I just haven't listened to all of them yet.

Part III coming soon!

Badger x