UK hard house or simply hard house is a style of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1990s and is synonymous with its association to the Trade club and the associated DJs there that created the style. It often features a speedy tempo (around 150 BPM but hard house ranges from around 135 BPM to around 165 BPM), offbeat bass stabs, hoovers and horns. It usually contains a break in the middle of the track where no drums are present. UK hard house often uses a long and sharp string note to create suspense. Most of the time, the drops are introduced by a drum roll .
95-615: Tidy Trax , currently known as Tidy , is a record label based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1995 by Andy Pickles and Amadeus Mozart, Tidy is known for promoting a style of hard house that is both fun and high tempo . It has featured a roster of hard house and trance artists, and hosts regular live events including the Tidy Weekender. Since 2005 the Tidy label also includes Tidy Two and Untidy . The Tidy Trax label
190-533: A German "rave establishment," spearheaded by the party organisation Mayday , with its record label Low Spirit , WestBam , Marusha , and a music channel called VIVA . At this time the German popular music charts were riddled with Low Spirit "pop-Tekno" German folk music reinterpretations of tunes such as "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and "Tears Don't Lie", many of which became hits. At the same time, in Frankfurt,
285-665: A Sunday morning session at Dorian Gray , a plush discothèque near the Frankfurt airport . They initially played a mix of different styles including Belgian new beat , Deep House , Chicago House, and synth-pop such as Kraftwerk and Yello and it was out of this blend of styles that the Frankfurt trance scene is believed to have emerged. In 1990, the Babalu Club , the first afterhours techno club in Germany, opened in Munich and
380-597: A TR909 drum machine. This was back when the Powerplant was open in Chicago, but before any of the Chicago DJs were making records. They were all into playing Italian imports; 'No UFOs' was the only U.S.-based independent record that they played. So Frankie Knuckles started using the 909 at his shows at the Powerplant. Boss had just brought out their little sampling footpedal, and somebody took one along there. Somebody
475-432: A commitment to the underground aesthetic of the music, or perhaps influenced by UR 's paramilitary posturing. In the same period, German DJs began intensifying the speed and abrasiveness of the sound, as an acid infused techno began transmuting into hardcore . DJ Tanith commented at the time that "Berlin was always hardcore, hardcore hippie , hardcore punk, and now we have a very hardcore house sound." This emerging sound
570-458: A decade later as "soulful grooves" melding the beat-centric styles of Motown with the music technology of the time. May described the sound of techno as something that is "...like Detroit...a complete mistake. It's like George Clinton and Kraftwerk are stuck in an elevator with only a sequencer to keep them company." Juan Atkins has stated that it is "music that sounds like technology, and not technology that sounds like music, meaning that most of
665-547: A form of "dance floor socialism," where the DJ was not placed in the middle and you "lose yourself in light and sound." As the techno sound evolved in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it also diverged to such an extent that a wide spectrum of stylistically distinct music was being referred to as techno. This ranged from relatively pop oriented acts such as Moby to the distinctly anti-commercial sentiments of Underground Resistance . Derrick May's experimentation on works such as Beyond
760-687: A new trend in clubs and discotheques. In 1988, the Ufo opened in West Berlin , an illegal venue for acid house parties, which existed until 1990. In Munich at this time, the Negerhalle (1983–1989) and the ETA-Halle established themselves as the first acid house clubs in temporarily used, dilapidated industrial halls, marking the beginning of the so-called "hall culture" in Germany. In July 1989 Dr. Motte and Danielle de Picciotto organized
855-550: A recording of clock tower bells. May explains: It all happened at the right time by mistake, and it didn't last because it wasn't supposed to last. Our careers took off right around the time we [the MI] had to close, and maybe it was the best thing. I think we were peaking – we were so full of energy and we didn't know who we were or [how to] realize our potential. We had no inhibitions, no standards, we just did it. That's why it came off so fresh and innovative, and that's why ... we got
950-401: A seminal work that is generally considered the first techno production. Of this time, Atkins has said: When I started Metroplex around February or March of '85 and released "No UFO's," I thought I was just going to make my money back on it, but I wound up selling between 10,000 and 15,000 copies. I had no idea that my record would happen in Chicago. Derrick's parents had moved there, and he
1045-519: A single label called Tidy. Also in 2005, the Ministry of Sound released a Euphoria compilation focused on the Tidy sound, which peaked at number 10 in the UK official compilation chart. An album, featuring various artists, celebrating 20 years of the Tidy label peaked at number 11 in the UK official dance album chart in 2015. In 2021 Tidy celebrated its 25-year anniversary with its 18th live event held at
SECTION 10
#17328012738581140-461: A superior example of the music he envisioned. Inspired, he resolved to continue experimenting, and he encouraged Saunderson and May to do likewise. Eventually, Atkins started producing his own music under the pseudonym Model 500 , and in 1985 he established the record label Metroplex . The same year saw an important turning point for the Detroit scene with the release of Model 500's " No UFO's ,"
1235-401: A supposed alternative was a music characterized by Simon Reynolds as "moribund, middlebrow Electro-Trance music, as represented by Frankfurt's own Sven Väth and his Harthouse label." Illegal raves, however, regained importance in the German techno scene as a countermovement to the commercial mass raves in the mid-1990s. In Germany, fans started to refer to the harder techno sound emerging in
1330-519: A techno supergroup called Intellex. But, when the group were on the verge of finalising their contract, May allegedly refused to agree to Top of the Pops appearances and negotiations collapsed. According to May, ZTT label boss Trevor Horn had envisaged that the trio would be marketed as a "black Petshop Boys ." Despite Virgin Records ' disappointment with the poor sales of Rushton's compilation,
1425-639: A term already existed in Germany but was to a large extent undefined. Dimitri Hegemann has stated that the Frankfurt definition of techno associated with Talla's Technoclub differed from that used in Berlin. Frankfurt's Armin Johnert viewed techno as having its roots in acts such DAF, Cabaret Voltaire , and Suicide , but a younger generation of club goers had a perception of the older EBM and Industrial as handed down and outdated. The Berlin scene offered an alternative and many began embracing an imported sound that
1520-778: A third member, Jon-5) as Cybotron. This trio released a number of rock and electro-inspired tunes, the most successful of which were Clear (1983) and its moodier followup, "Techno City" (1984). Atkins used the term techno to describe Cybotron's music, taking inspiration from Futurist author Alvin Toffler, the original source for words such as cybotron and metroplex . Atkins has described earlier synthesizer based acts like Kraftwerk as techno, although many would consider both Kraftwerk's and Juan's Cybotron outputs as electro. Atkins viewed Cybotron's Cosmic Cars (1982) as unique, Germanic, synthesized funk, but he later heard Afrika Bambaataa 's " Planet Rock " (1982) and considered it to be
1615-452: A time was the standard bearer for techno and played host to many of the leading Detroit producers, some of whom had relocated to Berlin. The club brought new life to the careers of Detroit artists such as Santonio Echols, Eddie Fowlkes and Blake Baxter, who played there alongside established Berlin DJs such as Dr. Motte and Tanith. According to Dan Sicko, "Germany's growing scene in the early 1990s
1710-425: A year, however, up to 10,000 people at a time were attending the first commercially organized mass parties, called raves , and a media storm ensued. The success of house and acid house paved the way for wider acceptance of the Detroit sound, and vice versa: techno was initially supported by a handful of house music clubs in Chicago, New York, and Northern England, with London clubs catching up later; but in 1987, it
1805-627: Is a hard house night that started in Manchester promoted by the same people behind the club nights Sin:ergy and PureFilth! Launched in May 2019, Resurrection 1 had a lineup featuring Rob Tissera , Ilogik, Dynamic Intervention, JP & Jukesy, Tim Clewz, Casper, Little Miss Natalie, Frank Farrell and resident DJs. In December 2019 was Resurrection 2, featuring Lab 4 LIVE, Defective Audio, Eufex, Jon Hemming, Joe Longbottom, Bass Jumper, Jodie Rose and many more. Donk , also known as Bounce or Hard Bounce,
1900-524: Is a regular live event organised and hosted by the Tidy label that has a roster of dance music performances, and has featured acts such as Judge Jules , Rob Tissera , Anne Savage and Fergie . The first event was held over a 3-day period in 2002, at the Pontins park in Prestatyn , which was also the venue for the 25th anniversary event in 2021. The 20th anniversary of the Tidy label occurred in 2015 and
1995-595: Is a style of UK Hard House "featuring an upbeat, energetic sound and a heavy focus on the 'pipe' sample as an offbeat bassline". There is debate about Donk's origin, but the sounds are thought to have come from the Netherlands in the 1990s. The name itself is a neologism, derived from the scene in the UK. In the UK, the style originated in North West England , around towns and cities such as Wigan , Liverpool , Bolton , Blackburn , and Burnley , and
SECTION 20
#17328012738582090-529: Is an intermediate term and a local variant of the early scouse house scene, which was popular in Russia and Spain in the late 1990s to early 2000s. The genre takes start when the Dutch duo Klubbheads invented so called bamboo-bass in the track Ultimate Seduction - "A Walking Nightmare (Klubbheads GP Mix)" in 1997. Years later the genre gave birth to Britain's donk scene and Spain scene poky . Pumping house
2185-401: Is considered a classic in both the house and techno genres. Juan Atkins also believes that the first acid house producers, seeking to distance house music from disco, emulated the techno sound. Atkins also suggests that the Chicago house sound developed as a result of Frankie Knuckles ' using a drum machine he bought from Derrick May. He claims: Derrick sold Chicago DJ Frankie Knuckles
2280-550: Is more new music being released in the hardstyle scene. . Techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set , with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (BPM). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat . Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines , sequencers , and synthesizers , as well as digital audio workstations . Drum machines from
2375-469: Is often credited as the "godfather of UK hard house". De Vit died in 1998, shortly after "the Dawn" was released by Tidy Trax, as a result of his contracting HIV. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the death of De Vit, in 2023 Tidy Trax released a compilation of remixes of De Vit's tunes, "TDV25 - The Remixes", by artists including Eats Everything , Nicole Moudaber , and Hannah Laing . The Tidy Weekender
2470-473: Is the influence of futuristic and science-fiction themes relevant to life in contemporary American society, with Alvin Toffler 's book The Third Wave a notable point of reference. The music produced in the mid-to-late 1980s by Juan Atkins , Derrick May , and Kevin Saunderson (collectively known as The Belleville Three ), along with Eddie Fowlkes , Blake Baxter , James Pennington and others
2565-415: Is thought to have been influenced by Dutch gabber and Belgian hardcore; styles that were in their own perverse way paying homage to Underground Resistance and Richie Hawtin's Plus 8 Records . Other influences on the development of this style were European electronic body music (EBM) groups of the mid-1980s such as DAF , Front 242 , and Nitzer Ebb . Changes were also taking place in Frankfurt during
2660-540: Is used as an interchangeable term for scouse house in Russia, Spain and Poland. Hardbass ( Russian : хардбасс ) is a development of pumping house, that originated in Russia in the early 2000s. Hard NRG is a genre that emerged from trance and UK hard house that gained popularity on the rave scenes. The genre is distinguished by the offbeat bass patterns that were inspired from Hi-NRG , which were added over darker and more anthemic trance beats and synths. Though lacking
2755-527: Is viewed as the first wave of techno from Detroit. After the success of house music in a number of European countries , techno grew in popularity in the United Kingdom , Germany , Belgium and the Netherlands . In Europe regional variants quickly evolved and by the early 1990s techno subgenres such as acid , hardcore , bleep , ambient , and dub techno had developed. Music journalists and fans of techno are generally selective in their use of
2850-580: The Midnight Funk Association , an eclectic five-hour late-night radio program hosted on various Detroit radio stations, including WCHB , WGPR , and WJLB-FM from 1977 through the mid-1980s by DJ Charles " The Electrifying Mojo " Johnson. Mojo's show featured electronic music by artists such as Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Tangerine Dream , alongside the funk sounds of acts such as Parliament Funkadelic and dance oriented new wave music by bands like Devo and
2945-544: The Bigod 20 collective. While this early work was strongly characterized as experimental electronic music fused with strong EBM, krautrock , synth-pop and technopop influences, the later work during the mid and late 1980s clearly transitioned to a clear techno sound. By 1987 a German party scene based around the Chicago sound was well established. In the late 1980s, acid house also established itself in West Germany as
Tidy Trax - Misplaced Pages Continue
3040-497: The Dorian Gray club in 1987. Talla's club spot served as the hub for the regional EBM and electronic music scene, and according to Jürgen Laarmann , of Frontpage magazine, it had historical merit in being the first club in Germany to play almost exclusively EDM. Inspired by Talla's music selection, in the early 80s several young artists from Frankfurt started to experiment on cassette tapes with electronic music coming from
3135-522: The Netherlands and Belgium . The growth of techno's popularity in Europe between 1988 and 1992 was largely due to the emergence of the rave scene and a thriving club culture. In the United States during the early 90s, apart from regional scenes in Detroit, New York City , Chicago and Orlando, interest in techno was limited. Many Detroit based producers, frustrated by the lack of opportunity in
3230-429: The Pontins holiday park in Prestatyn . In 2023 Tidy published a photobook, "The Cult of Tidy Volume One: 1995-2005", detailing the history of the label up to 2005. The label is often credited by the dance music press of being a major innovator in the dance music scene, with its promotion of "fun" events and c. 135 BPM beats. The Tidy Trax label regularly released the music of British DJ Tony De Vit , who
3325-521: The 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular. Much of the instrumentation in techno is used to emphasize the role of rhythm over other musical aspects . Vocals and melodies are uncommon. The use of sound synthesis in developing distinctive timbres tends to feature more prominently. Typical harmonic practices found in other forms of music are often ignored in favor of repetitive sequences of notes. More generally
3420-538: The B-52's . Atkins has noted: He [Mojo] played all the Parliament and Funkadelic that anybody ever wanted to hear. Those two groups were really big in Detroit at the time. In fact, they were one of the main reasons why disco didn't really grab hold in Detroit in '79. Mojo used to play a lot of funk just to be different from all the other stations that had gone over to disco. When ' Knee Deep ' came out, that just put
3515-537: The City Music record store, mixing the latest catalogue with additional electronic sounds and pitched BPM. This became known as the Frankfurt tape scene. The Frankfurt tape scene evolved around the early and experimental work done by the likes of Tobias Freund, Uwe Schmidt , Lars Müller and Martin Schopf. Some of the work done by Andreas Tomalla, Markus Nikolai and Thomas Franzmann evolved in collaborative work under
3610-481: The Dance (1989) and The Beginning (1990) were credited with taking techno "in dozens of new directions at once and having the kind of expansive impact John Coltrane had on Jazz". The Birmingham -based label Network Records label was instrumental in introducing Detroit techno to British audiences. By the early 1990s, the original techno sound had garnered a large underground following in the United Kingdom , Germany,
3705-493: The Detroit scene led to the opening of a nightclub called the Music Institute (MI), located at 1315 Broadway in downtown Detroit. The venue was secured by George Baker and Alton Miller with Darryl Wynn and Derrick May participating as Friday night DJs, and Baker and Chez Damier playing to a mostly gay crowd on Saturday nights. The club closed on 24 November 1989, with Derrick May playing "Strings of Life" along with
3800-551: The European synthesizer tradition. He also identified Japanese synth-pop act Yellow Magic Orchestra , particularly member Ryuichi Sakamoto , and British band Ultravox , as influences, along with Kraftwerk. YMO's song " Technopolis " (1979), a tribute to Tokyo as an electronic mecca, is considered an "interesting contribution" to the development of Detroit techno, foreshadowing concepts that Atkins and Davis would later explore with Cybotron. Kevin Saunderson has also acknowledged
3895-681: The Mastermixers group between 1986 and 2002. Releasing music under the pseudonyms the Handbaggers and Hyperlogic , Amadeus Mozart and Andy Pickles did not officially use the name the Tidy Boys until 1999. Between 1999 and 2006 The Tidy Boys were regular performers at festivals, music venues and night clubs around the UK and across the rest of the world playing locations such as Australia, New York, Las Vegas, Tokyo, South Africa, Ibiza, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Norway & Finland. In 2005/6
Tidy Trax - Misplaced Pages Continue
3990-523: The Mayday mix (for the show Street Beat on Detroit's WJLB radio station) and run Transmat records. Commercially, the release did not fare as well and failed to recoup , but Inner City's production " Big Fun " (1988), a track that was almost not included on the compilation, became a crossover hit in fall 1988. The record was also responsible for bringing industry attention to May, Atkins and Saunderson, which led to discussions with ZTT records about forming
4085-509: The Mint Club and at Church. One of London's most popular and frequent hard house nights, Frantic was launched in 1997 by then-history teacher Will Paterson, who wanted to create a night based purely on the harder sounds that formed part of the night at clubs like Sunnyside Up and The Garage at Heaven . “I started Frantic as I wanted to go to a night for clubbers like me that preferred the ferocious hoover led sounds of Tony De Vit rather than
4180-632: The Soundshaft nightclub (next to Heaven in Charing Cross ) and The Fridge in Brixton . Manchester's longest-running hard house club night, launched in October 2000 and ran every Friday at The Phoenix until 2003. In 2003 Sin:ergy moved to a monthly event at club North (under Afflecks Place). With the tag line was... "All Nations, All Persuasions" Sin:ergy and welcomed anyone and everyone, it
4275-546: The Tidy Boys headlined key festivals such as Creamfields, Godskitchen Global Gathering, Escape Into The Park, Planet Love Festival and Dance Valley. The Tidy Trax label, based in Leeds, was at the forefront of the hard house scene, specifically the years 1998 to 2005. The brand struggled in the late 2000s to keep going financially with dwindling sales (through its Tidy record label) and poor attendance figures to events. During
4370-519: The Tidy Girls, a collaboration between Lisa Lashes , Anne Savage , Rachel Auburn , and Lisa Pin-Up . The Tidy Girls eponymous release achieved success in the UK official singles chart . The cover CD of the February 2003 issue of Mixmag featured a "Tidy vs Frantic" mix between DJs Paul Maddox and Tom Harding. In 2005 Tidy Trax merged with its sister labels, Tidy Two and Untidy Trax, to form
4465-450: The US, looked to Europe for a future livelihood. This first wave of Detroit expatriates was soon joined by a so-called "second wave" that included Carl Craig, Octave One , Jay Denham, Kenny Larkin , Stacey Pullen , and UR 's Jeff Mills , Mike Banks , and Robert Hood . In the same period, close to Detroit ( Windsor, Ontario ), Richie Hawtin , with business partner John Acquaviva , launched
4560-475: The X-tasy Dance Project, were organizing the first large scale rave events in Germany. This development would lead to a permanent move away from the sound associated with Techno-House and toward a hard edged mix of music that came to define Tanith and Wolle's Tekknozid parties. According to Wolle it was an "out and out rejection of disco values," instead they created a "sound storm" and encouraged
4655-562: The best of the best. Though short-lived, MI was known internationally for its all-night sets, its sparse white rooms, and its juice bar stocked with " smart drinks " (the Institute never served liquor). The MI, notes Dan Sicko, along with Detroit's early techno pioneers, "helped give life to one of the city's important musical subcultures – one that was slowly growing into an international scene." In 1982, while working at Frankfurt's City Music record store, DJ Talla 2XLC started to use
4750-418: The brand. PureFilth! was a hard dance club based in Manchester for clubbers who liked their music extra hard, the night was setup and run by Stuart Moir (an original Sin:ergy promoter). PureFilth! started as a monthly Thursday night @ Club Phoenix and quickly progressed to a monthly Saturday which we moved to The Park Nightclub, Manchester and a monthly student night (Thursday) at Scubar, Manchester. PureFilth!
4845-415: The compilation put techno into the lexicon of music journalism in the UK, the music was initially viewed as Detroit's interpretation of Chicago house rather than as a separate genre. The compilation's working title had been The House Sound of Detroit until the addition of Atkins' song "Techno Music" prompted reconsideration. Rushton was later quoted as saying he, Atkins, May, and Saunderson came up with
SECTION 50
#17328012738584940-677: The compilation's final name together, and that the Belleville Three voted down calling the music some kind of regional brand of house; they instead favored a term they were already using, techno . Derrick May views this as one of his busiest times and recalls that it was a period where he I was working with Carl Craig , helping Kevin, helping Juan, trying to put Neil Rushton in the right position to meet everybody, trying to get Blake Baxter endorsed so that everyone liked him, trying to convince Shake ( Anthony Shakir ) that he should be more assertive... and keep making music as well as do
5035-635: The creation of techno is heavily dependent on music production technology . Use of the term "techno" to refer to a type of electronic music originated in Germany in the early 1980s. In 1988, following the UK release of the compilation Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit , the term came to be associated with a form of EDM produced in Detroit . Detroit techno resulted from the melding of synth-pop by artists such as Kraftwerk , Giorgio Moroder and Yellow Magic Orchestra with African-American music such as house , electro , and funk . Added to this
5130-551: The death of Tony De Vit – one of the original pioneers of hard house. It is also known for hosting the Tidy Weekender ; three-day party events which were held from Friday to Sunday at Pontins resorts in Prestatyn, Camber Sands, and Southport. Launched in 2000, Storm regularly attracted up to 2000 clubbers in its heyday, and people came from as far as Bournemouth, Edinburgh and Belfast. The remoteness of Coalville made
5225-490: The early '90s — where he soon became a resident DJ. De Vit is often cited as the "godfather of UK hard house". Certain brands have reached legendary status with die-hard hard house fans, such as Birmingham based Sundissential and the record label Tidy Trax who also branched out in the early 2000s into putting on club events, including the Tidy Weekender 3 day events. Clubbers are known to travel cross-country to some parties. The venues associated with certain brands are almost
5320-589: The early 1990s as Tekkno (or Brett ). This alternative spelling, with varying numbers of k s, began as a tongue-in-cheek attempt to emphasize the music's hardness, but by the mid-1990s it came to be associated with a controversial point of view that the music was and perhaps always had been wholly separate from Detroit's techno , deriving instead from a 1980s EBM-oriented club scene cultivated in part by DJ/musician Talla 2XLC in Frankfurt. At some point tension over "who defines techno" arose between scenes in Frankfurt and Berlin. DJ Tanith has expressed that Techno as
5415-495: The early locations where the musical form was nurtured. Of the four individuals responsible for establishing techno as a genre in its own right, Juan Atkins is widely cited as "The Originator". In 1995, the American music technology publication Keyboard Magazine honored him as one of 12 Who Count in the history of keyboard music. In the early 1980s, Atkins began recording with musical partner Richard Davis (and later with
5510-693: The first Love Parade in West Berlin, just a few months before the Fall of the Berlin Wall . Following the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 and the German reunification in October 1990, free underground techno parties mushroomed in East Berlin . East German DJ Paul van Dyk has remarked that techno was a major force in reestablishing social connections between East and West Germany during
5605-641: The first DJ in Germany to be worshipped like a rock star. He performed center stage with his fans facing him, and as co-owner of Omen, he is believed to have been the first techno DJ to run his own club. One of the few real alternatives then was The Bruckenkopf in Mainz , underneath a Rhine bridge, a venue that offered a non-commercial alternative to Frankfurt's discothèque -based clubs. Other notable underground parties were those run by Force Inc. Music Works and Ata & Heiko from Playhouse records ( Ongaku Musik ). By 1992 DJ Dag & Torsten Fenslau were running
5700-519: The following year. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, high school clubs such as Brats, Charivari, Ciabattino, Comrades, Gables, Hardwear, Rafael, Rumours, Snobs, and Weekends allowed the young promoters to develop and nurture a local dance music scene. As the local scene grew in popularity, DJs began to band together to market their mixing skills and sound systems to clubs that were hoping to attract larger audiences. Local church activity centers, vacant warehouses, offices, and YMCA auditoriums were
5795-430: The forefront of the hard house scene, with several deaths of clubbers, as well as the antics of the promoter Paul Madden, a.k.a. "Madders", which created gossip amongst fans online on Leeds based clubbing forums, biscuitmonsters.com and 4clubbers.net and kept the brand firmly in the spotlight until the doors closed in 2005. In 2016, the brand was relaunched under new management and began putting on events again in Leeds, at
SECTION 60
#17328012738585890-530: The increasing affordability of sequencers and synthesizers, merged a European synth-pop aesthetic with aspects of soul , funk, disco, and electro, pushing EDM into uncharted terrain. They deliberately rejected the Motown legacy and traditional formulas of R&B and soul, and instead embraced technological experimentation. Within the last 5 years or so, the Detroit underground has been experimenting with technology, stretching it rather than simply using it. As
5985-525: The influence of Europe but he claims to have been more inspired by the idea of making music with electronic equipment: "I was more infatuated with the idea that I can do this all myself." These early Detroit techno artists additionally employed science fiction imagery to articulate their visions of a transformed society. Prior to achieving notoriety, Atkins, Saunderson, May, and Fowlkes shared common interests as budding musicians, "mix" tape traders, and aspiring DJs. They also found musical inspiration via
6080-401: The influence of Kraftwerk and other European synthesizer music in commenting that "it was just classy and clean, and to us it was beautiful, like outer space. Living around Detroit, there was so little beauty... everything is an ugly mess in Detroit, and so we were attracted to this music. It, like, ignited our imagination!". May has commented that he considered his music a direct continuation of
6175-578: The last nail in the coffin of disco music. Despite the short-lived disco boom in Detroit, it had the effect of inspiring many individuals to take up mixing, Juan Atkins among them. Subsequently, Atkins taught May how to mix records, and in 1981, "Magic Juan", Derrick "Mayday", in conjunction with three other DJ's, one of whom was Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes, launched themselves as a party crew called Deep Space Soundworks (also referred to as Deep Space). In 1980 or 1981, they met with Mojo and proposed that they provide mixes for his show, which they did end up doing
6270-399: The mid-2010s, however, the brand has had a huge resurgence and revitalized the UK hard house scene putting on huge events across the UK has been possible due to the fans being able to reconnect with the brand through the Tidy Boys official Facebook page and growing social media presence. Tidy is known for its sell-out club nights and one-off events such as TDV20 – a 20-year memorial event of
6365-827: The music played at warehouse parties was predominantly house. That same year, the Balearic party vibe associated with Ibiza-based DJ Alfredo Fiorito was transported to London, when Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold opened the clubs Shoom and Spectrum, respectively. Both night spots quickly became synonymous with acid house, and it was during this period that the use of MDMA , as a party drug, started to gain prominence. Other important UK clubs at this time included Back to Basics in Leeds , Sheffield's Leadmill and Music Factory, and in Manchester The Haçienda , where Mike Pickering and Graeme Park's Friday night spot, Nude,
6460-525: The music you listen to is made with technology, whether you know it or not. But with techno music, you know it." One of the first Detroit productions to receive wider attention was Derrick May's " Strings of Life " (1987), which, together with May's previous release, "Nude Photo" (1987), helped raise techno's profile in Europe, especially the UK and Germany, during the 1987–1988 house music boom (see Second Summer of Love ). It became May's best known track, which, according to Frankie Knuckles, "just exploded. It
6555-475: The price of sequencers and synthesizers has dropped, so the experimentation has become more intense. Basically, we're tired of hearing about being in love or falling out, tired of the R&;B system, so a new progressive sound has emerged. We call it techno! The resulting Detroit sound was interpreted by Derrick May and one journalist in 1988 as a "post-soul" sound with no debt to Motown , but by another journalist
6650-414: The producer's own album E=MC . Atkins also mentions that "around 1980, I had a tape of nothing but Kraftwerk, Telex , Devo , Giorgio Moroder and Gary Numan , and I'd ride around in my car playing it." Regarding his initial impression of Kraftwerk, Atkins notes that they were "clean and precise" relative to the "weird UFO sounds" featured in his seemingly " psychedelic " music. Derrick May identified
6745-457: The record was successful in establishing an identity for techno and was instrumental in creating a platform in Europe for both the music and its producers. Ultimately, the release served to distinguish the Detroit sound from Chicago house and other forms of underground dance music that were emerging during the rave era of the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period during which techno became more adventurous and distinct. In mid-1988, developments in
6840-479: The same period but it did not share the egalitarian approach found in the Berlin party scene. It was instead very much centered around discothèques and existing arrangements with various club owners. In 1988, after the Omen opened, the Frankfurt dance music scene was allegedly dominated by the club's management and they made it difficult for other promoters to get a start. By the early 1990s Sven Väth had become perhaps
6935-744: The softer hardbag sounds" he said in a 2005 article. "I didn’t see why the night couldn’t be tough from the beginning and knew loads of clubbers who felt the same. I got into hard house by accident.” Frantic would go on to host hundreds of events, including regular sold-out shows at the 4500-capacity Brixton Academy . From the mid-1990s to early 2000s, club nights included Fish!, Superfish!, and Warriors at Turnmills . Hard house and hard NRG artists and DJs at these venues included Captain Tinrib, D.F.Q., Ben Javlin, Steve Thomas, Steve Hill, Rubec, Simon Eve, Pete Wardman , Dave Randall, Johnnie "RR" Fierce, Karim, Chris "Drum Head" Edwards, and Weirdo. Other venues were
7030-585: The stuff of legend themselves and are remembered fondly and given almost cult status by veteran ravers. For example: The Tidy brand began in 1995, when Amadeus Mozart and Andy Pickles formed the record label known as Tidy Trax , with its first release, the Handbaggers' " U Found Out ", sampling Minnesota R&B group the Jets 1986 release " Crush on You ", which peaked at number 55 on the UK Singles Chart . Pickles previously performed as Jive Bunny and
7125-470: The techno imprint Plus 8 Records. A number of New York producers also made an impression in Europe at this time, most notably Frankie Bones , Lenny Dee, and Joey Beltram . These developments in American-produced techno between 1990 and 1992 fueled the expansion and eventual divergence of techno in Europe, particularly in Germany. In Berlin , the club Tresor which had opened in 1991 for
7220-415: The term techno to categorize artists such as Depeche Mode , Front 242 , Heaven 17 , Kraftwerk and New Order , with the word used as shorthand for technologically created dance music. Talla's categorization became a point of reference for other DJs, including Sven Väth . Talla further popularized the term in Germany when he founded Technoclub at Frankfurt's No Name Club in 1984, which later moved to
7315-555: The term, so a clear distinction can be made between sometimes related but often qualitatively different styles, such as tech house and trance . In exploring Detroit techno's origins, writer Kodwo Eshun maintains that "Kraftwerk are to techno what Muddy Waters is to the Rolling Stones : the authentic, the origin, the real." Juan Atkins has acknowledged that he had an early enthusiasm for Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder , particularly Moroder's work with Donna Summer and
7410-402: The trance melodies it has more of a rhythmic structure. Hard house is similar to, but distinct from hardstyle . Confusion can sometimes arise as some club nights and events will play both hardstyle and hard house. This may be because hardstyle is quite well known across western Europe, whereas hard house has only ever had a limited audience outside of the UK, Australia and South Africa, so there
7505-712: The unification period. In the now reunified Berlin, several locations opened near the foundations of the Berlin Wall in the former eastern part of the city from 1991 onwards: the Tresor (est. 1991), the Planet (1991–1993), the Bunker (1992–1996), and the E-Werk (1993–1997). It was in Tresor at this time that a trend in paramilitary clothing was established (amongst the techno fraternity) by DJ Tanith ; possibly as an expression of
7600-463: The venue tricky to get to, as there were no buses there which run on a Sunday and no local train station, meaning that the majority of clubbers who made it to Storm each week were usually die-hard ravers and for this reason, the brand and the venue had a cult following and very quickly reached legendary status amongst hard house fans. Originally held at Pulse in Birmingham, the sheer popularity of
7695-463: The weekly Midlands-based, self-styled "Most Outrageous Club in the World" saw it quickly set up its second base in Leeds – firstly, at Club Uropa from 1998 till 2000 and then Evolution from 2000 till 2005. Known for its cult following by fans who would wear elaborate and often home-made outfits, largely made from red and yellow fluff. Several controversial and tragic incidents kept Sundissential firmly at
7790-408: Was "Strings of Life" which eased London club-goers into acceptance of house, according to DJ Mark Moore. The mid-1988 UK release of Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit , an album compiled by ex- Northern Soul DJ and Kool Kat Records boss Neil Rushton (at the time an A&R scout for Virgin's "10 Records" imprint) and Derrick May, introduced of the word techno to UK audiences. Although
7885-428: Was a place all about the music no matter what the colour of your skin or sexual orientation. Sin:ergy welcomed artists such as; Tidy Boys, Karim, RR Fierce, Sterling Moss, Ilogik, Lab 4 and many more and boasted Paul Glazby and Ian M as resident DJs. Originally founded by Jeremy Couzins and joined by Stuart Moir in late 2000. In 2003 Stuart founded spinoff night PureFilth! and Sinergy was later sold to Lord K who still owns
7980-402: Was a place for the formation of the southern German techno scene, where protagonists such as DJ Hell , Monika Kruse , Tom Novy or Woody came together. In 1993–94 rave became a mainstream music phenomenon in Germany, seeing with it a return to "melody, New Age elements, insistently kitsch harmonies and timbres". This undermining of the German underground sound lead to the consolidation of
8075-473: Was an important proving ground for American underground dance music . Acid house party fever escalated in London and Manchester, and it quickly became a cultural phenomenon. MDMA-fueled club goers, faced with 2 A.M. closing hours, sought refuge in the warehouse party scene that ran all night. To escape the attention of the press and the authorities, this after-hours activity quickly went underground. Within
8170-522: Was being referred to as Techno-House. The move away from EBM had started in Berlin when acid house became popular, thanks to Monika Dietl's radio show on SFB 4 . Tanith distinguished acid-based dance music from the earlier approaches, whether it be DAF or Nitzer Ebb, because the latter was aggressive, he felt that it epitomized "being against something," but of acid house he said, "it's electronic, it's fun it's nice." By Spring 1990, Tanith, along with Wolle XDP , an East-Berlin party organizer responsible for
8265-613: Was celebrated at a Tidy Weekender in Southport . In 2023 Pontins closed down the holiday park in Prestatyn, which had a significant impact on the Tidy "wet and wild weekender" which was to be held there. Other live events promoted by the label include the "Cult of Tidy" tour. Hard house Hard house has its immediate roots primarily in Belgian and German techno , American disco-sample based house music , handbag house and early trance . UK producer and label owner John Truelove
8360-632: Was first known as Scouse House or Bounce - as it spread out of the area and became more mainstream, it became known as Donk. "Donk" was the name given to the "particularly rubbery, rebounding thwack" sound that predominated Donk tracks and became "the umbrella term for the genres that feature it". In other parts of Europe, the versions of Donk are known as bumping and poky (Spain); in Russia, as Hardbass . Critic Simon Reynolds drew comparisons with American regional hip hop styles, such as bounce , crunk , hyphy , snap and juke music Pumping house (or bumping )
8455-565: Was founded in 1995 by Rotherham-based Andy Pickles and Amadeus Mozart, who are also jointly known as DJ producers the Tidy Boys . Pickles had previously worked on the Jive Bunny series of records, the financial success of which supported the foundation of the Tidy Trax label. The label was at the forefront of the UK hard house and trance scenes in the 1990s and early 2000s, both running live events and releasing over 350 records. Tidy Trax
8550-411: Was like something you can't imagine, the kind of power and energy people got off that record when it was first heard. Mike Dunn says he has no idea how people can accept a record that doesn't have a bassline." By 1988, house music had exploded in the UK, and acid house was increasingly popular. There was also a long-established warehouse party subculture based around the sound system scene. In 1988,
8645-410: Was making regular trips between Detroit and Chicago. So when I came out with 'No UFO's,' he took copies out to Chicago and gave them to some DJs, and it just happened. The music's producers, especially May and Saunderson, admit to having been fascinated by the Chicago club scene and influenced by house in particular. May's 1987 hit " Strings of Life " (released under the alias Rhythim Is Rhythim [sic])
8740-752: Was on the mic, and they sampled that and played it over the drumtrack pattern. Having got the drum machine and the sampler, they could make their own tunes to play at parties. One thing just led to another, and Chip E used the 909 to make his own record, and from then on, all these DJs in Chicago borrowed that 909 to come out with their own records. In the UK, a club following for house music grew steadily from 1985, with interest sustained by scenes in London, Manchester, Nottingham, and later Sheffield and Leeds. The DJs thought to be responsible for house's early UK success include Mike Pickering , Mark Moore , Colin Faver , and Graeme Park (DJ) . The early producers, enabled by
8835-469: Was quoted as saying of hard house's origins: "I would say that tunes such as XVX's "Tremorra Del Terra" and Interactive's "Amok" (essentially the same tune) were absolutely defining moments. Early German trance led directly to what Daz Saund and Trevor Rockcliffe were playing at Trade." Tony De Vit was one of the key DJs to codify and popularise the hard house sound (earlier often referred to as 'hardbag'), taking inspiration from his early visits to Trade in
8930-478: Was reported to have sold over a million records in one year. From 2005 the popularity of the Tidy sound did wane, however the label had maintained a core underground fanbase and in the 2020s a resurgence in popularity has been reported. Artists that have been featured by the label include Andy Farley, Tony De Vit , Steve Blake , Lee Haslam , the Tidy Boys, Rob Tissera , Eats Everything , Charlotte de Witte , Hannah Laing , and Josh Butler. Other artists included
9025-514: Was the only club night in the north and one of the first in the UK that solely concentrated on the harder side of house, in its day PureFilth! had a hardcore following putting on events packed with DJs with the 1st birthday being a highlight of many people clubbing history... 14 hours, 2 venues and 20 artists including; Captain Tinrib LIVE, Paul Glazby, Energy UK DJs, Ben Stevens, Nik Denton, JP & Jukesy, Tim Clewz and many more. Resurrection
#857142