Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or "hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s. The thing that makes happy hardcore stand apart from happy gabba, is that happy hardcore tends to have breakbeats running alongside the 4/4 kick drum.
Bouncy techno is a hardcore dance music rave style that developed in the early 1990s from Scotland and Northern England. Described as an accessible gabber-like form, it was popularised by Scottish DJ and music producer Scott Brown under numerous aliases.
Chris Samojlenko, better known as Anabolic Frolic and Chris Frolic, is a happy hardcore DJ from Canada who is known for the Happy 2b Hardcore CD series and the Hullabaloo! promotion he threw in Toronto, Ontario.
Scott Alexander Brown is a Glasgow-born Scottish disc jockey and music producer, now living in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Brown produces and plays a variety of genres, although he is most associated with bouncy techno. His music ranges from happy hardcore, through hard trance, to gabber. He is the founder of Evolution Records, which started in 1994.
DJ Sharkey is a British record producer, disc jockey and rapper. As of September 2011 he is semi-retired from music production and performance. Sharkey has performed in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan.
DJ Dougal, is a British UK Hardcore and Happy Hardcore artist and DJ.
Tom Wright, also known as Cube::Hard, Stargazer and Stereo Wildlife, among other aliases, is an English music engineer and record producer. Originally from Kent, England, he is currently taking a break from making music. He worked for RFUGrey as a producer in the late 2000s.
Darren James Mew, better known as Darren Styles, is an English record producer, DJ, singer and songwriter from Colchester, Essex, England. Originally a member of the breakbeat hardcore group DJ Force & the Evolution, Styles found success during the 1990s as one half of Force & Styles. The duo were pioneers of happy hardcore and wrote several well-known songs such as "Heart of Gold", "Pretty Green Eyes" and "Paradise & Dreams".
React Music Limited was a British independent record label, based in London, formed in 1990 by James Horrocks and Thomas Foley. James Horrocks was initially involved with successful dance music independent Rhythm King, and React pursued a similar approach — specifically electronic dance music, house music, acid house, techno and rave, along with newer "dance" oriented subgenres which emerged throughout the 1990s. These included hard house, tech house, trance, hardbag, happy hardcore, drum and bass and chill out.
Mark Breeze, also known as DJ Breeze, is a British DJ and producer of UK hardcore music. He is best known for his collaborations with Darren Styles as Styles & Breeze and the compilation mix series Clubland X-Treme Hardcore. He is also the founder of the label Infinity Recordings, running it from 1997 to 2003, when DJ Silver took over its operations.
This is the discography page for Darren Styles. It also includes the discography of his groups DJ Force & The Evolution, Force & Styles and Styles & Breeze. It also includes the peak chart performance of each album or single where applicable.
"You're Shining" is a 2004 song by DJ duo Styles & Breeze. It reached the top 20 in Finland and the United Kingdom. It features vocals by Lisa Abbott.
"Heart of Gold" is a song written and recorded by Force & Styles. It was first recorded and released on Force & Styles album All over the UK (1996) with the vocals by Jenna, and it was released as a single in 1998 with vocals by Kelly Llorenna. It is one of the most well known hardcore songs and was used as the name of Force & Styles's greatest hits album Heart of Gold. In 2002, Llorenna released a new version as her fourth solo single produced by Flip & Fill.
Clubland X-Treme Hardcore are a series of compilation albums from Clubland, released by Universal Music TV and AATW, that was initiated by DJ producers Hixxy and Styles. The series has been credited as a turning point in the popularity of the hardcore music scene.
Dowster or DJ Dowster, also known as David Thomas,, is a Welsh record producer, singer-songwriter and disc jockey from Cwmbran in South Wales. David has been involved in the rave scene since 1998 and his love of the music lead him to begin his DJ career in In 2001, Dowster was signed to Raver Baby Records by its owner DJ Hixxy to become part of the original Raver Baby Collective. This collective, known at the time as the RBC, included some of the UK Hardcore scene's leading DJs and MCs – Hixxy, Breeze, Darren Styles, UFO, MC Storm and MC Whizzkid. In addition to his DJ bookings and single releases within this period, Dowster's solo and collaborative studio projects can be found on certain volumes of the highly successful Bonkers series as well as other leading names in UK hardcore compilation albums. Three of his most popular tracks were "Starlight", "Steps Ahead" and "Here We Go".
Hixxy, or DJ Hixxy, is a British disc jockey and electronic music producer known for his innovative work in the UK happy hardcore scene, co-founding the Raver Baby record label, and the Bonkers compilation album series.
Happy 2b Hardcore is a DJ mix album by Canadian DJ Anabolic Frolic. It was released in 1997 on American breakbeat label Moonshine Music and is the first series in Frolic's Happy 2b Hardcore series of DJ mix albums, documenting the emergence of happy hardcore music in the United Kingdom and Europe. The series itself is a spin-off of Moonshine's Speed Limit 140 BPM+ series of fast-tempo dance music compilations. The album was conceived to introduce American audiences to happy hardcore, and contains sixteen of the genre's anthems which carry many of happy hardcore's defining characteristics, such as fast tempo, frantic breakbeats, major key tonality, off-kilter, quirky keyboard effects and "semi-melodies."
Matthew Lee, known professionally by his stage name Gammer, is an English music producer and DJ. He is best known for his association with UK hardcore, of which he is described as an icon. He is also the co-founder of the Together We Rise record label, which is dedicated to hardcore music.
"Party Don't Stop" is a song by English UK hardcore producers Darren Mew, Paul Clarke and Matthew Lee. Canadian record label Monstercat released it on 26 July 2017. The song was featured on the compilation album Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 2, released 25 August 2017.
"Toy Town" is a happy hardcore track by British duo DJ Hixxy and MC Sharkey. Released in 1995, the single was a hit in the UK clubbing scene, peaked at number 24 in the UK dance singles chart, and had a pivotal impact in the UK rave music scene with a move away from breakbeat towards the newer happy hardcore "cheesy" sound.
