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 gabber, is that happy hardcore tends to have breakbeats running alongside the 4/4 kick drum.
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.
Ultrabeat are a British electronic dance music group from Liverpool, England, formed in 2002. Originally consisting of vocalist and producer Mike 'Re-Con' Di Scala and producers Ian Redman and Chris Henry, Ultrabeat emerged with their cover of the Force & Styles song "Pretty Green Eyes", which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart 2003. With the addition of vocalist Rebecca Rudd in 2005, they released further singles, including top forty hits such as "Feelin' Fine", "Better than Life" and "Elysium ", followed by their début album Ultrabeat: The Album in 2007, which peaked at number eight on the UK Albums Chart
The Bonkers series was one of the leading happy hardcore compilation series in the UK. The first release was in 1996 on the record label React. It was available on 2xCD and 2xTC formats. DJs Sharkey and Hixxy were signed by React, and they released "Bonkers", the first in a series of albums that has become the best-selling hardcore compilation series of all time. As of 11 May 2009, the series had reached its nineteenth release, titled Bonkers: The Original Hardcore.
Flip & Fill are an English electronic dance music duo, based in Manchester, England, consisting of the producers/remixers, DJs Graham Turner and Mark Hall. They are signed to the Filtrate record label.
Darren James Mew, better known as Darren Styles, is an English music producer, DJ, singer and songwriter from Colchester, Essex. 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".
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.
"Pretty Green Eyes" is a song originally written and recorded by Force & Styles featuring Junior. An album mix appeared on their debut album, All Over the UK (1996), and the song was released as a 12-inch single in 1997. The song achieved mainstream popularity in 2003 when it was covered by Ultrabeat and peaked at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Sure Feels Good" is a song written and recorded by Ultrabeat and Darren Styles, released as a single in 2007. It was the first Styles/Ultrabeat collaboration since Ultrabeat covered "Pretty Green Eyes" and "Feelin' Fine" in 2003. The vocals are by Rebecca Rudd, also the singer on "Elysium ".
Clubland is a brand created by the UK dance record labels All Around the World and Universal Music TV. Since 2002 Clubland has made many dance compilation albums, including the popular Clubland series, which ended on the album, Clubland 2017, released on 4 November 2016. Clubland also hosts live events in various nightclubs and clubland Ibiza, and in 2008 many Clubland artists featured on the Clubland Night of Your Life arena tour. In January 2008, Clubland launched its own digital TV channel, Clubland TV.
"Paradise & Dreams" is a song written and recorded by producers Force & Styles, featuring Junior which originally appeared on their album All over the UK (1996) and was released as a single in 1997. Both members of Force & Styles would later record cover versions of the song at later dates, the first was by The Force in 2003 and another was by Ultrabeat versus Darren Styles which appeared on both artists début albums Ultrabeat: The Album (2007) and Skydivin' (2008).
"Pacific Sun" is a song originally written and recorded by Force & Styles featuring Junior. It was originally released on white label in 1997 and appeared on their greatest hits album Heart of Gold (2000). The song has also been covered numerous times with other versions recorded by Flip & Fill featuring Junior, Ultrabeat and Darren Styles
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.
"Discolights" is a song written and produced by Ultrabeat and Darren Styles, taken from Styles' debut solo album, Skydivin' and Ultrabeat's second album The Weekend Has Landed. The song combines the hardcore and commercial styles of the two artists. It was released on 23 June 2008 as a digital download; a physical single was released on 28 July 2008.
"Right By Your Side" is a song written and produced by N-Force and Darren Styles. The vocals are sung by Lois McConnell from N-Force and it was released on 9 June 2008 (the same month as Darren Styles and Ultrabeat released Discolights which peaked 23 in the UK.
"You're Shining" is a 2002 song by DJ duo Styles & Breeze. It reached the top 20 in Finland and the United Kingdom. It features vocals by Lisa Abbott.
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.
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.
