Top Buzz

Last updated

Top Buzz
OriginLondon, United Kingdom
Genres House, breakbeat hardcore, jungle
Years active1988–2023
LabelsBasement Records
Past members
  • Mad P
  • Mikee B
  • Jason Kaye

Top Buzz were a British breakbeat hardcore and jungle DJ/MC crew.

Contents

History

Top Buzz were originally formed in 1988 by MC Patrick Jarrett ("Mad P"), DJ Mikee B and DJ Jason Kaye. All originate from areas in north London, Tottenham and Enfield respectively. [1] [2]

They were one of the first to popularise the term jungle techno, meaning to encompass both jungle and techno influences as it began to emerge from the hardcore sound from 1991. They released Livin' in Darkness on Basement Records in 1992, which encapsulates much of the flavour of the era. They were headline performers at Amnesia House, Fantazia, Universe, Dreamscape and Obsession events, amongst many others.

A distinct feature was the ragga MCing of MC Patrick, strongly influenced by Jamaican dancehall. Patrick often referred to the team as "Two Blacks and a Bubble", a reference to their ethnic origins, with 'bubble' referring to Bubble and Squeak, the Cockney rhyming slang for Greek (Kaye is of Greek Cypriot descent). [3]

Mikee B moved on to become part of UK garage outfit Dreem Teem, with a slot on BBC Radio 1 until May 2005. [4]

Jason Kaye went on to become a successful and influential DJ, producer and promoter of UK garage. His record label, Social Circles, is widely considered to be one of the best underground record labels in the UK, and he founded the 'Garage Nation' series of events with Terry Turbo.

Patrick Jarrett studied to become a chef, a trade that he is still doing today. Jarrett is the son of Cynthia Jarrett, who died in the Broadwater Farm Estate riots in London in 1985. [5]

Mad P and Kaye were still performing as Top Buzz, up until Kaye died on 11 March 2023. [6] [7]

Selected discography

Selected singles/EPs

Selected mixes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drum and bass</span> Type of electronic music

Drum and bass is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s.

Breakbeat hardcore is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In addition to the inclusion of breakbeats, the genre also features shuffled drum machine patterns, hoover, and other noises originating from new beat and Belgian techno, sounds from acid house and bleep techno, and often upbeat house piano riffs and vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rave</span> Dance party

A rave is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance music scene when DJs played at illegal events in musical styles dominated by electronic dance music from a wide range of sub-genres, including drum and bass, dubstep, trap, break, happy hardcore, trance, techno, hardcore, house, and alternative dance. Occasionally live musicians have been known to perform at raves, in addition to other types of performance artists such as go-go dancers and fire dancers. The music is amplified with a large, powerful sound reinforcement system, typically with large subwoofers to produce a deep bass sound. The music is often accompanied by laser light shows, projected coloured images, visual effects and fog machines.

Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed out of the UK rave scene and Jamaican sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings. Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.

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.

Hardcore is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster tempos and a distorted sawtooth kick, the intensity of the kicks and the synthesized bass, the rhythm and the atmosphere of the themes, the usage of saturation and experimentation close to that of industrial dance music. It would spawn subgenres such as gabber.

Techstep is a dark subgenre of drum and bass that was created in the mid-1990s.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suburban Base</span> British record label

Suburban Base Records is a British breakbeat hardcore, rave and jungle/drum and bass record label. It is based in Romford, Havering, England. It was established by Danny Donnelly and operated in the UK from 1990 to 1997 and in the United States from 1994 to 1997, however, started to release again in 2014.

Darkcore is a music subgenre of breakbeat hardcore in the UK rave scene, that emerged from late 1992. It is recognised as being one of the direct precursors of the genre now known as drum and bass.

Matthew Nelson, better known as DJ Slipmatt, is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He was one half of breakbeat hardcore group SL2, who had a 1992 UK hit with "On a Ragga Tip".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DJ Dougal</span> British hardcore DJ and producer (born April 1975 (unconfirmed))

DJ Dougal, is a British UK Hardcore and Happy Hardcore artist and DJ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sterns Nightclub</span>

Sterns was a nightclub located at Highdown Towers on Highdown Hill in Worthing, West Sussex. It was situated off the A259 road just north of Ferring on the South Downs. It became known as a major centre of UK rave culture in the south of England during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was a rare example of an early UK club boasting 4 separate rooms with DJs playing house, breakbeat hardcore, jungle music, techno, progressive house and hard house.

Drum and bass is an electronic music genre that originated in the UK rave scene having developed from breakbeat hardcore. The genre would go on to become one of the most popular genres of electronic dance music, becoming international and spawning multiple different derivatives and subgenres.

2-step garage, or simply 2-step, is a genre of electronic music and a subgenre of UK garage. One of the primary characteristics of the 2-step sound – the term being coined to describe "a general rubric for all kinds of jittery, irregular rhythms that don't conform to garage's traditional four-on-the-floor pulse" – is that the rhythm lacks the kick drum pattern found in many other styles of electronic music with a regular four-on-the-floor beat.

Aimran Majid, more commonly known as MC Magika, is a British MC, music producer and rave promoter. He was regularly featured at many of the big UK raves in the mid to late 1990s including Dreamscape, Helter Skelter, Fantazia, and on the dance music compilation DancemaniaSpeed sub-series. He is also known for being the MC for DJ Carl Cox, over several years from the early 1990s. Magika has presented on MTV Dance, hosted radio shows, and in 2022 started a martial arts academy in Stirchley, Birmingham.

Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many DJ Mag Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, and Deadmau5.

Scott McIlroy, better known as Doc Scott or Nasty Habits, is a British drum and bass DJ and producer.

The Dreem Teem are a British DJ, music production and remixing trio consisting of DJ Spoony, Mikee B, and Timmi Magic. They formed in 1996 through pirate radio, and were instrumental in developing the UK garage sound. They presented radio shows on Kiss 100 (1997–2000) and BBC Radio 1 (2000–2003).

Sticky is a UK garage DJ and producer. He is best known for his 2001 hit "Booo!" featuring Ms. Dynamite, which peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Dance Singles Chart, and for the tracks "Triplets" and "Things We Do" featuring Kele Le Roc.

References

  1. "Top Buzz - Obsession Promotions". Obsession Promotions. Archived from the original on 29 April 2012.
  2. "DJ Top Buzz - old skool / rave / hardcore Inc Mad P, Jason K, Mikey B". Fantazia . Archived from the original on 8 June 2008.
  3. "The meaning and origin of the expression: Bubble and squeak". phrases.org.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  4. "Mikee B - Biography". Resident Advisor .
  5. "What caused the 1985 Tottenham Broadwater Farm riot". bbc.co.uk. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  6. "Jason Kaye, influential UK hardcore and garage DJ, has died". DJ Mag . 13 March 2023.
  7. "Hardcore DJ and Top Buzz member Jason Kaye has died aged 54". MixMag . 13 March 2023.