Various – United Dance 4 Beat At Its Best! - Vol 1

This double CD was my first exposure to pure English Happy Hardcore and more specifically Happy Breakbeat. In Australia we didn't have tape packs recorded at parties and only a couple of record stores stocked this kind of music. Having said that, in 1995, Happy Hardcore was the flavour of the month and as such quite popular in the rave scene at the time. I found this double CD at a random second hand record store, probably transfixed by the cover! :) I had no idea what United Dance or Four Beat was, but I vaguely recognised some of the names on the back from other compilations. I took a chance and bought it, and I'm glad I did. With a growing interest in Hardcore, my narrow view of Happy Hardcore in 1995 was Scott Brown, Ultra-Sonic, Dyewitness, Paul Elstak etc. With this CD, a whole new world opened up to me. Besides Smart E's Sesame's Treet (a number one song here in Australia) I didn't know about Jungle or Breakbeat music, and that is the back bone of this style of Hardcore. So instead of 808 or 909 bass kicks, you have these vigorous Amen Breakbeats inspired by The Winston's 1969 song: Amen, Brother. It's actually kind of amazing that an entire genre of Dance music was created from a 7 second drum break from 1969!!!! The other element of this music that grabbed my attention was the sounds on top of the Amen Breakbeat. The over arching theme throughout the two CDs is highly uplifting synth riffs/stabs shortly followed by catchy but beautiful piano melodies. A winning formula and further cemented my love for Happy Hardcore. Enough waffling on, what about the CDs themselves?

The first mix is by one of the guys behind United Dance, DJ Seduction (oof that didn't last long!), because its the first thing on CD 1, listening to this mix in very late 1995 was fascinating to me. As to be expected though, coming from the owner of Impact Records, it's a tasty snapshot of the record label in the mid 90's. So many good songs mixed together impeccably by Seduction. It's also a showcase of Eruption's music, Easy Bass being my favourite. I wondering where was the Disco in Disco Hardcore lol! First time hearing Samplemania and being surprised how popular it would become. I still have no idea what Pop Bang Lovely means? :)

The second mix on CD1 is by the godfather of UK Hardcore, Slipmatt. It's probably my favourite mix on here. Once again, every track in his mix is either great or wonderful, or somewhere in between. The mixing is perfect! I thinking if the (Break)beat is not the normal 4/4, how is this guy mixing this music so well? While it would be rude for me to pick out favourites out of so many quality tunes, Euphoria and I Need Somebody are lovely. Sadly SMD 2AA (Exclusive Hard Mix), the only track on here with a hard Gabber kickdrum never made it onto vinyl, though Slipmatt plays it out at parties in 1995. It took me a long time to figure out what the D in SMD stood for. I was also curious as to what a Sunset Regime was.....

DJ Sy is the first DJ on CD2, I thinking that is a really short DJ name! Always wondered if Mary Had A Little Dread had anything to do with Snap's Mary Had A Little Boy? The central theme of uplifting Hardcore continues, although there's a slightly stronger Jungle feel compared to the other four DJs. Loads of tidy tunes to enjoy, even back then I knew Technostorm (spelling mistake or original song title?) was the dogs bollocks! This DJ Sy mix is the first time I heard scratching over Techno music, as a fan of Hip Hop and Turntablism I thought: "this sounds fucking awesome but are you allowed to do that?" lol. It adds another dimension to Electronic music that never entered my mind, the fact you could meld Hardcore and Hip Hop like that made my 17 year old brain overly excited.

The middle mix is by Dougal, I thought that's a boring arse name for a DJ, to be fair, its not even his real name. Despite being the shortest mix, its still pretty darn good. The highlight for me is the heavily underrated Really Love You (Remix), so so good. This mix is also the first time I heard a DJ really fade out a track quietly as part of their mixing technique which is similar to the way pop songs finish on an album. Excellent mix by Dougal, so its interesting/depressing how his music progressed after 1995. I distinctly after On A High he was one of the pioneers of the cheesy vocal Happy Hardcore that made the genre extremely difficult to listen to. Oh yeah, I really need to get that Psy-Quest record......

Last mix is by DJ Vibes, sporting long blonde hair like Dougal. The one thing I noticed about Vibes and Wishdokta is their music seems to have more energetic Breakbeats, so therefore it stands out a bit. Every tune is a banger, I thought Nicey was a British slang word! Once again smooth mixing by Vibes.

Inside the CD cover, it states/shows Eruption and Seduction were the guys behind United Dance. This didn't last long and in 1996 Seduction left to start Hardcore Heaven. It also has photos of all the DJs, some producers and party pictures, which I found very helpful. Shortly after I found out that these five DJs were THE most popular DJs in Happy Hardcore, these guys were getting up to 7 gigs over a typical weekend! I've always wondered who is DJ Not Known At All inside the booklet? This double CD was incredibly important to me in the mid 90's as I was trying to soak up as much information about Hardcore Techno. It single-handedly made me a fan of Happy Hardcore from England.

PS: At the United Dance party on the 16th June 1995 (with the same artwork on the tape pack), one of the MCs states this CD was to be released 28th June 1995. Though its plausible this was released three days after the party, to capitalise on the organisation's momentum at the time.