I thought I’d step back in time and produce a history lesson series for my blog. It’s going to be a 15 week delve into the depths of the scene, Youtube and my old flyer box to bring you;

• The Top Tunes of the Year
• The breakthroughs in the scene
• And other general nonsence that made that year so great… All with a bit of the SubVee magic sauce

Unlike normal history lessons, I encourage talking at the back of the class but be aware, I’ll be wanting comments and discussion on here. Extra marks will be given out for random (relevant) facts! Are you sitting comfortably, then I’ll begin…

Let’s start with 1994 and the early years.

One of the comments on the D&B scene is that it didn’t have a start… it evolved. It evolved from breakbeat rhythms, hip-hop grooves, reggae and pure hardcore energy. One of the first tunes that stood out from the cheesy sampled, sped up tunes of the time was LTJ Bukem’s third offering, Demon’s Theme on Good Looking (released 1991). It drew a line in history as being the standard and the mark that was to be a statement of intent for the transforming scene, a benchmark of what was possible with a breakbeat. It still sounds fresh today.

Once the bar was set, the scene was ready to progress into something more solid with Moving Shadow, formed in 1990 by Rob Playford, moving toward releasing more tunes recognisable as D&B with breakbeats than Playford’s early tunes with 2 Bad Mice which were edging toward being more rave-esque. Take a listen to Bombscare for some real raving memories! I think this was about the time I heard about raves and I remember asking my Mum if I could go to one, aged 13. I think you know the answer to that one.
Moving Shadow, along side Goldie, Kemistry and Storm’s Metalheadz, Formation Records created by DJ SS and Reinforced Records began releasing tunes more recognisable as D&B or Jungle as it was known back then. Again, another argument could be sparked by the D&B vs Jungle label of the scene and who coined the name but that’s for another time. Another standoiut track from 1992 was Terminator by Goldie, released under the Metalheadz moniker. Still sounding very hardcore + breakbeat, it’s a integral part of the musical transformation from hardcore to D&B. More importantly, Goldie pioneered the timestretching process which opened the flow gates for a new way of producing.

Between 1992 and 1994, the scene was dark, moody and dangerous with the press butting in causing the scene to be blacklisted as being linked to violence and crack cocaine and also being linked to racial issues. The final act in the Hardcore to Jungle story was the scene being subjected to the move towards using more bass and drums in the tracks being produced around that time. The production accelerated during this time and Jungle, Drum and Bass or what ever you want to call it became a part of British History as being recognised as the first truly British black music genre or to be more correct the first multi-cultural musical genre to evolve in Britain. Drum and Bass has some heritage hey?!

Ok, back to the music… 1993 saw Bukem form Good Looking Records and release ‘Music’ which was seen to be a more structured track using atmospheric sounds and techniques to give a more ambient feel. Later, the style and feel become known as Intelligent or Liquid D&B.

You can’t begin the history of D&B without mentioning another side of the genre that was to mature into the jazzy sound of Bristol which was started partly by the formation of Full Cycle Recordings in 1993 (Co-owned by Suv, Krust, Die and Roni Size). Their first release was The Resister – DJ Krust / Music Box – Roni Size & DJ Die. You can’t mention Full Cycle without V Recordings (Brian Gee and Jumping Jack Frost) who also released  possibly the most wide ranging back catalogue from the jazzy sounds of Jazz note by DJ Krust (cool animation on this) and in the future, the harder sounds of Dillinja.

You can’t really mention the beginning of D&B without mentioning UK Apachi and Shy FX and their 1994 hit Original Nuttah that reached number 39 in the charts in October that year signalling the mainstream break through of D&B.

Finally, a mention to 4 Hero who where the chaps who bring us back to the Hardcore roots of the scene with Mr Kirk’s Nightmare (1990). Not strictly D&B or Jungle but a tune which is mentioned time and time again as being a standout track as a sign of the times with the opening “Mr Kirk? Your son is dead. He died of an overdose.” They infused jazz synths, random samples and beautiful vocals into the epic Parallel Universe (title track) album which was ahead of it’s time in 1994 bringing their remarkable engineering talent to the masses. It was indeed 4 Hero who turned Goldie’s musical vision in his head into the Terminator track mentioned earlier.

I could go on further into pre-1994 D&B, the influential Artists, the Labels and the club nights but I’m gonna leave you here with some good tunes and some albums to go and explore. Remember, it’s a History Lesson *with* talking at the back.

Do you have any memories, favorite tunes or albums that should have been mentioned, random facts about the pre-1994 years, wanna set the record straight? Bang ‘em in the comments and feel free to link back to this post.