1989 – UK Sounds Emerging

As the acid house movement started to phase itself out and DJs started to fuse hip-house and homegrown breaks into their sets, producers started to experiment with breakbeats and sub bass. Welcome to 1989 – UK sounds emerging!

There was a common trend in ’89 to create home made ‘off-beat’ drum patterns that soon gave way to full incorporation of sampled breakbeats. This in turn started to be combined with a darker, edgier style of sound choice which eventually started to become ‘hardcore rave’, a UK grown sound all of its own but made up of a mix of records from all over Europe and the USA. Careful selection by the DJs is what created the UK rave sound.

Full Kudos must be given to On Top Records out of Miami, Florida for laying down on vinyl the very first seeds of the UK hardcore movement, bought to these shores by NYC DJ Frankie Bones. What? Yep! The research looks credible and until we find out any variation on the history, this is what we’re sticking with.

Read on for more info. Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock must also get a mention here, for the tracks included in our Breakbeat Origin sections. Hip hop hugely influenced and encouraged UK producers of the era to experiment with breaks.

We’ve gone for 25 tunes in this list, as breakbeat hardcore tracks were hard to come by in 1989, but please keep popping back as we discover more music!

It is worth mentioning here though, as we work through 1989, that the terms ‘jungle’ and ‘hardcore’ were both in use across the UK pirate/DJ/rave community, and can be heard here in this mix from September of that year by the 3 Amigos, one of whom was DJ Randall (RIP).

The music is a mix of what we’d now call tribal house and techno with a bit of UK rave thrown in and if anyone would have been playing breakbeat, you’d have expected it to be him. It’s an area worthy of more research, but we just wanted to point it out. Jungle as a point of terminology was alive and kicking in 1989.

1.Success-N-Effect - Roll It Up - Bass Kickin' Beats - (Felix Sama & Charley Solana Edit) - Frankie Bones Remaster

According to NYC’s legendary DJ, Frankie Bones on his YouTube channel, “3 copies of this track made their way from Miami, Florida to NYC just days before DJ Frankie Bones flew to the UK to play Energy ’89 – The Summer Festival. Frankie played this at the event and the history books tell us nothing was ever the same again!

The original from 1989 became the prototype track for what would become Drum & Bass. One of the most wanted records of the early U.K. Rave Scene. Obscure because it came from Miami. How three copies made it to Brooklyn before my maiden voyage to London, was perfect timing.

25,000 people heard that track for the first time on August 26, 1989. I had one copy, Lenny Dee had a copy and we gave Carl Cox the spare copy during Lenny’s first UK tour in December 1989.

Carl Cox produced an edit on white label known as Carl Cox – Success & Effect. This was 28 years ago. The rest is history”

And we believe him. If Lenny De Ice created the first JUNGLE BLUEPRINT, then Frankie quite clearly created the first HARDCORE BLUEPRINT the following year. Wow. THIS IS WHERE IT STARTED! OH, AND THANK THE LORD FOR YOUTUBE!

2.Renegade Soundwave - The Phantom

By '89 the tripped out musical psychosis of acid house was starting to peter out, and in it's place came a harder, deeper, heads down stompin' sound that would later morph into UK breakbeat hardcore. You can hear the the beginnings of breakbeat culture starting to form on this undisputed classic from Renegade Soundwave, nestled on the flip to their track 'Space Gladiator'. What a belter!

3.Mink ft 2wice The Trouble - Hey, Hey - Can You Relate?

Don’t let the funky intro fool you. Just imagine this pitted against it’s end of decade contemporaries. If we’re talking about proto jungle/forward thinking underground rave music (which we are) then boom. This is it. When you hear people like Fabio and Grooverider talking about mashing up records from here, there and everywhere to create a style all of it’s own, this is the stuff they’re probably talking about! F*cking Wicked.

4.Silver Bullet - Bring Forth The Guillotine

Towards the latter end of the 80s and early 90s you’d often find ‘DJ Beats’ type reworks of tracks originally intended for a more commercial audience. This beauty on the flip of Silver Bullet’s top 50 track ‘Bring Forth The Guillotine’ hints at the break orientated mindset of many underground rave DJs during the period. While this is mostly funk driven, there are clearly sections of this that could be classified as ‘hardcore’.

5.The Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Cash

A fantastic Italian rendition of the prevailing hip-house sound of the late 80’s, this ended up dominating the European charts after seemingly being re-released in 1990. A stone cold classic and make no mistake.

6.Landlord - I Like It

With one of the most memorable ‘rave stab’ sounds ever committed to vinyl (and sampled many, many times over) this epic chugger from Canadian producer Landlord made a very bold statement indeed. While it lacks any breakbeat as such, it clearly encapsulates what was to become a staple sound of the hardcore movement. Top notch.

7.Doug Lazy - Let It Roll.

A brilliant example of the ‘Hip House’ movement, this beauty lollops along at a tempo that snuggled nicely into many UK DJ sets during 1989. Coming straight out of Washington, USA, this is a really clear example not only of the way breaks were being used stateside during the period, but also of how they were informing the development of the growing breakbeat scene across the Atlantic.

9.Petra & Co - Just Let Go

Just one of many, many, many reasons that Belgium was so crucial to the eventual evolvement of the drum and bass sound, this absolute slammer from Petra & Co (one half of which was also one half of 2 Unlimited), the beautifully looped break on this sweeps the listener up into an absolute frenzy. Yet another highly influential non-UK track feeding into British dancefloors…………

10.Rock Flowers - Fool's

Loosely based on but featuring in full the awesome Hot Pants (bonus beats) break used in the Stone Roses tracks Fool’s Gold, we’re pretty sure this would have been spun by hardcore DJs in it’s year due to the proper old skool hardcore sections dotted throughout the 5 minutes and 15 seconds worth of multi genre mash up. Interesting.

11.Debbie Malone - Rescue Me

What an ANTHEM! Incorporating lush vocals, a steady 4/4 and those subtle drum edits, this is probably one of the first rave tracks we know of that incorporated any kind of breakbeat manipulation, a technique that clearly went on to define the breakbeat era before it morphed into jungle and beyond. Groundbreaking.

12.Looney Tunes - Just As Long As I Got You

New York natives Lenny Dee and Frankie Bones tore the roofs of of raves all of the world with this breakbeat driven stomper. If this didn’t help inform the breakbeat movement then we don’t know wat did! I must for every record box in 1989.

13.F.P.I Project - Rich In Paradise

Another Italian classic that oozes class. As far as we’re concerned Italy was at the epicentre of the piano house movement and without it, hardcore breakbeat and in turn, happy hardcore simply would not have existed in the same way it did. Incorporating a slamming break loop and crisp percussion, this was one hell of an E tune.

14.Mr Lee - Get Busy

There’s no way we could have missed this out. While it eventually went on to become a chart entry here in the UK, it still kicks like a mule. An undisputed hip-house classic an another perfect insight into the way the UK and the USA’s styles started to blend into a true breakbeat fusion.

15.Jazz and The Brothers Grim - Casanova

If you want to hear the very first strains of the ‘hardcore’ sound then this is one of tracks that beams it out in oodles. An interesting blend of hip-house, vocal house and rave, that bouncing bassline typifies not only the sound of Production House, but also the ‘only for the headstrong’ head down and stomp mentality that the UK was fast becoming known for. This was also arguably the very start of the jungle supergroup, Baby D. A belter.

16.Addis Posse - Warriors Dance

The names behind this epic 4 track remix EP have quite a heritage when you look at them. The Addis Posse seem to have been spawned from the four founder members of the Addis Ababa Studios on the Harrow Road, London.

How or why they got involved with the hardcore movement remains to be explored, but all we do know is that this is a proper tough breakbeat stomper that must have stood out by miles in ’89. If you’re talking about the very roots of jungle, then consider that looping reggae bassline coupled with clean, crisp breaks and boom. You’re there. Eagle eared Prodigy fans will notice more than one reference here! No doubt influential.

17.Tyree – Hard Core Hip House

Wow. Just listen to that kick drum. Absolutely amazing for 1989. This really kicks ass. Imagine this at 3 AM in a farmers field somewhere in England. Boom!

18.Flowmasters - Energy Dawn

Proving once again that Musto & Bones seriously deserve a place in the UK jungle hall of fame, if there was such a thing. They were absolutely crucial exponents in the creation of breakbeat driven dancefloor music at the latter end of the 1980s. The UK rave scene would be a very, very different place without them. Pioneers.

19.Catch 22 - Boogie Down (Do It)

A veritable sample fest but seemingly also a catalyst for many UK hardcore tunes over the follwoing few years, this funky number shows definite signs of underground/hardcore leanings. How many samples can you recognise?

20.Bizarre Inc – Technological (Rockfods Illinois Mix)

An early outing for Altern 8’s Mark Archer and Dean Meredeth, who went on to rearrange Bizarre Inc intot the band best remembered today. This mix in particular is notable for that skipping breakbeat. A rarity in ’89 at the very beginning of breakbeat culture.

21.The Black Dog - Virtual

Those pads! I swear this could have been taken directly from one of the best jungle tunes of ’94, but no, it’s straight out of ’89. It’s almost too difficult to comprehend. WAY AHEAD OF IT’S TIME!

22.The Black Dog – Age Of Slack

Blimey. Talk about being at the cutting edge. This northern trio really knew their onions, especially back in ’89. Listen to this thing. Proto jungle without any doubt.

23.Qaurtz – Meltdown

A UK rave smash that tore down warehouses all over the M25 area on many occasions. An UK classic. And soooo funky.

24.MC Juice – Living A White Lie (white label mix)

This is as funky as hell, and has some deep bass and pretty dark vibes for the year. This must have kicked ass in the warehouses and free parties.

25.Shut Up And Dance – 5 6 7 8

The very first release for what went on to become one of the most important proto jungle labels in the history of the genre, and an outfit (PJ & Smiley) that went on to make some of the most influential tunes of 89/90/91. The scene owes these guys and this label more than most people even realise. Essential!

26.Exocet - Sweet Talk

What an absolute beauty! We only discovered this recently after a socials post by Billy ‘Daniel’ Bunter, and boy, are we glad we did! With lushly layered breaks, trippy Sheffield bleep and oodles of bass, this thing captures perfectly the emerging sound of the UK underground rave scene. Bad!