In 1986 the Music Factory Mastermix DJ Service was organized, creating megamixes through a special license. These megamixes were for DJ use and were only available through very strict channels. Some of the earliest mixes were created by Andy Pickles and Martin Smith. A few years after, Amadeus Mozart and Guy Garrett joined the Mastermix team. Their duo was called The Two Little Boys. Their series known as "Hit The Decks" was later to become a massive influence on two young producers called Ben Keen and Nick Sentience.
By 1993 Amadeus Mozart had developed a strong friendship with Andy Pickles. This would be the start of what would later be known as The Tidy Boys. Their first release together was titled "Only Me" under the name Hyperlogic in 1994 which was the turning point in their career. The song used chord structure from U2's "New Years Day" and the vocals from Alison Williams "Sleep Talk." The song became a massive club anthem and was supported by every major club DJ in the UK, even Pete Tong. Red Jerry's label, Hooj Choons, created the buzz on this song by putting it out as a limited release.
In the meantime, a dj named Tony De Vit was on the rise. In 1993 he received a residency at a gay house music club called Trade. At this time he was also approached by the Fantazia crew to mix one of the discs on the second album of the Fantazia House Collection series. The mix went on to be a huge UK hit and sold over 100,000 copies.
By 1995 both Tony De Vit and The Tidy Boys were pushing a sound different from most other dj's. This sound combined vocal samples from hardcore tracks over up-tempo house beats with some trance aspects. The first release on Tidy Trax was released under the moniker The Handbaggers and was titled "U Found Out." To make the release look like it came from a dj's bedroom, Amadeus put his phone number on the disc as a contact detail. This was a move he later regretted due to late night phone calls and sexual harassment.
In 1996 a label titled Nukleuz was formed as an offshoot from an Italian record labeled known as UK Media Records. The label first produced funky, house driven tracks but shortly jumped into the hardhouse sound. During this same year a night called Sundissential started happening in Birmingham at a club called The Pulse with Tony De Vit regularly behind the decks. By the end of 1996, Tony De Vit had recorded the first Global Underground mix, GU001: Tel Aviv.
Some would consider 1997-1998 to be the breakthrough year of hardhouse. Artists like Baby Doc took to the scene and began to add new styles to the mix of hardhouse releases. The overall flavor of the genre was becoming harder and faster and in some senses, tougher. This could be seen in releases like Nuclear Shower which was released under UK Gold. Tony De Vit had, in 1998, joined the Tidy team after having a fallout with his previous sound engineer, Simon Parkes. He came to Tidy with six of Trade's main resident dj's to release songs on a 3 disc vinyl called the Trade EP. Tony De Vit worked with Paul Janes for his track titled "The Dawn." As they finalized the track Tony, Paul Janes, Amadeus and Andy Pickles listened to it. As it finished Tony De Vit took a deep breath and said "I can't go on from here without telling you something that may affect all of our future plans, especially mine... I have been diagnosed as HIV positive. But this new track has inspired me - it means a lot to me." The reason he titled his track "The Dawn" was because he wanted it to be the dawn of a new era in his life. He was diagnosed just six months prior to the release of this track. Sadly, Tony De Vit passed away on July 2nd of that year.
In 1999, The Tidy Girls was founded by Rachel Auburn, Lisa Pin Up, and Anne Savage. Other dj's like Paul Glazby and Mark Grey were rising in the scene. Superclubs in Europe were becoming the next big thing and the concept was spreading in the United States.
In the United States rave scene through the nineties, most rave production companies promoted mainly house, breaks and drum & bass talents. You would often find one or two trance, hardhouse or hardcore dj's on a lineup of 8-15 dj's. Around the crest of 1999 there was an uprising within the United States scene where harder or faster was better. The new generation of dj's started grabbing for hardhouse, hard trance, and hardcore records in their local record shops. This would soon pave the way for the rest of the rave scene.
This mix was recorded live sometime in 2001. I have no recollection of what party I recorded this at. This was dubbed from a cassette tape so the quality is not as crisp as I had hoped, but it's not bad. Some fun tunes on there which I have identified as the following:
Klubbheadz - Discohopping (Dub Foundation Mix)
Reverend Mike Crawley - Pow!
Klubbheadz - Work This Pussy
Soulman - Put Your House
The Ultimate Seduction '96 - Organ Seduction
The Difference - Funny Walker (Da Techno Bohemian Remix)
Club It - Real Stuff
Lords Of House - The Beat Is Back
Pulzemaster - U Got To Be There (Damon O'Conner Remix)
