Birth: 1993 Bloom: 1995

As a music genre typified by a fast tempo and accelerated female vocals. Besides, the style is characterized by major piano riffs and sampled synths. Drum lines are usually made by drum machines with unobtrusive background or powerful and loud beats. This style is the main branch among other hardcore`s sub genres.


Its heyday dates back to the regional version of the intensive rave movement in Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, and especially in the Netherlands. Happy hardcore DJs throw chamber raves for several dozen people in small clubs. Happy hardcore, as well as other rave styles, is associated with drugs making people dance for 8-12 hours nonstop.



Happy hardcore became very popular after the emergence of the German group Scooter. They transformed this style into the phenomenon of pop culture and brought it up from deep underground, where happy hardcore used to exist in the early 90s. The Scooter`s music had a great influence on this style, mostly by two singles released in 1995 «Endless Summer» and «Friends», which said to be perfect illustrations of happy hardcore sound. Scooter was first to use high pitch vocals reminiscent baby voice.



Speaking of musicians who contributed to this style, attention should be paid to the German singer Jasmin Wagner also known as Blümchen. She is considered to be the mid-90`s «The Hardcore Queen». As well as the group Dune, whose singles «Hardcore Vibes» and «1 Can`t Stop Raving» released in 1995 were so popular that still they are being remixed by popular DJs.



The genre found gained mainstream success in the beginning and the mid-90s when aforementioned artists got first places of the European charts. But after giddy success the interest to happy hardcore has greatly decreased. By 1999 many happy hardcore groups had fallen into oblivion or chosen more perspective styles of electronic music.

Also read: Hardstyle, Rave

Umbrellate style: Hardcore

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