Techno(England)

Although dance music was under tighter control in licensed venues, its connection to drug use did not stop. Customs and Excise statistics estimated that the amount of MDMA (ecstasy) coming into Britain had increased by 4000 percent in the period between 1990 and 1995.

The growth in popularity of ecstasy can be accredited to its innocuous appearance and the ease of administration (swallowing). Anti-drug campaigns in England had always employed shock tactics, depicting drug users as 'pox-ridden anorexics [using] hypodermic needles'^[1]. Ecstasy seemed to undermine this image. It provided an instant euphoric feeling with (supposedly) no negative side effects, seemingly offering a 'positive experience in illegal drug use'^[2]. Although debate has raged over its physically- addictive properties, there has been wide agreement that long-term use causes an increased resistance to the effects of the drug, causing people to increase the dosage in an attempt to recreate their initial euphoric experience. The widespread use of ecstasy had a notable effect on the general perception of taking illegal drugs. Negative images of drug use gave way to a widespread perception that drug use was the right of the individual who wished to escape the 'drudgery' of his/her own life. As users' tolerance to ecstasy increased, other psychoactive stimulants or combination of stimulants were used - such as LSD, amyl nitrate, cannabis and amphetamines to achieve the 'buzz' users were looking for and there was an estimated 500 percent increase in the drug economy in Britain between the years 1988 to 1995.

The increased use of ecstasy and other stimulants had an enormous impact on dance/club music. The tempi of songs started to increase as the beat of the music tried to match the drug-increased heart rate of the dancers. Many of the American pioneers of house and techno were either too slow or unwilling to 'support' this widespread overindulgence in drug use by increasing tempi. Consequently they were left behind as BPMs passed 140, and Europe began to take over as leader of the style.

Ninety per cent of the techno records you hear now are made for a fucked-up dance floor. That what I see now in a lot of clubs: no vibe, no motivation, aggression --the drugs have taken over. The majority don't understand it yet, but most of the guys who are really good, like Derrick May, don't take drugs. Techno was a sound but it is now an attitude, and that's to make records for drug-oriented people^[3].

Drugs also impacted on the timbre of techno songs. More aggressive sounds were employed in the music, drawing on samples of industrial machinery. London and Manchester (which seemed more content with producing rock/dance groups like the Happy Mondays) no longer led the way in techno, and the centre of development moved into the more industrial heart of England, Sheffield.

All these industrial places influence the music that you make. Electronic music is relevant because of the subliminal influence of industrial sounds. You go around Sheffield and it's full of crap concrete architecture built in the '60's; you go down in to an area called the Canyon and you have these massive black factories belching out smoke, banging away. They don't sound a lot different from the music^[4].

In 1989, Richard Kirk joined with DJ Parrot to form Sweet Exorcist. The duo initially recorded 'Test One' for exclusive play in Sheffield's Jive Turkey, the nightclub where Parrot was employed. The song was subsequently released by the WARP record shop/label and was followed by further success at the end of 1990, with two top 20 hits ('LFO' and 'Tricky Disco'). These recordings were later described as 'bleeps & clonks', a British version of Detroit techno - based on sharp electronic sounds and almost inaudible very low frequency oscillations - and are thought to have been inspired by the expansion of video games throughout the 1980s^[6].

By 1991 further increases in tempi, combined with the more prominent use of aggressive industrial sounds, led to the creation of two new sub-genres of techno - hardcore and gabbahouse.

Hardcore developed as DJs attempted to keep pace with the desire of ravers for quicker tempos and rhythms. DJs would play records originally intended for 33-RPM at faster rates in an attempt to increase the tempo. Producers soon followed suit and the first collection of legitimate hardcore/rave music appeared on the airwaves, with songs such as SL2's 'On a Ragga Tip,' T-99's 'Anasthasia,' and RTS' 'Poing'. By 1992/1993 hardcore (with a tempo of around 180-190BPM) had divided further, creating two new sub-genres - 'darkside' and 'happy hardcore'. Darkside employs the use of heavy synthesisers and dark voices and was later instrumental in the evolution of 'jungle'. Happy hardcore is typified by the use of sped-up looped breakbeats, 'cheesy'^[6] piano samples and vocal samples that are manipulated to 'make the most soulful diva sound like a warbling chipmunk'^[7]. Leading exponents of the style (including DJ/producers such as Slipmatt, Hixxy & Sharkey, Force & Styles and DJ Dougal) have been criticised for employing such comic production techniques and accused of employing them to merely create 'music for drugged-out youth['s]'.

Gabbahouse, the hardest and fastest style, originated in the Netherlands and was also very popular in Scotland. It has been described as 'most extreme musical style this planet has ever known',^[8] with the speed of certain tracks exceeding even 1000BPM (e.g. Moby-'Thousand', The Dreamteam-'Killer Machinery'), although more commonly the tempo is around 200 BPM Gabba, although not composed with pop chart success in mind, Elstak produced several hits on the Dutch pop charts. By the mid-90s, Gabba was often associated with 'unsavoury' groups including neo-fascists and skinheads.

In the mid-90s, as a direct reaction to the increase in tempi, a new group of techno artists such as the Orb and Aphex Twin started to appear. The increased tempi and the more frantic style of dance had caused ravers to desire a place to rest and recover. The 'chill out room', accompanied by the new sub-genres of 'ambient house' and/or 'intelligent techno' came into vogue (see Ambient).

The most recognisable and successful representatives of British techno are the Prodigy^{[9] .} Formed by songwriters Liam Howlett, Keith Flint and Leeroy Thornhill, the group discarded the anonymity often favoured by electronica artists, a decision that 'no doubt was a key factor in the [band's] success'^[10]. 'Charly' (1991) which 'captured the euphoria, the energy, the sense of humour, and the shared excitement of being part of a massive underground adventure'^[11]became the first crossover rave hit on the British pop charts. The song, which featured a sample taken from a children's public information film overlaid to a 'pulsating backbeat'^[12], reached #3 on the British pop charts and was soon followed by an array of copycat singles that also incorporated signature tunes from popular children's programs, including The Magic Roundabout and Sesame Street.

The band was criticised in the music press for having 'killed the rave scene' by opening the 'floodgates for so-called kiddie rave'^[13] and reducing the rave subculture to a laughing stock. Prodigy released the EP G-Force followed by their first full-length album The Prodigy Experience (1992). This album, which mixed 'chunky breakbeats with vocal samples'^[14] of dub legend Lee 'Scratch'Perry and the famous opening line 'I am the god of hell fire' taken from Crazy World of Arthur Brown, made the Top Ten and reached gold record status. The group was joined by the hip hop MC Maxim Reality (Keeti Palmer) and released the single 'One Love' under the pseudonym 'Earthbound' to counteract any recrimination from the DJs who had 'written off Prodigy as hopelessly commercial and were refusing to play their material. The song enjoyed both club success and then later chart success when released under the band's name. The recording, described as a 'housey tune,[with] less breakbeats' signposted a dramatic change in the Prodigy's style.

By this time the group had built up a strong reputation for their live shows and had been able to make the transition from the club/rave circuit to more traditional rock venues. This enabled them to enjoy even greater and more widespread success. Rolling Stone and a variety of American music industry representatives dubbed them 'the next big thing'^[15]. The newly emerged persona of Flient as 'the consummate in-your-face punk showman and master of ceremonies for the digital-age crowd' provided 'a point of reference for rock critics uncomfortable covering Howlett (who they saw as a glorified keyboard player)'^[16].

The band's second album Music For The Jilted Generation, - a 'breakbeat drum 'n' bass album'^[17] -was released in July 1994. It went straight to the top of the allbum charts, providing evidence that the group had not only won over the critics but the public as well. World-wide success followed in 1996 when they fused together rock guitar with their big beat techno sound to create the punk fusion of Firestarter which 'provoked record numbers of complaints' ^[18].The single taken from their third album The Fat of the Land consolidated their position as the leading British techno act of the nineties. The album and entered both British and American charts at #1, selling several million units worldwide.