UK
Garage Music, whats
is it??
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The
sound of UK Garage Music had
started to develop in about
1995 and had been given a
number of different names
that described the music,
for example Speed Garage,
London Garage and the Sunday
scene. The term Speed Garage
is a term that was used by
people who didn't really know
much or even understand much
about the music. There were
a number of club nights in
and around the London area
that were promoting the sound
of UK Garage Music with the
likes of Release the Pressure,
The Loft, and Garage City,
playing out the best in UK
Garage in order to build up
the UK Garage vibe. We then
began to see a selection of
US producers like Victor Simonelli,
Kerri Chandler, Roger Sanchez,
and Todd Edwards, becoming
the toast of the underground
scene in London, together
with people like Grant Nelson
who began rinsing out the
sounds of UK Garage through
the use of the Nice and Ripe
record label.
There
were a selection of clubs
at the time that liked to
play this kind of sound in
order to please the masses
for example the Curtain Road
warehouse, The Yacht Club,
and the Arches all began playing
these new style beats. It
is said that Armand van helden
was probably one the first
artists around at the time
to make, as it was called
a "speed garage tune". Armand
van helden said that he had
wanted to make some tunes
that were a cross between
House and Drum and Bass. We
then began to see the emerge
of pirate radio stations in
and around London like London
Underground 89.4 and Freak
FM who then began/proceeded
to make the UK Garage sound
their own.
This
lead to a number of underground
DJ's progressing on to the
next stage of the program.
For me the turning point was
the introduction of Sun City
@ Adrenellin Village. A massive
warehouse on the outskirts
of Chelsea, the introduction
of this new venture helped
to alert the mainstream clubbers
and the masses to this new
music phenomena. Sun City
would always have big named
Dj's headlining the bill with
the likes of people like Karl
"Tuff Enuff" Brown and Matt
"Jam" Lamont (Tuff Jam Crew),
Timmi Magic & Mc PSG (Dreem
Teem), Jason Kaye & Mc Creed,
plus employing the cream of
DJ's from a number of pirate
radio stations like London
Underground 89.4, Deja VU,
and Freak FM, with this Sun
City then went on to become
one of the most successful
and leading garage promoter
in the scene today. This saw
the evolution of UK Garage
music which then became more
and more widely accepted by
the masses who started to
get aboard the underground
garage vibe.
In
1996 is when we began to see
artists like RIP, Tuff Jam,
Dreem Teem, Booker T, 187
Lockdown and MJ Cole emerging
into the underground garage
scene, as each artists would
bring their own unique style
to the UK garage scene. It
had then become clear that
there was two types of Underground
garage, bass line drive tunes
by Double 99, RIP, 187 Lockdown.
Then you have the more vocal
and melodic tunes by Mj Cole,
Tuff Jam and the Dreem Teem
. 1997 was a very big year
for the UK Garage scene with
the sound of two step garage
emerging.
Some of the first anthems
were produced by the likes
of Dem2, Ramsey & Fen and
again the Dreem Teem. 1998
was also another big year
for the underground garage
scene as it started to become
less commercial with Dj's
like Mj Cole, Mike 'ruff cut'
Lloyd, DJ EZ and the Dreem
Teem doing the rounds and
smashing up the underground
sound. Then in 1999 many of
the two step garage tunes
entered the charts featuring
artist like Bump&Flex, The
Artful Dodger and Shanks&Bigfoot
with their number 1 smash
hit 'Sweet like chocolate'.
This had t pathed the way
for the big UK Garage explosion
in 2000 with leading artists
like The Artful Dodger, Colour
girl, Y-Tribe and Dj Luck
& Mc Neat smashing up the
UK charts with their massive
hit 'a little bit of luck',
taking Underground garage
to limit.
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