Happy Hardcore, also known as 4-Beat is a style of techno music that is very fast, very bouncy and a riot to dance to (IMHO). It's extremely high-energy and when one dances to it, you feel almost like a puppet on strings moving uncontrolably to the music with your hands in the air and a smile on your face! It's origins date back to the early '90s in the UK to what is now know as old school hardcore (circa 1992). This hardcore began to split into different forms, such as Jungle which has enjoyed a growing following everywhere including North America.

Typical characterists of happy hardcore music are: a driving 4/4 kick (hence the name 4-beat), usually (but not always) lots of piano and female vocals (making the music 'happy'). Happy hardcore also features lots of break beats, although they are being dropped in favour of more techno sounds and stompy dutch inspired kicks. Happy hardcore runs at 160-180 bpm and 99% of the music originates from the United Kingdom where it's popularity is gaining even over jungle.

The following is an excerpt from Ecstacy: Dance, Trance and Transformation by Nicholas Saunders

According to DJ Vibes:
People started noticing Happy hardcore at the end of '94, but it had already been around for 2 or 3 years. Even in 1990, there were songs with good vocals and good piano in them, nice melodies - real music. That got a bit faster and developed into the rave scene. It can't get any faster than it is though, you wouldn't be able to dance to it, you wouldn't get the vocals in and the pianos would sound craps. it's at the limit now.

Happy Hardcore means a lot more than just music. It's a total release for people with run-of-the-mill lives - it boosts you. You can be your own person on the happy hardcore scene and people will accept you. It's not about going out to make a pickup and it doesn't matter what you look like - you feel good within yourself, the music feels good. Everyone is having the same thoughts and that's what creates the atmosphere.

Happy Hardcore has come in for ridicule from some people of the older first-generation ravers. For them, people wearing white gloves and waving light sticks combines with the music make Happy Hardcore seem cheesy - as though cashing in on the original rave scene. A more positive view is expressed by Vibes:

Happy Hardocre is energy for people with energy, and that's why more young people are into it. Happy Hardcore is for people who want to have a good time in a club. It creates a happy vibe. The scene's about togetherness, really - meeting people and friendship. The crowd is much more into the music than any other and that's because of the whole scene surrounding it - music, clothes, friends, drugs - the whole thing's addictive. If it really is that cheesy, why are there so many packed Happy Hardcore clubs all around the country? It's got loads of followers and it's getting bigger year by year.

DJ Seduction has been on the circuit for 5 years: The music is uplifting; it makes you smile. I dont think it's ever going to die, because new kids are coming through all the time, getting into it when they leave school. It'll just keep changing.

DJ Seduction thinks the vocals and piano link Happy Hardcore with House music 'House led to hardcore, which led to Drum N Bass and 4-beat (I hate calling it Happy Hardcore)'. There is also a strong link between Happy Hardcore and Techno, as Vibes explains:

Happy bouncy Techno is Happy Hardcore with stronger drums. It seems to be the new happening thing at the moment, so I'm trying to pioneer it with my production of music. There's also your crazy Techno, which is pretty fast music with really crazy sounds for a different crowd - basically more of your gothic-travelers-gone-wild gang. And there there's Deroit techno, which is more Garage-oriented, but still with hard drums. Happy Hardcore is still on the 160, with loads of vocals and piano to lift it up and give it strength.

But is the rave scene still alive?

The rave scene is getting better, events are fuller, there are more people going. It went through a bad patch at the end of '92 when it was all hard underground Drum N Bass music, and that put a lot of people off. Recently the happy music's really breaking through, the events are doing well, and I'm getting a lot of work.

Paul, from Eternity magazine, predicts the future of happy hardcore:

The past 12 months have seen a huge explosion of the Happy Hardcore scene, and with more and more people picking up on the happy vibe, Happy Hardcore is going to build from strength to strength over the next year. Some people feel it has a cheesy image that will kill it off, but the length of time it has been around, and its uplifitng happy feel, are bound to help it continue as strong as it's ever been. The new terms that leading labels are beginning to use, such as '4-beat', are an attempt to remove the cheesy image for good, so that people will respect the music for what it really is - music that makes people happy. Surely that's more important than anything else!

The Happy Hardcore scene has grown to be huge in it's native UK, but North American success has thus far eluded it. A grass roots effort is beginning here to bring the happy scene to us, the most notable area being Toronto, Canada, where there are over a half dozen known happy hardcore dj's and the music can be heard at just about every rave, for at least one set.

The reason for happy hardcore's tough climb to success on this side of the pond is mostly due to the unavailability of hardcore vinyl. As any DJ here can tell you, it's a costly and time consuming endevor. This results in there being very few happy hardcore dj's which results in getting little exposure. I hope that through this web page and other means we can help spread the happy vibe and have it gain it's rightful popularity here as well.