14 Long Years

I had just turned 16 and was starting the 6th Form of my Secondary School. 1994 was the year and i was just starting my love affair with dance music and hardcore/drum and bass in particular. Back in them days money was tight and i couldn't afford to buy records so like many teenager of the time i bought tape packs from the big raves of the day. Id already bought in the summer the Dreamscape 11 pack from July?? and the World Dance pack from the same month so it was in September?? that i travelled to Richard Records in Canterbury and purchased the brand new Helter Skelter tape pack. At this point in my life i was into both the happy hardcore and jungle sounds which this tape pack perfectly catered for. I remember playing each tape one after each other and soaking up the new exclusive tunes that each DJ was playing. For the next few months until the next tape pack came out these tapes got a constant battering. While happy hardcore was starting to evolve into the 4/4 stompy beat sound and jungle was splintering into intelligent and jump up styles i started to make it my mission to track these records i was hearing down. Back then with having no real contacts that were DJ's and barely having stepped into an independent record shop things were tough. I started by Mixmag magazine but its jungle reviews section was poor so moved onto Eternity magazine which really followed the underground sounds. I pieced together information on the main records i wanted and a few months in 1995 i started buying records at a rate of 1 every couple of weeks.

Fast forward 5 years. My knowledge had grown exponentially and i was making regular visits to London snapping up cheap tunes by the bagful. I was in contact with other people with similar love for the classic days of hardcore and jungle and the list of unknown records on the tapes that i knew and loved was diminishing rapidly. However there was one tune on the Dr S Gachet tape from the Helter Skelter tape pack that was eluding me. A simple amen tearer with a lush string break and the classic "I love the way you hold me" sample. Surely someone must know this i thought as i ripped a small clip directly from the tape and uploaded it to some web space a friend had let me use.

Fast forward on another 8 years to the end of January 2009. I was trawling YouTube to look for clips of records that might make me part with my (not so) hard earned. A record on the Strictly Underground label from 1995 caught my eye. This label had been massive in 1991 and 1992 but had lost its way in 1993 and 1994 and its later releases were quite hard to get hold of especially in South East Kent. The clip started and the amen beat reared its head (yawn) for the 2 millionth time for this era of drum and bass. I was about to click onto another record but i moved the track on a bit and straight into the string break id been searching for 14 years for. I literally couldn't believe my ears but i gathered my composure and within 2 minutes had found the record on discogs and ordered a mint copy for £8.50 (leaving 4 other cheaper copies that weren't in as good condition).

Well whats all the fuss about? Its a great solid example of 1994 drum and bass. Nothing truly groundbreaking or amazing but the 14 year gap had built it up to near mythical status with me. Now the initial joy is over and i have the record in my hand i am calm and eagerly awaiting solving the next long standing unknown. I can draw parallels to completing a difficult puzzle like a Rubiks cube for example. When the initial buzz is over you need that next challenge. Bring it on!!

Drum + Bass - FB1 (Sub Kick Mix)