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Why is there no Hard Dance on Radio 1?

Reported by Scott Genetik / Submitted 04-02-04 10:48

Think of 4/4 dance music on Radio 1 and a familiar catalogue of shows and DJs instantly spring to mind. You have the immortal Pete Tong, the loved and loathed Judge, The swagger of Fergie, the Funky Seb, Yousef and ‘dangerous’ Dave Pearce amongst numerous esteemed others. Each is or is fast becoming an institution in the industry of dance music; they retain excellent listening figures each week from clubbers who have grown up watching them play and buying their cds. Other forms of dance music are also more than adequately represented by big hitters. Hip Hop has Tim Westwood, D’n’B has Fabio and Groove Rider and UK Garage has the Dream Team. Radio 1 does indeed make a determined effort to encapsulate the beebs no. 2 value of “Audiences are at the heart of everything we do”. Or does it?



In its effort to cover all the generic bases in dance music Radio 1 has managed to omit a genre that tends to return to its roots as a form of inspiration rather than convince itself of infinite popularity by plugging the same Superstar DJs. Hard dance in all its forms has hardly any representation on Radio 1, and for no apparent reason either. While Jon Peel will always remain a hero for daring to playlist acid techno and a lab 4 live set, this, as contended in the recent hardcore release by CLSM, is not enough. Stating assets such as a hugely passionate and diverse demographic of clubbers, the most forward thinking producers and DJ’s, regular events up and down the country with production values and scale that dwarf other dance music events, the most up for it party vibe around and the most powerful sound in dance music is not enough of a case to warrant a dedicated slot or even so much of a mention on the Beebs flagship.

Why is there no Hard Dance on Radio 1? If the Beeb honour their core values (as on its website) they should have no choice but to have hard dance on its airwaves. Here are few points the BBC should bear in mind:

  • In a recent nationwide survey on the pages of industry bible Mixmag Hard House (27%) came second only to house (30%) as the national club music of choice. Lagging some way behind was Trance with 23% and UK Garage with 0.5%. It is estimated that around one million people go to clubs week in, week out. If every clubber attended a club of their preferred choice, 270,000 people every week are clubbing to boshing beats. Add to this the number of people going to Hard Trance, Hardcore and techno events that have a 140bpm+ music policy and you have an enormous number of clubbers that do not have their music tastes catered for. Can Radio 1 claim to have their finger on the pulse of UK clubbing when they are ignoring the sound of nearly a third of regular clubbers?

  • Nukluez records based in Clapham, South London has been the most successful 12” record label three years on the spin and came runner up four years ago to Positiva. Although breaking down into five sub labels pushing different genres (or sub genres as is more the case) its output remains predominantly angled to hard dance. It achieved a 3.4% market share last year selling 96,000 12”s beating house label Simply 12’s and Ministry of Sound’s Data into third. This begs the question of why these records are not getting an airing on Radio 1? Despite the success of Nukleuz records let us not forget the other labels such as Tidy and Nu Energy that are selling well also, all aimed squarely at forms of Hard Dance. These records should not only be played on merit but also because they are what the clubbing public are listening to.




It has been stated in various newspapers that clubland is dead etc etc and this up to a point is true. The health of a musical form can be seen in the adulation of national youth toward its hero’s. After a boom in the sale of decks and DJ equipment superior sales of guitars have illustrated the shift in popularity of Paul Oakenfold to the White Stripes . The superclub phenomena of the late 90’s/early 00’s is dead but this era is still represented on Radio 1 by DJ’s such as Seb Fontaine (Cream) Judge Jules (Gatecrasher) and Fergie (Gods Kitchen).

In its January 2004 issue Mixmag ran a piece on the brightest young talents in dance music, as advised by Eddie Halliwell and Radio 1’s Fergie. 10 out of the 26 DJs listed were hard dance DJs, more than any other dance music genre. Hard dance heavy weights Andy Farley, Lisa lashes, Phil Reynolds, Paul Glazby, Anne Savage and BK are the names you will always see and hear and for good reason. They are the face of Hard Dance and provide the backbone of the genre. However, the number of up and coming names across the dance music spectrum that play that bit faster and tougher than the rest is a clear indication of the health of our scene.

Perhaps the problem is that Hard Dance and Radio 1 are viewed musically as polar opposites but there is no need to fear a 160 bpm revolution or lab4 on drive time. It need not be a case of the Nukluez and Tidy DJ agencies replacing the current pecking order. Radio 1 DJs are where they are because they are masters at what they do. But surly it must be time for the young Djing talent to shine through on Radio 1. It just so happens that just under half of clubland’s Future Hero’s happen to be Hard Dance DJs. It is time to move on.


Dreams of a BK Essential Mix or a dedicated show welcoming clubbers back from a stomping night out were first raised by Hard dance and Hardcore producer DJ Jon Doe in an email printed by Upfront in its Autumn 03 issue. He has since set up a campaign page on the BBCi website so everyone wanting to get their voices heard visit www.jon-doe.com for info on how to get your voice heard.



[1] Ian Burrel, The Independent 2/1/04

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Other Features By Scott Genetik:
‘The Beginning’: Interview with Alf Bamford AKA Technikal
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
Comments:

From: Pete M on 4th Feb 2004 16:55.37
Hear, hear! Get more hard dance on the airwaves!! Yay!

From: AshAttack on 4th Feb 2004 17:26.49
Come on the so called number 1 of the BeeB radio net work, make an impression or are you forgeting about the hard side of it all! HARDER HARDER HARDER PLEASE, pull ya fingers out and support the harder end of the dance music scene! Nuff said!!!!

From: benz on 4th Feb 2004 22:10.13
Wicked article - only bit i thought was a bit arbitrary was the bit about the MixMag poll - a magazine which is predominantly bought by a hard house crowd (definately!) is obviously going to have a majority who say hard house is their favourite music!

anyway, dont know if its been done already but i am going to forward this on to the BBC just in case it hasn't!

From: Stevie on 5th Feb 2004 00:28.32
All very well, but you have to accept that dance music comes way down the list in terms of popularity with most of the music buying public, as Radio 1 is supposed to represent the public, it follows that it doesnt give much coverage to dance.

It's no good taking figures on club attendances without considering the millions that go to cheezy nights in clubs all over the country every single week. These places, such as The Works in Kingston, are open 6 nights a week, and are full, every weekend. A record most dance clubs would envy. This is an underground scene, because it is not the most popular form of clubbing. It's that simple.

From: BrinnO on 5th Feb 2004 08:41.43
Fergie, anyone?

He was the Radio 1 Hard man and now he's busy touring, so maybe it is time we had someone new trying out on the airwaves?

From: Not Marcus on 5th Feb 2004 10:04.14
Fair enough, get more Hard Dance on the radio. But when will any of you be listening to it? Scratches Chin

From: richbowenuk on 5th Feb 2004 12:12.58
Anyone that wants to listen to Hard Dance on the radio should check out www.hhuk.net


From: hhukradio on 5th Feb 2004 12:28.21
It is a pity Radio 1 dropped their Harder Dance programming but as they say "watch this space!". For now you can enjoy Hi-Fi Hard House Hard NRG & Hard Trance 24/7 if you have a broadband internet connection on HHUK RaDiO at www.hhuk.net (live mixing, new DJ talent and of course fierce new choons)

From: Mark Ashley on 5th Feb 2004 15:31.47
If you want to hear good harddance on a radio station then really you are going to have to look on the net. Whilst in my opinion Radio 1 is the more forwrd thinking of the radio stations on the FM band, as pointed out in this article, a massive chunk of clubbers and DJ's alike are supporting hard dance and all it's gemres that fall under it's banner. I think one of the key issues that everyone seems to have missed is that drugs are still baltently associated with hard dance and not other gemres such as house and garage, evenm though you and i know that the they're all bling blinging it up with the more expensive drug that is on offer at your local manor house garage bump and grind night. I think that is the real issue as to why you are not hearing hard dance on commercial stations. But then i could be wrong Wink

From: SpacedCadet07 on 5th Feb 2004 21:21.41
You've all got a point, and yes we would be listening to the radio at times, not all of us can go out every weekend...

From: MooShoo on 5th Feb 2004 23:53.36
WHAT THE HELL IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT? UNDERGROUND DANCE MUSIC ALWAYS WAS AND ALWAYS SHOULD BE U N D E R G R O U N D!!!! IF WE LET IT GET OUT INTO THE MAINSTREAM AS MUCH AS IN PUTTING IT ON THE RADIO IN A REGULAR SLOT EVERYONE WILL JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON AND YOU'LL HEAR YOUR FAVOURITE SOUND ON CERIAL AD'S, CHEESY DATING SHOWS AND IN THE BACKGROUND OF BERGERAC ETC, ETC. LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO JUNGLE.... OR DRUM'N'BASS AS IT'S NOW REFERRED TO, IT'S BLOODY EVERYWHERE AND THE QUALITY OF IT HAS GONE TOTALLY DOWNHILL WITH THE FEW EXCEPTIONS OF RONI SIZE, GOLDIE AND LTJ BUKEM. I SAY KEEP THE UNDERGROUND UNDERGROUND, IT'S PURELY FOR THE MORE DISCERNING LISTENERS, PEOPLE WHO WANT TO LISTEN TO IT. KEEP THE SCENE ALIVE, DON'T KILL IT WITH YA BAD WORDS!!!!!!!!!

From: Darz on 8th Feb 2004 23:00.46
cracking article!!

From: slacky on 9th Feb 2004 19:44.21
good article - The BBC is a joke for many reasons, and this is only one of them....

From: skitzo on 10th Feb 2004 19:46.52
to settle it then put hard dance on radio 1 at the time you nocternalists are awake. weekday at around 11pmish. Then we got our tunez its not going to turn mainstream and die like garage and its still got a sacred underground edge to it. were all happy.

From: glen gavin on 10th Feb 2004 22:01.01
Four lashings of high octane trance & hard dance log onto www.wwfm.co.uk between 6&10 am every Saturday for my show - 'The Bangers & Mash-Up Show'. It's quality - Trust Wink

From: SMAC19 on 13th Feb 2004 14:00.38
Lets not forget that Judge Jules is LOVED by the beer boy contingent of the clubbing world for playing watered down sets that only they would enjoy and LOATHED by the 'real clubbers' for similar reasons. DJs who take positions within the ranks of commercial empires are subject to rules and restrictions which would never allow them to build their own sets - an Andy Farley set for commercial radio would be a totally different animal to the one he presents at the HHA for instance, and would destroy his credibility within the hard dance community. Im sure its been said before but lets keep it underground, lets not sell our music out to the highest bidder

From: Paul Reeves on 14th Feb 2004 09:15.45
an excellent piece of writing, well balanced, thought provoking and itself raises other questions that need answering.
its also very apparent you have researched this subject to some length.

nice one Smile

From: DJNEIL.E on 15th Feb 2004 11:49.14
nice piece... but if we let it get comercial are we going to see it on top of the pops... its not about the money its about the music

From: tidyrichard on 20th Feb 2004 15:09.14
excellent piece ....as long as radio does not dictate whats played then its good for me

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