Happy Hardcore

Happy hardcore is a style of rave music that emerged in the United Kingdom in 1992 as breakbeat hardcore fragmented, keeping the earlier sound's uplifting piano rolls, sped-up vocals and euphoric stabs while hardening its rhythm. In its mid-1990s commercial peak it settled around 160 to 180 BPM with a stomping four-on-the-floor kick, bouncy basslines and cheerful sung hooks, and the #React# compilation series "Bonkers", mixed by *Hixxy* and *Sharkey*, became the best-selling showcase of the genre. Parallel scenes in Germany and the Netherlands, fronted by acts such as *Blümchen* and *Dune*, gave the style a simultaneous pop-chart life.