Suburban Base Records is a British

breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In ...

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

and

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. It is based in

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, London ...

, England. It was established by

Danny Donnelly Danny Donnelly is the founder of D&B/Rave label called Suburban Base Records. He is the creator/owner of many album brands, having collected over 50 platinum and gold disc awards to date. He is currently the chairman and founder of Pure Film ...

and operated in the UK from 1990 to 1997 and in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from 1994 to 1997, however, started to release again in 2014.

History

Danny Donnelly opened a record store in his native

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Named Boogie Times, the store specialised in

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

as well as producing its own self-made

white label A white label record is a vinyl record with white labels attached. There are several variations each with a different purpose. Variations include test pressings, white label promos, and plain white labels. Test pressings Test pressings, usua ...

records. Donnelly's first release was a track called "Hypersonic" which he made with André Jacobs, the owner of Essex-based D-Zone Records. These Boogie Times white labels were well received by customers, as well as DJs from the nearby capital

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, which enhanced the store's reputation. In the wake of this success, Donnelly was able to fund a nascent label entitled Suburban Base. The fledgling label's first release was Kromozone's "The Rush", released in April 1991. This was followed by six further releases later in the year from artists Austin, M&M, Rachel Wallace, Run Tings, Phuture Assassins and QBass. 1992 saw the label's first Top 40 success in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era Danny Breaks (born Daniel Whiddett) is a British drum and bass DJ, record producer and record label owner. He is known for his experimental instrumental hip hop production, and early music career as the breakbeat hardcore artist Sonz of a Loop ...

s' "Far Out" - a

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

-led

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

track which reached number 36 in February. As music heard at

s filtered into the mainstream, the label was to end the year with twelve UK Singles Chart hits, and experienced the highest-charted debut from an independent record company since the charts began with

Smart E's Luna-C (born Christopher Howell, 1 May 1973) is a British DJ and record producer, known for his work in breakbeat hardcore music. He was a member of the group Smart E's in 1992, who scored a 2 hit on the UK Singles Chart with "Sesame's ...

"Sesame's Treet". The track, which sampled heavily from the US children's TV show ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'', reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in July of that year. As the rave scene began to mutate into two contrasting scenes, 4/4 helium-vocal-characterised

happy hardcore Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or "hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s. H ...

and darker, more bass-led darkcore (which itself mutated in

), the Suburban Base label found itself drawn to the latter. Such releases as

DJ Hype Kevin Ford (born 1968), better known as DJ Hype, is a British jungle and drum and bass producer and DJ. Biography Hype first became involved in music as a teenager in 1982, assisting PJ and Smiley with their sound system Heatwave in East ...

's "Weird Energy" and "Shot In The Dark" and Boogie Times Tribe's "The Dark Stranger" (all 1993) maintained the label's high standing within the scene, which continued as

broke through into the mainstream in 1994. Tracks from this period were showcased on the two ''The Joint'' compilation releases; a joint collaboration with fellow leading record label

Moving Shadow Moving Shadow is an English breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms ...

. That year, Donnelly launched Breakdown Records, a compilation-only subsidiary with which he and others devised and compiled an entire range of albums covering all genres of dance. The most successful of these were the 'Drum & Bass Selection' series, compiled with the help of

Danny Breaks Danny Breaks (born Daniel Whiddett) is a British drum and bass DJ, record producer and record label owner. He is known for his experimental instrumental hip hop production, and early music career as the breakbeat hardcore artist Sonz of a Loop ...

and DJ Ash, which sold in excess of 300,000 copies and were the first TV-advertised jungle compilations. The label's successes allowed it to expand its horizons, setting up a US subsidiary, Sub Base USA, and opening an office in Los Angeles, as well as securing a distribution deal for North America. Further label deals for South America and Japan soon followed. Towards the end of 1997, however, Donnelly took the decision to close Suburban Base down. This was to allow him to pursue other new challenges in business, and he felt it would be a great injustice to continue running Suburban Base without his full attention. In particular, with the emergence of the

speed garage Speed garage (occasionally known as plus-8) is a genre of electronic dance music, associated with the UK garage scene, of which it is regarded as one of its subgenres. Characteristics Speed garage features sped-up NY garage 4-to-the-floor rhyt ...

music scene, a genre that derived many elements from jungle and which saw many jungle/drum and bass fans and club-goers defect to this new scene, Donnelly had created a specific sub-label, Quench, for speed garage releases. In 2014, the label returned initially with a compilation, and then in 2021 started to release previously unreleased material and re-issues.

Compilations

Suburban Base regularly showcased its catalogue throughout its brief history. These compilations include: *''Sub Base For Your Face LP'' (1992) *''The Joint LP'' (1993) (collaboration with Moving Shadow) *''The Joint II'' (1994) (collaboration with Moving Shadow) *''A History Of Hardcore'' (1995) (collaboration with Moving Shadow) *''Subbase Sampler'' (1996) *''Classic Subbase'' (1997) *''Suburban Base Records (The History of Hardcore, Jungle, Drum & Bass 1991-1997)'' (2014 via New State Music)

References

External links

* {{Authority control British record labels Electronic music record labels Drum and bass record labels Breakbeat hardcore Record labels established in 1989 Record labels disestablished in 1997 1989 establishments in England 1997 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1989 Romford

History

Compilations

See also

References

External links