Timeline
INCLUDING SOME LINKS TO PLAYLISTS
Mid-1991 to summer 1993, pre secondary school
(» BITD playlist 01)
In mid-1991, at the age of ten, I started listening to contemporary hit/dance music. I used to listen to early eurodance (back when it was often still called 'hip house'), house, rave, and some danceable pop and hip hop.
I was mostly focussing on recent releases - or at least released since the late 1980s. Some late 80s/early 90s stuff was discovered by listening to the public Dutch youth station Radio 3 and to the first 13/14 CDs from the Turn Up The Bass compilation series.
Through Radio 3, I was also exposed to Nirvana, R.E.M. and many other more-or-less alternative sounding guitar acts. If they happened to be on the radio, I didn't mind listening to them, but I didn't actively tape most of those songs. I finally got into that kind of music in the mid-2000s; better late than never.
→ Some keywords:
Cassette tapes, Turn Up The Bass (Dutch compilation CDs), House Party (same), Radio 3 (the public Dutch youth station), the Veronica Friday or Saturday (one of the public Dutch broadcasting organisations, all day long on Radio 3), Avro's For Those Who Like To Groove (Radio 3 dance show), TROS Dance Trax (same), NCRV's Popsjop/The Magic Friends (a daily after school show on Radio 3), Countdown (a Top Of The Pops like TV show, hosted by Veronica), Hitkrant (Dutch teen magazine), and 2 Unlimited (you know them).
Autumn 1993 to summer 1998, secondary school
(» BITD playlists 02 and 03):
I listened to eurodance, happy hardcore, clubtrance, or whatever the current uplifting dance music was called. I also listened to typical Belgian dance, and to some danceable pop and hip hop.
My taste was ultra light-hearted, even more compared to the previous era, and I was still mostly focussing on recent releases - or at least released since the late 1980s.
→ Some keywords:
Cassette tapes, TMF (Dutch version of MTV), Radio 538 (commercial Dutch youth radio), Radio Atlantis/Channel X (local Dutch dance station, 1997-1998), Mega Dance (Dutch compilation CDs), and still Veronica, 2 Unlimited, Hitkrant and Radio 3 (FM) - especially when I wasn't able to pick up Radio 538. But I still liked that Popsjop/Magic Friends show, which played a lot of eurodance and similar stuff. You can also count WorldOnline, which was my very first internet provider.
Autumn 1998 to +/- September 2000, post secondary school
(» BITD playlist 04):
This was the short era between ending secondary school and the next chapter. My taste was similar to the previous era, with the addition of some trance and eurotrance. Radio Atlantis/Channel X (until they pulled the plug early in 1999), Radio 538 and TMF were still very important. I frequently taped the Radio 538 item 'Maak Het Of Kraak Het' ('Make It Or Break It'), broadcast twice a day and presenting new releases.
Back in the day I was using the old-fashioned dial-up version of the internet. It was only useable for one hour a day, and musically, it hadn’t had much of an impact yet. But it started to increase a lot +/- September 2000. You can read more about that below.
+/- September 2000 to 2004, internet influenced
(» BITD playlist 05)
Under the influence of the emerging internet my taste began to mature, although at first I was still mainly playing dance music. I played groovy house (in the broadest sense of the word) and some trance. The focus on fairly recent songs, or at least relased since the late 1980s, remained the same.
A couple of sources: Hed Kandi, Id&T Radio and Dancenet, the first internet radio station I ever listened to. I stumbled upon it +/- September 2000 and it had a huge influence on me. Important tracks: Daft Punk - One more time, Etienne De Crecy - Am I wrong, David Morales - Needin' you (vocal version).
Dial-up internet was limiting, though. Early in 2001 I got broadband internet. To be honest, getting broadband internet was like giving a five-year-old a huge bag of sweets. The kid will try to eat everything at once and become sick. Downloading + burning CDs, (music) discussion boards, uploading +/- 1001 websites, etcetera - I had to learn how to deal with it.
2005 to 2007, transition era
(» BITD playlist 06, the final one)
In the mid-00s my taste started to evolve into the mixed bag it is today. At the same time, 2005-2007 was the latter part of my dance era. It was dominated by the French internet station Underground FG, which sounded a bit more subtle compared to earlier favorites. Minimal, tech house, deep house, electro, etcetera.
Anyway - I also started listening to many other styles, and also to much older (pre-late 1980s) music.
In general, the things I liked started to sound a bit calmer. Even ambient was included. → Search for Cryosleep; the station is still around and it's still playing exactly the same songs, compared to early in 2005. Soma FM was another source. With a FM transmitter I spread the sound through home.
Since 2008
In the late 2000s I discovered sources like FIP, Nova(.fr), Laid Back Radio and Lefto, which played a varied combination of (mostly) relaxed songs. These influences were added to those of the previous era.
In the same era I also installed Wi-Fi and bought my first standalone internet radio, which replaced the FM transmitter. Who remembers VTuner, the default aggregator back in the day?
And the Radionomy platform became important, as a listener and also as a broadcaster. The platform was filled with thousands of small amateur stations. To be honest, I miss Radionomy. It felt like the Wild West of the internet radio world.
In the mid-2010s, my musical preferences became a bit darker (on average). Since then, they have stayed pretty much the same. In fact my current taste isn't that different from the late 2000s. There's just more room for moody, introspective, etc. sounds, and averagely it's a bit less danceable.
(» BITD playlist 01)
In mid-1991, at the age of ten, I started listening to contemporary hit/dance music. I used to listen to early eurodance (back when it was often still called 'hip house'), house, rave, and some danceable pop and hip hop.
I was mostly focussing on recent releases - or at least released since the late 1980s. Some late 80s/early 90s stuff was discovered by listening to the public Dutch youth station Radio 3 and to the first 13/14 CDs from the Turn Up The Bass compilation series.
Through Radio 3, I was also exposed to Nirvana, R.E.M. and many other more-or-less alternative sounding guitar acts. If they happened to be on the radio, I didn't mind listening to them, but I didn't actively tape most of those songs. I finally got into that kind of music in the mid-2000s; better late than never.
→ Some keywords:
Cassette tapes, Turn Up The Bass (Dutch compilation CDs), House Party (same), Radio 3 (the public Dutch youth station), the Veronica Friday or Saturday (one of the public Dutch broadcasting organisations, all day long on Radio 3), Avro's For Those Who Like To Groove (Radio 3 dance show), TROS Dance Trax (same), NCRV's Popsjop/The Magic Friends (a daily after school show on Radio 3), Countdown (a Top Of The Pops like TV show, hosted by Veronica), Hitkrant (Dutch teen magazine), and 2 Unlimited (you know them).
Autumn 1993 to summer 1998, secondary school
(» BITD playlists 02 and 03):
I listened to eurodance, happy hardcore, clubtrance, or whatever the current uplifting dance music was called. I also listened to typical Belgian dance, and to some danceable pop and hip hop.
My taste was ultra light-hearted, even more compared to the previous era, and I was still mostly focussing on recent releases - or at least released since the late 1980s.
→ Some keywords:
Cassette tapes, TMF (Dutch version of MTV), Radio 538 (commercial Dutch youth radio), Radio Atlantis/Channel X (local Dutch dance station, 1997-1998), Mega Dance (Dutch compilation CDs), and still Veronica, 2 Unlimited, Hitkrant and Radio 3 (FM) - especially when I wasn't able to pick up Radio 538. But I still liked that Popsjop/Magic Friends show, which played a lot of eurodance and similar stuff. You can also count WorldOnline, which was my very first internet provider.
Autumn 1998 to +/- September 2000, post secondary school
(» BITD playlist 04):
This was the short era between ending secondary school and the next chapter. My taste was similar to the previous era, with the addition of some trance and eurotrance. Radio Atlantis/Channel X (until they pulled the plug early in 1999), Radio 538 and TMF were still very important. I frequently taped the Radio 538 item 'Maak Het Of Kraak Het' ('Make It Or Break It'), broadcast twice a day and presenting new releases.
Back in the day I was using the old-fashioned dial-up version of the internet. It was only useable for one hour a day, and musically, it hadn’t had much of an impact yet. But it started to increase a lot +/- September 2000. You can read more about that below.
+/- September 2000 to 2004, internet influenced
(» BITD playlist 05)
Under the influence of the emerging internet my taste began to mature, although at first I was still mainly playing dance music. I played groovy house (in the broadest sense of the word) and some trance. The focus on fairly recent songs, or at least relased since the late 1980s, remained the same.
A couple of sources: Hed Kandi, Id&T Radio and Dancenet, the first internet radio station I ever listened to. I stumbled upon it +/- September 2000 and it had a huge influence on me. Important tracks: Daft Punk - One more time, Etienne De Crecy - Am I wrong, David Morales - Needin' you (vocal version).
Dial-up internet was limiting, though. Early in 2001 I got broadband internet. To be honest, getting broadband internet was like giving a five-year-old a huge bag of sweets. The kid will try to eat everything at once and become sick. Downloading + burning CDs, (music) discussion boards, uploading +/- 1001 websites, etcetera - I had to learn how to deal with it.
2005 to 2007, transition era
(» BITD playlist 06, the final one)
In the mid-00s my taste started to evolve into the mixed bag it is today. At the same time, 2005-2007 was the latter part of my dance era. It was dominated by the French internet station Underground FG, which sounded a bit more subtle compared to earlier favorites. Minimal, tech house, deep house, electro, etcetera.
Anyway - I also started listening to many other styles, and also to much older (pre-late 1980s) music.
In general, the things I liked started to sound a bit calmer. Even ambient was included. → Search for Cryosleep; the station is still around and it's still playing exactly the same songs, compared to early in 2005. Soma FM was another source. With a FM transmitter I spread the sound through home.
Since 2008
In the late 2000s I discovered sources like FIP, Nova(.fr), Laid Back Radio and Lefto, which played a varied combination of (mostly) relaxed songs. These influences were added to those of the previous era.
In the same era I also installed Wi-Fi and bought my first standalone internet radio, which replaced the FM transmitter. Who remembers VTuner, the default aggregator back in the day?
And the Radionomy platform became important, as a listener and also as a broadcaster. The platform was filled with thousands of small amateur stations. To be honest, I miss Radionomy. It felt like the Wild West of the internet radio world.
In the mid-2010s, my musical preferences became a bit darker (on average). Since then, they have stayed pretty much the same. In fact my current taste isn't that different from the late 2000s. There's just more room for moody, introspective, etc. sounds, and averagely it's a bit less danceable.
