Timeline
INCLUDING SOME LINKS TO PLAYLISTS
Mid-1991 to +/- September 2000
In mid-1991, at the age of ten, I started listening to contemporary hit/dance music. Until +/- September 2000 I mostly listened to eurodance, hiphouse, happy hardcore, rave, trance, clubtrance, or whatever the current uplifting dance music was called, and also to some danceable pop and hip hop. My taste was ultra light-hearted and I was mainly focussing on recent releases - or at least released since the late 1980s.
Through Dutch radio, 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.
→ Keywords from mid-1991 to summer 1993, before starting secondary school (» BITD playlist 01):
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).
→ Keywords from autumn 1993 to summer 2000 (» BITD playlists 02, 03 and 04):
TMF (Dutch version of MTV), Radio 538 (commercial Dutch youth radio), Maak Het Of Kraak Het ('Make it or break it', twice a day on Radio 538, presenting new releases), 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.
+/- September 2000 to 2004
Under the influence of the emerging internet my taste began to mature (» BITD playlist 05), 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, (music) discussion boards, uploading +/- 1001 websites, etcetera - I had to learn how to deal with it.
2005 to 2007
In the mid-00s (» BITD playlist 06, the final one) 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. I installed Wi-Fi and bought my first standalone internet radio (who remembers VTuner, the default aggregator back in the day?), which replaced the FM transmitter.
And the Radionomy platform became important, as a listener and also as a broadcaster. The platform was filled with thousands of small amateur stations.
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.
In mid-1991, at the age of ten, I started listening to contemporary hit/dance music. Until +/- September 2000 I mostly listened to eurodance, hiphouse, happy hardcore, rave, trance, clubtrance, or whatever the current uplifting dance music was called, and also to some danceable pop and hip hop. My taste was ultra light-hearted and I was mainly focussing on recent releases - or at least released since the late 1980s.
Through Dutch radio, 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.
→ Keywords from mid-1991 to summer 1993, before starting secondary school (» BITD playlist 01):
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).
→ Keywords from autumn 1993 to summer 2000 (» BITD playlists 02, 03 and 04):
TMF (Dutch version of MTV), Radio 538 (commercial Dutch youth radio), Maak Het Of Kraak Het ('Make it or break it', twice a day on Radio 538, presenting new releases), 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.
+/- September 2000 to 2004
Under the influence of the emerging internet my taste began to mature (» BITD playlist 05), 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, (music) discussion boards, uploading +/- 1001 websites, etcetera - I had to learn how to deal with it.
2005 to 2007
In the mid-00s (» BITD playlist 06, the final one) 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. I installed Wi-Fi and bought my first standalone internet radio (who remembers VTuner, the default aggregator back in the day?), which replaced the FM transmitter.
And the Radionomy platform became important, as a listener and also as a broadcaster. The platform was filled with thousands of small amateur stations.
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.
