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4hero
4hero (sometimes referred to as 4 Hero or 4-Hero) are an electronic music group from Dollis Hill, London, comprising producers Mark "Marc Mac" Clair & Denis "Dego" McFarlane. 4hero are known for being pioneers of breakbeat hardcore, jungle/drum and bass, broken beat and nu jazz music.
The main players in 4hero first met and came to prominence in the late 1980s when they were involved in the Strong Island FM pirate radio station. Marc Mac and Gus Lawrence set up Reinforced Records in 1989 to release their own productions as 4hero, with the group being completed by Dego and Iain Bardouille. Their first release was the 1990 single "All B 3 / Rising Son".
The follow-up EP, Combat Dancin', underpinned the sub-bass pressure of the bleep 'n' bass artists associated with Sheffield's Warp Records, such as LFO and Nightmares on Wax, with mid-tempo hip-hop-style breakbeats. It also brought the group to the attention of the rave community due to the track "Mr Kirk's Nightmare", which pivoted around the "Get Into Something" break (taken from The Isley Brothers) and a morbid vocal sample ("Mr Kirk? Your son is dead. He died of an overdose.") taken from the Bobby Susser, anti-drug hit "Once You Understand" by Think. 4hero were among the first proponents of what would become known as "drum and bass", which began to grow in profile via a series of releases on Reinforced. Another drum and bass figurehead, Goldie, was introduced to 4hero by his girlfriend DJ Kemistry at a performance in London's Astoria. Marc and Dego went on to teach and collaborate with Goldie which then brought the sounds Goldie envisioned to life, forming the Rufige Cru and Metalheadz monikers.
The band's debut album, In Rough Territory, was released in 1991 on Reinforced Records. This would be the only one of the group's albums to feature Gus and Iain as full members. In late 1992 and early 1993, 4hero would release the darkcore Journey from the Light EP, which according to and referenced by music journalist Simon Reynolds, "If anyone can claim to have invented dark-core, it's 4 Hero".
Marc Mac and Dego would also record together under the alias "Tom & Jerry" (releasing classics such as "The One Reason", "We Can Be Free", "Maximum Style", and "Air Freshener"), whilst Marc Mac solely as "Manix" (Manic Minds EP, Rainbow People EP, and "Heading to the Light") and Dego as "Tek 9" ("Just a Dream", and Return of Tek 9 EP).[citation needed]
In 1995, NME voted 4hero's second album Parallel Universe the album of the year in its dance category.
In 1997, one of their tracks, a remix of Nuyorican Soul's "Black Gold of the Sun", was released to critical acclaim with Louie Vega describing it as "...one of the best remixes ever...".
The next year, 4hero rose again to mainstream visibility with their third studio album as 4hero, Two Pages (1998). Released on Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud record label, the double CD blended jazzy double bass, flowing breakbeats and a brew of mysticism, spiritualism, astrology, U.F.O.s, and environmentalism. Luke Parkhouse provided the drums while Ursula Rucker, Carol Crosby and Face V. Walsh provided vocals alongside veteran singer Terry Callier and a few other special guests. The album gained critical acclaim and a place on the shortlist for 1998's Mercury Music Prize as well as picking up a MOBO award in the same year. Both this album and artists recording on 4hero's Reinforced label were influential in the development of the broken beat scene.
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4hero
4hero (sometimes referred to as 4 Hero or 4-Hero) are an electronic music group from Dollis Hill, London, comprising producers Mark "Marc Mac" Clair & Denis "Dego" McFarlane. 4hero are known for being pioneers of breakbeat hardcore, jungle/drum and bass, broken beat and nu jazz music.
The main players in 4hero first met and came to prominence in the late 1980s when they were involved in the Strong Island FM pirate radio station. Marc Mac and Gus Lawrence set up Reinforced Records in 1989 to release their own productions as 4hero, with the group being completed by Dego and Iain Bardouille. Their first release was the 1990 single "All B 3 / Rising Son".
The follow-up EP, Combat Dancin', underpinned the sub-bass pressure of the bleep 'n' bass artists associated with Sheffield's Warp Records, such as LFO and Nightmares on Wax, with mid-tempo hip-hop-style breakbeats. It also brought the group to the attention of the rave community due to the track "Mr Kirk's Nightmare", which pivoted around the "Get Into Something" break (taken from The Isley Brothers) and a morbid vocal sample ("Mr Kirk? Your son is dead. He died of an overdose.") taken from the Bobby Susser, anti-drug hit "Once You Understand" by Think. 4hero were among the first proponents of what would become known as "drum and bass", which began to grow in profile via a series of releases on Reinforced. Another drum and bass figurehead, Goldie, was introduced to 4hero by his girlfriend DJ Kemistry at a performance in London's Astoria. Marc and Dego went on to teach and collaborate with Goldie which then brought the sounds Goldie envisioned to life, forming the Rufige Cru and Metalheadz monikers.
The band's debut album, In Rough Territory, was released in 1991 on Reinforced Records. This would be the only one of the group's albums to feature Gus and Iain as full members. In late 1992 and early 1993, 4hero would release the darkcore Journey from the Light EP, which according to and referenced by music journalist Simon Reynolds, "If anyone can claim to have invented dark-core, it's 4 Hero".
Marc Mac and Dego would also record together under the alias "Tom & Jerry" (releasing classics such as "The One Reason", "We Can Be Free", "Maximum Style", and "Air Freshener"), whilst Marc Mac solely as "Manix" (Manic Minds EP, Rainbow People EP, and "Heading to the Light") and Dego as "Tek 9" ("Just a Dream", and Return of Tek 9 EP).[citation needed]
In 1995, NME voted 4hero's second album Parallel Universe the album of the year in its dance category.
In 1997, one of their tracks, a remix of Nuyorican Soul's "Black Gold of the Sun", was released to critical acclaim with Louie Vega describing it as "...one of the best remixes ever...".
The next year, 4hero rose again to mainstream visibility with their third studio album as 4hero, Two Pages (1998). Released on Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud record label, the double CD blended jazzy double bass, flowing breakbeats and a brew of mysticism, spiritualism, astrology, U.F.O.s, and environmentalism. Luke Parkhouse provided the drums while Ursula Rucker, Carol Crosby and Face V. Walsh provided vocals alongside veteran singer Terry Callier and a few other special guests. The album gained critical acclaim and a place on the shortlist for 1998's Mercury Music Prize as well as picking up a MOBO award in the same year. Both this album and artists recording on 4hero's Reinforced label were influential in the development of the broken beat scene.
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