Mokum Records

Mokum Records
Founded1993 (1993)
FounderFred Berkhout
GenreGabber, hardcore techno, happy hardcore
Country of originNetherlands
LocationAmsterdam

Mokum Records is a Dutch independent record label specialising in early hardcore and hardcore releases. They have released about 100 single and EP vinyl records between 1993 and 1999 and more than 80 since 2004.

Fred Berkhout (Freddy B) created Mokum Records in 1993 as a joke response to another record label, Rotterdam Records. The label was originally part of the record store Boudisque Records,[1] but was later merged with Roadrunner Records - part of The Island Def Jam Music Group - who closed the label in 1998 because vinyl cost more than it yielded and decided to stop releasing with the medium. The label was revived by Freddy B in 2004 due to the re-emergence of the hardcore scene in the early 2000s, especially with gabber's resurgence in popularity in 2002. (catalog releases starting at 100 reflect this).

Mokum Records achieved chart success all over the world in 1995 with Technohead and their No. 1 hit "I Wanna Be a Hippy", the No. 1 hit "Have You Ever Been Mellow" by the Party Animals, and Technohead's "Happy Birthday", which followed in 1996. The Party Animals would also go on to have two more consecutive #1 hits with "Hava Naquila" and "Aquarius", making them the first ever Dutch act to have their first three singles top the Dutch charts. As well as this success, they are also renowned for their series of compilation albums called "Fucking Hardcore." The series started in 1995 at the height of the label's popularity and finished with "Fucking Hardcore No. 8" in 1998; however, the series was revived in 2016. The label was home to many successful producers and DJs such as Chosen Few, Flamman & Abraxas, Tellurian, The Prophet, Speedfreak, DJ Dano, Scott Brown and Liza N Eliaz.

  1. ^ CNRRecodsUK.co.uk Archived 2007-02-16 at the Wayback Machine News 16-01-04. Accessed: November 26, 2006