Judge Jules picks his favourite Gatecrasher classic tracks

As legendary UK clubs go, Gatecrasher's original home in Sheffield is right up there with the best of them. From 1996 until the early 2000s, Gatecrasher One was the epicentre of trance in the UK, home to an entire subculture of miscreants labelled 'Crasher Kids' who could be easily identified by their luminescent attire, the dummies hung round their necks and multicoloured hair gelled within an inch of its life.

It was a period of unbridled hedonism set to the soundtrack of pounding, high energy, euphoric trance delivered week in and week out by the club's idolised residents.

We asked long standing resident Judge Jules to talk us through some of his favourite records from that golden era of UK clubbing.

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Ayla 'Ayla'

This is quite a poignant track for me from the Gatecrasher era. It represents the essence of music released during that time; recorded in a minor key with its long breakdowns and ‘pretty’ riffs – a far cry from the big drops and hard sounds that you hear being released today.

Y Traxx 'Mystery Land'

It’s very easy to go into a studio and put all the correct parts of a song into the right order – the bass, the kick drum and so forth, but it’s very rare to capture the magic that makes a good song great. 'Mystery Land' has the magic factor with an amazing vibe that just carries you away. Funnily enough, it was also one of the tracks featured on the Kevin & Perry Go Large soundtrack, so it’s a track that goes further than just Gatecrasher for me.

Marc et Claude 'I Need Your Lovin'

Anyone who remembers this track will remember the “I need your lovin, like the sunshine” sample that is looped throughout the song. It’s actually taken from a track by The Korgis which is heavily sampled by several producers, but for me it’s always been this one from Marc et Claude that made the best use of the sample, and consequently it’s the record I would play out at Crasher.

Humate 'Love Stimulation' (Paul Van Dyk Love Club Mix)

You’ll find that most dance records these days are very simple, but PVD’s mix of ‘Love Stimulation’ is quite the opposite with an almost classical level of complexity on its production; as a result, it’s quite long clocking in at over seven minutes. As a DJ, you’re often given quite a limited set time and there’s an urge to squeeze as many tracks into that time as possible, mixing out early and so on – but this is a track that always demanded to be played in its entirety.

Kristine Blond 'Love Shy' (Electrique Boutique Mix)

If you have a residency, there tends to be one record which you go back to and play time and time again, or get asked for more than any others – 'Love Shy' is that track for me. It became something of a signature tune for me during my residency at Gatecrasher and I am sure it is still a track that a lot of people associate with my sets from those days. 

Megamind 'Taub' (Picotto Mix)

Most people associate the Gatecrasher brand with trance, which is fair enough for the most part; I have never one to be dogmatically married to a genre though and would try and expand and push the genre boundaries with my sets. It might have annoyed the purists, but 'Taub' is one track I really enjoyed playing – it’s hard techno with an amazing sample from the Twilight Zone, definitely one for the end of the night.

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