Formed in 1991, 2 Bad Mice are an English

breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In ...

group, composed of Sean O'Keeffe, Simon Colebrooke, and Paul Rhodes. Rob Playford was originally the third member and the owner of the

Moving Shadow Moving Shadow is an English breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. In the 1990s, the group had two singles that charted in the UK.

History

O'Keefe and Colebrooke first experimented with music in 1990, using equipment and spare time at Playford's home studio. The trio formed 2 Bad Mice in 1991. Their first chart success was "Hold It Down" which reached number 48 in February 1992.Roberts, David. Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums. Guinness World Records Ltd 17th edition (2004), p. 569 Playford's involvement in the group slowed down as his studio and record label took off. When 2 Bad Mice were offered a "mainstream" record deal with Arista/

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

, Terry Donovan, the A&R rep, told them they needed someone who could look and play the part. Rhodes, who'd previously done a remix of Bombscare, stepped in as an official member. 2 Bad Mice stopped producing as the hardcore scene began to wane. A best-of compilation of the group's work appeared on the American Sm:)e Communications label in 1995.

Post split

In September 1996, "

Bombscare "Bombscare" is a track from the 1991 album ''Hold It Down'' by 2 Bad Mice. It makes heavy use of samples, taking drumbeats then chopping and rearranging them to create a distinctive musical style. The main sample heard is from the song ''Do ...

" which reached number 46 in the UK charts. A new label was created in 1996 called Moshed (MOving Shadow HousE Dept). It was set up with the help of Terry Donavan ( A&R at

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

, who went on to co-found

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

). This label, released new mixes of "Bombscare" by

Tall Paul "Tall Paul" is a song recorded by Annette Funicello and written by the Sherman Brothers, along with Bob Roberts. Background It marked the first time that a female singer reached a top ten slot with a rock and roll single. It also spotlighted An ...

DJ Sneak Carlos Sosa (born November 5, 1969), known as DJ Sneak, is a Puerto Rican-born American DJ and record producer raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is noted as being one of the second wave of Chicago house producers, (alongside Derrick ...

, and Graham Gold, along with the original and Parliament Squares versions. In 1997, the song "Jackalmouse" appeared in the movie '' The Jackal'' in the scene where

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

kissed a man in a gay nightclub. Playford continues to record as under the alias Timecode, while O'Keeffe records under the name

Deep Blue Deep Blue may refer to: Film * ''Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads'', a 1992 documentary film about Mississippi Delta blues music * Deep Blue (2001 film), ''Deep Blue'' (2001 film), a film by Dwight H. Little * Deep Blue (2003 ...

and as a member of Black Rain. The members of 2 Bad Mice are also members of Kaotic Chemistry.

Musical style

2 Bad Mice are credited as among the first

UK hardcore Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or "hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s. H ...

acts to begin incorporating

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

s into their style. They were part of the early to mid-1990s hardcore scene, and were instrumental in the music's steady mutation into

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

References

External links

Official 2 Bad Mice website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:2 Bad Mice English electronic music groups English techno music groups Hardcore techno music groups British musical trios Breakbeat hardcore music groups Musical groups from London