Slammin Vinyl's first main event was held at The Rhythm Station in Aldershot in '94. They then moved to a central London venue called Bagleys [in Kings Cross], where they held many wicked parties. Since then they gone to the Sanctuary in Milton Keynes and the Que Club in Birmingham.

They also own rave event brands Hardcore Heaven,  United Dance and One Nation.  These have been added over the years as their original owners have looked to get out of the hardcore scene.

The Slammin Vinyl organisation is still alive and kicking, branching into other genres like Drum and Bass, Old skool Hardcore, Trance, Hardhouse and even Garage. They have also brought out CD's which have been mixed by the likes of SL2, Phantasy, Ellis Dee, Sy, Slipmatt and many more besides.

Slammin Vinyl Profile 2

Slammin Vinyl was started as an independent record store and label back in 1992.  The founders were Grant (Red Alert Smith) and Mike (Slammer) Rooney.    Slammin Vinyl's first event was in Aldershot at The Rhythm Station in 1994.    From this small start they moved on to holding parties at the legendary Bagleys in King Cross.  

After this they followed in many other organisations foot steps to the Sanctuary in Milton Keynes and also the amazing Que Club in Birmingham.    Slammin Vinyl have been at the for front of the Drum N Bass scene and hold arguable the biggest parties at the moment,  with Transmission at Alexander Palace in 2005 being attended by over 10,000 people.

Dream FM & Slammin Vinyl Review 17/05

After an hour of arguing who was going to be the iron, and who was going to be the dog, we pulled out a rather aged and damaged box. It was raining outside so what better to do on a Saturday night than partake in a session of that age old classic dance-opoly. A glass of squash and digestives all round, we then decided that I would be given responsibility as ‘banker’. This was great as I am highly skilled at slipping 500’s under the board, only to produce them again when having to pay rent on Mayfair! First roll of the dice and it’s ‘Community Chest’ ‘Go to Kings Cross, do not pass go, do not collect £200’.

Since I’m in the area, and it’s the 17th of May. I thought I might as well visit Bagleys and see what Slammin Vinyl have to say for themselves. For those that haven’t been to Bagleys, I’d have to say that it is a very attractive venue, loads of space for practising your moves and a large balcony for shandy-lightweights. The House room was a bit disappointing, House bar would have been more appropriate. The beer was fairly cheap, which is quite strange for London. There were three bars in total (one in each arena). The two main rooms were large and had side mounted, suspended DJ booths (if that makes sense?). It was around midnight by the time I negotiated London’s back streets and found the place. All the regulars were already there and were getting into the swing of things. I was informed that it was Tom Thumb playing, but he was just about to finish, it sounded like it was OK any how. Next to take control of the crowd was the Jungle master Andy C, this boy played them ruff, really ruff, he made brillo pads look like silk he was that ruff. When playing to a London crowd you know they want to hear new material and that was how he played. I also saw Andy C the following night at Ruffneck ‘Ting in Bristol, to my dismay he went more Hardstep.

London is where to go for the next music (as if you didn’t already know!!). MC GQ turned up and made a guest appearance on the mic, everyone knows that when it comes to words this guy is class. I thought the placed looked pretty busy, but people informed me that the last event was so rammed that you couldn’t move. The atmosphere at this event was pleasant, but less in yer face that a Helter Skelter, for example, there were a lot more music specialists there than your average club. Randall was just about to kick off in arena two which wasn’t completely full, busy none the less. His first tune was a blunder with samples from House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’. There was some good Hardcore being supplied in this room from the likes of Slam and Energy, perhaps other large promoters should look into booking these guys. Dream FM have certainly gained a regular following as I could tell a lot of people where very familiar with the on-goings. With ten MC’s on the flyer I guess it helps to be familiar as I was having great difficulty trying to remember who was who.

One who did stand out though was a guy called MC Ruff, who works a lot with DJ Spinback. This guy obviously knows his crowd as he got great response every time he graced the mic. There was an interesting light set up with a rig that ran the whole length of the room, which I did enjoy staring at, just to remind myself what a good time I was having. It was at this point that Vibes took up his position in the DJ booth, put his headphones on and moved his hands back and forth on two bits of circular plastic - nice one!

Another fave MC of mine, Charlie B, also made a guest appearance and shouted a lot getting everyone to dance that little bit harder. This place is definitely a good venue somewhere that I’d visit again. It’s big enough to feel like a special one-off event, but smaller than the likes of The Sanctuary. It fits in well as a mid-month party to keep you interested before the next big one. Slipmatt had now arrived and took over the last hour to remind us all why he has been crowned the king of Hardcore blinder. Definitely one to put in your diary for next time, but be prepared to put the hours in, ‘cause they’ll keep you going ‘till 6am. It might be wise to take some ID, I’m 74 and I nearly didn’t get let in!!