Maybe the vernacular is different in the locations we’re from, but in the US we called the genre that came out of darker hardcore (you know, hardcore – with breakbeats!) but was fun, happy hardcore, breakbeats intact. Some stuff that was really bouncy gabber and faster bouncy techno also tended to be called happy hardcore in the US, despite having lost the hardcore breaks. But as far as I’m concerned, whether you’re from the U.K. or the States, “proper” happy hardcore has breakbeats inherently, and sounds a lot more like hardcore or early dark side jungle, than gabber or techno. Was it Knight Force records? That’s the happy hardcore I’m talking about. 
