All of British bass music can be traced back to Bleep Techno. The first ‘Bleep’ record was made in 1988 by Unique 3 and the Mad Musician, ‘The Theme’.

The story of Unique 3 is the story of British bass music.

The songs on 33/45 chart a course from Bleep to 21st century UK bass from hardcore and ragga-jungle to drum & bass, UKG and breaks.

‘The Theme’ combined a distinctive drum track and gargantuan bassline with a top-end melody full of spacey bleeps. Suddenly, a mixed-race group of bass-loving working-class lads from Bradford became the hottest property in UK dance music.

Unique 3’s debut album Jus Unique offered a sprint through hip-hop, sub-heavy club cuts, dancehall and electro-rave fusion, fusing the key elements of Bleep – the alien melodies, rumbling sub-bass and skittish percussion programming – with the specific styles of music that inspired the sound’s creation.

In 2007, the Unique 3 name returned to record stores via ‘Rock The Bass’, the first single from the first Unique 3 album for 17 years, Invasive Signals. This was a thoroughly contemporary sequel to Jus Unique that updated Unique 3’s British bass blueprint for a new century. While some of the influences and inspirations were the same – think electro, hip-hop, Soundsystem culture, house and techno – Edzy also included nods to breaks, hardcore and drum & bass – all styles that have sprung up in the years following the release of ‘The Theme’ in 1988.

Since then, Edzy has continued to offer up a string of memorable Unique 3 singles, most of which can be found on this collection. Perhaps now, 33 years after the first Unique 3 DJ gigs in Bradford, the act’s immense contribution to the story of UK bass music will finally be recognised.