One of the most respected (and idiosyncratic) techno DJs and producers in the '90s, Dave Clarke began his music career as a hip-hop DJ in the mid-'80s, shifting to acid-house and later rave near the end of the decade. He began recording for Stress (as Pig City) in the early '90s and also appeared on R&S, XL and his own Magnetic North Records. By the mid-'90s, he had gradually shifted away from rave to a brand of straightahead techno with the ferocity of hardcore yet the sublime feelings of classic Detroit techno. A series of three singles named "Red" gained fame during 1993-96 (the last went Top 40 in the U.K.), as did his ferocious DJ sets. Clarke's phenomenal album debut Archive 1 appeared in 1996 on Deconstruction. Demagnitized, a compilation of his earlier material on Magnetic North (with additional tracks from Cristian Vogel, DJ Hell and others), was released in 1995. Clarke also mixed two volumes of the crucial electro compilation series Electro Boogie for Studio !K7