Propaganda 22 ch07

+-----+
|IKARI|
+-----+--------------------------------+
 |In 1986, Brittish youngsters started |
 |the biggest group of all time on the |
 |Commodore 64. JUST ICE, PAL, NIK and |
 |a few others decided to take the name|
 |from the hyped and hugely delayed    |
 |arcadeconversion IKARI WARRIORS      |
 |(ELITE 1996) For those of you around |
 |back then, will remember the tons of |
 |paper magazines published about it.  |
 |As the Danish group JEWELS joined in,|
 |IKARI had no competitors. (DOC, EXC- |
 |ELL, GANDALF and more). The cooper-  |
 |ation with Brittish TALENT lasted for|
 |a long time (and was beaten in length|
 |only by THE RULING COMPANY*SUCCESS)  |
 |The IKARI+ZARGON-party in March 1989 |
 |is a classic, but IKARI were hated   |

 |over a long period of time for faking|
 |the democompetition, where IKARI won.|
 |TESTICLE OVERDRIVE was the title, and|
 |is still worth a check (great music  |
 |by KNATTER/XAKK). FOR THE BEST, TRADE|
 |WITH THE BEST is an expression that  |
 |should cause goosebumps.             |
 +-------------------------------------+

+--------+
|ILLUSION|
+--------+-----------------------------+
 |As FUTURE, ABNORMAL and other fairly |
 |famous forces from Norway joined to- |
 |gether, ILLUSION was born. They gain-|
 |ed a leading position with firstre-  |
 |leases and came out as official fav- |
 |orites even though their image was   |
 |quite anonymous. RICHIE and DEAN from|
 |ROUGH TRADE entered later, and with  |

 |a Brittish section with people like  |
 |DERBYSHIRE RAM, the continous success|
 |was obvious. As ILLUSION made a come-|
 |back in 1992, people welcome them    |
 |with open arms. The demis, however   |
 |came to be a public soapfight, where |
 |GREGO, SUSIEUZI and FREESTYLE came   |
 |into the spotlight with their quarr- |
 |els. GENE and HERO were busted for   |
 |piracy at an early point, which caus-|
 |ed the first fall of the group in    |
 |1991.                                |
 +-------------------------------------+

+-------+
|JAZZCAT|
+-------+------------------------------+
 |One of the Norweigan boundbreaking   |
 |groups that cruised the disks in     |
 |1986-87. They shall not be associated|

 |with the Australian nameripper with  |
 |the same name.                       |
 |                                     |
 |                                     |
 +-------------------------------------+
+------+
|JEWELS|
+------+-------------------------------+
 |Denmark's most gifted groups along   |
 |with THE PAPILLIONS. DOC, FLETCH,    |
 |EXCELL and others cracked almost     |
 |everything and used their Introcoder |
 |to design the intros. Later on the   |
 |hardworking crowd would end up in    |
 |IKARI and finally LEGEND.            |
 +-------------------------------------+





+------+
|LEGEND|
+------+-------------------------------+
 |was a weak Belgian group up to a cer-|
 |tain point. With ANTITRACK, GOLDFISH,|
 |POWERPLANT the path to success was   |
 |laid. They created an admirable prin-|
 |ciple only to release fullpricetitles|
 |and even though they did so in a time|
 |when fullprice-software was on decli-|
 |ne, they maintained full credibility.|
 |WESTBAM (who earlier was NARC) suppl-|
 |ied most of the software at a speed, |
 |that later made way for him to join  |
 |RAZOR, QUARTEX, CLASSIC and other big|
 |names on other formats. Their version|
 |of SHADOW OF THE BEAST, and also TOKI|
 |- both cracked from cartridge, are   |
 |just about the best work ever done on|
 |the 64. In the end, LEGEND became a  |

 |parody of itself, trying to maintain |
 |a reputation they had built years    |
 |earlier. In desperation, several     |
 |doubtful members were added.         |
 +-------------------------------------+
+---+
|MCG|
+---+----------------------------------+
 |Strong force with JOE COOL and other |
 |profiles back in 1988. MADONNA CRA-  |
 |CKING GROUP knocked off socks with   |
 |some very fast releases, but disa-   |
 |ppeared quickly into other groups -  |
 |on of them ORION.                    |
 +-------------------------------------+
+--------+
|MECHANIX|
+--------+----------------------------+
 |A group often refered to as one of  |
 |the biggest, smaller groups. Danish-|

 |based and cocky, they did some great|
 |cracks and demos. GROO became a res-|
 |pected musician (and musicians were |
 |rare back in 1988) as they launched |
 |the SOUNDTRACKER for the 64 - a dec-|
 |ent conversion of the popular music-|
 |tool on the Amiga.                  |
 +------------------------------------+
+----+
|NATO|
+----+---------------------------------+
 |A Brittish group born in 1987. MEGA- |
 |SNAIL is still one of the best crack-|
 |ers there ever was. NATO later on re-|
 |cruited the highly acclaimed demo-   |
 |section BUDS where MADUPLEC and oth- |
 |ers would thrill us with their demos.|
 |Check all their productions during   |
 |199O-92 to get the picture.          |
 +-------------------------------------+

+---+
|NEC|
+---+----------------------------------+
 |American NORTH EAST CRACKERS were    |
 |part of the cracking industry at a   |
 |point when good American titles had  |
 |started to fade. As a result, they   |
 |created NEI, NORTH EAST IMPORTERS to |
 |raise hell in the quickly expanding  |
 |fixing-industry. They did. HORIZON   |
 |became one of the most respected fix-|
 |ers of all time. With all rights.    |
 +-------------------------------------+
+----+
|NEPA|
+----+---------------------------------+
 |NORTH EAST PIRATES ASSOCIATION were  |
 |a proud crackinggroup, who also made |
 |some of the first music-rip-demos.   |
 |Check out their hilarious messages in|

 |their intros and demos - "We have 3  |
 |Amigas at the moment", something one |
 |should look up to in the early days  |
 |when an Amiga1OOO cost a fortune,    |
 |about twice a Pentium.               |
 +-------------------------------------+

+-----------+
|NEW BENCORS|
+-----------+--------------------------+
 |A Brittish, anonymous team, that went|
 |to the Amiga together with the leg-  |
 |endary KENT-TEAM. The team later su- |
 |pplied parts of the Brittish 64-scene|
 |with fast software, since they had   |
 |great inside-connections at several  |
 |softwarehouses.                      |
 +-------------------------------------+



+------+
|ONEWAY|
+------+-------------------------------+
 |In December 1988, RAZOR/AXIS had a   |
 |dream to build a huge group. Paying  |
 |GALLEON money, GALLEON finally fin-  |
 |ished the last parts on a program    |
 |that he came to call CRUELCRUNCHER.  |
 |The program set new standards in the |
 |crunching all over the world. With   |
 |CRUELCRUNCHER, they had a success at |
 |their hands and shortness eventually |
 |became a trademark for their cracks. |
 |ONEWAY is still active, although they|
 |only develop utilities for the 64.   |
 |Check out CruelCruncher1.O, Goatbeard|
 |(a splendid demo from 199O) and the  |
 |Hackpack-series.                     |
 +-------------------------------------+


+-----+
|ORION|
+-----+--------------------------------+
 |Dutch popular group in 1987-88, later|
 |on reborn in a very weak condition.  |
 |Their good imports from the states   |
 |were always a good piece to have in  |
 |your collection. Later on, remains of|
 |the group were found in SPHINX.      |
 +-------------------------------------+

+----------+
|PAPILLIONS|
+----------+---------------------------+
 |The pride of Denmark started to ratt-|
 |le and roll late 1987 and continued  |
 |their tour only to September 1988.   |
 |During that time, LENNART and the ot-|
 |hers made it to the very top with    |
 |terribly fast imports and good con-  |

 |trol of the software-flow. Check out |
 |their WE ARE THE CHAMPS, a farewell- |
 |demo that features all their intros  |
 |used during their career as well as  |
 |some good piece of scrolltext. By far|
 |PAPILLIONS is an alltime top-5.      |
 +-------------------------------------+

+---------+
|PARAMOUNT|
+---------+----------------------------+
 |Strong German label that gave birth  |
 |to several great crackers as well as |
 |fine firstreleases. Reborn once, but |
 |never quite reached the status from  |
 |the early days of fame. STING was    |
 |probably one of the most controvers- |
 |ial members and also made an intere- |
 |sting appearance on the American     |
 |boards. He was later on seen in vir- |

 |tually every group from IKARI+TALENT |
 |to GENESIS*PROJECT.                  |
 +-------------------------------------+
+------------------+
|PLUTONIUM CRACKERS|
+------------------+-------------------+
 |A futuristic gray intro with a pomp- |
 |ing monotonous soundtrack came to be |
 |a trademark for the radioactive group|
 |that was born in 1986. In 1987 they  |
 |reached their peak, much due to the  |
 |fact that they could get their hands |
 |on quick releases from the German    |
 |hotshot ARIOLASOFT.                  |
 +-------------------------------------+

+------+
|PULSAR|
+------+------------------------------+
 |Originally a strong English label   |

 |that somehow converted into a Swiss/|
 |Austrian-concept in the later days. |
 |In the good days, MITCH/PULSAR from |
 |the UK was one of the best contacts |
 |you could ever have.                |
 +------------------------------------+
+--------+
|RAW DEAL|
+--------+-----------------------------+
 |The name was taken from the popular  |
 |Arnold-movie with the same name from |
 |1986. The Norweigan group were imm-  |
 |ensly popular over a short period of |
 |time, and was later on reborn under  |
 |the hands of RAZOR/ONEWAY in 1989.   |
 |Unfortunately, they faked 3 American |
 |imports from the United States in    |
 |late 1989, and from there credibility|
 |was all gone. What a way to go.      |
 +-------------------------------------+

+----------+
|RED SECTOR|
+----------+---------------------------+
 |Born in Canada in 1985. When the Ger-|
 |man Godfather IRATA came along, the  |
 |group entered the European field and |
 |became one of the biggest groups of  |
 |all time. Having topped parts of the |
 |8-bit market, RED SECTOR headed for  |
 |the Amiga in 1988 even though they   |
 |remained on the 64 on a very small   |
 |scale. In 1991 the German group HY-  |
 |STERIC decided to start the story all|
 |over, and even though many criticized|
 |the move, RSI came to dominate the   |
 |Commodore 64 again. The core of the  |
 |group left in 1994 and converted to  |
 |TRSI, just like they had done on the |
 |Amiga and PC in 1991. MAYHEM IN MON- |
 |STERLAND and ALIEN3 were the strong- |

 |est firstreleases done, and shows    |
 |just how good they were, when at     |
 |their best.                          |
 +-------------------------------------+
+------+
|REFLEX|
+------+-------------------------------+
 |was one of the most liked groups in  |
 |Germany and is not to be mixed up    |
 |with a popular demogroup with the    |
 |same name. KRABAT was not only a tal-|
 |ented cracker but also a good coder. |
 |Look at their FLASH GORDON-demo from |
 |July 1986 and swing away to good mu- |
 |sic and graphics.                    |
 +-------------------------------------+
+-----+
|RELAX|
+-----+--------------------------------+
 |came out as the second half of WCC   |

 |(WEST COAST CRACKERS) formed by MR.  |
 |PINGE and JANITOR. They started out  |
 |with classic releases like STAR PAWS |
 |and LAST NINJA (1-sided and trained!)|
 |but came to enter TRIAD half a year  |
 |later. MR.PINGE is confident he did  |
 |the right thing, and they came to    |
 |take TRIAD to the top of the world - |
 |again. The other half of WCC, became |
 |as already mentioned FAIRLIGHT.      |
 +-------------------------------------+
+-----------+
|ROUGH TRADE|
+-----------+--------------------------+
 |The Brittish division (RICHIE, DEAN  |
 |and others) while the German people  |
 |(NARC, FIREFOX ETC) supported the    |
 |speed. The Brittish division later on|
 |teamed up with their mates in ILL-   |
 |USION. Check out many of their imp-  |

 |orts - some of them the last decent  |
 |American games ever made.            |
 +-------------------------------------+
+---+
|SCA|
+---+----------------------------------+
 |The SWISS CRACKING ASSOCIATION were  |
 |not only responsible for the very    |
 |first Amiga-virus ("SOMETHING WOND-  |
 |ERFUL HAS HAPPENED") but also some   |
 |very good cracks on the Commodore 64.|
 |Their version of PRINTSHOP still     |
 |knocks socks of people. - PRINTSHOP  |
 |is considered to have one of the tou-|
 |ghest protections ever on the 64.    |
 +-------------------------------------+
+---+
|SCC|
+---+----------------------------------+
 |SWEDISH CRACKING CREW came to repre- |

 |sent the Eastcoast (WCC/TRIAD was    |
 |Westcoast) of Sweden. COVENANT, IN   |
 |FERNO and the others were productive,|
 |but in the long run, their lies and  |
 |rags put an end to their career. They|
 |later on went to the AtariST long be-|
 |fore anybody was thinking of a market|
 |on the Amiga. Their early demos are  |
 |hilarious to look at, even though    |
 |good back then.                      |
 +-------------------------------------+
+---+
|SCG|
+---+----------------------------------+
 |WEETIBIX and other famous celebrities|
 |from SCOUSE CRACKING GROUP came anon-|
 |ymously and took the world slightly  |
 |by shock when they suddenly entered  |
 |the number one spot of ILLEGAL. The  |
 |group went up and down both in charts|

 |and activity-wise during 1986-1988,  |
 |but when at their peaks, one of the  |
 |1O strongest groups ever to set foot |
 |on the 64. They were also among the  |
 |first to be running NTSC/PAL-compat- |
 |ible games.                          |
 +-------------------------------------+
+----------------------------------+
|SCOTTISH CRACKING SERVICE/PHANTOMS|
+----------------------------------+---+
 |does not deserve a place in history  |
 |for all their releases, but for being|
 |one of the absolutely first organized|
 |groups ever on the Commodore 64, whi-|
 |le most other people worked alone.   |
 |Most known release is NIBBLY'S DAY   |
 |OUT by ANDREW BRAYBROOK from 1985.   |
 +-------------------------------------+



+------+
|SHARKS|
+------+-------------------------------+
 |A German group with branches in Aust-|
 |ria and Switzerland. Late 1986, they |
 |started their activities on the 64,  |
 |and expanded quickly towards the Am- |
 |iga and the AtariST. MR.CURSOR, long |
 |gone but remembered coderstunt made  |
 |some amazing intros for them. SHARKS |
 |is probably one of the most well-    |
 |remembered names in German history.  |
 +-------------------------------------+

+-------------------+
|STRIKE FORCE/MOVERS|
+-------------------+------------------+
 |One of the biggest German groups ever|
 |to set foot on the Commodore 64. CON-|
 |AN and GENERAL ZOFF were big profiles|

 |and as parts of the group were busted|
 |the cooperation died, leaving us with|
 |on of the most touching "quitter-no- |
 |tes" ever done on this machine. The  |
 |active remains of the group decided  |
 |to form ELITE, that became even big- |
 |ger than their roots.                |
 +-------------------------------------+
+-----------+
|SUPPLY TEAM|
+-----------+--------------------------+
 |Denmark's fastest distributors, with-|
 |out doubt, also responsible for some |
 |awesome, smaller demos. LAXITY, the  |
 |popular musician made some of his    |
 |first works for TST. Check out JARRE |
 |DREAMS and NO LIMITS. RAMBONES who   |
 |organized the group is today consid- |
 |ering to come back to the 64.        |
 +-------------------------------------+

+--------+
|SHINING8|
+--------+-----------------------------+
 |An early German foce where PACO, BAM |
 |BAM and others started making noise  |
 |for the hall of fame. Their first    |
 |demo WELCOME TO HELL is still an in- |
 |teresting 5 minutes spent. SHINING8  |
 |were later reborn, and the name was  |
 |also to be found on the Amiga, the   |
 |consoles and the PC.                 |
 +-------------------------------------+

+------+
|SPHINX|
+------+-------------------------------+
 |Dutchbased group born in 1988 from   |
 |the remains of ORION, SCIENCE451,    |
 |ILLUSION (THE AMERICAN GROUP), ABYSS,|
 |and TLS. The group had some of the   |

 |nastiest programmers making path for |
 |excellent demos, but they quickly    |
 |made a statement becoming one of the |
 |fastest groups in American trade.    |
 |JUDGE, ABS3001, GALLEON, GAUNT(today |
 |DANKO), SYNCRO, KARL XII and ZIZYPHUS|
 |and loads of other people made this  |
 |an evident part of history. Do check |
 |out DIGIAXION and IMBECILE. SKATER,  |
 |who later on came to edit SHOCK was  |
 |also a member. SPHINX were reborn    |
 |twice, but never again strong.       |
 +-------------------------------------+
+-----------+
|SYNTAX 2001|
+-----------+--------------------------+
 |Germanbased bad boys were loved and  |
 |hated profile HEADBANGER used to hang|
 |out. Were often using the same intro |
 |as DYNAMIC DUO. Check out KING SYNTAX|

 |- a cocky release with actuality in  |
 |the 199O's.                          |
 +-------------------------------------+
+------+
|TALENT|
+------+-------------------------------+
 |With BOD, the Brittish myth from HOT-|
 |LINE and XXX, the group made path for|
 |a new dawn. Thr group was a classic  |
 |twinbrother during the cooperation   |
 |with IKARI but made very well on     |
 |their own as IKARI disappeared from  |
 |the market. TALENT as a cracking-la- |
 |bel is dead today, but BOD has rece- |
 |ntly published a CD-ROM for the PC   |
 |featuring some 35OO programs for the |
 |Commodore 64. And for those of you   |
 |on the boards, who can ever forget   |
 |MAJESTY - screamiest and much liked? |
 +-------------------------------------+

+---+
|TCS|
+---+----------------------------------+
 |TEESIDE CRACKING SERVICE was a popul-|
 |lar Brittish group active during 1985|
 |and 86. Some members were later seen |
 |in FUSION, but information is vague  |
 |on the subject. Made some wellused   |
 |copy-programs in 1985.               |
 +-------------------------------------+
+----------------+
|THE LIGHT CIRCLE|
+----------------+---------------------+
 |Considered the pride of Germany, and |
 |their presence rocketed in 1986 con- |
 |tinuing up 1988. Even TMC was in TLC,|
 |later on known to the public as JER- |
 |OEN TEL. And who could have missed   |
 |RADWAR and their annual parties at   |
 |CHEZ RENZO in Germany? Check out th- |

 |eir always dark, moody intros.       |
 +-------------------------------------+
+-----------+
|THE SILENTS|
+-----------+--------------------------+
 |While MR.PINGE was busy working with |
 |WCC, RELAX and TRIAD, his smaller    |
 |brother SNOOKIE founded THE SILENTS  |
 |out of the remains of XLC. Activity  |
 |exploded late 1987 and continued     |
 |thereafter, as releases flooded in.  |
 |They were however quick to move over |
 |to the Amiga where they gained the   |
 |famous Danish section responsible for|
 |Amigaclassics. Parts of the Swedish  |
 |SILENTS later on formed their own    |
 |gamelabel DIGITAL ILLUSIONS, who     |
 |produced PINBALL DREAMS/FANTASIES/   |
 |ILLUSIONS among other games.         |
 +-------------------------------------+

+--------+
|TRANSCOM|
+--------+-----------------------------+
 |Belgian fame since 1987 that also la-|
 |unched the papermagazine CCCP. The   |
 |magazine was weak on information, but|
 |incredibly beautiful to look at. At  |
 |that time, Laserprinters were rare   |
 |and HOBBIT'S art-contributions were  |
 |always hilariously great. UNKNOW was |
 |a great cracker and launched several |
 |of their titles during their time.   |
 +-------------------------------------+
+-------+
|TRC*SCS|
+-------+------------------------------+
 |SUCCESS originates from Germany, 1989|
 |but later came to move their core of |
 |members to Holland. THE RULING COMP- |
 |ANY, born in 1988 has since the start|

 |been entirely Dutch (with some excep-|
 |tions made). When the groups decided |
 |to go into cooperation in 1992, few  |
 |realized hos long it would last. Tod-|
 |ay it is the longest lastest, and mo-|
 |st successful ever, compared to IKARI|
 |+TALENT, G*P+FE, STRIKE FORCE/MOVERS.|
 |TRC*SCS have been arranging the fam- |
 |ous X-parties in Holland, an annual  |
 |must-go for every 64-scener and also |
 |firstreleased the biggest 64-game of |
 |the 199O's - LEMMINGS from PSYGNOSIS.|
 |BURGLAR is the big star of the group,|
 |being a top-3 cracker in almost every|
 |magazine since some years back.      |
 +-------------------------------------+


  - Scenetown . No place like home . -


+-----+
|TRIAD|
+-----+--------------------------------+
 |Together with FAIRLIGHT, TRIAD put   |
 |Sweden on the map. Formed by ARROW,  |
 |outside Gothenburg in 1986, they lat-|
 |er on came to reinforce the most leg-|
 |endary of all Swedish people, MR.Z.  |
 |IXION, ARROW and MR.Z delivered a    |
 |mindboggling set of wares and as JAN-|
 |ITOR, MR.PINGE and the remains of RE-|
 |LAX entered, the group was virtually |
 |unbeatable. The fight of the world   |
 |was taking place between FAIRLIGHT   |
 |and TRIAD, while the rest were in    |
 |fact nothing but runner-ups. They    |
 |also had the ILLEGAL-magazine pub-   |
 |lished by JEFF SMART. When the new   |
 |TRIAD came along, headed by an old   |
 |man called JERRY, they came to publ- |

 |ish GAMER'S GUIDE, by many an appre- |
 |ciated magazine focusing on the qual-|
 |ity of releases. Even though the new |
 |TRIAD that came along in 1989 never  |
 |has made it up to the original hey-  |
 |days of glory, many big profiles have|
 |started out their career in TRIAD.   |
 |JERRY has dedicated his life to the  |
 |64 and spends his time collection    |
 |software. No collection of software  |
 |is probably bigger.                  |
 +-------------------------------------+

+--------+
|TRIANGLE|
+--------+-----------------------------+
 |The Danish TRIANGLE was born in 1987,|
 |and made a good name out of slow, but|
 |good releases. When FAIRLIGHT/TRIAD, |
 |then the biggest groups in the world,|

 |announced their Christmas-party in   |
 |Sweden 1987, it was a surprise to see|
 |TRIANGLE among the organizers. Also  |
 |some pretty good demos found their   |
 |way out - COZMIX BEST II, the most   |
 |memorable of them all.               |
 +-------------------------------------+

+---+
|UCF|
+---+----------------------------------+
 |On the American much smaller market, |
 |EAGLESOFT had only one competitor,   |
 |even though they were miles behind.  |
 |JJ THE BREAKER and his UNTOUCHABLE   |
 |CRACKING FORCE used to make a lot of |
 |noise, but mostly failed to deliver  |
 |the appropriate dose of medicin to   |
 |slag ESI down. It later became an    |
 |evident fact as, as UCF died. Their  |

 |comeback in 1989 failed to impress   |
 |anybody.                             |
 +-------------------------------------+
+--------------+
|WANDERER GROUP|
+--------------+-----------------------+
 |SPEEDCRACKER and other German veter- |
 |ans started out their race in 1987.  |
 |Their slogan "Only the strongest sur-|
 |rvive" was an important issue as the |
 |group came to dominate several charts|
 |over the world for a long time. TWG  |
 |were among the first groups to estab-|
 |lish good, solid connections with the|
 |United states. MR.CURSOR, said to be |
 |one of the most influencial coders   |
 |ever on the 64 made some astonishing |
 |pieces of work with the BABYLON-dem- |
 |os.                                  |
 +-------------------------------------+

+----+
|WASP|
+----+---------------------------------+
 |WE AGAINST SOFTWARE PROTECTION was a |
 |dangerous conspiracy and with KING   |
 |ARTHUR, SIR GALAHAD among many others|
 |their noble approach made them kings |
 |of Sweden in 1985. They later would  |
 |team up in WCC, later on TRIAD, RELAX|
 |and FAIRLIGHT. WASP also designed    |
 |some of the first crackingtools (spe-|
 |cial monitors and crunchers in 1985) |
 |that became wanted goods across the  |
 |world.                               |
 +-------------------------------------+
+---+
|WCC|
+---+---------------------------------+
 |Not Sweden's most legendary, but in-|
 |desputably the most liked - ever.   |

 |They cracked plenty, and had their  |
 |source in Europe's fastest retailer,|
 |located in Gothenburg. From there,  |
 |success came easily. Their was with |
 |SCC are historic, and to get a pic- |
 |ture of the atmosphere, you are re- |
 |quired to look at WCC'S REVENGE from|
 |1986 - a classic in rags and wars.  |
 |WEST COAST CRACKERS died in 1987.   |
 +------------------------------------+

     - Continued in next chapter. -