Propaganda 22 ch07
From C64 Diskmag Wiki
+-----+
|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. -
