House music  

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"Not everyone understands house music; it's a spiritual thing, a body thing, a soul thing..."--"House Music" (1997) Eddie Amador

"Like it or not, house was first and foremost a direct descendant of disco. Disco had already been going for ten years when the first electronic drum tracks began to appear out of Chicago, and in that time it had already suffered the slings and arrows of merciless commercial exploitation, dilution and racial and sexual prejudice which culminated in the 'disco sucks' campaign. [...] Disco had already produced the first records to be aimed specifically at DJs with extended 12" versions that included long percussion breaks for mixing purposes and the early eighties proved a vital turning point. Sinnamon's 'Thanks To You', D-Train's 'You're The One For Me' and The Peech Boys' 'Don't Make Me Wait', a record that's been continually sampled over the last decade, took things in a different direction with their sparse, synthesized sounds that introduced dub effects and drop-outs that had never been heard before.." --"The History of House", Phil Cheeseman, 1989

"Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, the nascent house music era, Paris Is Burning (1990) chronicles the ball culture of New York City's disenfranchised African American and Latino gay and transgendered patrons who were the same patrons of nightclubs such as the Paradise Garage." --Sholem Stein

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House music is a style of electronic dance music. The earliest forms of the genre originated in Chicago (United States) in the early to mid-1980s and were a descendant from disco. In 1986, Trax's releases of "No Way Back" by Adonis, Larry Heard's "Can You Feel It" and the first so-called house music anthem in 1986, "Move Your Body" by Marshall Jefferson gave the genre a massive boost.

The historiography of the genre began with texts such as "The History of House" (1989) and compilations such as The History of the House Sound of Chicago (1989).

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Influences and precursors

The main influences of house was disco. Like disco DJs, house DJs used a mix records. In the post-disco club culture during the early 1980s, DJs from the gay scene made their tracks less pop-oriented, with a more mechanical, repetitive beat and deeper basslines, and many tracks were made without vocals, or with wordless melodies. Disco became so popular by the late 1970s that record companies pushed even non-disco artists (R&B and soft rock acts, for example) to record disco songs. When the backlash against disco started, known as "Disco Demolition Night", held in Chicago, ironically the city where house music would be created a few years later, dance music went from being produced by major labels to being created by DJs in the underground club scene. That is until several years later by 1988, when major labels would begin signing acts from this new dance genre.

While disco was associated with lush orchestration, with string orchestra, flutes and horn sections, various disco songs incorporated sounds produced with synthesizers and electronic drum machines, and some compositions were entirely electronic; examples include Italian composer Giorgio Moroder's late 1970s productions such as Donna Summer's hit single "I Feel Love" from 1977, Kraftwerk's "'The Man-Machine" album from 1978, Cerrone's "Supernature" (1977), Yellow Magic Orchestra's synth-disco-pop productions from Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978) or Solid State Survivor (1979), and several early 1980s productions by hi-NRG groups like Lime, Trans-X and Bobby O.

Also important for the development of house were audio mixing and editing techniques earlier explored by disco, garage music and post-disco DJs, record producers, and audio engineers such as Walter Gibbons, Tom Moulton, Jim Burgess, Larry Levan, M & M, and others.

While most post-disco disc jockeys primarily stuck to playing their conventional ensemble and playlist of dance records, Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy, two influential DJs of house music, were known for their unusual and non-mainstream playlists and mixing. Knuckles, often credited as "the Godfather of House" and resident DJ at the Warehouse club in Chicago from 1977 to 1982, worked primarily with early disco music with a hint of new and different post-punk or post-disco music. Knuckles started out as a disco DJ, but when he moved from New York City to Chicago, he changed from the typical disco mixing style of playing records one after another; instead, he mixed different songs together, including Philadelphia soul and Euro disco. He also explored adding a drum machine and a reel-to-reel tape player so he could create new tracks, often with a boosted deep register and faster tempos. Knuckles said: "Kraftwerk were main components in the creation of house music in Chicago. Back in the early 80s, I mixed our 80s Philly sound with the electro beats of Kraftwerk and the Electronic body music bands of Europe."

Ron Hardy produced unconventional DIY mixtapes which he later played straight-on in the successor of the Warehouse, the Music Box (reopened and renamed in 1983 after Knuckles left). Like Frankie Knuckles, Hardy "combined certain sounds, remixing tracks with added synths and drum machines", all "refracted through the futurist lens of European music." Marshall Jefferson, who would later appear with the 1986 house classic "Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)" (originally released on Trax Records), describes how he got involved in house music after hearing Ron Hardy's music in the Music Box:

"I wasn't even into dance music before I went to the Music Box [...]. I was into rock and roll. We would get drunk and listen to rock and roll. We didn't give a fuck, we were like 'Disco Sucks!' and all that. I hated dance music 'cos I couldn't dance. I thought dance music was kind of wimpy, until I heard it at like Music Box volume."|author=Marshall Jefferson

A precursor to house music is the Colonel Abrams hit song "Trapped" (1984) and has been referred to as a proto-house track and a precursor to garage house.

The constant bass drum in house music may have arisen from DJs experimenting with adding drum machines to their live mixes at clubs, underneath the records they were playing.

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Chicago years: early 1980s - late 1980s

Main: Chicago house

The style started out in gay clubs and warehouses of Chicago. People started going to these nightspots to hear this new style that was still called "Disco". Soon people shortened the phrase to "I'm goin down to the house...." and the style became popular in straight circles as well.

In 1983 the Music Box club opened in Chicago. Owned by Robert Williams, the driving force was a DJ, Ron Hardy. The chief characteristics of the club's sound were sheer massive volume and an increased pace to the tunes. The club also played a wider range of music than just disco; artist such as Kraftwerk, Man Parrish, Yello and Blondie were played along with the "Disco" songs.

Two music tracks were arguably the first House music, each arriving in early 1983. The tune that was chronologically first was Jamie Principle and Frankie Knuckles' "Your Love", a huge hit in the clubs, but only available on tape. The second, "On and On" by Jesse Saunders was later put on vinyl (1985). Immediately on the tails of these recordings was Chip E.'s "The Jack Trax" featuring the songs “It’s House” and “Time to Jack”, which defined the genre with its complex rhythms, simple bassline, use of sampling technology, and minimalist vocals.

By 1985, house music dominated the clubs of Chicago, in part due to the radio play the music received on 102.7 FM WBMX as the radio stations mix shows progressed from an Italo Disco, Hip-Hop, Pop format to one of House Music. This was made possible by WBMX then program director Lee Michaels and WBMX's resident DJ team, the Hot Mix 5.

The music and movement was also aided by the electronic music revolution - the arrival of newer, cheaper and more compact music sequencers, drum machines (the Roland TR-909, TR-808 and TR-707, and Latin percussion machine the TR-727) and bass modules (such as the legendary Roland TB-303 in late 1985) gave House music creators even wider possibilities in creating their own sound, indeed the creation of acid house is directly related to the efforts of DJ Pierre, Larry Heard (Mr. Fingers), and Marshall Jefferson on the new drum and rhythym machines.

In 1985, two of the important record labels in the Chicago house music scene were DJ International Records (owned by Rocky Jones) and Trax Records (owned by Larry Sherman). Many of the songs that defined the Chicago house music sound were released on these two record labels. Steve “Silk” Hurley's "Music is the Key", Chip E & K.Joy's "Like This" (1985), and Fingers Inc.’s "Mystery of Love" (1985) were released on DJ International.

In 1986, Trax released "No Way Back" by Adonis, Larry Heard's (as Fingers Inc.) "Can You Feel It?" and "Washing Machine", and an early house anthem in 1986, "Move Your Body" by Marshall Jefferson. This latter song helped to boost the popularity of the house style outside of Chicago.

Steve 'Silk' Hurley became the first house artist to reach number one in the UK in 1987 with "Jack Your Body". This and other tracks such as "Love Can't Turn Around" by Farley "Jackmaster" Funk helped moved house from its spiritual home to its commercial birthplace —the United Kingdom. The Acid house and hip-house scenes were dominated by international producers like Tyree Cooper, Mr. Lee, Fast Eddie, Kool Rock Steady and Ralphi Rosario at the end of the 1980s. Other Notable DJ's that came from the House movement in Chicago were Bad Boy Bill, Mike "Hitman" Wilson, Julian "Jupin" Perez, Lil Louis and Derrick Carter.

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US developments - late 1980s to early 1990s

Back in America the scene had still not progressed beyond a small number of clubs in Chicago, Detroit and New York. Paradise Garage in New York City was still the top club, although they now had Todd Terry, his cover of Class Action's Larry Levan mixed "Weekend" demonstrated the continuum from the underground disco to a new House sound with hip-hop influences evident in the quicker sampling and the more rugged bass-line. While hip-hop had made it onto radio play-lists, the only other choices were Rock, Country & Western or R & B. Other notable New York producers and DJs of the time were Bobby Konders, Tommy Musto, Frankie Bones all of whom had their work licensed internationally in the 1980s. In fact, many of the recordings on the nascent XL Recordings (UK) came from those artists.

Other influences from New York came from the hip-hop, reggae, and Latin community, and many of the New York City super producers/DJs began surfacing for the first time (Erick Morillo, Roger Sanchez, Junior Vasquez, Danny Tenaglia, Jonathan Peters) with unique sounds that would evolve into other genres (tribal house, progressive house, funky house). Producers such as Masters At Work and Kerri Chandler also started pioneering a richer Garage sound that was picked up on by 'outsiders' from the worlds of jazz, hip-hop and downbeat as much as it was by House aficionados.

Influential gospel/R&B-influenced Aly-us released "Time Passes On" in 1993 (Strictly Rhythm), then later, "Follow Me" which received radio airplay as well as being extensively played in clubs. Another US hit which received radio play was the single "Time for the Perculator" by Cajmere, which became the prototype of Ghettohouse sub-genre.

Cajmere is held by many to be one of the revitalising forces in Chicago Houses's rebirth of the early 1990s. Most of the 1980s generation were burnt out by bad contracts or had moved to New York or Europe. Cajmere started the Cajual and Relief labels (amongst others) offering a home to any producer in Chicago, no matter the style. By the early 1990s artists such as Cajmere himself (under that name as well as Green Velvet and as producer for Dajae), DJ Sneak, Glenn Underground and others were bringing out fresh records at a furious pace. Artists from the also recently-revitalised Dance Mania such as DJ Rush, Robert Armani and his cousin Paul Johnson recorded for both and were in high demand as DJs in the lucrative European club circuit. Derrick Carter also became a deeply respected producer and a legendary DJ at this time.

Detroit was mostly known for techno and large labels such as 430 West, KMS and Transmat with producers such as Kevin Saunderson, Marc Kinchen, Octave One (as well as fellow travellers from Chicago such as Chez Damier & Ron Trent who released records on Detroit labels regularly). During this period Underground Resistance were just as likely to release a pumping piano and vocals garage track as they were an electro track and had their Happy Records subsidiary.

Also at this time stirrings of a chilled dance scene relatively unconnected to the Chicago, Detroit, and New York scenes was springing up in the Los Angeles area with parties organised by Hardkiss and UK expats like DIY and Charles Webster.

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See also


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