Chicago House Music Overview

Chicago House Music

  • Overview

    • House music is a significant predecessor of techno music, developing slightly earlier than techno itself.
    • Both genres emerged and evolved together during the 1980s.
    • Despite being created just a few years before techno, house music played a crucial role in its development.

  • Historical Background

    • In 1977, the Waterhouse Club opened in Chicago, marking a pivotal moment in the city's dance music history.
    • It was the first dance club that specifically catered to gay African Americans.

  • Key Figures

    • DJ Frankie Knuckles
    • Originally from New York, Knuckles relocated to Chicago.
    • He played a vital role in shaping the Chicago house music scene at the Warehouse Club.
    • Knuckles and the Warehouse provided a crucial space for marginalized communities to dance and enjoy themselves.

  • Transition from Disco

    • The Warehouse initially functioned as a disco club. However, in 1979, DJs began to distance themselves from disco music, especially following events like the infamous "disco demolition" at Comiskey Park, where attendees destroyed disco records in protest against the genre, reinforcing the slogan "disco sucks."
    • As a result of this backlash, record labels shunned the term disco, leading to a scarcity of disco records for DJs.

  • Adaptation and Innovation

    • With fewer disco records available, DJs like Frankie Knuckles sought out European dance records, which were often expensive and hard to find.
    • Consequently, this scarcity prompted Knuckles and his contemporaries to become increasingly innovative in their techniques.
    • DJs began to manipulate existing records innovatively by:
      • Adding various effects and techniques to produce new sounds from old recordings.
      • Isolating specific passages from favorite songs and mixing them end to end using reel-to-reel tape.
      • Layering sounds from multiple genres, creating unique auditory experiences.
      • Adding new beats, created with instruments such as the Roland TR-808 drum machine, over existing tracks.

  • Impact on House Music

    • Frankie Knuckles extensively modified existing dance records to focus on emphasized drum and bass elements, often downplaying or completely removing lyrics.
    • Knuckles explained his approach: "I had to reconstruct the records to work for my dance floor because there was no new dance music coming out. I'd take existing songs, change the tempo, or layer different bits of percussion over them."
    • By 1984, the term "house music" became popularly used.
    • This term was derived from Knuckles' club, The Warehouse.
    • Additionally, the creation and editing of these new records were often done in home studios by DJs, further solidifying the connection between house music and its origin.