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by DJ Skooch & Jesse
Saunders
Skip back to 1984 - disco had been going on for about ten years.
By then it had declined due to commercial exploitation resulting
in a plethora of bad records and culminating in the "Disco Sucks"
campaign. However, disco had already laid out the foundations
of today's house music by producing DJ culture - creating the
extended 12" format that included long percussion breaks for mixing
purposes and DJs who beat-matched records to create a seamless
groove for people to dance to. It was around this time the first
electronic drum tracks started coming out of Chicago.
In Europe the other half of house was being laid out. English
electronic-pop like Depeche Mode and Soft Cell had become popular
in clubs in American cities like New York and Chicago. Two of
these clubs which were to become key to the development of house
were Chicago's Warehouse and New York's Paradise Garage. These
two clubs were both integrated across sexual and racial lines
and focused on the music, which was as varied as the clientele.
The music combined R&B based dance music and disco with things
as diverse as the Clash and Euro-pop. These clubs had such a profound
influence that two new styles of music were named after them -
house and garage. However, by 1984, the Warehouse had long since
closed its doors and Warehouse DJ Frankie Knuckles was holding
court at The Power Plant.
While there is debate as to what the first house record was,
it was definitely made by Jesse Saunders. According to Jesse himself,
the first house record released was "On & On," on his own Jes
Say Records. The first house song written was "Fantasy," also
by Jesse Saunders. "Fantasy" was recorded in the summer of 1983,
but wasn't released in 1984. While these sound dated now, in 1984
they sounded like things from another planet - with a Euro-pop
bassline, a simple, insistent drum machine pattern, and a hint
of Kraftwerk's synthesized string sounds.
Meanwhile, a new style of disco was developing in New York, though
at a much slower pace. DJs like Larry Levan, and Tony Humphries,
and Francois Kevorkian were breaking ground as remixers, and the
deep, soulful sound which eventually became Garage was beginning
to take shape. Larry Levan was mixing all genres of music together
at the Paradise Garage, while Francois Kevorkian, known at the
time for his 1983 remix of Kraftwerk's "Tour De France," was creating
his own "dub plates" and playing them to his audience's delight!
Back in Chicago at the Power Plant, Frankie Knuckles, who had
moved to Chicago from New York around 1983, was playing disco-based
house, while Ron Hardy was breaking new ground with the wildest,
rawest drum tracks he could find at the Music Box.
Jesse Saunders' second release "Funk U Up", in the spring of
1984 became the first House record to be played on radio. It got
as high as #3 at WGCI in and #1 at WBMX in Chicago. Jesse's third
release in early 1985 (under the moniker of Jesse's Gang), "Real
Love" was also a number one record at both stations and solidified
House as a bona fide style of music along with R&B. It spread
to radio stations across the Midwest and to the East coast as
well.
In 1986, Jesse Saunders and Farley "Jackmaster" Funk released
"Love Can't Turn Around", which would eventually go on to be the
single most pioneering House record in clubs and on radio that
everyone around the globe would come to recognize. Marshall Jefferson
became the undisputed king of house with his release of "Move
Your Body," which became THE record of the year and was subtitled
"The House Music Anthem." Jefferson was developing a deep, melodic
sound with pounding pianos and strings. House began to move to
a wider audience with the help of mix radio - most notably the
Hot Mix 5, which featured Farley "Jackmaster" Funk's daily after-midnight
show. At this time in Chicago, house was moving out of the gay
scene, though it still remained very much a black and Hispanic
thing.
While in the US, house was limited to Chicago and NY, it was
catching on in the UK - House first broke into the Billboard charts
in Britain in late 1987. In October of 1986, "Love Can't Turn
Around" became a number one record in the UK. In January of 1987,
JM Silk's (Steve Hurley) "Jack Your Body" hit number one. A wave
of 'Jack' songs were produced, most notably Fingers Inc.'s "Can
You Feel It," which contains the famous and oft-sampled speech
which begins "In the beginning there was Jack, and Jack had a
groove..." In New York the Jersey Garage sound, which borrowed
heavily from Latin freestyle, was slowly catching on, although
it couldn't match the energy coming out of Chicago.
In Brooklyn, a completely new house sound was developing - one
that borrowed as much from Euro-pop as from disco and R&B. A kid
in Brooklyn named Todd Terry made a couple of tracks which made
heavy use of samples. The New York sample house sound, which continues
to be popular to this day, was born. However, more important to
the development of NY house, was a deep style of dance music based
firmly in R&B developing in New York and New Jersey. Though there
were a few instrumental tracks, the emphasis was on songs and
vocals. This sound was to become garage - which, ironically, began
to appear just as the Paradise Garage closed. Taking a cue from
New York, Chicago house, which had developed into straight-up
drum and instrumental tracks, began to incorporate vocals. By
the end of 1987 house was no longer confined to New York and Chicago.
While it had not yet taken hold in the States, it had become a
phenomenon in Europe and across the world.
Back in the States, house was still underground, and continued
to mutate and develop. In Detroit, three people - Juan Atkins,
Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson - were beginning a music revolution
of their own. Atkins had been producing Electro-funk (a style
which combined hip-hop rhythms with Kraftwerk-type synthesizers)
records since the early 80's. The progress of the Detroit sound
had been slow, and Electro had become fused with rap (most notably
in Afrikaa Bambaataa's "Planet Rock," which prominently featured
samples from Kraftwerk's "Trans Europa Express"). But by 1985
the sound was changing as it began to incorporate Chicago house
sounds and rhythms. The breakthrough came in 1987 with Rhythm
is Rhythm's "Nude Photo," produced by Derrick May. "Nude Photo,"
along with "Kaos" and "The Dance," all by May, became instant
hits on the Chicago scene. This trio, along with Eddie "Flashin'"
Fowlkes and Blake Baxter were developing what would eventually
become techno. Detroit techno was faster, harder and more influenced
by European synth-pop than Chicago house, borrowing more from
funk than from disco and R&B.
In 1986 Phuture, which consisted of DJ Pierre, Spanky and Herbert
J produced the seminal "Acid Trax." The first time it was played
at a club it was played four times that night. According to Pierre,
the first time, everyone was taken aback at this completely new
and alien sound, but by the fourth time, everyone loved it. The
otherworldly sound became known as "acid."
While Acid House became an instant sensation in Chicago, it didn't
catch on anywhere else until late 1987, when it began to infiltrate
the British club scene. In February 1988 the British acid house
craze was born at a warehouse party called Hedonism. As acid tracks
began to pour out of Chicago, the British house scene grew exponentially
- with DJs discovering that they had years worth of Chicago records
with they had been unable to play until then. Acid house became
the biggest youth fad since punk in Britain and British producers
began to produce acid house tracks.
By 1989 the UK and its trend-hungry press had become the center
of the dance music world. Acid became passè as it crossed
over into the mainstream. Then Garage was discovered. Garage had
long been used in the British house scene to differentiate the
smooth, soulful songs of New York from the more energetic, uplifting
tracks from Chicago. Garage became the new music fad in Britain.
This confused most New York producers and DJs, who referred to
their music as club or dance music, using Garage to refer to the
music played at the Paradise garage, and using house to refer
to Chicago drum tracks.
In 1989, house music had become known across the world - but
Chicago still had something new to contribute. People like Steve
Poindexter and Armando developed a rawer and rougher sound, which
eventually, along with acid and Detroit techno, developed a new
style of techno. By this time the Detroit club scene had quieted
down, while it's music had caught on in Europe. While Detroit
is recognized as the birthplace of techno in Europe, it still
has not achieved the recognition it deserves in the States.
10 more years have passed and house and techno have continued
to grow. Both have splintered into too many sub-genres to describe.
In the 90's, house and techno have proliferated and spread across
the country and the world, with countless labels releasing vinyl,
and a few releasing compilation or mixed CDs. While house and
techno have become pop staples in Europe, they both remain largely
underground in the US, with labels releasing tracks only on vinyl
for DJs. Despite the media and the record industry's attempts
in 1997-98 to exploit techno and make it the "next big thing",
house and techno have remained faceless, heard mostly in clubs
played by DJs, who are the "stars" of house and techno. Despite
initial belief that both house and techno were just passing fads,
it appears that they are here to stay.
For more information on this subject, check out 'House Music...
The Real Story,' by Jesse Saunders, the originator of house himself.
'House Music...' is available on-line at http://www.justsaypro.com,
or can be ordered for $25 (including shipping) from JustSayPro
Orders, 2331-D2 East Avenue S, Suite 122, Palmdale, CA 93550.
Please make all checks payable to NOIZ LTD.
DJ Skooch
Jesse Saunders
September 1999
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