The People Of House Music
There are many important people who contributed to the early years of house music in Chicago. There are musical pioneers like Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy and Jesse Saunders. There are also club organisers, label owners, technology pioneers, people running record stores, and the dancers on the scene. The articles in this part of the website are about all the people who played a part in creating the genre of house music in the early 1980s.
They Made A House Music Scene
Hundreds of people can easily be credited with contributing to early house music. Chicago had a DJ scene in the 1960s and 1970s that laid the foundation for the house music DJ scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Black gay clubs like The Warehouse are well known, but the Chicago teen scene of the 1970s is less well known. The disco music scenes evolved outside of Chicago, and all converged in the DJ scene of Chicago. Eventually the Chicago DJ scene became a producer scene in 1984 and 1985, which led to a worldwide explosion of house music.
The People Who Made House Music Happen
These are some of the important people in the history of house music. I'll try to add more articles about as many as I can.
Frankie Knuckles - The Godfather Of House
Frankie Knuckles defined the early house scene at The Warehouse in Chicago, and went from legendary nights at The Warehouse to worldwide fame. Through deejaying at The Warehouse, he developed his skills to become a global icon of production and remixing. He shaped Chicago's DJ culture and became one of the most influential producers and remixers in dance music history.
Meet the Godfather of House...Jesse Saunders - The Originator Of House Music
Jesse Saunders came from the Chicago DJ scene of the early 1980s, but he didn't just play the music or make the music, he released it. During his residency at The Playground, he used to play live beat tracks mixed in with records. This wasn't unique at the time, but Jesse Saunders made the unprecedented decision to start releasing his tracks, something that other Chicago DJs had not done. Jesse Saunders is the house music pioneer who released the first house records, and helped shape the house music producer movement during the early 1980s. Read about the the artist who released the first (ever) house track and helped define house music's producer sound during his time at The Playground.
Read about the pioneer who started a producer revolution...Ron Hardy - The Maverick Of House
Ron Hardy's DJ sets were raw, experimental, and unpredictable. Discover how Ron Hardy pushed the limits early house at Chicago's Music Box.
Read about the renegade DJ...David Mancuso - Creator of The Loft
In the New York scene, David Mancuso made the dance party a sacred and safe space for marginalised communities of LGBTQ+, Black and Latino dancers. He focused heavily on audiophile sound systems.
Read about David Mancuso...