The House that Chicago Built
KNOWN FOR ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BLUES AND JAZZ, THE WINDY CITY IS ALSO HOME TO SOME OF THE MOST VITAL DANCE MUSIC IN THE WORLD.
BY JEREMY DILLAHUNT
“The schools needed money back then, and the DJs needed big spaces to throw parties in,” explains Jackson, more commonly known as DJ Lady D. “So a promoter would rent out the gymnasium on a Friday afternoon, charge $5 a ticket, and 2,000 kids would show up to the party.”
The DJs spinning records at the parties had their work cut out for them—keeping the attention of 2,000 teenagers is no easy task. But they had a few tricks in their bag—namely an emerging style of music called house.
Born from disco music at a club called The Warehouse opened in the late ’70s and taking shape at the Power Plant in the early ’80s, house crept onto the radio, with the legendary “Hot Mix 5” radio team, as well as the party circuit, winning people over with its infectious danceability. It was from these provincial beginnings that the city’s latest musical creation, Chicago house, came into full fruition locally and set the stage for its wild success in Europe and its heavy, though often unrecognized, influence on American pop music. To put it another way, Madonna wouldn’t be the Madonna we all know and love if not for Chicago house.
To properly explain what Chicago house is, it is important to explain some of the idiosyncrasies of the electronic music scene. Genres within the scene distinguish themselves by the thinnest of margins. What differentiates a Chicago house song from a NYC house song could be as minimal as the placement of a piano loop, or whether it is acoustic rather than electronic. It may seem finite and arbitrary, but there is a purpose. The various styles of electronic music define themselves by looking ahead, being new and different.
In this way, Chicago house—and all electronic music for that matter—is a close sibling to modern pop. “People like [Diddy], hugely successful Top 40 artists, have Chicago house producers on their payroll,” says Lori Riegler, a jack-of-all-trades in the music industry who has worked as a party promoter, DJ booker and artist manager in Chicago and New York since 1992. The reason is simple: A Top 40 artist looking for an original, infectious hook is likely to find it on the hard drive of someone like Felix Da Housecat, a house music producer and DJ, because that’s who is experimenting with new sounds.
“Most kids I knew growing up were DJs,” Lady D says. “But some of them had studios, a keyboard or synthesizer. There were always people over at their house, playing with noise, recording stuff and trying to make something new to play out at the clubs or parties.” The VIPs of Chicago house music—Jesse Saunders, Frankie Knuckles, Mr. Fingers, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Adonis and others—essentially started this way, too.
Inspired by each other’s DJ sets and motivated to create that next new, hot sound, Saunders et al set about creating tracks that incorporated a whole night’s worth of music. Taking apart disco tracks—particularly obscure, Italo (Italian) ones—and using the beat or bass line, adding some of the melodies and vocals of soul or gospel, or the blips and beeps of new wave bands like Devo, The B-52s and Kraftwerk, these DJs and producers created a blend of the known and unknown, songs that felt familiar but were different enough to keep the dancers’ attention. Thus, Chicago house was born.
Initially the success was local: Saunders’ prototypical 12-inch recording “On and On” sold out of its initial 500-copy pressing in about a week. But Larry Sherman, an enterprising if dubious businessman who owned the only record press in Chicago at the time, saw opportunity overseas. Europe, particularly England and the Spanish Island of Ibiza, was experiencing its own cultural revolution—the music and culture that Americans have come to dismissively call “Eurotrash.”
“Records that were selling hundreds of copies in Chicago and New York were selling thousands of copies in Europe,” Lady D says. Not surprisingly, this disparity led to something of a brain drain for Chicago’s music scene. “You have a guy like Ron Carroll who nobody in the US has ever heard of,” Riegler says. “He sang over a track called ‘Lucky Star’ by the French band Superfunk. It sold more than 2 million copies in Europe.”
Despite house music’s financial successes and worldwide influence, the city government of Chicago has a historically ambivalent relationship with its citizens’ creation, satisfied to laud credit on Chicago’s contribution to the blues and jazz instead. Riegler recalls having to hire off-duty police officers as security for the parties she threw in order to keep the police from shutting them down, a practice that got her and a few precincts in trouble with the IRS. The city has been warming up to its newest genre, though.
“I think it is our responsibility to promote Chicago’s house music scene and its artists,” says Brian Keigher of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs. “It’s not part of our job description, but it’s something that I feel I should do personally.”
Mayor Richard Daley also showed his support for the scene by declaring August 10, 2005, “House Unity Day,” in recognition of the 21st anniversary of house. And Keigher succeeded in adding house DJs to the city’s popular SummerDance in Grant Park series—a move that turned out to be popular. “The DJ events were a huge success,” Keigher says. “We had thousands of people come out for them. At one point the entire crowd was singing along to a Green Velvet [a second generation Chicago house producer] song.”
It was a personal high for Keigher, a DJ and longtime proponent of the music. “DJs rarely have the opportunity to show their grandparents what it is they do,” he says, “because grandparents don’t get out of bed at 2am to go down to the club.” The DJ sets were so popular that the city temporarily suspended them until they could relocate to a larger venue.
The originators and creators of Chicago house haven’t given up on their city, either, despite their popularity in Europe. “Chicago is pretty much the only place in the world where you can see [house superstar] Derrick Carter perform in a 70-person room,” Keigher says. “We have people from Europe over all the time who literally cannot believe that they didn’t wait in line for an hour and pay $75 for the privilege.”
HOUSE MUSIC’S LEGACY began with a few classic tunes.
Chicago house’s influence on popular music cannot be understated. Without it, Madonna would sound completely different, and big names like Diddy and Kylie Minogue would have to seek inspiration elsewhere. Here are five tracks that defined the style:
- Jesse Saunders, “On and On”
- Marshall Jefferson, “Move Your Body”
- Mr. Fingers, “Can You Feel It”
- Frankie Knuckles, “Your Love”
- Farley “Jackmaster” Funk, “Love Can’t Turn Around”
HEAD FOR THE DANCE FLOOR
Use this schedule of club nights to get your dose of “four on the floor.”
Chicago is a town that loves its house music so much, you can enjoy it almost any night of the week. For the ultimate club tour of the Windy City, we recommend the following nights—and a good pair of earplugs.
MONDAY
Boom Boom Room at Green Dolphin Street 2200 N Ashland St www.jazzitup.com 773-395-0066
WEDNESDAY
I Love House Music at The Note 1565 N Milwaukee Ave www.thenotechicago.com 773-365-9000
FRIDAY
Zentra Nightclub 923 W Weed St www.zentranightclub.com 312-787-0400
TUESDAY
Berlin 954 W Belmont Ave www.berlinchicago.com 773-348-4975
THURSDAY
Celebrity Thursdays at Maxbar 2247 N Lincoln Ave www.maxbarchicago.com 773-549-5884
SATURDAY
Smart Bar Chicago 3726 N Clark St www.smartbarchicago.com 773-549-0203
SUNDAY
Take a night off!
TURN ON THE RADIO if you want to shake your groove thang.
The days of the “Hot Mix 5” may be in the past, but Chicago radio still showcases the sound that added to the city’s legacy as one of the United States’ music capitals. You can tune in to excellent mixes on these local stations.
- WHPK, University of Chicago 88.5
- WLUW, Independent Community Radio 88.7
- WNUR, Northwestern University 89.3
- WZRD, Northeastern Illinois University 88.3
HOUSE PARTIES
Celebrate Chicago’s house heritage at these two annual events.
Frankie Knuckles Fourth of July Chicago House Party
www.fkalways.com
Every Fourth of July the “Godfather” of Chicago house music throws a celebration bash, usually at the legendary House of Blues. Check out his website for this year’s location and time.
The Chosen Few DJs Old Skool Picnic
www.chosenfewdjs.com
Chicago house originators Tony Hatchett, Terry Hunter, Alan King, Wayne Wiliams and Andre Hatchett throw their annual picnic on July 5. Expect lots of families in the park for this celebration of house’s past, present and future.