A Whole Decade of House - Ilva Mane

Late-night partying? It’s time to get educated where did that beat came from and how it impacted lives of a lot of Americans. The growing number of America’s youth becoming deejays and rave-like parties continues to gain popularity. Since the late-eighties to early-nineties, house music has been so prevalent in the lives of American’s young generation. This whole decade points out the revolution of house music and its melody spreading around all over the United States. The climax where the bass started to flow were the underground roots of Chicago’s Warehouse which is known as the birthplace and heart of "house music". For the first time since rock n roll, house has grown into the biggest musical phenomenon. Fifteen years since its beginning, house keeps following people with the same speed from CDs to the newest technology of different websites. House music dominates all the billboards of pop music. No one has ever escaped from its irresistible beat that has turned deejays to superstars and has made nightclubs to global brands. It’s the energy that listeners get from this awesome track and songs being played for a wicked crowd. This influential music developed in the U.S out of the need of oppressed people, African Americans, gays and Latinos, brought different people together to build a community through dance, setting a foundation for future music beyond America.The Windy City, Chicago or as known from the deejays as “House City” was the land from where all of this blew. House was born when electronic instruments, starting from turntables to channel mixers became affordable. The DJs’ tools began to improve as the market for dance music began to expand. As the technology got more modern and the products became more popular, more creativity was allowed to take place. DJs kept exploring new sounds. House was created in and by African American communities in Chicago. DJs exclusively played this kind of music in their “house”-this explains the origin of the genre’s name. House was simply used to describe the style of music played only in a particular night club in Chicago called the Warehouse. DJs were the roots and branches of house. They were the ones who have successfully brought it to the mainstream. House was one of the most loved genre by homosexual people which culminated in the 'disco sucks' campaign (McCann, 355). Even though there were people who hated it, there was a majority of people who loved it. “It wasn’t until House was played on the radio that it was accepted in the mainstream” (McCann, 354). Radio station began to switch from Rock ‘ n’ Roll to pop music. This was the big merge that led all the people to like it. In 1977, the owner of the Warehouse Nightclub in Chicago brought home a young DJ from New York named Frankie Knuckles who brought the energy from the underground souls. “House started in two clubs,” says Rodriguez, one of the top labeled DJs according to DJ International Billboard. “Frankie Knuckles used to DJ at The Loft in New York, and then he came here to DJ at the Warehouse. On our off-nights all the morning, because it was so cool. He would dig up all the late-thing sensual heavy- beated kinda soul, almost sleaze type of thing. Then Farley (Jackmaster Funk) started playing some of it in his mixes. Before, it was only in black and gay clubs. The Latin thing is coincidence: it just turned out that way. We have two white mixers on the radio: there’s white people in clubs too” (McCann 356). Knuckles’ style was unique, he always referred to classics. The bass that he used to play was heavier, the vocals were so soulfully, peacefully and uplifting. His home the Warehouse was a sensation in Chicago but no one could have ever imagine that it was about to give the name of a whole new style of music. “House music as a name didn’t really exist yet and one day I was driving in the South Side of Chicago and passed a club that had a sign outside that read ‘WE PLAY HOUSE MUSIC’. I asked him what it meant and he told me that they played the same music as I did.” says Knuckles. (Ablett, 223). Knuckles was the god of house music.The climax of house was the late 80’s. Back then, when house music started Julian Perez used to play on radio the Hot Mix 5 for 12 hours in a week and getting unknown deejays figures and make their tracks the most played. House started underground but it was the weekly Hot Mix 5 that brought it to the forefront by radio and kept it going. “The Chicago house music scene exploded with other DJ/Artists who listened to, followed and submitted their tracks for airplay to the Hot Mix 5 members for use in the weekly mix show on B96. On the Radio , The Hot Mix Five were creating such blends that kids would cut school rather than miss their show. So many enquiries flooded in that they had to post lists of the tracks used in a local record store, called Imports Inc. ” (Gregory, 195). They played one or two minutes of the record and watched the crowd repeating their favorite part. It was the only one in its kind to play club music in airplay radio.“On radio I was doing UGCI 107.5FM. They used to be major with teens doing the hot mix parties. It tries to make my format unrepeatable over three hours. Every 25 minutes they had a commercial break, so basically you will be working on 25 minute mixes at a time. I broke up the set so that I did a hardcore hip-house set, and a Miami/bass music/hi-NRG set, and I did a deep house with stuff like Sterling Void. I also used Lisa Stansfield, The Chimes, Madonna to end the night off.’’ says Rocky Jones one of the crew members of Hot Mix 5. (McCann, 355).After this, a masterpiece by Frankie Knuckles was born, it was made entirely by him. Those were the years when everybody would see Knuckles as a producer and not a random DJ who just replays the records that had already played by other who created them. It was the track “Your Love” that spread all over Chicago as a virus, copy after copy. “Your Love” was the year zero of the revolution of house music. A brilliant track with a heavy bass line.At first the average age of the people who was into house music was really young, between 13 to 25. Later house groups were made of adult nations with people in their thirties who enjoyed it a lot and knew no other music. House was not only in Chicago, it was also in the underground clubs of New York, Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta and other different states. Different countries supported and loved house music. In 1985 it had only existed in just one city, Chicago. In just three years the house music of Chicago crossed the Atlantic ocean and ran over into the UK. The first instigators decreased their audiences, firstly beginning with East Coast and then spreading worldwide in London, Milan, Berlin…etc. Along the way, they also picked influences of other genres and experimenting with them but always keeping on the house beat. In 1986 the Chicago godfather Knuckles, went on tour in London with Marshall Jefferson to make them finally catching up into the joy of Chicago’s house. It was also the time when people started for the first time to take Ecstasy and different drugs out on the club scenes and went completely mad.Later on, DJs being pushed from the desire to make more money created a whole new genre based on the Chicago’s style and the British one. House music had always been there but this one was more into drugs, it was called Acid House. This was not electro. This was a less naive combination. Many artists and producers of electro moved into the realms of house and managed to combine electro’s rhythm with the good effects that real house gives you such as energetic or euphoric. Music and drugs have long been linked, with shifts in genres often running alongside trends in narcotic consumption. In Chicago, the new genre Acid House was produced to satisfy a market on Ecstasy and LSD. House music clubs have always been a place for drugs. With the popularity of LSD and the new designer drug of Ecstasy the music still had to be hard and fast but also needed that bit extra hard bass.  Because ecstasy was universally accepted at these scenes, more and more young people were being pressured into taking a drug. A music so obvious it took its name from the drug it served. Numbers of teenagers during 1988 got arrested for the use of this drug. This kind of music ruined a lot of people’s lives. It also affected a massive social and cultural revolution in the United States and every other city where people made house. “ If the music had more electronic beat, with a piano part and a bit classic was called pure house. I liked the music when I would jump around with my moves. When the track was done there was something that other DJs felt like it was needed and it actually did work with the track, also it created a feeling that house didn’t . People misunderstood it and they thought that the DJ meant ecstasy. At the clubs house was getting harder and darker ” says one of the famous American DJ Joey Beltram . (Moyle, 1:50:02). DJs kept exploring new genres to show the satisfaction of house music. Now they were more into funky metal smell. Summer 1989 a group from Detroit called ‘Big Fun’ brings techno into charts of UK, Detroit and New York. This new kind of dance music joined Chicago’s style creating the new drum and hard vibe style called techno.Although dance parties were plagued with problems, a girl collapsing after ingesting too much Ecstasy, a good night was had by most of the people. The fun, happiness and love continued. People enjoyed the music and clapped their hands like intensity. It drove them to introduce themselves to each other. The tracks talked about peace, joy, lack of racism, a love for music and his fellow man. The unique feeling that people had being around hundreds, even thousands of others doing the same thing, being as one in their unity of movement. The whooping, cheering and embracing came naturally. At the same time, people respected others’ space, and danced with whoever they wanted to, usually themselves and the lights. House music lovers were friendly: they were glad for the fact of being all together, that they all could dance in freedom and happiness. Today we roll out the red carpet for Chicago’s DJs for creating the musical style that was described as “the biggest youth movement since punk”. Today is also a time that the old Chicago house is having a pop moment of popularity for electronic dance music. The radio sounds like a rave. That's right—raves are back, thanks to events and festivals like Las Vegas's Electric Daisy Carnival and, in Chicago, the North Coast Music Festival and the brand-new Spring Awakening Festival. Part of it is due to a influence of new talent DJs and a large young audience fluent in their style.