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House music



 
 
House music is a style of electronic dance music
Electronic dance music

Electronic dance music, also commonly abbreviated as EDM, is electronic music that is produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment....
 that originated in Chicago, Illinois, USA in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèque
Discothèque

A discoth?que, , is an entertainment venue or club with music record played by "Discaires" through a PA system, rather than an Live band dance....
s catering to the African-American, Latino
Latino

The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent."...
, and gay
Gay

The term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree," "happy," or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
 communities, first in Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, then in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 and Detroit. It eventually reached Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 before becoming infused in mainstream pop & dance music worldwide.

House music is strongly influenced by elements of soul
Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the African American culture through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, Secularity testifying." The genre occasion...
- and funk
Funk

Funk is an United States Music genre that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music....
-infused varieties of disco
Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music that originated in and was initially popular among African American, gay and Hispanic and Latino Americans communities in the United States in the late 1960s....
.






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Encyclopedia


House music is a style of electronic dance music
Electronic dance music

Electronic dance music, also commonly abbreviated as EDM, is electronic music that is produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment....
 that originated in Chicago, Illinois, USA in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèque
Discothèque

A discoth?que, , is an entertainment venue or club with music record played by "Discaires" through a PA system, rather than an Live band dance....
s catering to the African-American, Latino
Latino

The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent."...
, and gay
Gay

The term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree," "happy," or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
 communities, first in Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, then in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 and Detroit. It eventually reached Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 before becoming infused in mainstream pop & dance music worldwide.

House music is strongly influenced by elements of soul
Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the African American culture through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, Secularity testifying." The genre occasion...
- and funk
Funk

Funk is an United States Music genre that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music....
-infused varieties of disco
Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music that originated in and was initially popular among African American, gay and Hispanic and Latino Americans communities in the United States in the late 1960s....
. House music generally mimics disco's percussion, especially the use of a prominent bass drum on every beat, but may feature a prominent synthesizer
Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequency....
 bassline
Bassline

A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, and electronic music for the low-pitched Part#Music or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the bass guitar, double bass or keyboard ....
, electronic drums, electronic effects, funk and pop samples
Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an musical instrument or a different sound recording of a song....
, and reverb- or delay-enhanced vocals.

Musical elements

House music is uptempo
Uptempo

Uptempo is a generally used term especially in music but also in other areas meaning a fast, lively, or increased tempo or played or done in such a tempo....
 music for dancing, although by modern dance music standards it is mid-tempo, generally ranging between 118 and 135 bpm
Beats per minute

Beats per minute is a unit typically used as either a measure of tempo in music, or a measure of one's heart rate. A rate of 60 bpm means that one beat will occur every second....
. Tempos were slower in house music's early years.

The common element of house music is a prominent kick drum
Bass drum

A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch . There are three general classifications of bass drums: the concert bass drum, the kick' drum, and the pitched bass drum....
 on every beat (also known as a four-to-the-floor beat), usually generated by a drum machine
Drum machine

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums and/or other percussion instruments. Drum machines are very useful instruments for a wide variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music....
 or sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)

A sampler is an electronic musical instrument closely related to a synthesizer. Instead of generating sounds from scratch, however, a sampler starts with multiple recordings of different sounds added by the user, and then plays each back based on how the instrument is configured....
. The kick drum sound is augmented by various kick fills and extended dropouts. The drum track is filled out with hi-hat
Hi-hat

A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in Rhythm and blues, Hip-hop music, disco, jazz, rock and roll, House music, and other forms of contemporary popular music....
 cymbal patterns that nearly always include an open hi-hat on eighth note
Eighth note

An eighth note or a quaver is a Music note played for one eighth the duration of a whole note, hence the name.Eighth notes are notated with an oval, filled-in note head and a straight note stem with one flag ....
 off-beat
Off-beat (music)

The Off-beat is a musical term commonly applied to rhythms that emphasize the weak beats of a bar. According to Grove Music, the ?Offbeat? is [often] where the downbeat is replaced by a rest or is tied over from the preceding bar"....
s between each kick, and a snare drum
Snare drum

The snare drum is a drum with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or catgut cords stretched across the a drumhead, typically the bottom....
 or clap sound on beats two and four of every bar. This pattern is derived from so-called "four-on-the-floor" dance drumbeats of the 1960s and especially the 1970s disco drummers. Producers commonly layer sampled drum sounds to achieve a more complex sound, and they tailor the mix for large club sound systems, de-emphasizing lower mid-range
Mid-range speaker

A loudspeaker speaker driver that produces the frequency range from approximately 300–5000 hertz is known as a mid-range driver. They are also called, less commonly, squawkers....
 frequencies (where the fundamental frequencies
Fundamental frequency

The fundamental tone, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0 or F0, is the lowest frequency in a harmonic series ....
 of the human voice and other instruments lie) in favor of bass and hi-hats.

Producers use many different sound sources for bass sounds in house music, from continuous, repeating electronically-generated lines sequenced on a synthesizer, such as a Roland SH-101
Roland SH-101

Roland SH-101 is a synthesizer from the early 1980's, manufactured by Roland Corporation. It is a small, 32 key, monophonic analog synthesizer....
 or TB-303
Roland TB-303

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a synthesizer with built-in music sequencer manufactured by the Roland corporation from 1982 to 1984 that had a defining role in the development of contemporary electronic music....
, to studio recordings or samples of live electric bassists, or simply filtered-down samples from whole stereo recordings of classic funk tracks or any other songs. House bass lines tend to favor notes that fall within a single-octave range, whereas disco bass lines often alternated between octave-separated notes and would span greater ranges. Some early house productions used parts of bass lines from earlier disco tracks. For example, producer Mark "Hot Rod" Trollan copied bass line sections from the 1983 Italo disco
Italo disco

Italo-Disco is a very broad term, encompassing much of the disco music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of electronic dance music....
 song "Feels Good (Carrots & Beets)" (by Electra featuring Tara Butler) to form the basis of his 1986 production of "Your Love" by Jamie Principle
Jamie Principle

Jamie Principle house music Record producer and vocalist born in Chicago, Illinois.He began having entries on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the early nineties, including "Cold World," a #22 dance hit that is a collaboration with Steven Hurley....
. Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles

Frankie Knuckles is an United States disc jockey, record producer and remix musician. He played an important role in developing house music as a Chicago DJ in the 1980s and he helped to popularize house music in the 1990s, with his work as a producer and remixer....
 used the same notes in his more famous 1987 version of "Your Love", which also featured Principle on vocals.

Electronically-generated sounds and samples
Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an musical instrument or a different sound recording of a song....
 of recordings from genres such as jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
, blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 and synth pop are often added to the foundation of the drum beat and synth bass line. House songs may also include disco, soul-style, or gospel
Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
 vocals and additional percussion such as tambourine
Tambourine

The tambourine or Marine is a musical instrument of the Percussion instrument family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils"....
. Many house mixes also include repeating, short, syncopated, staccato chord loops that are usually composed of 5-7 chords in a 4-beat measure.

Techno and trance
Trance music

Trance is a style of electronic dance music developed in the early 1990s. Trance music is generally characterized by a tempo of between approximately 128 and 150 beats per minute, melodic synthesizer phrase , and a musical form that is progressive as it builds up and down throughout a track....
, which developed alongside house music, share this basic beat infrastructure, but they usually eschew house's live-music-influenced feel and Black
African American music

File:Henry Ossawa Tanner - The Banjo Lesson.jpgAfrican American music is an umbrella term given to a range of music and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large ethnic minority of the population of the United States....
 or Latin music
Latin American music

Latin American music refers to the music of all countries in Latin America and comes in many varieties. Latin America is home to musical styles such as the simple, rural conjunto music of northern Mexico, the sophisticated habanera of Cuba, the rhythmic sounds of the Music of Puerto Rico plena, the symphonies of Heitor Villa-Lobos, and the...
 influences in favor of more synthetic sound sources and approach.

History


Precursors

Paradise Garage
House music is a descendant of disco
Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music that originated in and was initially popular among African American, gay and Hispanic and Latino Americans communities in the United States in the late 1960s....
, which blended soul
Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the African American culture through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, Secularity testifying." The genre occasion...
, R&B, funk
Funk

Funk is an United States Music genre that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music....
, with celebratory messages about dancing, love, and sexuality, all underpinned with repetitive arrangements and a steady bass drum beat. Some disco songs incorporated sounds produced with synthesizer
Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequency....
s and drum machine
Drum machine

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums and/or other percussion instruments. Drum machines are very useful instruments for a wide variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music....
s, and some compositions were entirely electronic; examples include Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder

Giorgio Moroder is an Italy record producer, songwriter and performer, whose groundbreaking work with synthesizers during the 1970s and 1980s was a significant influence on new wave music, house music, techno music and electronic music in general....
 late 1970s productions such as Donna Summer
Donna Summer

Donna Summer is an United States singer-songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of music.Summer was trained as a gospel music singer prior to her introduction to the music industry....
's hit single "I Feel Love
I Feel Love

"I Feel Love" is a song by Donna Summer, taken from her 1977 concept album I Remember Yesterday. The song originally symbolised the 'future' segment of the album, which loosely depicted a musical trip through time....
" from 1977, and several early 1980s disco-pop productions by the Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG

Hi-NRG is high-tempo disco music , as well as a more specific, derivative genre of electronic dance music that achieved mainstream popularity in the mid to late 1980s....
 group Lime
Lime (band)

Lime was a disco group from Montr?al, Canada, during the 1980s. The group was composed of husband and wife Denis and Denyse LePage, although two younger and more attractive singers, Joy Dorris and Chris Marsh, were chosen to tour and appear as the act....
.

House was also influenced by mixing and editing techniques earlier explored by disco DJs, producers, and audio engineers like Walter Gibbons
Walter Gibbons

Walter Gibbons was an United States record producer, early disco Disc jockey and remixer....
, Tom Moulton
Tom Moulton

Tom Moulton is an United States record producer and originator of the remix, the Break , and the 12-inch single Gramophone record format. He has humbly maintained that the last two innovations were pure accidents....
, Jim Burgess
Jim Burgess

Jim Burgess may refer to:*Jim Burgess , in Dayfree Press*Jim Burgess , winner of 1980 Azalea Invitational golf tournament.*Jim Burgess , Green Party candidate for Chatham-Kent?Essex in the Ontario general election, 2003...
, Larry Levan
Larry Levan

Larry Levan was a Disk jockey who spun discs at the New York City night club Paradise Garage. The club has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club, because it was entirely focused on dancing, and was the first to put the DJ at the center of attention....
, Ron Hardy
Ron Hardy

Ron Hardy Born May 8, 1958- was an instrumental figure and DJ in the development of house music. An innovator and originator of the genre, he is highly regarded not only for his iconic performances at the Music Box, a Chicago house music club, but for his pioneering edits and mixes of disco, soul music, funk and early house music ....
, M & M
Morales and Munzibai

Morales and Munzibai were a professional remix and dance record editing duo composed of John Morales and Sergio Munzibai.The duo, both as individuals and as a team, produced a vast number of dance-oriented releases, distinguishing themselves by including Latin percussion in many of their efforts, utilising their mutual heritage to stand ou...
 and others who produced longer, more repetitive and percussive arrangements of existing disco recordings. Early house music producers like Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles

Frankie Knuckles is an United States disc jockey, record producer and remix musician. He played an important role in developing house music as a Chicago DJ in the 1980s and he helped to popularize house music in the 1990s, with his work as a producer and remixer....
 created similar compositions from scratch, using samplers
Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an musical instrument or a different sound recording of a song....
, synthesizers, sequencer
Sequencer

A sequencer is something that either generates or analyzes a sequence, or triggers events in timed fashion. The term may mean or refer to:* Sequencer, a 1976 electronic music album by Larry Fast...
s, and drum machines.

The hypnotic electronic dance song "On and On", produced in 1984 by Chicago DJ Jesse Saunders
Jesse Saunders

Jesse Saunders is a DJ, music and film producer, remix artist, promoter and entrepreneur. He is one of the pioneers of House music, often cited as "the originator of House music"....
, had elements that became staples of the early house music sound, such as the 303
Roland TB-303

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a synthesizer with built-in music sequencer manufactured by the Roland corporation from 1982 to 1984 that had a defining role in the development of contemporary electronic music....
 bass synthesizer and minimal vocals. It is sometimes cited as the 'first house music record', although other examples from the same time period, such as J.M. Silk's "Music is the Key" (1985) have also been cited.

Etymology
The origins of the term "house music" are disputed. The term may have its origin from a club called the The Warehouse
Warehouse (nightclub)

The Warehouse was a nightclub that was established in Chicago, Illinois in 1977 in music under the direction of Robert Williams. It is today most famous for being what many consider to be the birthplace and heart of "house music" under its first musical director, DJ Frankie Knuckles....
, which was one of the nightclub
Nightclub

A nightclub is a Alcoholic beverage, Dance and entertainment Music venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers....
s that became popular among the teenagers living in the Chicago area in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Warehouse was patronized primarily by gay, black and Latino men, who came to dance to DJ Frankie Knuckles's mix of classic disco. Knuckles released his dance tracks and mixes on D.J. International Records as well as on the Trax Records
Trax Records

Trax Records was a house music record label that was based in Chicago, and put out seminal House records such as Jamie Principle & Frankie Knuckles's "Your Love."...
 label. These dance tracks became known as house music. The club gained considerable fame in the mid '70s and grew tremendously towards the end of the '70s. Knuckles's productions increased at that time, and his mix of the Jamie Principle
Jamie Principle

Jamie Principle house music Record producer and vocalist born in Chicago, Illinois.He began having entries on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the early nineties, including "Cold World," a #22 dance hit that is a collaboration with Steven Hurley....
 song "Your Love" is considered by many the track that was the launching pad for house music.

Chip E.
Chip E.

Irwin Larry Eberhart II , also known as Chip E., is an United States Disc jockey and record producer....
's recording "It's House" may also have helped to define this new form of electronic music. Chip E. claims the name came from methods of labelling records at the Imports Etc. record store, where he worked in the early 1980s; music that DJ Knuckles played at the Warehouse nightclub was labelled in the store "As Heard At The Warehouse", which was shortened to simply "House music".

Larry Heard
Larry Heard

Larry Heard is a Memphis, Tennessee, Tennessee-based musician widely known for the Chicago-based house music he produced during the mid-1980s and continues to produce today....
, aka "Mr. Fingers", claims that the term "house" reflected the fact that many early DJs created music in their own homes, using synthesizers and drum machines, including the Roland TR-808
Roland TR-808

The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable drum machines . Introduced by the Roland Corporation in late 1980, it was originally manufactured for use as a tool for studio musicians to create demo s....
, TR-909
Roland TR-909

The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog , partially Sampling drum machine built by the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1984. The brainchild of Tadao Kikumoto, the engineer behind the Roland TB-303, it features a 16-step music sequencer#Step sequencers and a drum kit that, at that time, aimed for realism and cost-effectiveness....
, and the TB 303
Roland TB-303

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a synthesizer with built-in music sequencer manufactured by the Roland corporation from 1982 to 1984 that had a defining role in the development of contemporary electronic music....
 Bassline synthesizer-sequencer. These synthesizers were used to create a house music subgenre called acid house
Acid house

Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance music-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics....
.

Juan Atkins
Juan Atkins

Juan Atkins is an United States musician. He is widely credited as the originator of techno music, specifically Detroit techno along with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson....
, an originator of Detroit techno
Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988....
 music, claims the term "house" reflected the exclusive association of particular tracks with particular DJs; those tracks were their "house" records (much like a restaurant might have a "house" salad dressing).

Chicago years: early 1980s – late 1980s

House music was developed in the houses, garages and clubs of Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
 initially for local club-goers in the "underground" club scenes, rather than for widespread commercial release. As a result, the recordings were much more conceptual, longer than the music usually played on commercial radio. House musicians used analog synthesizer
Analog synthesizer

An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog electronics and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically....
s and sequencers to create and arrange the electronic elements and samples
Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an musical instrument or a different sound recording of a song....
 on their tracks
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
, combining live traditional instruments and percussion and soulful vocals with preprogrammed electronic synthesizers and "beat-boxes".

Main stream record stores often did not carry these 12 inch vinyl singles, as they were not available through the major record distributors. In Chicago, records stores such as Importes Etc., State Street Records, JR’s Music shop and Gramaphone Records were the primary suppliers of this music. The record-store Importes Etc, is believed to be where the term “house” was introduced as a shortening of "Warehouse".

The music was still essentially disco until the early 1980s when the first stand-alone drum machine
Drum machine

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums and/or other percussion instruments. Drum machines are very useful instruments for a wide variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music....
s were invented. House tracks could now be given an edge with the use of a mixer and drum machine. This was an added boost to the prestige of the individual DJs. Underground club DJs like Ron Hardy
Ron Hardy

Ron Hardy Born May 8, 1958- was an instrumental figure and DJ in the development of house music. An innovator and originator of the genre, he is highly regarded not only for his iconic performances at the Music Box, a Chicago house music club, but for his pioneering edits and mixes of disco, soul music, funk and early house music ....
 and radio jocks The Hot Mix 5 played Italo Disco tracks like "Dirty Talk
Dirty talk

Dirty talk, formally known as lagnolalia, is the practice of using graphic word imagery to heighten sexual pleasure before and during the sex act....
" and the "MBO Theme" by Klein M.B.O., Early B-Boy Hip Hop tracks such as Man Parrish
Man Parrish

Man Parrish is considered to be one of the pioneers of the electronic music and electro genres. He, along with artists such as Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John Robie, Jellybean Benitez and Aldo Marin helped create and define the sound of Breakdance electro of the early 1980s....
's "Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)
Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)

Hip Hop, Be Bop was an early-1980s Electro music hit by Man Parrish.It was released in 1982 and is considered a classic in the genre of electronic music....
" and Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force
Afrika Bambaataa

Afrika Bambaataa is an United States Disc jockey from the South Bronx, who was instrumental in the early development of Hip hop music throughout the 1980s....
's Planet Rock
Planet Rock (song)

"Planet Rock" is a 1982 in music song by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force. It is widely regarded as one of the earliest and most influential Rap music songs....
 and Looking for the Perfect Beat
Looking for the Perfect Beat

"Looking for the Perfect Beat" is a 1983 in music Electro /Hip hop music song by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force. It was the second single from their album Planet Rock: The Album....
 as well as electronic music by Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from D?sseldorf, Germany. The signature Kraftwerk sound combines driving, Repetitive music rhythms with catchy melody, mainly following a Western classical music style of harmony, with a minimalism and strictly electronic instrumentation....
; these genres were influential to the Chicago genre of House.

Jesse Saunders
Jesse Saunders

Jesse Saunders is a DJ, music and film producer, remix artist, promoter and entrepreneur. He is one of the pioneers of House music, often cited as "the originator of House music"....
 “Jes Say Records” who had club hits with more “B-boy Hip Hop” oriented tracks like “Come to Me” by Gwendolyn and “Dum Dum” as well as the Italo Disco influenced “Under Cover” by Dr. Derelict released the first Chicago home made house hit, “On and On” (1984) which had hypnotic lyrics, driving bassline, and percussion
Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration....
. This was the first house record pressed and sold to the general public.

In 1985, Mr Fingers
Larry Heard

Larry Heard is a Memphis, Tennessee, Tennessee-based musician widely known for the Chicago-based house music he produced during the mid-1980s and continues to produce today....
's landmark "Can You Feel It?
Can You Feel It?

Can You Feel It? Is the title of one of the first records released by Deep House legend Larry Heard also known as Mr. Fingers. It is regarded as the first Deep House record to come though in 1985 and is still a popular track in the deep house scene today....
"/"Washing Machine"/"Mystery of Love" showed a jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
-influenced, lush, sound that was created using a Roland TR-707 and Juno 6 synthesizer. This song helped to start the trend for the Deep house
Deep house

Deep house is a style of house music which fuses elements of Chicago house, disco, 80's soul, jazz-funk and Detroit techno. The Jazz influences of deep house are most frequently brought out by using more complex chords than simple triads which are held for many bar s, which give the tracks a slightly Consonance and dissonance feel....
 genre, which had a slower beat of 110-125 bpm. In the same year, Chip E.
Chip E.

Irwin Larry Eberhart II , also known as Chip E., is an United States Disc jockey and record producer....
's "It's House" is a good example of the Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
 House Music style. In 1986, Phuture
Phuture

Phuture is a Chicago-based acid house group founded in 1985 by DJ Pierre, Spanky, and Herb J.Their 12-minute track Acid Tracks is one of several recordings that lay claim to being the first-ever acid house record....
's "Acid Trax" (1986) showed the development of a house music subgenre called acid house
Acid house

Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance music-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics....
 which arose from experiments with a 303
Roland TB-303

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a synthesizer with built-in music sequencer manufactured by the Roland corporation from 1982 to 1984 that had a defining role in the development of contemporary electronic music....
 machine by Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
 musicians such as DJ Pierre
DJ Pierre

DJ Pierre is the stage name of Nathaniel Pierre Jones, a Chicago born DJ and performer of house music. He helped to develop the house music subgenre of Acid House as member of Phuture, whose 1987 E.P....
.

Early house recordings were Jamie Principle
Jamie Principle

Jamie Principle house music Record producer and vocalist born in Chicago, Illinois.He began having entries on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the early nineties, including "Cold World," a #22 dance hit that is a collaboration with Steven Hurley....
 and Frankie Knuckles' "Your Love"
Your Love (Frankie Knuckles song)

Your Love is a song by Jamie Principle and Frankie Knuckles. The song is an early example of Chicago house music.Key features of the song are the arpeggiator repeating synthesizer line and a powerful propulsive bassline that drives the song....
; "On and On" by Jesse Saunders (1985) and Chip E.'s "The Jack Trax" featuring the songs “It’s House” and “Time to Jack”, which used complex rhythms, simple bassline, sampling
Sampling

Sampling may refer to:*Sampling , converting a continuous signal into a discrete signal*Sampling , re-using portions of sound recordings in a piece...
 technology, and minimalist vocals. By 1985, house music dominated the clubs of Chicago, largely in part due to the radio play the music received on 102.7 FM WBMX which was the brainchild of Program director Lee Michaels through WBMX's resident DJ team, the Hot Mix 5.

The music and movement was also aided by the electronic music revolution - the arrival of cheap and compact music sequencers, drum machines (the Roland TR-909
Roland TR-909

The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog , partially Sampling drum machine built by the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1984. The brainchild of Tadao Kikumoto, the engineer behind the Roland TB-303, it features a 16-step music sequencer#Step sequencers and a drum kit that, at that time, aimed for realism and cost-effectiveness....
, TR-808
Roland TR-808

The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable drum machines . Introduced by the Roland Corporation in late 1980, it was originally manufactured for use as a tool for studio musicians to create demo s....
 and TR-707, and Latin percussion machine the TR-727) and bass modules (such as the Roland TB-303
Roland TB-303

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a synthesizer with built-in music sequencer manufactured by the Roland corporation from 1982 to 1984 that had a defining role in the development of contemporary electronic music....
) gave House music creators even wider possibilities in creating their own sound. The acid house
Acid house

Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance music-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics....
 subgenre was developed from the experiments by DJ Pierre
DJ Pierre

DJ Pierre is the stage name of Nathaniel Pierre Jones, a Chicago born DJ and performer of house music. He helped to develop the house music subgenre of Acid House as member of Phuture, whose 1987 E.P....
, Larry Heard
Larry Heard

Larry Heard is a Memphis, Tennessee, Tennessee-based musician widely known for the Chicago-based house music he produced during the mid-1980s and continues to produce today....
 (Mr. Fingers), and Marshall Jefferson
Marshall Jefferson

Marshall Jefferson is widely regarded as one of the leading innovators of the genre of music now known as house music, in particular the subgenre of Chicago house....
 with the new drum and rhythm machines.

Many of the songs that defined the Chicago house music sound were released by DJ International Records and Trax Records. In 1985, Trax released "Jack the Bass" and "Funkin' with the Drums Again" by Farley Jackmaster Funk. In 1986, Trax released "No Way Back" by Adonis
Adonis

Adonis is a figure of West Semitic origin, where he is a central cult figure in various mystery religions, who enters Greek mythology in Hellenistic culture....
, Larry Heard's (as Fingers Inc.) "Can You Feel It?" and "Washing Machine", and an early house anthem in 1986, "Move Your Body" by Marshall Jefferson
Marshall Jefferson

Marshall Jefferson is widely regarded as one of the leading innovators of the genre of music now known as house music, in particular the subgenre of Chicago house....
, which helped to boost the popularity of the style outside of Chicago.

In 1987, Steve 'Silk' Hurley's "Jack Your Body" was the first House track to reach No.1 in the UK Top 40 pop chart. 1987 also saw M/A/R/R/S
MARRS

MARRS was a Grammy Award nominated, one-off recording act from 1987, a collaboration between the groups A R Kane and Colourbox, with additional input from DJs Chris "C.J." Mackintosh and Dave Dorrell....
' "Pump Up The Volume" reach No.1 in the UK Top 40 pop chart. In 1989 Hurley transformed Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack is a Grammy Award-winning United States singer-songwriter and musician who is notable in the areas of jazz, soul music, R&B and folk music....
's soft ballad "Uh Oh Look Out" into a boisterous dance track. S'Express
S'Express

S'Express was a United Kingdom dance music act from the late 1980s that had one of the earliest commercial successes in the acid house genre....
's "Theme from S'Express" (1988)is an example of a disco
Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music that originated in and was initially popular among African American, gay and Hispanic and Latino Americans communities in the United States in the late 1960s....
-influenced, funk
Funk

Funk is an United States Music genre that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music....
y acid house
Acid house

Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance music-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics....
 tune. It uses samples from Rose Royce
Rose Royce

Rose Royce is a Grammy Award-winning soul music, funk, and disco band based in Los Angeles. The name "Rose" is taken from frontperson/lead singer Rose Norwalt aka Gwen Dickey....
's song "Is it Love You're After" over a Roland 303 bassline. In 1989, Black Box
Black box

Black box may mean:...
 - "Ride on time" (which sampled Loleatta Holloway
Loleatta Holloway

Loleatta Holloway is an United States singer, mainly known for disco songs such as "Dreamin'" and "Love Sensation" ....
's 1980 disco hit, Love Sensation) hit number 1 in the UK top 40 and Technotronic
Technotronic

Technotronic was a studio-based Belgian music project formed by Jo Bogaert in 1988, who had already made his musical mark in the beginning of the 1980s as a part of a cover band and as a solo artist under various new beat projects, including The Acts of Madmen and Nux Nemo. Together with Ya Kid K , he produced the hit single "Pump Up...
's song "Pump Up the Jam
Pump Up the Jam

"Pump Up the Jam" is the opening track on Technotronic's album Pump Up the Jam: The Album. The song was a worldwide smash hit, reaching number two in the United Kingdom in 1989....
" (1989) was one of the early house records to break the top 10 on the U.S. pop charts. A year later, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City in 1977, for a career in modern dance....
's "Vogue
Vogue (song)

"Vogue" was the first single by United States singer-songwriter Madonna from her soundtrack album I'm Breathless and was released on March 20, 1990 by Sire Records....
" went to number one on charts worldwide, becoming the highest selling single on WEA up to that time. In 1992, Leftfield
Leftfield

Leftfield was a duo of electronica artists and record producers Paul Daley and Neil Barnes, formed in 1989 in London, England. The name Leftfield was originally used simply by Neil Barnes for its first single, "Not Forgotten ," but after this, Paul Daley was involved first in remixing songs and then in the creation of following music....
's song "Release the Pressure
Release the Pressure

"Release the Pressure" was the third single released under the Leftfield name and the first to involve Paul Daley with writing duties after he joined the group....
" helped to introduce a new subgenre of house called progressive house.

House music also had an influence of relaying political messages to people who were considered to be outcast of society. It offered for those who didn't fit into mainstream American society, especially celebrated by many black gays. Frankie Knuckles made a good comparison of House saying it was like "church for people who have fallen from grace" and Marshall Jefferson compared it to "old-time religion in the way that people just get happy and screamin'" (30). Deep house was similar to many of the messages of freedom for the black community. Both House CDs by Joe Smooth, "Promised Land" and Db "I Have a Dream" give similar messages of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. House was also very sexual and had much mystic in it. It went so far as to have a "eroto-mystic delirium" (31). Jamie Principle's "Baby Wants to Ride" begins in a prayer but surprisingly is about a dominatrix who seduces a man to "ride" her through the rest of the song. House dance itself is a lot older than house music, which arose in the late 1970s upon the end of the disco era during the times of such nightclubs as Chicago's Warehouse and New York's Loft
The Loft

The Loft is the location for the first underground dance party that was created by David Mancuso on February 14 1970 in New York City. Since then, the term The Loft has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non-commercial party where no alcohol, food, or beverages are sold....
 and Paradise Garage
Paradise Garage

The Paradise Garage was a nightclub notable in the history of modern gay culture and nightclub cultures and in dance music and pop musics. It was founded by Michael Brody, its sole proprietor, and was located at 84 King Street, New York City....
. House dance takes from many different dance elements such as the Lindy era, African, Latin, Brazilian, jazz, tap, and even modern.

House dance has been debatingly broken down in 3 styles: Footwork, Jacking, and Lofting. It includes a variety of techniques and sub-styles that include skating, stomping, and shuffling. It also incorporates movements from many other sources such as whacking, voguing, Capoeira, tap, and Latin dances such as salsa. A wide variety of the movements came from jazz and bebop styles and even from African and Latin descent.

One of the primary elements in house dancing is a technique that came from Chicago that involves moving the torso forward and backward in a rippling motion, as if a wave were passing through it. When this movement is repeated and sped up to match the beat of a song it is called jacking, or "the jack." All footwork in house dancing is said to initiate from the way the jack moves the center of gravity through space

House music especially Deep House was a jarring kind of genre in music which brought the immoral and different aspect of the sexual and minority in the forefront. House was definitely concerned with the sensuality of the body and setting oneself free-- without the worry of outside barriers.

Detroit techno: mid 1980s – early 1990s


See also Techno
Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988....


Detroit techno was developed in the mid 1980s. Though Detroit techno is a distinct musical form, its pioneers were also instrumental in spreading house music internationally. Detroit techno developed as the legendary disc jockey The Electrifying Mojo
The Electrifying Mojo

The Electrifying Mojo was a Detroit disc jockey whose on-air journey of musical and social development shaped a generation of music-lovers in Detroit and throughout southeastern Michigan and Canada and was of importance to the development of Detroit Techno....
 conducted his own radio program at this time, influencing the fusion of eclectic sounds into the signature Detroit techno sound. Juan Atkins released "NO UFO's" on Metroplex Records, which was very well received in Chicago and is considered a classic. He followed with the 1986 release of the track "Technicolor".

Derrick May aka "MAYDAY" released "Nude Photo" in 1986 on his label "Transmat Records", which helped kickstart the Detroit techno music scene and was put in heavy rotation on Chicago's Hot Mix 5 Radio dj mix show and in many Chicago clubs. A year later releasing what was to become one of techno's classic anthems, the seminal track "Strings of Life", "Transmat Records" went on to have many more successful releases such as 1988's "Wiggin". As well, Derrick May had successful releases on Kool Kat Records and many remixes for a host of underground and mainstream recording artist. Kevin Saunderson's company KMS Records contributed many releases that were as much House Music as they were Techno, these tracks were well received in Chicago and played on Chicago radio and in clubs. Blake Baxter
Blake Baxter

Blake Baxter is an American techno musician, associated with the first wave of Detroit techno artists. Allmusic called him "perhaps the most underrated figure" of the early Detroit techno scene....
's 1986 recording, "When we Used to Play / Work your Body", 1987's "Bounce Your Body to the Box" and "Force Field", "The Sound / How to Play our Music" and “the Groove that Won't Stop” and a remix of "Grooving Without a Doubt". In 1988, as house music became more popular among general audiences, Kevin Saunderson’s group Inner City with Paris Gray released the 1988 hits "Big Fun" and "Good Life", which eventually were picked up by Virgin Records. Each EP / 12 inch single sported remixes by Mike "Hitman" Wilson and Steve "Silk" Hurley of Chicago and Derrick "Mayday" May and Juan Atkins of Detroit. In 1989, KMS had another hit release of "Rock to the Beat" which was a theme in Chicago dance clubs.

UK: late 1980s – early 1990s

In Britain
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 the growth of house can be divided around the "Summer of Love
Second Summer of Love

The Second Summer of Love is a name given to the period in 1988-91 in United Kingdom, during the rise of Acid House music and the euphoric explosion of unlicensed Methylenedioxymethamphetamine-fuelled rave parties....
" in 1988/9. House had a presence in Britain almost as early as it appeared in Chicago; however there was a strong divide between the House music as part of the gay scene and "straight" music. House grew in northern England, the Midlands and the South East. Founded in 1982 by Factory Records
Factory Records

Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 in music, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, and James and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark....
, The Haçienda in Manchester
Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. Manchester was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1853....
 became an extension of the "Northern Soul
Northern soul

Northern soul is a type of mid-tempo and uptempo heavy-beat soul music that was popularized in Northern England from the mid 1960s onwards. The term also refers to the associated dance styles and fashions that emanated from the Twisted Wheel club in Manchester and spread to other dancehalls and nightclubs, such as the Golden Torch , the High...
" genre and was one of the early, key English dance music clubs.

Until 1986 the club was financially troubled; the crowds only started to grow when the resident DJs (Pickering, Park and Da Silva) started to play house music. Many underground venues and DJ nights also took place across the UK, such as the private parties hosted by an early Miss Moneypenny's
Miss Moneypenny's

Miss Moneypenny's is a house music nightclub that was founded in Birmingham, England, in 1986.The nights were originally associated with Chuff Chuff rave events, initially held as boat parties, with founding members Mick, Jim, and Dermot Ryan, and Lee Garrick taking turns to entertain the crowds as Disc jockey....
 contingent in Birmingham
Birmingham

Birmingham is a city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham is the most populous of England's English Core Cities Group, and is the List of United Kingdom cities by population British city after London, with a population of 1,010,200 ....
 and many London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 venues. House was boosted in the UK by the tour in the same year of Knuckles, Jefferson, Fingers Inc. (Heard) and Adonis as the DJ International Tour. One of the early anthemic tunes, "Promised Land" by Joe Smooth, was covered and charted within a week by the Style Council. The first English House tune came out in 1986 - "Carino" by T-Coy. Europeans embraced house music, and began booking legendary American House DJs to play at the big clubs, such as Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound

Ministry of Sound , now MSHK Group, is the home of the best known dance music and lifestyle brands, the largest independent record company and the most famous nightclub in the world ....
, whose resident, DJ Harvey
DJ Harvey

Dj Harvey is a DJ from Cambridge, England. His real name is Harvey Bassett. Harvey is today one of the most respected DJs in the world whose appeal across the genres of the music and clubbing community....
 brought in Larry Levan
Larry Levan

Larry Levan was a Disk jockey who spun discs at the New York City night club Paradise Garage. The club has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club, because it was entirely focused on dancing, and was the first to put the DJ at the center of attention....
.

The house scene in cities such as Birmingham
Birmingham

Birmingham is a city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham is the most populous of England's English Core Cities Group, and is the List of United Kingdom cities by population British city after London, with a population of 1,010,200 ....
, Manchester
Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. Manchester was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1853....
 and London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 were also provided with many underground Pirate Radio
Pirate radio

The term pirate radio usually refers to illegal or unregulated radio transmissions. Its etymology can be traced to the unlicensed nature of the transmission, but historically there has been occasional but notable offshore radio ? fitting the most common perception of a pirates ? as broadcasting bases....
 stations and DJs alike which helped bolster an already contagious, but otherwise ignored by the mainstream, music genre. One of the earliest and most influential UK house and techno record labels was Network Records
Network Records

Network Records was an independent record label based in Birmingham, England during the late 80's and early to mid 90's.The label concentrated mainly on House music and Techno....
 (otherwise known as Kool Kat records) who helped introduce Italian and U.S. dance music to Britain as well as promoting select UK dance music acts.

But house was also developing on Ibiza
Ibiza

Ibiza is an island and town located in the Mediterranean Sea about 80 km off the coast of Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands autonomous community ....
. In the 1970s Ibiza was a hippie stop-over for the rich party crowd. By the mid-1980s a distinct Balearic
Balearic Beat

Balearic Beat or Balearic House is an electric blend of DJed dance music that originally emerged in the mid-1980s. It later became the name of a more specific style of electronic music that was popular into the mid-1990s....
 mix of house was discernible. Several clubs like Amnesia with DJ Alfredo were playing a mix of rock, pop, disco and house. These clubs, fueled by their distinctive sound and Ecstasy, began to have an influence on the British scene. By late 1987 DJs like Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold

Paul Oakenfold is a record producer and a popular Trance music DJ....
 and Danny Rampling
Danny Rampling

Danny Rampling is a British House Music DJ and is widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK's rave/club scene. His long career began in the early 1980s playing Hip hop music, soul and funk around numerous bars and clubs in London....
 were bringing the Ibiza sound to UK clubs like Shoom in Southwark (London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
), Heaven, Future, Spectrum and Purple Raines in Birmingham
Birmingham

Birmingham is a city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham is the most populous of England's English Core Cities Group, and is the List of United Kingdom cities by population British city after London, with a population of 1,010,200 ....
.

In the U.S., the music was being developed to create a more sophisticated sound, moving beyond just drum loops and short samples. New York-based performers such as Mateo & Matos
Mateo & Matos

Mateo & Matos is a team of two deejays and house music producers John Mateo and Eddie Matos from New York City....
 and Blaze
Blaze

Blaze may refer to:*Fire...
 had slickly produced disco-house crossover tracks. In Chicago, Marshall Jefferson had formed the house group Ten City (from "intensity"). In Detroit a proto-techno music sound began to emerge with the recordings of Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson.

Atkins, a former member of Cybotron
Cybotron

Cybotron was an early electro music group formed in 1980 by Juan Atkins and Richard Davis in Detroit, Michigan. Guitarist John "Jon 5" Housley joined soon afterward....
, released Model 500 "No UFOs" in 1985, which became a regional hit, followed by dozens of tracks on Transmat, Metroplex and Fragile. One of the most unusual was "Strings of Life" by Derrick May, a darker, more intellectual strain of house. "Techno-Scratch" was released by the Knights Of The Turntable in 1984 which had a similar techno sound to Cybotron. The manager of the Factory nightclub, Tony Wilson, also promoted acid house
Acid house

Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance music-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics....
 culture on his weekly TV show. The Midlands also embraced the late 1980s House scene with underground venues such as multi storey car parks and more legal dance stations such as the Digbeth Institute
Digbeth Institute

The Digbeth Institute is a 2,000 capacity music venue in Digbeth, Birmingham, England, which has been synonymous in the development of the United Kingdom rave music and drum and bass scene....
 (now the 'Sanctuary' and home to Sundissential
Sundissential

Sundissential is a dance music club started in Birmingham, England, in the 1990s. Originally hosted in various venues in the city, the event started as an after normal club hours event and exploited loopholes in Licensing laws of the United Kingdom to allow alcohol to be sold on a Sunday to clubbers at this time....
).

US: late 1980s – early 1990s

Back in America the scene had still not progressed beyond a small number of clubs in Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, Detroit and New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
. Paradise Garage in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 was still a top club, although they now had Todd Terry
Todd Terry

Todd Terry is an United States DJ and music Record producer and remixer, one of the producers who helped to define New York's house music during the 1980s....
, his cover of Class Action's Larry Levan mixed "Weekend" demonstrated the continuum from the underground disco to a new House sound with hip-hop influences evident in the quicker sampling and the more rugged bass-line. While hip-hop
Hip hop music

Hip hop music is a music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rapping which is accompanied with backing beats. Hip hop music is part of hip hop culture, which began in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Latino Americans....
 had made it onto radio play-lists, the only other choices were Rock, Country & Western or R & B.

Other influences from New York came from the hip-hop, reggae, and Latin community, and many of the New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 super producers/DJs began surfacing for the first time (Erick Morillo, Roger Sanchez, Junior Vasquez
Junior Vasquez

Junior Vasquez, born Donald Mattern in August 1949 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is a famous New York City club disc jockey and remixer/Record producer....
, Danny Tenaglia
Danny Tenaglia

Danny Tenaglia is a New York-based DJ and record producer. His music has been called "progressive garage" by some journalists. Tenaglia's tracks and remixes use a blend of progressive and tribal house music sounds....
, Jonathan Peters) with unique sounds that would evolve into other genres (tribal house, progressive house, funky house). Producers such as Masters At Work
Masters At Work

Masters At Work is the House music production and remix team of Little Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzales. They first worked together using the name, which had been given to them by mutual friend Todd Terry , in 1990....
 and Kerri Chandler
Kerri Chandler

Kerri 'Kaoz' Chandler one of Deep House Music's originators, has been injecting soul into music since the early nineties. An ambassador of the natural and instinctive 4/4 beat, Kerri's influences can be traced back to New Jersey growing up in a family of jazz musicians....
 also started pioneering a richer Garage sound that was picked up on by 'outsiders' from the worlds of jazz, hip-hop and downbeat as much as it was by House aficionados.

In the late 80's Nu Groove Records prolonged, if not launched the careers of Rheji Burrell
Rheji Burrell

Rheji Burrell is an USA dance musician and music producer. With his twin brother Ronald , Burrell was responsible for creating experimental, deep house music in the late 1980s and early 1990s....
 & Rhano Burrell, collectively known as Burrell (after a brief stay on Virgin America via Timmy Registford and Frank Mendez), along with basically every relevant DJ and Producer in the NY underground scene. The Burrell's are responsible for the "New York Underground" sound and are the undisputed champions of this style of house music. Their 30+ releases on this label alone seems to support that fact. In today's market Nu Groove Record releases like the Burrells' enjoy a cult-like following and mint vinyl can fetch $100 U.S. or more in the open market.

Influential gospel
Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
/R&B-influenced Aly-us released "Time Passes On" in 1993 (Strictly Rhythm
Strictly Rhythm

Strictly Rhythm is an United States record label, best known for its highly regarded house music catalogue. It is considered by many to be one of the genre's most important and influential labels....
), then later, "Follow Me" which received radio airplay as well as being played in clubs. Another U.S. hit which received radio play was the single "Time for the Perculator" by Cajmere, which became the prototype of Ghettohouse sub-genre. Cajmere started the Cajual and Relief labels (amongst others). By the early 1990s artists such as Cajmere himself (under that name as well as Green Velvet and as producer for Dajae
Dajae

Dajae is the stage name of Karen Gordon, a female R&B and dance music singer born in Chicago, Illinois. She sang in various soul bands for over a decade prior to joining house producer Cajmere....
), DJ Sneak
DJ Sneak

DJ Sneak is a Puerto Rico house music Disc jockey and record producer raised in Chicago, Illinois. He is noted as being one of the second wave of influential Chicago house producers, as well as a member of the vanguard of late-1990s United States house producers....
, Glenn Underground and others did many recordings.

UK: early 1990s – mid-1990s

In Britain, further experiments in the genre boosted its appeal. House and rave
Rave

A rave is a term in use since the 1980s, to describe dance party with fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties disc jockeys and other performers play Electronica, Trance music, and Techno ,...
 clubs like Lakota, Miss Moneypenny's and Cream
Cream (nightclub)

Cream, based at the Nation nightclub in Liverpool, is one of the best-known night clubs in the United Kingdom. Cream began life as a weekly house music night at Nation, and ran in this format for 10 years, from October 1992 to June 2002....
 emerged across Britain, hosting house and dance scene events. The 'chilling out' concept developed in Britain with ambient house
Ambient house

Ambient house, a music genre that first emerged in the late 1980s, is a sub-genre of house music, combining elements of acid house and ambient music....
 albums such as The KLF
The KLF

The KLF, also known as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu , The Timelords and other names, were one of the seminal bands from the Music of the United Kingdom acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
's Chill Out
Chill out

Chill out may mean:*Chill out music, a laid-back style of music*Chill Out, an album by KLF*Chill Out *Chill Out, an album by John Lee Hooker...
 and "Analogue BubbleBath" by Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin

Richard David James , aka Aphex Twin, is an electronic musician who has been described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music." He founded the record label Rephlex Records in 1991 with friend Grant Wilson-Claridge....
. Chillout music is often defined as a fusion of different genres, such as Ambient
Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses on the timbre characteristics of sounds, particularly organised or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality....
, Trip hop
Trip hop

Trip hop is a music genre also known as the Bristol sound. The trip hop description was applied to the musical trend in the mid-1990s of downtempo electronic music that grew out of England's hip hop music and house music scenes....
 or downtempo
Downtempo

Downtempo is a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a rhythm or Groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music....
 (later on) or New Age
New Age

New Age is a decentralized western culture social movement and new religious movement that seeks universality Truth and the attainment of the highest individual human potential....
 (older). The unifying feature of Chill Out electronica is long sustained tones and a smoother sound, rather than the noisy, percussive sound of other styles.

At the same time, a new indie dance scene emerged. In New York, bands such as Deee-Lite
Deee-Lite

Deee-Lite were a house music and dance music group formed in New York City, United States. Their best-known single is "Groove Is in the Heart", from their 1990 debut album, World Clique. However, Deee-Lite achieved longer lasting success on the U.S....
 furthered house music's international influence. Two distinctive tracks from this era were the Orb's
The Orb

The Orb are an English electronic music group known for popularising chill out music in the 1990s and spawning the genre of ambient house. Founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and The KLF member Jimmy Cauty, The Orb began as ambient music and dub music disc jockeys in London....
 "Little Fluffy Clouds" (with a distinctive vocal sample from Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee Jones is a two-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer from the United States. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including Rhythm and blues, blues, pop music, soul music, and jazz standard ....
) and the Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays

Happy Mondays are a British alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the musical group's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass guitar, lead guitarist Mark Day , keyboardist Paul Davis , and drummer Gary Whelan ....
' "Wrote for Luck" ("WFL") which was transformed into a dance hit by Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold

Paul Oakenfold is a record producer and a popular Trance music DJ....
.

The UK Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the existing law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights and in greater penalties for certain "anti-social" behaviours....
 was a government attempt to ban large rave dance events featuring music with "repetitive beats". There were a number of abortive "Kill the Bill" demonstrations. Although the bill became law, in November 1994, it had little effect. The music continued to grow and change, as typified by the emergence of acts like Leftfield
Leftfield

Leftfield was a duo of electronica artists and record producers Paul Daley and Neil Barnes, formed in 1989 in London, England. The name Leftfield was originally used simply by Neil Barnes for its first single, "Not Forgotten ," but after this, Paul Daley was involved first in remixing songs and then in the creation of following music....
 with "Release the Pressure", which introduced dub and reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 into the house music sound. In more commercial recordings, a mix of R&B with stronger basslines was used. The house music scene was shaped by a variety of inflences, including the club culture scene. Like the 1970s disco
Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music that originated in and was initially popular among African American, gay and Hispanic and Latino Americans communities in the United States in the late 1960s....
 club scene
Discothèque

A discoth?que, , is an entertainment venue or club with music record played by "Discaires" through a PA system, rather than an Live band dance....
, the house music club scene was associated with a number of drugs which club-goers used to enhance the dancing experience, such as amyl nitrite "poppers
Poppers

Poppers is the street term for various alkyl nitrites taken for recreational purposes through direct inhalant, particularly amyl nitrite, butyl nitrite, isopropyl nitrite and isobutyl nitrite....
", MDMA, ketamine
Ketamine

Ketamine is a drug used in human and veterinary medicine developed by Parke-Davis in 1962. Its hydrochloride salt is sold as Ketanest, Ketaset, and Ketalar....
, and GHB
Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid

gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, 4-hydroxybutanoic acid, or GHB is a naturally-occurring substance found in the central nervous system, wine, beef, small citrus fruits, and almost all animals in small amounts....
.

As well, like the disco scene that preceded it, the house music club scene attracted a mix of cultural and racial groups. Tunes like "The Bouncer" from Kicks Like a Mule used sped-up hip-hop breakbeat
Breakbeat

Breakbeat is a term used to describe a collection of sub-music genres of electronic music, usually characterized by the use of a non-straightened 4/4 drum pattern ....
s. With SL2
SL2

SL2 was the name of a popular and pioneering Breakbeat Hardcore/rave music music act in the early 1990s from London, England.They also sound recording and reproductiond, remixed or record producer under the names "Slipmatt & Lime" and "T.H.C." The SL2 name came from the Technics SL1200 Phonographs they used to perform...
's "On A Ragga Tip" they gave the foundations to what would become drum and bass
Drum and bass

Drum and bass , also known as jungle, is a type of electronic dance music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast Break #Break beat , with heavy sub-bass lines....
 and jungle. Initially called breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore

Breakbeat hardcore is a derivate of acid house that combines 4-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with UK Rave scene....
, it found popularity in London clubs like Rage as an "inner city" music. Labels like Moving Shadow
Moving Shadow

Moving Shadow is a United Kingdom-based drum and bass record label that was started in 1990 in music by Rob Playford. Alongside such labels as Suburban Base, Formation Records, D-Zone, Reinforced and Metalheadz, Moving Shadow has grown to become one of the best-known and well-respected labels within the genre, achieving its 100th single rel...
 and Reinforced became underground favorites.

"London Hardcore Techno
Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988....
" was a style of music that Moonshine music
Moonshine Music

Moonshine Music was a Los Angeles-based electronic music record label during the 1990s. Moonshine released over 250 compilations albums, many of which were DJ mixed....
 released with an increased tempo of around 160 bpm
Beats per minute

Beats per minute is a unit typically used as either a measure of tempo in music, or a measure of one's heart rate. A rate of 60 bpm means that one beat will occur every second....
. UK garage
UK garage

UK garage is an umbrella term that refers to several different varieties of modern electronic dance music generally connected to the evolution of House music in the United Kingdom from early/mid-1990s....
 developed later. Originally an underground style combining house beats with pitched up RnB vocals and the ragga MCing and warping bass of jungle, it broke into the mainstream via artists like The Artful Dodger and 187 Lockdown, and influenced pop acts like Liberty X
Liberty X

Liberty X were a Brit Award-winning pop vocal group formed from five contestants from the 2001 ITV show Popstars. The group consisted of Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Michelle Heaton, Kelli Young and Jessica Taylor ....
 and Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham

Victoria Caroline Beckham is an England singer, dancer, fashion designer, author, businesswoman, actress and Model .During her rise to fame with 1990s pop group the Spice Girls, she was dubbed Posh Spice, a nickname first coined by a United Kingdom pop music magazine....
. The 4 Hero
4 Hero

4hero are an electronic music band from Dollis Hill, North London, comprising of Dego, Mark 'Marc Mac' Clair, Gus Lawrence, and Ian Bardouille. While the band is often cited as 4 Hero , 4hero is the style of the name used on the band's albums and website....
 subgenre adopted soul
Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the African American culture through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, Secularity testifying." The genre occasion...
 and jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 influences, and some used a full orchestral section to create a more "sophisticated" sound. Later, this led directly to the West London scene known as Broken beat
Broken beat

Broken beat is an electronic music genre which can be characterized by Syncopation typically in Metre , with staggered or punctuated snare beats and/or hand claps....
 or Breakbeat
Breakbeat

Breakbeat is a term used to describe a collection of sub-music genres of electronic music, usually characterized by the use of a non-straightened 4/4 drum pattern ....
.

A new generation of clubs like Miss Moneypenny's, Liverpool
Liverpool

Liverpool [] is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a History of borough status in England and Wales in 1207 and was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1880....
's Cream
Cream (nightclub)

Cream, based at the Nation nightclub in Liverpool, is one of the best-known night clubs in the United Kingdom. Cream began life as a weekly house music night at Nation, and ran in this format for 10 years, from October 1992 to June 2002....
 (as opposed to the original underground night, C.R.E.A.M.) and the Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound

Ministry of Sound , now MSHK Group, is the home of the best known dance music and lifestyle brands, the largest independent record company and the most famous nightclub in the world ....
 were opened to provide a venue for more commercial sounds. Major record companies began to open "superclub
Superclub

Superclub is a term used to refer to a nightclub owned and managed by a dance music record label, such as The Ha?ienda club, which was owned by Factory Records....
s" promoting their own acts. These superclubs entered into sponsorship deals initially with fast food, soft drinks, and clothing companies. Flyers in clubs in Ibiza
Ibiza

Ibiza is an island and town located in the Mediterranean Sea about 80 km off the coast of Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands autonomous community ....
 often sported many corporate logos. A new sub-genre, Chicago Hard House, was developed by DJs such as Bad Boy Bill
Bad Boy Bill

Bad Boy Bill is a Disc jockey from Chicago, Illinois, United States. He plays an assortment of house music.Bad Boy Bill began his DJ career in 1985 during the Chicago House music movement of the mid and late 80's working with Mike "Hitman" Wilson and Julian "Jumpin" Perez of the then WBMX dj mixing team known as the Hot Mix 5....
, DJ Lynnwood
DJ Lynnwood

DJ Lynnwood is a United States based Club and Radio DJ. His career began in the early 80s, when he toured the local club scene east of Los Angeles as a youth....
, DJ Irene
DJ Irene

DJ Irene is an electronic music artist. Irene became a DJ in 1984 while attending college in Los Angeles. Originally identified as a hard House music DJ, she also incorporates some Trance music and progressive house into her later sets....
, Richard "Humpty" Vission and DJ Enrie.

2000s

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
Richard M. Daley

Richard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party and current Mayor of Chicago of Chicago, Illinois....
 proclaimed August 10, 2005 to be "House Unity Day" in Chicago, in celebration of the "21st anniversary of house music" (actually the 21st anniversary of the founding of Trax Records). The proclamation recognized Chicago as "the original home of house music" and that the music's original creators "were inspired by the love of their city, with the dream that someday their music would spread a message of peace and unity throughout the world". DJs such as Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles

Frankie Knuckles is an United States disc jockey, record producer and remix musician. He played an important role in developing house music as a Chicago DJ in the 1980s and he helped to popularize house music in the 1990s, with his work as a producer and remixer....
, Marshall Jefferson
Marshall Jefferson

Marshall Jefferson is widely regarded as one of the leading innovators of the genre of music now known as house music, in particular the subgenre of Chicago house....
, Paul Johnson and Mickey Oliver celebrated the proclamation at the Summer Dance Series, an event organized by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs. Currently, MoreHouse Records and producers Groove Junkies
Groove junkies

Groove Junkies are American house music record producers and disc jockey based out of Los Angeles, CA. "Groove Junkies" consist of Evan Landes and Parrish Wintersmith and produce House music,Soul music and are popular in Europe, Australia, UK, China, Japan, and USA....
 are the leaders of "Funky House" music and are carrying the tradition.

In the mid-2000s, fusion genres such as electro house
Electro house

This article is about Electro house music. For original Electro music, see Electro music.Electro house is a subgenre of house music that rose to become one of the most prominent genres of electronic dance music today....
, dark house
Dark house

Dark house is the name used by some people to describe certain progressive house records that are characterised by deep penetrating lowtempo beats and the use of words and sounds that create a foreboding atmosphere....
, and tech house
Tech house

Tech house, like progressive house, represents a fusion of house music and techno. However, whereas progressive house tends to incorporate atmospheric, ethereal, almost ambient music sounds and is often mixed to varying degrees with trance music and progressive trance, tech-house tends to have more in common with soulful deep house, tradition...
 emerged. This fusion is apparent in the crossover of musical styles by artists such as Dennis Ferrer
Dennis Ferrer

Dennis Ferrer is a New York-based DJ, producer and remixer. He currently resides in Union City, New Jersey. A veteran of soulful house music production, Dennis has worked with the likes of Masters at Work , Little Louie Vega, the Martinez Brothers and many other notable New York producers and DJs....
 and Booka Shade
Booka Shade

Booka Shade is a Germany electro house duo. It is made up of Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier, described as veterans of the Frankfurt electronic music scene....
, with the former's production style having evolved from the New York soulful house scene and the latter's roots in techno
Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988....
. Another genre known as Fidget House started making some noise by Djs and Producers, Switch and Jesse Rose, who considered it an "accident". DJs today can be heard blending all sub-genres of house as many of the best musical elements are shared across these sub-genres.

As of the late 2000s, house music remains popular in clubs throughout the world.

Further reading

  • Sean Bidder 2002 Pump Up the Volume: A History of House Music, MacMillan. ISBN 0-7522-1986-3
  • Sean Bidder 1999 The Rough Guide to House Music, Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-432-5
  • Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton 2000 Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey, Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3688-5 and in UK: 1999 / 2006, Headline.
  • Kai Fikentscher 2000 "'You Better Work!' Underground Dance Music in New York City". Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6404-4
  • Hewitt, Michael. Music Theory for Computer Musicians. 1st Ed. U.S. Cengage Learning, 2008. ISBN 13-978-1-59863-503-4]
  • Chris Kempster (Ed) 1996 History of House, Castle Communications. ISBN 1-86074-134-7 (A reprinting of magazine articles from the 1980s and 90s)
  • Simon Reynolds 1998 Energy Flash: a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture, (UK title, Pan Macmillan. ISBN 0-330-35056-0), also released in U.S. as Generation Ecstasy : Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture (U.S. title, Routledge, 1999, ISBN 0-415-92373-5)
  • Hillegonda C. Rietveld 1998 This is our House: House Music, Cultural Spaces and Technologies, Ashgate. ISBN 1-85742-242-2
  • Silcott Mireille. Rave America: New School Dancescapes (1999), ECW Press. ISBN 1550223836


See also


  • Styles of house music
    Styles of house music

    House music has many sub-genres:*Acid house: A Chicago derivative built around the Roland TB-303 bassline machine. Hard, uncompromising, tweaking samples produce a hypnotic effect....
  • List of house music artists
    List of house music artists

    This is a list of artists who have worked in house music, a genre of electronic dance music. This includes artists who have either been very important to the genre or have had a considerable amount of exposure ....
  • House dance
    House dance

    House is a style of street dance danced to house music. It is improvisational in nature and emphasizes fast and complex Footwork combined with fluid movements in the torso....
  • List of electronic music genres
    List of electronic music genres

    This is a list of electronic music genres, sub-genres and styles, though for the latter, not all possess their own article .*Ambient music**Ambient house...


External links