Chicago House Music: A Brief History of Chicago House

Chicago house is a style of electronic dance music that originated in the city of Chicago in the mid-1980s. It combines disco, European synth music, 1970s soul, and homemade beats created by DJs on drum machines and synthesizers. House music and its many subgenres are characterized by a steady pulse (typically a 4/4 time signature) played around 120 beats per minute (BPM).

Four key characteristics help define Chicago house music.

1. 1. Steady, propulsive beats: House is known for its 4/4 time and four-on-the-floor kick drum pulse. Off-beat hi-hat patterns and handclaps help give the music a funky edge.
2. 2. Disco and soul influences: House emerged from the soul and disco era, and while it does not use the live instruments of those genres, it often embraces their funky, soulful style. This is particularly true of early house music such as the 1986 song, "Can You Feel It?" by Mr. Fingers.
3. 3. Dance tempos: Nearly all house music falls between 120 and 130 beats per minute, which makes it easy to dance to. This includes Chicago house music but also related styles like deep house, acid house, electro house, Latin house, funky house, tropical house, and progressive house.
4. 4. Emphasis on early synthesizers: Chicago house artists frequently compose their music with 1980s synthesizers such as the Roland TR-808, the Roland TR-909, the Korg Poly-61, and the Roland TB-303 Bass Line. You can hear these instruments on the seminal house track "On and On" by Jesse Saunders.

Since emerging in Chicago in the 1980s, house music has become a global phenomenon.

• Early days of Chicago house: House emerged in the city of Chicago in the early 1980s. Its pioneers were a group of Black American DJs who came of age on disco and hip-hop music and were keen on emerging synthesizers from brands like Roland and Korg. Some of the most prominent producers and DJs of early house music include Chicagoans Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles, Mr. Lee, Jesse Saunders, J.M. Silk (aka Jack Master Silk) Chip E., Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Marshall Jefferson, and Larry Heard (aka Mr. Fingers). New Yorkers like Larry Levan also figured prominently in early house music.
• Downtown Chicago roots: Music historians typically trace house music to a nightclub called the Warehouse, located on South Jefferson Street in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. There, DJ Frankie Knuckles—sometimes called the "godfather of house”—created continuous dance grooves by splicing together records with a steady four-on-the-floor pulse and tempos ranging from 120 to 130 beats per minute.
• Origin of the name: House tracks often use the Roland TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines; the term "house music" comes from the fact that these machines allowed DJs to create tracks at home without the use of an expensive studio. Gramaphone Records, located on Chicago's North Side, became (and remains) a retail hub for Chicago house records.
• New technologies and acid house: One of the first offshoots of house music was acid house, which was characterized by heavy use of the Roland TB-303 Bass Line synthesizer. The subgenre is named for the song "Acid Tracks'' by Phuture, a Chicago collective featuring Herbert "Herb J" Jackson, Nathan "DJ Pierre" Jones, and Earl "Spanky" Smith Jr.
• From Chicago to the world at large: House music quickly spread beyond Chicago and Illinois. Before long, its pulsing beats propelled raves in London, Sheffield, and the Spanish island of Ibiza. In Detroit, it inspired a closely related genre called Detroit techno. A collective led by Juan Atkins called the Belleville Three began combining Chicago house with electro-pop from German groups like Kraftwerk. Meanwhile, in New York and New Jersey, a prominent house scene sprung up at the Paradise Garage nightclub in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. Led by DJ Larry Levan, this version of house music became a linchpin of the region's LGBTQ culture, particularly for Black and Latin American men.
• House music today: House music has remained a steady presence at raves and on dance playlists, and it has also cracked the Top 40 at various points. French house groups like Daft Punk and St. Germain have released platinum records featuring their version of house. The genre also appears in contemporary hip-hop and pop.

The signature sound of Chicago house music owes a great deal to four musical artists.

1. 1. Frankie Knuckles (1955–2014): Frankie Knuckles (born Francis Warren Nicholls, Jr.) was a native New Yorker who made his name spinning records at the Warehouse in downtown Chicago. He began as a disco DJ but mixed in soul tracks and European synth pop. In 1983, he started beefing up his tracks with a Roland drum machine. The amalgamated sound helped define Chicago house music.
2. 2. Ron Hardy (1958–1992): A contemporary of Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy was most associated with the Music Box nightclub on South Indiana Avenue in an industrial part of Chicago's South Side. Compared to Knuckles, Hardy's style was more frenetic with more sonic manipulation and greater influence from European disco and new wave music.
3. 3. Mr. Fingers (1960–present): Born Larry Heard, Mr. Fingers helped expand the sonic palette of Chicago house music. His singles "Mystery of Love" (1985) and "Can You Feel It" (1986) are considered seminal records in the deep house subgenre. Deep house is characterized by heavy beats from the Roland TR-909 drum machine and flourishes of 1970s funk.
4. 4. Phuture (founded in 1985): Phuture was a Chicago dance music collective formed by Nathan "DJ Pierre" Jones, Earl "Spanky" Smith Jr., and Herbert "Herb J" Jackson. Their use of the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer helped create the sound of acid house music. This new sound was championed by Chicago house pioneer Ron Hardy, who regularly played Phuture's song "Acid Tracks" at the Warehouse nightclub.

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