Classic House Essentials

Classic House Essentials

The origins of classic house can be traced to Chicago’s Warehouse nightclub in 1977, when Bronx-born DJ Frankie Knuckles took up residency in the city and started mixing disco with European four-on-the-floor beats and minimal electronics. Also known as Chicago house, its stark, hard-hitting style originally appealed to black and gay clubbers who wanted to reclaim underground dance music after disco had gone overground. But the new scene soon infiltrated the mainstream too: Farley "Jackmaster" Funk’s “Love Can’t Turn Around”, with its spasmodic use of samplers, was the first song to crossover to the UK singles charts, and Londoners The Beloved later lifted a long soprano sample from vocal ensemble Gothic Voices to create an ethereal ambience on “The Sun Rising”. And the sound has continued to spread since, with French Touch pioneers Cassius giving the genre a filter-discoed French twist, and Daft Punk electrifying West Coast soft rock.

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