When and where did house music originate?
House music originated in 1977 when the Warehouse club opened on South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Frankie Knuckles played records for a crowd of black gay men at this venue until it closed in 1983.
Questions about House music
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What equipment defined the sound of house music?
A Roland TR-909 drum machine produced the signature four-on-the-floor rhythm that defines house music today. Producers also used cheap consumer-friendly equipment like the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer to generate squelchy sounds that became the hallmark of acid house.
How did house music achieve international success outside the United States?
Farley Jackmaster Funk released Love Can't Turn Around in 1986 which peaked at number ten on the UK singles chart. This marked the first major success of house music outside the United States before Steve Silk Hurley's Jack Your Body reached number one in Britain by September 1987.
Why was the Warehouse club significant to the development of house music?
Frankie Knuckles once said that the Warehouse club was like church for people who have fallen from grace. The space provided a sanctuary where social hierarchies dissolved and allowed black and gay populations to dance together in positive environments during the 1980s.
When was the term house music first publicly used?
By early 1986 a sign reading we play house music appeared in the window of a bar on Chicago's South Side marking the first public use of the term. Leonard Remix Rroy claimed he placed the sign because the music reminded him of his mother's soul and disco records kept at home.
What is the relationship between house music and the Belleville Three?
In Detroit Juan Atkins Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson formed the Belleville Three to create a signature electronic dance sound. They fused eclectic futuristic sounds influenced by Chicago house but established techno instead while Inner City released Big Fun in 1988 as a vocal house track produced by Kevin Saunderson.