Stacey Hale Courtesy of Stacey Hale Techno and house are widely regarded as distinct musical genres these days, but in the beginning, there was more overlap than anyone might realize. While Detroit artists eventually developed their own style, the Belleville Three (Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson) have always acknowledged Chicago’s influence and the fruitful musical dialogue between [...]
Because it didn't go from 'I Feel Love' to 'Strings Of Life' - the early 80s saw the birth of what we now know to call ‘post-disco’ LOUIS ANDERSON-RICH When Frankie Knuckles famously described house music as disco's revenge, it set in motion an origin story tantamount to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. House and [...]
Yvonne Turner back in the day. Graphic by Drew Litowitz. Nineteen eighty-four is often remembered as one of pop’s most seismic years, thanks in large part to Prince and Madonna. But it was also the year that gave us house music. Jesse Saunders’ “On and On” is widely considered to be the first house [...]
https://www.facebook.com/boilerroom.tv/videos/223659578458779/?t=0 Forty years ago, on July 12, 1979, what was supposed to be a wacky promotional stunt by shock-rock DJ Steve Dahl to sell tickets to a double-header White Sox baseball game at Chicago’s Comiskey Park turned ugly — when piles of vinyl records, many by artists of color, were destroyed as thousands of anti-disco [...]
Disco was never designed to grow old gracefully – instead, it has endured with brilliant defiance. More than four decades have now passed since its heady sound and style became a global phenomenon; its life so far has involved joy and pain, inspirational anthems and attempted murder (at 1979’s 'disco demolition night' stunt in Chicago’s [...]
At the board, 1981. Photo courtesy of Gino Soccio. About a month before thousands chanted “Disco sucks!” at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, Gino Soccio was ensconced in his Montreal studio, sipping coffee with cognac and laying down tracks for his second LP. Leaning against a twenty-four-channel mixing desk, Soccio spoke like a disco evangelist during [...]