What is House?
As the age of the DJ/producer arose in early 1980s, post-disco dance music entered one of its most fertile periods, bringing the likes of Chicago/New York house innovators Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, and Ron Hardy. Known as the creative force behind the foundation of house music, these three built the style with the hypnotic "four-on-the-floor" drum sound, mid-tempo beats, and organic instrumentation found on early house labels West End Records, Salsoul, and Casa Blanca. It was the underground clubs the Warehouse and Paradise Garage in New York and Chicago that simultaneously broke the barriers of race and sexual preference, also acting as breeding grounds for the music that eventually came to be known as house and garage. Meanwhile, during the rise of acid house in Europe (a.k.a. the Summer of Love), artists such as 808 State ("Pacific State," 1989) and A Guy Called Gerald ("Voodoo Ray") shaped the direction of British house music, which launched the careers of Carl Cox, Fabio, and Grooverider. Back where it started in the U.S., Chicago deep-house artists such as Mark Farina, Derrick Carter, and DJ Sneak all played a major role in dance culture, while New York's undisputed house king Larry Levan championed the more soul- and gospel-influenced side of disco's remnants, which would become known as garage in the early '80s.
Notable Artists: Frankie Knuckles, 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald, Mark Farina
