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Frankie Knuckles

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Frankie Knuckles was born in 1955 in the Bronx in New York as Francis Warren Nicholls Jr. As a teenager he went to discos with his friend Larry Levan, and later they DJed together. In 1977 he moved to Chicago to become resident DJ at The Warehouse, a club with mainly Black and gay patrons. House music is named after that club, and Knuckles was often called the godfather of house music.

Music and breakthrough

At The Warehouse Knuckles played disco, soul and European synth-pop. In the late 1970s he began to edit records himself: he lengthened intros and breaks and put extra beats under them. He also played tapes on a reel-to-reel recorder, and in 1983 he bought his first drum machine. At the end of 1982 he started his own club, The Power Plant. Your Love was written by the Chicago singer Jamie Principle, whose own version appeared in 1986. In 1987 the label Trax released a version credited to Knuckles. Both versions open with a synthesizer arpeggio, followed by a bass line.

Influence

In the 1990s Knuckles became a much-in-demand remixer. The Whistle Song (1991) from his debut album Beyond the Mix became his first number 1 on the American dance chart. In 1998 he won the Grammy for remixer of the year. Since 2004 a stretch of Jefferson Street in Chicago has been called Frankie Knuckles Way. He died in 2014 in Chicago. The British group The Source mixed Your Love in 1991 with the vocals of Candi Staton into the hit You Got the Love.

Listening

Listening tip. Your Love (1987): notice the synthesizer arpeggio with which the track opens and which keeps running, even when the bass line and Jamie Principle's vocals come in. That repetition keeps the dance floor moving.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Mentioned in other articles

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (en): Frankie Knuckles
  2. splice.com
  3. Wikipedia (en): Your Love (Frankie Knuckles song
Categories: ArtistsHouse