RIP Frankie Knuckles.
March 31, 2014 9:14 PM Subscribe
Ever wonder where the "House" in "House Music" comes from? In 1977, a young DJ named Frankie Knuckles started DJing at a club called the Warehouse in Chicago, bringing the new style of continuously mixing dance records with him, and perfecting it, just as cheap electronic drum machines enabled anyone to put together a dance record in their basement. All the people whose minds were being blown by the new music went to the local record stores to demand "Warehouse Music", and the world of music was changed forever.
Frankie Knuckles died today, leaving a legacy that started in the '70s and carries on to the Grammy-winning success of acts like Daft Punk today.
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posted by oceanjesse at 9:17 PM on March 31, 2014
posted by oceanjesse at 9:17 PM on March 31, 2014
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He just had an old mix featured on the XLR8R podcast, in case folks are interested in hearing more of the sound.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:17 PM on March 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
He just had an old mix featured on the XLR8R podcast, in case folks are interested in hearing more of the sound.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:17 PM on March 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
Wait, what? Knuckles died today? Wow.
An era has ended. Although the torch has been passed many times (and many times again), news of this has me feeling oddly empty tonight.
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posted by hippybear at 9:19 PM on March 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
An era has ended. Although the torch has been passed many times (and many times again), news of this has me feeling oddly empty tonight.
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posted by hippybear at 9:19 PM on March 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:22 PM on March 31, 2014
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:22 PM on March 31, 2014
Frankie Knuckles didn't actually produce Your Love, he released it on his record label.
posted by empath at 9:25 PM on March 31, 2014
posted by empath at 9:25 PM on March 31, 2014
. . . .
posted by spiderskull at 9:26 PM on March 31, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by spiderskull at 9:26 PM on March 31, 2014 [6 favorites]
He was in the documentary Continental, about the Continental Baths in New York, where he worked as a DJ.
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posted by rtha at 9:27 PM on March 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by rtha at 9:27 PM on March 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
There will be some drunken booty shaking this weekend in remembrance
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posted by Arbac at 9:31 PM on March 31, 2014
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posted by Arbac at 9:31 PM on March 31, 2014
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posted by last night a dj saved my life at 9:46 PM on March 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by last night a dj saved my life at 9:46 PM on March 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:46 PM on March 31, 2014
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:46 PM on March 31, 2014
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posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:56 PM on March 31, 2014
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:56 PM on March 31, 2014
I just started reading the chapter on House music in this book tonight which talks at great length about Frankie, what a weird coincidence. He'll be missed for sure.
posted by inthe80s at 9:58 PM on March 31, 2014
posted by inthe80s at 9:58 PM on March 31, 2014
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I expect a few MeFiSwap mixes will pay tribute...
posted by mykescipark at 10:05 PM on March 31, 2014
I expect a few MeFiSwap mixes will pay tribute...
posted by mykescipark at 10:05 PM on March 31, 2014
I've been privileged enough to see Frankie DJ at Smart Bar a number of times over the last 5 or 6 years. I also got to be in the small crowd for a Q&A session that was basically just him and Joe Shanahan chatting like old friends. I chickened out of saying hello to him, but he was funny and warm.
I was a little concerned when he was too sick to play the birthday party thrown for him at Smart Bar this year. He was in the green room though, and the sold out club sang happy birthday to him through the floor. That was a seriously emotional night, and I'd hoped he'd been doing better since it seemed like he was still touring. Then this.
When I first heard, I assumed it was a sick April Fool's joke started a few hours too early. But Paul Johnson and some other old house dudes were posting about it on social media, and then finally 5 Magazine's confirmation (their site's a bit slammed right now, and PJ and others wouldn't joke about this)... I still kind of have trouble believing it.
Some of the most important and memorable nights out I've ever had were to see him DJ, never mind the huge shadow he casts over dance music. There's a particular kind of vibe when you put him in that little 400 person room in Chicago that I suspect you can't quite have anywhere else. I'm sad I won't have another one of those special nights with him on the decks that I can't stop thinking about for weeks after.
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posted by sparkletone at 10:20 PM on March 31, 2014 [12 favorites]
I was a little concerned when he was too sick to play the birthday party thrown for him at Smart Bar this year. He was in the green room though, and the sold out club sang happy birthday to him through the floor. That was a seriously emotional night, and I'd hoped he'd been doing better since it seemed like he was still touring. Then this.
When I first heard, I assumed it was a sick April Fool's joke started a few hours too early. But Paul Johnson and some other old house dudes were posting about it on social media, and then finally 5 Magazine's confirmation (their site's a bit slammed right now, and PJ and others wouldn't joke about this)... I still kind of have trouble believing it.
Some of the most important and memorable nights out I've ever had were to see him DJ, never mind the huge shadow he casts over dance music. There's a particular kind of vibe when you put him in that little 400 person room in Chicago that I suspect you can't quite have anywhere else. I'm sad I won't have another one of those special nights with him on the decks that I can't stop thinking about for weeks after.
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posted by sparkletone at 10:20 PM on March 31, 2014 [12 favorites]
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posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 10:21 PM on March 31, 2014
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 10:21 PM on March 31, 2014
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posted by drinkyclown at 10:22 PM on March 31, 2014
posted by drinkyclown at 10:22 PM on March 31, 2014
Frankie's lecture at RBMA from 2011.
posted by sparkletone at 10:40 PM on March 31, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by sparkletone at 10:40 PM on March 31, 2014 [5 favorites]
I discovered house in 1990 at 14 when I directed and produced (and wrote and filmed) a piece for a high school channel on CTV in Christchurch on the burgeoning dance music scene there.
Sonia Dutton, beloved daughter of Denis presented it.
So many positive memories since that day.
Love and light.
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posted by Samuel Farrow at 10:52 PM on March 31, 2014
Sonia Dutton, beloved daughter of Denis presented it.
So many positive memories since that day.
Love and light.
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posted by Samuel Farrow at 10:52 PM on March 31, 2014
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posted by Mister Bijou at 12:40 AM on April 1, 2014
posted by Mister Bijou at 12:40 AM on April 1, 2014
This feels closer to me than any other musician's passing.
Thanks, Frankie.
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posted by flaterik at 1:20 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Thanks, Frankie.
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posted by flaterik at 1:20 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
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I listened to a house mix for the first time in a while because Jon Oliver put together a mix of tracks from 2013, good to hear there is still quality house music being made!
posted by asok at 1:30 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I listened to a house mix for the first time in a while because Jon Oliver put together a mix of tracks from 2013, good to hear there is still quality house music being made!
posted by asok at 1:30 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Finally escaping The Pressure. RIP Frankie.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:47 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:47 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh no! I've been on SoundCloud getting my hip house back.
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posted by stormpooper at 4:40 AM on April 1, 2014
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posted by stormpooper at 4:40 AM on April 1, 2014
One of my favorite house tracks is Frankie Knuckles' Whistle Song. Just such a pleasant groove.
posted by Kattullus at 4:55 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Kattullus at 4:55 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
................
posted by sourwookie at 5:08 AM on April 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by sourwookie at 5:08 AM on April 1, 2014 [5 favorites]
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I have to admit I don't know if I've ever really heard his music though I knew the name and slight history from Frankie Bones talking about "House... meaning 'Warehouse'" in that thick NY accent of his in the Documentary Modulations. IIRC, the House producer/DJ they were showing in that segment for house music was Larry Heard. I'll be checking out this thread for the tunes later.
posted by symbioid at 6:41 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I have to admit I don't know if I've ever really heard his music though I knew the name and slight history from Frankie Bones talking about "House... meaning 'Warehouse'" in that thick NY accent of his in the Documentary Modulations. IIRC, the House producer/DJ they were showing in that segment for house music was Larry Heard. I'll be checking out this thread for the tunes later.
posted by symbioid at 6:41 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Thanks for the tip about that Modulations doc, symbioid. I know what I'll be watching tonight.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:02 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:02 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Chrissy Murderbot on Chicago House. With a mix.
posted by timsteil at 7:05 AM on April 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by timsteil at 7:05 AM on April 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Gridface has MP3 conversions and playlists of Knuckles mixes from Deephousepage.
Rolling Stone's obituary.
posted by mkb at 7:18 AM on April 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Rolling Stone's obituary.
posted by mkb at 7:18 AM on April 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by chunking express at 7:20 AM on April 1, 2014
posted by chunking express at 7:20 AM on April 1, 2014
Did Rolling Stones just say "Electronic Dance Music" culture? At least they didn't say EDM. Ugh.
posted by symbioid at 7:31 AM on April 1, 2014
posted by symbioid at 7:31 AM on April 1, 2014
I realized that I don't really think about Frankie Knuckles that often but if I ranked people based on number of mintutes of joy they were directly or indirectly responsible for, he'd have to be pretty high on the list.
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posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:33 AM on April 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:33 AM on April 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take ..."
posted by octobersurprise at 7:48 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by octobersurprise at 7:48 AM on April 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Thanks, Frankie, for the beautiful gift of house music that changed my life from the mid-90s. I'm bumping your Boiler Room set from last year right now. I can't even articulate the phenomenal gift your music has been. The beats are less funky today than they've ever been. Your impact was cataclysmic. Rest in peace, sir. And thank you.
posted by phoebus at 1:36 PM on April 1, 2014
posted by phoebus at 1:36 PM on April 1, 2014
I was so sad to have to break this news to my former raver DJ boyfriend. Our house is currently being shaken by those infectious grooves.
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posted by mynameisluka at 2:42 PM on April 1, 2014
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posted by mynameisluka at 2:42 PM on April 1, 2014
A one-hour Boiler Room set from Frankie, from May 2013.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 2:51 PM on April 1, 2014
posted by escape from the potato planet at 2:51 PM on April 1, 2014
You know, sometimes the best things that happen to you are totally out of your control.
I don't know what I did to deserve to find and grow up in the 90's midwest rave scene. I'm not even sure how many people outside that scene know who Frankie Knuckles is. And if anything bad happens to Paul Johnson, I will probably fall apart. That guy owned my ass with his 2am set in a roller rink on the South Side of Chicago over 15 years ago, and it's like it happened last night.
I'm so grateful to have been part of that. What a heart-felt loss.
posted by phaedon at 3:07 PM on April 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
I don't know what I did to deserve to find and grow up in the 90's midwest rave scene. I'm not even sure how many people outside that scene know who Frankie Knuckles is. And if anything bad happens to Paul Johnson, I will probably fall apart. That guy owned my ass with his 2am set in a roller rink on the South Side of Chicago over 15 years ago, and it's like it happened last night.
I'm so grateful to have been part of that. What a heart-felt loss.
posted by phaedon at 3:07 PM on April 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
symbioid, if it makes you feel any better, I used both of those as blanket terms for the sort of music one dances until dawn to [because.. it's not techno. that's a thing. not all dance music is boots and cats. what else am I going to call it? electronica?] before EDM was a mystifyingly named genre of terribleness.
Now i guess I just don't talk about it.
posted by flaterik at 3:31 PM on April 1, 2014
Now i guess I just don't talk about it.
posted by flaterik at 3:31 PM on April 1, 2014
My friend wrote something really sweet about that birthday party I mentioned upthread.
posted by sparkletone at 5:17 PM on April 1, 2014
posted by sparkletone at 5:17 PM on April 1, 2014
I don't know what I did to deserve to find and grow up in the 90's midwest rave scene. I'm not even sure how many people outside that scene know who Frankie Knuckles is. And if anything bad happens to Paul Johnson, I will probably fall apart.
We definitely knew about those guys in dc in the late 90s.
posted by empath at 5:28 PM on April 1, 2014
We definitely knew about those guys in dc in the late 90s.
posted by empath at 5:28 PM on April 1, 2014
Co-signed on all this and Paul Johnson too. I literally said last night, "does every house legend have to die before 60? WTF!!!" Too many, y'all.
fuck the last 12 months-ish.
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posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:39 PM on April 1, 2014
fuck the last 12 months-ish.
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posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:39 PM on April 1, 2014
I'm so grateful to have been part of that. What a heart-felt loss.
Agreed. Medusa's on Sheffield was my home away from home from '85-'87, when Knuckles frequently guested in the DJ booth. Here, his sets were very much a celebration of three emerging styles: his frontline work on the deep house scene (often debuting early, in-progress mixes of now-classic tracks), underground British imports (Yello, Data, Liaisons Dangereuses, DAF, etc), and early Chicago industrial--his sets blended it all in an euphoric celebration of newness, and I'm honored to have witnessed his work firsthand. The Whistle Song is on repeat tonight.
posted by prinado at 10:54 PM on April 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Agreed. Medusa's on Sheffield was my home away from home from '85-'87, when Knuckles frequently guested in the DJ booth. Here, his sets were very much a celebration of three emerging styles: his frontline work on the deep house scene (often debuting early, in-progress mixes of now-classic tracks), underground British imports (Yello, Data, Liaisons Dangereuses, DAF, etc), and early Chicago industrial--his sets blended it all in an euphoric celebration of newness, and I'm honored to have witnessed his work firsthand. The Whistle Song is on repeat tonight.
posted by prinado at 10:54 PM on April 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
My life wouldn't have been the same without his music and what his influence created. Gone too soon.
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posted by batmonkey at 2:36 AM on April 2, 2014
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posted by batmonkey at 2:36 AM on April 2, 2014
Just saw this on Twitter: Dimitri from Paris has an hour-long tribute up on Soundcloud
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:29 AM on April 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:29 AM on April 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
"...Cause I saw you eating pig knuckles, with Frankie Knuckles...In a bar called Chuckles wearing name plate belt buckles..."
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posted by NedKoppel at 1:36 PM on April 2, 2014
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posted by NedKoppel at 1:36 PM on April 2, 2014
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posted by inpHilltr8r at 10:25 PM on April 2, 2014
posted by inpHilltr8r at 10:25 PM on April 2, 2014
From Jacob Arnold at Resident Advisor: Frankie Knuckles: Waiting On My Angel
posted by Going To Maine at 3:47 PM on April 7, 2014
posted by Going To Maine at 3:47 PM on April 7, 2014
Barack & Michelle Obama's letter offering condolences.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:50 AM on April 22, 2014
posted by Going To Maine at 8:50 AM on April 22, 2014
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posted by brokeaspoke at 9:16 PM on March 31, 2014