Friday, April 4, 2014

Frankie Knuckles at Power House Club, 1986 Opening Night



So much has been said elsewhere this week; for me, this video says it all.

As a B-boy back in the '80's, I knew the resistance many felt to this music (oftentimes a second hand received opinion from the 'real music' brigade, the remnants of the 'anti-disco' years, and the covert homophobia of Hip Hop) as it began its encroachment into our lives. As a kid in school buying those first records that slowly dripped in from Chicago, those first tracks that were licensed to be sold in Europe, I along with my friends would study the sleevenotes, the names, read accounts of what was happening in Chicago (and starting to happen to the previously rare groove clubs across the Irish sea), and could only dream of what was to come. So, it's been a loss this week - but let's not forget the legacy. It's great to see so many people who weren't even born when these records were first heard paying their respects in recognition of the contribution Frankie Knuckles made to so many of our lives.

Rest In Peace.

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