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Issue 62 / 2014
GUESTLIST
guestlist.net
FRANKIE KNUCKLES
WILL NEVER DIE
I
t is still unknown under which circum-
stances Frankie Knuckles, one of the
most legendary Djs since the House Genre
was invented (by him), has left us brooding
over his myth. First hypothesis lead to con-
sider the diabetes he had been suffering
for a long time the main cause, but that's
not what we are really interested about at
this point. The man was basically the foun-
dor of house music; there's much more to
talk about other than his death itself. To so
many, he is so much more than that.
Frankie started his first steps towards
iconic status the moment he teamed up
with Nicky Siano and Larry Levan at "Gal-
lery" in New York. They were the trio that
introduced in clubbing the technique of
mixing, even with more than two plates to
fill up the gaps with sound effects. They
were the first to play a song after another
without any interruption - no silence. A
whole, constant flow that marked him as a
true innovator in house.
By 1977 Frankie left his mentors to start his
own mission in Chicago, creating history at
"Warehouse". This new, undiscovered en-
vironment represented a boundless field
for his inspiration and to plant the seeds
of his experiments. After recovering funk,
jazz and souls tracks, he began to edit
them with the synth. Old and new were
merging, under his hands, to create some-
thing that had never been so close to per-
fection. What was already great was now
becoming magnificent. But it still felt like
something different had just been found-
ed. And there was no name to call it. So,
like an artist paints a picture for all to see,
Frankie played his new music for people to
dance to, to love and eventually christen
"House Music". He once said that clubbers
from Warehouse themselves decided on
"House Music" as the name for his work.
The term was later rapidly used by every
club around town to define their genre.
Under his influence, the image of the Dj
turned into the one of a recognized musi-
cian capable of producing art with sound.
Not just a guy playing some music on de-
mand at a party, not a jukebox but a sculp-
tor that uses his tools to shape beauty out
of a block.
He became what every other DJ after him
aspired to be. And that's why for countless
music fans the world over, Frankie Knuck-
les will never die.
'The Godfather of House' passed away on the 31st of March,
but through his music he's an undisputed immortal.
