The Real Story – WBMX and House Music

Below you’ll find the interview that took place in June of 2006 to forever lay to rest the rumors and to set the record straight about WBMX, House music, the history of the DJ in the clubs and the evolution of it all. The Real Story comes to you in FIVE parts, they’re all below, as you scroll down you’ll find each segment. You’ll also find more information, more interviews from those instrumental in it all. The first DJ’s to really bring the ‘club scene’ and ‘house music’ to the masses were the Hot Mix 5, many of them had been DJ’s for years before WBMX became what it was. Individually, they each have an honorary street named after them in Chicago. Collectively, the Hot Mix 5′s honorary street is in the heart of downtown at Columbus and Balbo.

What is house? Where did it start? Who started it? How did the DJ get to universal appeal status? The truth is this; ‘House’ as a term was used to describe the popular music played at the Warehouse in Chicago, it should be noted that the Warehouse was not the only place that played this music, DISCOS played it from L.A. to NYC, Chicago, Miami and anywhere there was a discotheque. However, HOW it was played was different from one point to the other. The music was discussed in a small community of people at that time not the entire music world; it took the exposure that the mixes on WBMX gave it to accomplish that – otherwise it would not have become the popular music style it did and that is NOT debateable. It was the invention of the 12 inch disco single, the ‘dub’ version and the instrumental that set DJs in action who were talented and creative enough to ‘mix’ the record and ‘remix’ it, give it a flare while working ‘live’ in the DJ booth of the club. The next progression was for the DJ to ‘produce’ or ‘remix’ the song in the studio for the label/artist which would then be released for the public to buy as well as the other DJs to play (via record pool ‘promos’, Billboard Reporters and more).

When someone asked you to play ‘some house’ in the ’80′s it meant the ‘SOUND’ that was coming out of Chicago on DJ International, Hot Mix 5, Traxx, IHR and other labels whose records were all being played and promoted in the clubs and selling massively (which led to licensing deals with overseas labels and the ‘spread’ of the Chicago house sound) because one million people a week were listening to it on WBMX’s mix shows. That is what took the music style out of small clubs and into the mainstream where it was able to flourish and make stars of Marshall Jefferson, Chip E, Ralphi Rosario, Darryl Pandy, Steve Silk Hurley and more.

After a while NYC came on board after the early-mid ’80′s onslaught of the Arthur Baker sound. London came on board and they all added their little flare to it all but in the beginning, it was Chicago where it was made, Chicago where it was played and Chicago where it was given the life to breathe on the FM where it could exposed and accepted by millions of people.

The Warehouse was not the only place on Earth playing these songs and Frankie Knuckles was not the only DJ playing these songs. There were many other places, many other incredibly talented DJ’s who played the music, mixed it, played the styles, [got fired for playing it by ignorant club owners] and more. As years have gone by, people romanticize about what it was, where it was, and who played or did what not having all the facts right because either they weren’t there and have heard stories romanticized improperly by others or just have a little bit of knowledge about it and have assembled what they think to be in their heads.

The fact of the matter is this: Few radio stations played mixes in the U.S.A. In the late 70′s when disco was the music of choice in the clubs, it was DISCO, R&B and FUNK being played in clubs in most major markets (for the most part). As we came into the 80′s, the ‘house sound’ was open to many interpretations based on a 4-4 beat, lush strings and rhythm arrangements ala Philly Intl. (for example) along with the electronic, Italo-disco sound. The Warehouse in Chicago was a popular club for many back in the day [as were hundreds of others]. Back then, many record buyers who couldn’t find the music played in the clubs at the standard retailers (Musicland, Sound Warehouse etc) would go to “DJ shops” that sold the dance music and the “house music” people were looking for.

As electronics allowed more and more people to create music, the logical progression of a DJ was to produce songs. It was in 1983 the ‘Chicago House Sound” started its journey around the world. While it can be argued which track was the first track (Z Factor? Scott Smokin’ Silz?, Jesse Saunders? etc.) what is not argueable is that ‘house music’ was now a style of music being created, no longer just what was being played in a club.

WBMX AM & FM in Chicago was already doing mixes but as the DJ’s in the city starting putting out their own tracks, the mixes began to reflect those tracks more and more; ‘house’ was being aired and played on a regular basis. The record pools were abuzz, college stations began playing it and WBMX was exposing over a million people a week to it all in the mixes from the Hot Mix 5 and other great DJ’s in Chicago. It was this one radio station where mixes were playing this ‘sound’, a sound that wasn’t just played in black clubs, gay clubs, it was played in many kinds of clubs because it was “DANCE MUSIC”. Having a major market radio station playing mixes with what we now call ‘classic house’ enabled the music to crossover into the ‘mainstream’ where it could become accepted by more than just the people in the clubs. If it wasn’t exposed the way it was it would’ve never turned into the massive style of music it is today. Through that exposure, WBMX and the first true ‘superstar DJ’s came to be and single-handedly helped rebuild dance music, its acceptance and its success after disco’s demise as well as being one of the first true ‘alternatives’ to the Pop/Top 40, Rock, the up n’ coming ‘Classic Rock’ explosion and AC (Adult Contemporary) formats on the radio.

How did it happen? Was it the right place at the right time? This is the REAL STORY told from the man who put it together and made it happen. The man who took ‘disco dj’s’ and brought their energy and their ‘alternative’ to the day-day programming of the radio station which influenced radio forever. From the Hot Mix 5′s mixes, the house music used in those mixes, the logic used in programming that music into ‘regular rotation’ on the radio, the DJ’s who mixed it, the move from WBMX to B96 that saw Bad Boy Bill, Frankie Hollywood Rodriguez and others become superstars in the ’90′s and beyond. CLICK HERE FOR THE LOST INTERVIEW WITH BAD BOY BILL!

This is the real story, you’ll learn about the influence of the record pools, the dance music scene and house music being spread by club jocks in Chicago and around the country. The forming of the record labels that brought house music, the invention and legalization of the ‘mix tape market’ and more. It was all like a bolt of lightning that hit in the ’80′s and built the foundations for how things are done today.

You can Google any of their names and a million sites will come up with their names and their contributions to so many avenues in the entertainment business. This interview is the truth, its the good, the bad and the ugly. Its where alliances were formed in the business that still exist to this day and its the history of the DJ, from just a person playing songs in a club to what a DJ is today. The story of those who laid the foundations for Armin, Tiesto, David Guetta and so many more today.