Frankie Knuckles

RIP Frankie Knuckles, 1955 - 2014

Frankie Knuckles is "The Godfather Of House" from his time at The Warehouse club in Chicago. He became the resident DJ of The Warehouse when it opened in 1977. Frankie Knuckles brought the New York disco sound to Chicago, and this sound fused with Chicago's DJ scene to produce house music in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Warehouse Nightclub

Robert Williams opened The Warehouse nightclub to cater for marginalised communities in Chicago, and to bring New York's after hours scene to Chicago clubbing. Frankie Knuckles left The Warehouse in 1982 to open his own club in Chicago called The Power Plant.

Following the mainstream peak of disco and the subsequent violent backlash against disco, exemplified by "Disco Demolition Night" which targeted Black and gay communities who created the genre, underground dance music found refuge in safe spaces like The Warehouse. The Warehouse in Chicago was intended as a sanctuary for gay Black people to find community and dance without prejudice.

Early Life

Frankie Knuckles was born in the Bronx in New York City on 18 January 1955). He grew up in New York and was out on the New York club scene as a young teenager.

Meeting Larry Levan

Frankie Knuckles met Larry Levan at a Harlem drag ball through a drag queen named Gerald. Frankie Knuckles was 14 and Larry Levan was 15. They became best friends, went clubbing together and both enrolled at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. They went to David Mancuso's "The Loft" and worked as decorators at Nicky Siano's "The Gallery". These parties originated the disco mixing techniques of slip queueing and beatmatching.

Larry Levan began deejaying at the Continental Baths in the early 1970s and brought Frankie Knuckles in to help cover the venue opening times. Larry Levan left the Continental Baths in 1974, and Frankie Knuckles stayed there as the resident DJ until it closed in 1976.

Meeting Robert Williams

Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles were caught stealing donuts, and this resulted in Robert Williams being their juvenile probation officer. At this time, Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan would have been about 16 or 17. Robert Williams was only 21, and working as a graduate law student at the Department of Probations. Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles later bumped into Robert Williams at a club called Tamberlane, and they became friends.

When Robert Williams opened The Warehouse in Chicago, he offered the residency at The Warehouse to Larry Levan, but he declined to stay in New York and open the Paradise Garage. Robert Williams then offered the residency to Frankie Knuckles who accepted.

Residency At The Warehouse

Frankie Knuckles is widely celebrated as the Godfather of House for his legendary sets at The Warehouse in Chicago. Frankie Knuckles was the resident DJ at The Warehouse for most of the time that it was open. He was the resident there from 1977 to 1982.

By 1977, Robert Williams had made enough money that he could afford to open a club. He took out a lease on The Warehouse and converted it into a club with an audiophile quality sound system. Frankie Knuckles agreed to become the resident DJ at The Warehouse. When The Warehouse opened, it gained enough of a following to support itself financially. The Warehouse was created as a safe space for black gay men who were often excluded from other venues. In the early years it was intimate and exclusive.

Frankie Knuckles played marathon sets from midnight to midday. The effect of a club being open this long is that by the end of the event, you know the people dancing around you and this creates a sense of community within dancers. It's a different experience to shorter events where the attendees remain strangers. The DJ style of the long sets in those days was very different to the two hour DJ sets of today.

Frankie Knuckles liked to make extended remixes using tape editing, for his own exclusive use in his DJ sets. This was a technique that was pioneered by Tom Moulton, who was a bridge between Philly disco and the New York disco scene. The advent of the 12" single format also allowed labels to release DJ tools on the B-side of records. This began as a DJ technique of mixing a record with itself to make a new version as a live mix. Labels realised that having multiple versions would allow the DJs greater freedom to do this. The concept of the DJ tool was central to later Chicago innovations by producers.

This is one of the earliest Frankie Knuckles DJ sets that's available, but it's not possible to compare a short DJ set to the experience of a ten hour event. This mix is labelled on YouTube as 1977, but that date is not correct. It's originally from Manny'z Tapez, where it's labelled as 1979.

During the time it was open, The Warehouse went from 500 to 2000 patrons, and eventually it was the main club in Chicago. The Warehouse ended at its peak just after Frankie Knuckles left in 1982. It was renamed to the Music Box, which was briefly at the same venue, and then moved to a new location where it made its own legendary reputation with Ron Hardy.

Leaving The Warehouse

Frankie Knuckles left The Warehouse in 1982 to open his own club. The lease on The Warehouse was going to end in 1983, and there may have been uncertainty over the future of The Warehouse. Frankie Knuckles then opened The Power Plant in 1983 at 1015 North Halsted Street. The Power Plant ran from late 1982 until late 1985. The Power Plant closed abruptly in 1985 because the landlord pulled the lease.

After playing on WBMX radio and other venues, Knuckles opened "The Powerhouse" in 1986, which lasted only one year. In 1987, frustrated by the closure of his venues, Knuckles moved back to New York and began touring the UK and focusing on global production.

After Frankie Knuckles had left, The Warehouse was rebranded as the Music Box and it moved to 326 North Michigan Avenue. Frankie Knuckles remained friends with Robert Williams and Ron Hardy, but their rivalry was competitive because they ran clubs targetting a similar audience.

Producing

Frankie Knuckles is best known for his DJ career but he also produced several house music classics. Only The Strong Survive and Let The Music (Use You) both featured vocals by Ricky Dillard.

Only The Strong Survive By Frankie Knuckles

Let The Music (Use You) By The Night Writers

Frankie Knuckles had several collaborations with Jamie Principle, including Waiting On My Angel, It's A Cold World, Bad Boy, Baby Wants To Ride and Your Love. Jamie Principle was unhappy at not being credited on the Trax release of Your Love and their friendship broke down for some time. Their friendship recovered as it became clear the fault was with Trax Records, and they worked on I'll Take You There together many years later.

Your Love By Jamie Principle And Frankie Knuckles

The Whistle Song was the debut major label release by Frankie Knuckles.

The Whistle Song By Frankie Knuckles

The major labels signed several highly talented artists from Chicago in the early 1990s, but then proceeded to handle them very badly. The majors didn't recognise that clubs could compete with radio to produce hits, and they tried to push Chicago house on radio. They should have focussed on getting played in clubs. Frankie Knuckles mostly dropped out of producing after the 1990s. He wasn't the only artist to drop out of producing after being mishandled by a major label.

Remixing

Frankie Knuckles made remixes for his own DJ sets in the 1970s, and this was a major part of his DJ sets at The Warehouse. It was therefore very natural of him to move into making remixes for other people, and not just his own sets. Frankie Knuckles made a lot of remixes and remixed many well known artists, including Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Frankie Knuckles won a Grammy for Remixer Of The Year in 1997.

Where Love Lives (Frankie Knuckles Classic Mix) By Alison Limerick

Million Dollar Bill (Frankie Knuckles Club Mix) By Whitney Houston

Touring The World

Frankie Knuckles spent the later part of his career touring the global DJ circuit and working on remixes via the Director's Cut project, which was a project with long-time collaborator Eric Kupper.