The Warehouse

The Warehouse nightclub in Chicago was established at 206 South Jefferson Street in Chicago, and operated from 1977 to 1982. It's considered the birthplace of house music.

The Founding Of The Warehouse

Robert Williams founded The Warehouse after moving from New York City to care for his sick mother. He found Chicago's existing nightlife underwhelming compared to the underground scene in New York (specifically venues like The Loft and The Gallery). On the advice of David Mancuso, Williams sought to bring New York's underground disco culture to the Midwest.

A Safe Space For Marginalised Communities

Robert Williams wanted The Warehouse to be a a sanctuary for Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ communities who were often excluded from mainstream venues due to systemic racism and homophobia. As a private, member-only club, it provided a space for radical self-expression, spiritual connection to music, and freedom from judgment.

After Hours Culture

Robert Williams wanted to replicate New York's after hours club scene. To bypass Chicago's 3 AM curfew laws, Williams avoided getting a license to sell alcohol, serving only water and juice instead. This allowed the club to run from midnight on Saturday until noon on Sunday.

Audiophile Sound Quality

The New York scene that Robert Williams was used to was based on audiophile sound quality, and he wanted to bring this to his new club in Chicago. Williams hired Richard Long (the engineer for the Paradise Garage) to install a state of the art sound system in the three-story factory building.

The Music At The Warehouse

The Warehouse is synonymous with Frankie Knuckles. Robert Williams recruited Frankie Knuckles from New York to recreate the atmosphere of a New York after-hours club.

How Did Frankie Knuckles Sound In 1977?

New York disco was still quite new in 1977, and the first 12" EPs with extended mixes had only just been released.

There are no surviving mixes from Frankie Knuckles in the mid 1970s (when The Warehouse opened), and it's very difficult to find early Frankie Knuckles mixes. Often mixes are labelled as early Warehouse mixes but feature tracks that came out years later. I've selected a couple of mixes that I think are plausible as early Frankie Knuckles mixes.

(Hopefully) Frankie Knuckles Circa 1979

The YouTube title says 1977, but this mix is not 1977. I believe it's a mix credited as 1979 from Manny Cuevas, but it seems to have had some clean up applied (compared to the plain recording). You can hear some the era defining sound of the original Warehouse in this mix, and it's one of the earliest mixes available from Frankie Knuckles.

The surprising thing to me about this mix is how fast it is at times, fast enough to be Northern Soul even. Some people have argued this is a later mix with a faster pace to compete with Ron Hardy, but it doesn't have any later tracks in. I would have guessed 1980.

(Hopefully) Frankie Knuckles Circa 1981

From the track selection, this mix does seem to be from 1981. It's on Gridface with a date of 28 August 1981. It features some classic disco along with post disco and Italo.

I'm sceptical of any mixes claimed to be old Frankie Knuckles mixes, but I've tried to verify these two against other sources online.

The Musical Influence Of Frankie Knuckles

By 1981, house music existed as a DJ scene but not yet as a genre. The sound of house music in 1981 was still very much based on the New York club scene that Frankie Knuckles came from, but a younger generation of DJs had joined the scene. The "juvenile" scene that Robert Williams had condescended to was going further than just imitating Frankie Knuckles.

Frankie Knuckles brought his own sound to Chicago, which was "necessary but not sufficient" to create house music. Chicago had a scene and an infrastructure to complement the scene. When Chicago producers started making their own music in 1983, Salsoul was old, new influences from Europe had competed for years, and the house music scene in Chicago was pretty big. When those things were all combined with the originality of the young producers, Chicago created something unique, and that's the house music that we have today.

Current Status Of The Warehouse

The Warehouse was renamed to the Music Box in 1982, after Frankie Knuckles left to open The Power Plant. The Music Box moved to 1632 South Indiana Avenue in 1983.

The building at 206 South Jefferson Street was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2023 to honor the communities that shaped electronic house music. It currently serves as commercial office space.