Francis Warren Nicholls, Jr. (January 18, 1955
– March 31, 2014), better known as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing
house music
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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during the 1980s, when the genre was in its infancy. In 1997, Knuckles won the
Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical. Due to his importance in the development of the genre, Knuckles was often called "The Godfather of House Music".
Musical career
1970s–1980s
Born in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, Knuckles and his friend
Larry Levan
Larry Levan (; born Lawrence Philpot, July 20, 1954 – November 8, 1992) was an American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern da ...
began frequenting
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
s as teenagers during the 1970s. While studying
textile design at the
FIT, Knuckles and Levan began working as DJs, playing
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
, disco, and
R&B at two of the most important early discos, The
Continental Baths
The Continental Baths was a gay bathhouse in the basement of The Ansonia Hotel in New York City, which was operated from 1968-1976 by Steve Ostrow. It was advertised as reminiscent of "the glory of ancient Rome".
It opened after Ostorow obser ...
and The Gallery.
In the late 1970s, Knuckles moved from New York City to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, where his old friend, Robert Williams, was opening what became the nightclub called
Warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...
. When the club opened in Chicago in 1977, he was invited to play on a regular basis, which enabled him to hone his skills and style. This style was a mixture of disco classics, unusual indie-label soul, the occasional rock track, European synth-disco and all manner of rarities, which would all eventually codify as "House Music".
The style of music now known as house was named after a shortened version of the name "Warehouse".
Knuckles was so popular that the Warehouse, initially a members-only club for largely black
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
men, began attracting straighter,
whiter crowds, leading its owner, Robert Williams, to eschew membership.
Knuckles continued DJing at the Warehouse until November 1982, when he started his own club in Chicago, The Power Plant.
Around 1983, Knuckles bought his first
drum machine to enhance his mixes from
Derrick May, a young DJ who regularly made the trip from
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
to see Knuckles at the Warehouse and
Ron Hardy at the Music Box, both in Chicago.
The combination of bare, insistent drum machine pulses and an overlay of cult disco classics defined the sound of early
Chicago house
Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s.
History and origins Disco ...
music, a sound which many local producers began to mimic in the studios by 1985.
When his next club the Powerhouse closed in 1987, Knuckles moved to the UK for four months and DJ-ed at DELIRIUM!, a Thursday night party at
Heaven (nightclub)
Heaven is a superclub in Charing Cross, London, England. It has a long association with London's LGBT scene and is home to long-running gay night G-A-Y. The club is known for Paul Oakenfold's acid house events in the 1980s, the underground nig ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Chicago house artists were in high demand and having major success in the UK with this new genre of music. Knuckles also had a stint in New York, where he continued to immerse himself in producing, remixing, and
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, ...
.
1988 saw the release of
Pet Shop Boys
The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...
' third album, ''
Introspective
''Introspective'' is the third studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 10 October 1988 by Parlophone. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Background
The album was unusual in that it reversed the typi ...
'', which featured Knuckles as a co-producer of the song "I Want a Dog."
Work with Jamie Principle
In 1982, Knuckles was introduced to then-unknown
Jamie Principle
Jamie Principle (born 5 July 1960) is an American house music artist and producer born in Chicago, Illinois. _Biography_))).html" ;"title="allmusic ((( Jamie Principle > Biography )))">allmusic ((( Jamie Principle > Biography )))/ref>
Biography
J ...
by mutual friend Jose "Louie" Gomez, who had recorded the original vocal-dub of "
Your Love" to reel-to-reel tape. Louie Gomez met up with Frankie at the local record pool (I.R.S.) and gave him a tape copy of the track. Knuckles played Gomez's unreleased dub mix for an entire year in his sets during which it became a crowd favorite. Knuckles later went into the studio to re-record the track with Principle, and in 1987 helped put ''
Your Love'' and ''Baby Wants to Ride'' out on
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...
after these tunes had been regulars on his
reel-to-reel
Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...
player at the Warehouse for a year.
As house music was developing in Chicago, producer
Chip E.
Irwin Larry Eberhart II, better known by his stage name Chip E. (born 1966), is an American DJ and record producer.
Life and career
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Chip E. attended St. Ignatius College Prep, Kenwood Academy, Columbia College and D ...
took Knuckles under his tutelage and produced Knuckles' first recording, "You Can't Hide from Yourself". Then came more production work, including
Jamie Principle
Jamie Principle (born 5 July 1960) is an American house music artist and producer born in Chicago, Illinois. _Biography_))).html" ;"title="allmusic ((( Jamie Principle > Biography )))">allmusic ((( Jamie Principle > Biography )))/ref>
Biography
J ...
's "Baby Wants to Ride", and later "Tears" with Robert Owens (of
Fingers Inc.
Fingers Inc. was an American music group from Chicago, Illinois. It consisted of producer Larry Heard and vocalists Robert Owens and Ron Wilson. AllMusic called it the "top early Chicago house group".
History
Fingers Inc. was formed in Chicago, I ...
) and (Knuckles' protégé and future Def Mix associate)
Satoshi Tomiie
is a Japanese DJ, record producer and musician.
Biography
A lifelong student of jazz and classical piano, Satoshi had an influential impact from his very first record. His debut single ‘Tears’, which he co-produced in 1989 with Chicago's ...
.
1990s–2010s
Knuckles made numerous popular Def Classic Mixes with John Poppo as
sound engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
, and Knuckles partnered with
David Morales
David Morales (; born August 21, 1962) is an American disc jockey (DJ) and record producer. In addition to his production and DJ work, Morales is also a remixer.
David Morales has remixed and produced over 500 releases for artists including Ma ...
on Def Mix Productions. His debut album ''Beyond the Mix'' (1991), released on
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
, contained what would be considered his seminal work, "The Whistle Song", which was the first of four number ones on the US dance chart. The Def Classic mix of
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...
's "
Change
Change or Changing may refer to:
Alteration
* Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time
* Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of the menstrual period
* Metamorphosis, or change, ...
", released in the same year, also featured the whistle-like motif. Another track from the album, "Rain Falls", featured vocals from
Lisa Michaelis
Lisa Michaelis was a female actress/singer/musician/children's performer who was born in New York City and lived in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was the founder of Laughing Pizza Productions, a children's record and video label.Critchell, Samantha ...
. Eight thousand copies of the album had sold by 2004.
Other key
remix
A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
es from this time include his rework of the
Electribe 101 anthem "Talking with Myself" and
Alison Limerick
Alison T. Limerick (born 1959, Stepney) is a British singer who scored success in the 1990s with the club anthem " Where Love Lives", which was her solo debut and a No. 3 hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play in 1991.
Biography
Limerick attended ...
's "
Where Love Lives".
When
Junior Vasquez
Junior Vasquez (born Donald Gregory Mattern, August 24, 1949) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He has been referred to as one of the only DJs of his time to gain international attention.
Career
Mattern moved to New York City a ...
took a sabbatical from The Sound Factory in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, Knuckles took over and launched a successful run as resident DJ. He continued to work as a remixer through the 1990s and into the next decade, reworking tracks from
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
,
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...
,
Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...
,
Eternal
Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to:
* Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state
* Immortality or eternal life
* God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism
Comics, film and television
* ...
and
Toni Braxton
Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. ...
. He released several new singles, including "Keep on Movin'" and a re-issue of an earlier hit "Bac N Da Day" with Definity Records. In 1995, he released his second album titled ''Welcome to the Real World''. By 2004, 13,000 copies had sold.
Openly gay, Knuckles was inducted into the
Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame
The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Chic ...
in 1996.
In 2004, Knuckles released a 13-track album of original material – his first in over a decade – titled ''A New Reality''. In October 2004, "Your Love" appeared in the
videogame
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedb ...
''
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', playing on house music
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
,
SF-UR
'' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' is an open-world, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. First released on 16 October 2004 for the PlayStation 2, ''San Andreas'' has an in-game radio that can t ...
.
Death
In the mid-2000s, Knuckles developed
Type II diabetes
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...
. He developed
osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis (OM) is an infection of bone. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The long bones of the arms and legs are most commonly involved in children e.g. the femur and humerus, while the ...
after breaking his foot snowboarding, and had it amputated after declining to take time off for treatment. On March 31, 2014, he died in Chicago at the age of 59 due to the complications from his diabetes.
Legacy
In April 2015, a year after his death,
Defected Records
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...
released a retrospective compilation, ''House Masters Frankie Knuckles''; Knuckles had selected the track list before his death. Also, the same month, as a tribute to Knuckles, a version of his song "Baby Wants to Ride" was released by Underworld and
Heller and Farley to mark the year anniversary of his death. It went straight to number one on the UK's first ever
Official Vinyl Singles Chart. All proceeds went to the Frankie Knuckles Trust/
Elton John AIDS Foundation
The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by rock musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care a ...
. A year after his death, on April 4, 2015, an In Memoriam Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1 was played containing two previously unreleased Knuckles mixes.
Knuckles was featured in the
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
s ''Maestro'' (2003), written and directed by Josell Ramos, ''The UnUsual Suspects: Once Upon a Time in House Music'' (2005), directed by
Chip E.
Irwin Larry Eberhart II, better known by his stage name Chip E. (born 1966), is an American DJ and record producer.
Life and career
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Chip E. attended St. Ignatius College Prep, Kenwood Academy, Columbia College and D ...
and ''
Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
'' (2013) about the
Continental Baths
The Continental Baths was a gay bathhouse in the basement of The Ansonia Hotel in New York City, which was operated from 1968-1976 by Steve Ostrow. It was advertised as reminiscent of "the glory of ancient Rome".
It opened after Ostorow obser ...
.
Frankie Knuckles famously referred to house music as "disco's revenge" – a phrase that has been lauded by artists and DJs since his passing.
Awards and honors
In 1997, Knuckles won the
Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical.
In 2004, the city of Chicago – which "became notorious in the dance community around the world for passing the so-called 'anti-rave ordinance' in 2000 that made property owners, promoters and deejays subject to $10,000 fines for being involved in an unlicensed dance party" – named a stretch of street in Chicago
after Knuckles, where the old Warehouse once stood, on Jefferson Street between Jackson Boulevard and Madison Street.
Greg Kot
Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...
(April 1, 2004). ''Chicago Tribune''. That stretch of street, called Frankie Knuckles Way, "was renamed when the city declared 25 August 2004 as Frankie Knuckles Day. The Illinois state senator who helped make it happen was
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
.
In 2005, Knuckles was inducted into the
Dance Music Hall of Fame The Dance Music Hall of Fame was an organization established in 2003 to honor and remember significant contributors to the genre of dance music. It had its first inductions in 2004 but went inactive after the 2005 induction ceremony.
History
The Da ...
for his achievements.
''DJ Magazine'' Top 100 DJs
In popular culture
In October 2004, "Your Love" appeared in the
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
''
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', playing on the house music
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
SF-UR
'' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' is an open-world, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. First released on 16 October 2004 for the PlayStation 2, ''San Andreas'' has an in-game radio that can t ...
.
Knuckles was referenced in the songs "Back to the Grill" by
MC Serch
Michael Berrin (born May 6, 1967), best known by his stage name MC Serch, is an American rapper and music executive. He is a former member of 3rd Bass and Non Phixion.
Early life and education
Serch grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York ...
("I saw you eating pig knuckles with Frankie Knuckles / In a club called "Chuckles" wearing nameplate belt buckles"); "Knuckles" by
The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady is an American rock band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, now based in Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), ...
("I've been trying to get people to call me Freddy Knuckles"); and "Must I evolve?" by
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...
(as JARV IS...) off the album
Beyond the Pale (Jarv Is album) ("I walked through a tunnel backwards through time / Dragging my knuckles, listening to Frankie Knuckles").
Discography
*''Beyond the Mix'' (1991)
*''Welcome to the Real World'' (1995)
See also
*
Club Zanzibar
Club Zanzibar was a dance club that opened in 1979 at 430 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey. Its presence in Downtown Newark was noted for its influence on house music and garage house genres and scene. Club Zanzibar, along with other gay and ...
(black electronic-music venue in 1980s-era Newark, New Jersey)
*
List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in t ...
*
List of number-one dance hits (United States)
This is a list of number-one dance hits as recorded by ''Billboard'' magazine's Dance Club Songs chart – a weekly national survey of popular songs in U.S. dance clubs. It began on October 26, 1974, under the title ''Disco Action'' chart. It is c ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knuckles, Frankie
1955 births
2014 deaths
20th-century American musicians
21st-century American musicians
African-American DJs
American dance musicians
American electronic musicians
American house musicians
Club DJs
House DJs
Electronic dance music DJs
Deaths from diabetes
American gay musicians
Grammy Award winners
LGBT African Americans
LGBT DJs
LGBT people from Illinois
LGBT people from New York (state)
Musicians from Chicago
Musicians from New York City
DJs from New York City
People from the Bronx
Remixers
Virgin Records artists
Deep house musicians
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
20th-century LGBT people
21st-century LGBT people
20th-century African-American musicians
21st-century African-American musicians