R.I.P. FRANKIE KNUCKLES

DJ/Producer Frankie Knuckles has passed away. I don't need to tell any house music lovers who he was and how and important he was to the creation of the genre. If you ever threw your hands in the air and lip-synched every word of that long intro of The Pressure by Sounds Of Blackness and exploded when the beat kicked in or jammed to The Whistle Song at the Roxy (or anywhere in the world) as so many of us did, you know exactly who he is. And you cherished those magic moments he brought to so many. For those who don't know, this link contains a bio which I'm sure is one of many more in depth ones to come. What this bio doesn't cover is that The Godfather Of House was the one of sweetest and kindest men in the business. Seldom is royalty so gracious. It's a crying shame that he's gone but he did accomplish what he was sent here to do: make us dance, make us sing and fill us with the love of gorgeous, soulful house music.

MORE:   http://www.complex.com/music/2014/03/frankie-knuckles-dead-at-59

We went off when Frankie Knuckles dropped this seismic jam at the Roxy! It contains everything today's dance music is missing: soulful vocals, a song structure with actual changes and expert musicians like the smokin' piano player featured here. A far cry from today's EDM created on a laptop by one fool with no musicality whatsoever. I will also never forget Frankie looping Thelma Houston's little known I'm Here Again at the Sound Factory, which later was sampled for Duane Harden's fantastic I Got What You Need. Unearthing little known gems based on their expertise and superior knowledge of music. That's what djs used to be able to do before they became jukeboxes for the unsophisticated tastes of pop worshippers and bottle service patrons. Thanks for showing them how, Frankie. I certainly will never forget you.

A recent Frankie Knuckles set: