As of today 2/18/14 according to thedjlist.com the top house Dj’s are: Avicii, David Guetta and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, what these DJ’s all have in common is geographic. House music is without a doubt thriving in European countries and as it would seem laying claim to what would be the best performers in the musical genre.  This is not a trend or phenomenon, this is a common theme in house music that it is dominated by European influence.  Each year the digitally inspired music gains more fame and followers, if any of these listeners were stopped and asked on the street if they knew where house music started the obvious answer would be Europe and they would be wrong.  House music had a very enigmatic beginning in the United Sates.

In 1976 disco was in full swing monopolizing dance floors all over the country.  Disco would eventually spin off into many genres, but the first was house music.  The south side of Chicago is known in many ways but famously for its rugged streets reputation, excellent high school basketball and of course windy weather but few regard it as the birthplace of house music. A few young DJ’s came up with a technique geared at keeping the crowd dancing. Silky Hurley described it as “We had a technique were we would take the bass out of the song and wait for the exciting part of the song and bam!”.  As it would seem not much has changed instead of disco music being used its electronic or fabricated beats produced by the DJ.

Steve “Silky” Hurley

The night club called The Wharehouse was at the time was known for its availability to all races and ways of life. The gay, straight, thug and prep groups were all represented on any given night in the Wharehouse. Since it is the beginning of the genre, it’s only fitting that the name be spawned form the original club that played the music.  The resident DJ Frankie knuckles and Larry Levan were the first to spin this type of music. Although Frankie Fingers is considered the godfather of house it is Larry Levan that is attributed with the idea of spinning house music. Levan went on to work at the paradise garage in his home town New York and spread the house music culture.

 Frankie Knuckles                                                                          Larry Levan

Like most new styles of music house was birthed before its time. America wasn’t ready for a genre of music that was dominated by the gay and ethnic communities. House music saw its earliest success in predominately gay clubs and spun by gay DJ’s. It was frowned upon due to the nature of the culture that was at the fore front of the movement. It’s a shame that it was not well received, the techniques used by these DJ’s were preparing the industry for an exciting change.

House music has now flourished into a musical giant. DJ’s from all over the world produce dance tracks that snowball with popularity. It’s a versatile style is music that caters to DJ’s and keep the dance floor moving. The European acceptance and promotion has undoubtedly taken the music to the level it currently is on, it is interesting to know it got its start in the South side of Chicago. It was inspired to bring all walks of life together and finally is.