Where to start with Chicago House

Chicago House is a genre from Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1977–1989. Its principal artists include Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Jesse Saunders and Phuture (DJ Pierre, Spanky, Herb J). This issue covers 9 essential albums and 12 dated events.

Start here

1
On and On (12-inch)
Jesse Saunders · 1984
It's widely considered the first original Chicago house track and set the template the genre would run on for years.
2
Your Love (12-inch)
Jamie Principle & Frankie Knuckles · 1987
It shows how a bedroom recording with no studio became an anthem through a year of repeated club play.
3
Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem) (12-inch)
Marshall Jefferson · 1986
It's the track that pulled house out of the underground and toward mainstream ears, earning its nickname.

Go deeper

4
Acid Tracks (12-inch)
Phuture · 1987
'Acid Tracks' is the record that gave acid house its name and its sound.
5
Can You Feel It (12-inch)
Mr. Fingers (Larry Heard) · 1986
Larry Heard's 1986 track defined deep house by doing the opposite of what most Chicago producers were doing at the time: warming things up.
6
No Way Back (12-inch)
Adonis · 1986
One of Trax Records' biggest hits of 1986, 'No Way Back' captured the raw, hypnotic churn that defined mid-decade Chicago house at its hardest edge.
7
Jack Trax EP (12-inch)
Chip E. · 1985
Released in 1985, before most people outside Chicago had ever heard the words 'house music,' Chip E.'s Jack Trax EP — featuring 'It's House' and 'Time to Jack' — helped…

For the obsessed

8
Beyond the Mix
Frankie Knuckles · 1991
Original release: Virgin America · 2-91618 · CD · US 1991
Knuckles's 1991 debut album arrived four years after he'd left Chicago for New York and rebuilt himself into one of dance music's most in-demand remixers.
9
Frankie Knuckles Presents (Music Selected and Edited by Ron Hardy)
Various · 1989
This 1989 compilation gathers Ron Hardy's track selections and edits, offering a rare studio-quality window into the Music Box sound while Hardy was still alive to see it released.

The stories behind every record are in Chicago House, a members' issue.