Chicago House Music: Culture and Community

by Marguerite L. Harrold

An inside look at the music born, bred, and perfected in Chicago.

 Chicago house music originated in the city’s Black, gay underground in the late seventies and became one of the most popular musical genres in the world by the end of the century. In Chicago House Culture and Community, Marguerite Harrold tells the story of the genre’s rise and the prolific creators who have sustained it for decades. You’ll learn about house music’s early innovators, like Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles, who transformed the social and political turmoil around them into a revolution in dance music. You’ll also hear remembrances from contemporary figures in the house community, like DJ Lady D, Avery R. Young, Czboogie and Edgar “Artek” Sinio, who have forged new paths as the genre has evolved. It’s a story about much more than music—it’s about a community struggling for acceptance, love, liberation, and freedom, and about the creative pioneers whose resilience helped turn house music into a worldwide phenomenon.

Full of interviews and first-hand accounts from the people who stood behind the turntables, carried crates of records, or danced until dawn, Chicago House Music is the history of an art form that continues to be a force for social interaction, spiritual liberation, and community today. 

Genres: Music

208 pages, Paperback

Published August 13, 2024

Reviews

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved this read! so fascinating to learn about the history of house music in Chicago - including locations that have been shut down but also places that still exist today. my favorite part of this book were the interviews - it was fascinating to hear the stories of people who grew up surrounded by house culture.

[electricvehicle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend lent this book of theirs to me.

This book is a quick read. I enjoyed reading it on the transit as the author charted her map of Chicago house music’s history, identified the disco divas whose voices continue to permeate tracks and beloved cultural memories, the spots in the South Loop, Wicker Park, and the South and North side that were once sites of live literary performance and interclass & interrace contact in the name of art and dance now turned to chain coffee joints and gentrified apartment buildings.

I wish that there was more of an attentiveness to the audiences varied familiarity to house legends and places. At the end of the book there were mostly transcripts of interviews, which felt a bit lackluster and I wish there was more author commentary to bookend them.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have for every Chicago history collection. The last chapter with Avery Young, the current city poet laureate, is a brilliant recapping of the history of House through the eyes of the future.