20 tracks every house fan should know

20 tracks every house fan should know

9 October, 2009 | 8.32AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: 20 years of dance music

The revolution began in the early 80s in Chicago. From its humble beginnings at The Warehouse in Windy City, it spread east to New York’s Paradise Garage, jumped the Atlantic to Europe, and had a Summer of Love in the UK in 1988. By 1990, house music had engulfed the world, and so began its glory days.

With this in mind, we present to you 20 tracks from the 90s that every house fan should know. Originally we hoped to bring you 20 all-time classic house tracks, but with so much early house lost to the digital space, and tens of thousands of house records to choose from, we decided to focus in on the 90s, a magnificent decade for house.

This list is a rich hodge podge of house music, that includes underground anthems and obvious chart toppers, US classics and European club destroyers. It’ll make you smile, it’ll make you dance, and it might even make you cry. It’s time to get nostalgic.

(As an added bonus, we picked tracks that can still be played today. And like all ‘best of’ lists, you’ll probably find it hard to agree with all of this selection, so join in our celebration of house by listing your anthems in the comments section below).

Underground Solution ‘Luv Dancin’ (Egotrip Mix) [Strictly Rhythm] (1990)

Like school bullies, Roger Sanchez, Todd Terry, Masters At Work, and Kerri Chandler dominated the house playground in the early 90s, by releasing a staggering number of its biggest tracks. Indeed, if you went into a record shop in New York in those days, you couldn’t leave without paying at least one of those forefathers.

Underground Solution was an alias for Roger Sanchez in the early days of his production career, and ‘Luv Dancin’ was a sublime slice of low slung deep house, that was graceful and full of soul. Featuring vocals inspired by or sampled from Arthur Russell’s Loose Joints ‘All Over My Face’, Sanchez managed to bring Russell’s visionary music up to date 10 years later.

2 In A Room ‘Wiggle It’ [Cutting Records] (1990)

Love it or hate it, 2 In A Room’s naughty ‘Wiggle It’ dominated clubs in 1990, with its wobbly blend of hip hop and house, so called hip house, and it reached No.3 in the UK singles chart.

With mutterings of acid grooves, bumbling basslines, and bongo drums, it was one of the few records to reference the acid house movement in the pop charts - an important tip of a big iceberg, even if it was a bit crass.

Not convinced? Well at this year’s Detroit Movement festival Dixon, Âme, and Henrik Schwarz tore the proverbial roof off the festival with ‘Wiggle It’, and new remixes are due soon. Look out.

UR ‘Living For The Nite’ [Underground Resistance] (1991)

Militant isn’t exactly the first word that springs to mind when listening to ‘Living For The Nite’, produced by techno’s most politicised group Underground Resistance.

A blend of soulful house and poppy Detroit techno, the track’s fuzzy good-times vibe was not something UR explored much further, but on its own, ‘Living For The Nite’ is a welcomed blip that perfectly summed up the house music lifestyle.

Frankie Knuckles ‘The Whistle Song’ [Noice Music] (1991)

Trying not to whistle along to ‘The Whistle Song’, is like trying not to stare at some rather large breasts that are in your face. No matter how hard you try not to, you trundle straight into it like an elephant. Go on, press play and see what happens - you feel strangely naked not joining the whistling.

As a result of its infectiousness, ‘The Whistle’ made Frankie Knuckles a household name, because it was one of the first house music records designed to induce a specific reaction from the dancefloor/listener. Reminiscent of his disco roots, and the 1976 worldwide hit ‘The Hustle’ by Van McCoy and Giorgio Morodor, it’s a true classic that even inspired Bob Sinclar to recreate on ‘World Hold On’.

Chez Damier ‘Can U Feel It’ (MK Dub) [KMS Records] (1992)

Chez Damier’s influence on house music can be felt today, and the producer has even found a renewed fan base in recent years thanks to a classic house revival.

‘Can U Feel It’ was a sublime deep house record that inspired the early deep house scene. Mark Kinchen’s MK Dub (who also had a huge remix of The Nightcrawler’s ‘Push The Feeling On’ a year later) was the favoured mix, with its Detroit stabs, organ keys, tom rolls and slamming house beats that caused more than a flutter on dancefloors that year.

Reel 2 Reel ‘The New Anthem’ (Union City Mix) [Strictly Rhythm] (1992)

‘The New Anthem’ was Erick Morillo and Ralphie Boy Muniz’ first production under the name Reel 2 Reel (remember ‘I Like To Move It’?).

Borrowing elements from freestyle, ‘The New Anthem’ was rough and tough house and became an underground hit. Later The Mad Stuntman aka Mark Quashie joined Reel 2 Reel, and the trio became one of the most commercially successful house acts of the 90s.

With a perfect synth riff, air raid sirens, rolling house beats, and funky female vocals, the Union City Mix is still cherished by house DJs today.

Xpress 2 ‘London Xpress’ [Junior Boys Own] (1993)

Ashley Beedle, Rocky, and Diesel were regulars of London’s house scene from the start, after travelling to New York and visiting the Sound Factory, where they came under the influence of Junior Vasquez during his infamous DJ residency.

With its cowbells, horns, vocal stabs, and sirens all building up together, ‘London Xpress’ is one the most satisfying big room house tracks of all time. Monstrous stuff from a wild era.

DJ Duke ‘Blow Your Whistle’ (NY House Mix) [Sex Mania] (1993)

DJ Duke’s ‘Blow Your Whistle’ was a hit that emerged from New York’s Sound Factory via its resident DJ Junior Vasquez. A fun and frolicky ode to the rave scene, the track was a mix of harder UK sounds and funky NYC house.

Back in 1993, David Morales played it at a gig at London’s Ministry of Sound and caused a riot - at the time, there was only one test pressing of the track in the whole of Europe. Three weeks after Morales played it, London Records/FFRR snapped it up.

Whatever Girl ‘Activator You Need Some’ (Johnny Vicious Edit) [Yoshitoshi] (1994)

Jersey native Johnny Vicious became a major player on the US house scene, thanks to his 13 minute edit of Whatever Girl ‘Activator You Need Some’, which helped to kick start the tribal house scene in the mid and late 90s.

A journey into sound, the track rumbles through layers of tribal drums, echoed cymbals, empty breakdowns, and rumbling bass, and it was one of the first house records to focus on layered patterns, and drum loops beyond 8 bar measures.

Progressive in its day, the track was later signed to Yoshitoshi, who re-released it again in 2003 with a famous Deep Dish edit.

Barbara Tucker ‘Beautiful People’ [Strictly Rhythm] (1994)

When Masters At Work’s Louie Vega recorded Barbara Tucker’s vocals for ‘Beautiful People’, one line stood out: ‘Deep, deep inside, Deep deep, down inside’. Recognising it to be a perfect loop, he held back on releasing ‘Beautiful People’ in order to release the solid house tool ‘Deep Inside’ by Hardrive, which to this day is a popular club record.

The final version of ‘Beautiful People’ that followed a year later, became an instant hit, with an all star line-up of backing singers: Byron Stingily, Carol Sylvan (Pet Shop Boys), Connie Harvey (KLF), India, Kenny Bobian, and others, provided enough gospel soul to drench the disco house track in pure happiness.

The song was Barbara Tucker’s first massive hit, and the track’s message of unity and cultural diversity still resonates today.

Round Two ‘A New Day’ [Main Street] (1995)

Some consider Round Two’s ‘A New Day’ to be the best male vocal deep house tune ever written, and with Berlin’s Basic Channel on production, it’s easy to see/hear why.

The track was somewhere in between US house producers Mood II Swing and the techno of Basic Channel and the other minimalists of Europe.

Way ahead of its time in sound and scope, Andy Caine’s soulful voice sounded serene against a backdrop of warm synths and simple drums. As one passionate fan on discogs described it, “It’s the deepest, most complex, and timeless house record ever made.” So there you go.

The Bucketheads ‘The Bomb’ [Henry Street Records] (1995)

“I never meant for it to be 15 minutes. When I recorded the track, I kept flipping through the sequences on my drum machine and it sounded ok so I just left the intro like that,” says Kenny Dope Gonzalez, about his track ‘The Bomb’ which changed house music forever in 1995.

With a huge intro that kept building and building and building, ‘The Bomb’ was an unplanned B side hit that sent shockwaves through the house music scene upon its release. The vocal sample came from the track ‘Streetplayer’ by the 1970s band Chicago, and together with funky trumpets and heavy house beats, ‘The Bomb’ remains one of the most enduring house records of all time.

Sandy B ‘Make The World Go Round’ (Deep Dish Vocal) [Champion Records] (1996)

In 1996, Deep Dish became global stars with their club destroying mix of Sandy B’s ‘Make The World Go Round’, one of the most uplifting vocal house records ever released.

With its song-based singalong structure, instantly recognisable bassline, and bastardized house and garage drums, it became a worldwide Top 10 hit, and reached No.1 on the Billboard US dance chart.

Poppy enough for the radio, yet solid enough for the clubs, ‘Make The World Go Round’ was one of those rare evergreen dance records that appealed to the masses and the club heads, and it has a good claim at being the most played house record of the 90s. A true dance anthem.

I:Cube ‘Disco Cubism’ (Daft Punk Remix) [Versatile] (1996)

Long before they toured the world in robot suits and flashing triangles, Daft Punk were twisting and turning house music into a very new, and very French style, underground.

The duo’s under-the-radar remix of I:Cube ‘Disco Cubism’ captured the beginning of the French house revolution in ‘96, with its filtered disco grooves, shuffled house rhythms, and pristine funk. After this release, Daft Punk signed to Virgin and released their huge single ‘Around The World’, and the rest is French house history.

Byron Stingily ‘Get Up’ (Zack Tom’s and Paul Simpson’s Parade Mix) [Nervous Records] (1997)

House music loves to state the bleeding obvious, and Come on get up everybody was about as clear a mantra as any house music record could make. It practically begged dancefloors.

In 1996 the concept of having full vocals over the top of disco loops was still quite fresh, so when Byron Stingily crooned his magnificent tones over jazzy pianos and disco rhythms, ‘Get Up’ was destined for greatness.

It hit No.11 in the UK pop charts, and remained a club favourite throughout much of the 90s, with the Parade Mix in particular getting licensed to countless compilations worldwide. Anthem, would be an understatement.

DJ Sneak ‘You Can’t Hide From Your Bud’ [Classic Recordings] (1997)

DJ Sneak defined filtered disco in one elegant plop, with ‘You Can’t Hide From Your Bud’, a magnificent DJ tool that still gets club plays today.

The Puerto Rican-born, Chicago-based DJ built his name off the back of the track, which helped him earn his deserved place in house music’s hall of fame.

With a sexy loop filtered from bottom to top, and a room-shaking build-up, it caused hysteria when it was dropped in ‘97, and you still can’t hide from it in 2009.

Danny Tenaglia ‘Music Is The Answer’ (Danny Tenaglia Remix) [Twisted] (1998)

Danny Tenaglia preached unity, respect, and house music ideals on ‘Music Is The Answer’, perhaps the most poignant self-referential house track ever produced. From its accapella intro, vocalist Celeda provided clubbers with a message that they could take home, and a set of principles that made perfect sense to those on the dancefloor.

House music is full of references to social cohesion, but the vast majority of these records are wholly positive, overtly so. ‘Music Is The Answer’ was much darker, and even accepted the inner struggle of the human condition. It didn’t beat you over the head with surreptitious sermons of ‘love’ and ‘good times’, instead, it reasoned in its attempts to answer the eternal question of why do we dance. It was honest.

Basement Jaxx ‘Fly Life Extra’ [Atlantic Jaxx] (1998)

Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe’s mish-mash of house, Latin, garage, reggae, disco, and Balearic rhythms could only have come from London’s Brixton melting pot, and as Basement Jaxx they glided across the tightrope that separates club credibility and pop sensibility.

The pair’s ‘Fly Life Xtra’, a nine-minute club edit of their popular hit ‘Fly Life’, is about as big as it gets - a full on assault of air horns, flange disco, gut-hugging bass, and house grooves - and it still destroys festival stages and mainrooms today.

Loud, rude, and with not an ounce of subtlety, ‘Fly Life Xtra’ screams This is London mate, and if you don’t like it, you can piss right off.

Pete Heller ‘Big Love’ [Subliminal] (1999)

Brighton’s Pete Heller delivered one of the biggest house tracks of the late 90s with ‘Big Love’, a perfect blend of disco and heavy house, led by a memorable riff and serene strings.

Big on the happy factor and drenched in soul, the song encapsulated everything that was great about UK house music circa 1999, and it rocked beach parties and clubs from the moment it hit Miami’s Winter Music Conference.

Isolee ‘Beau Mot Plage’ (Freeform Reform Parts 1 & 2) [Classic Recordings] (1999)

Freeform Five’s version of ‘Beau Mot Plage’ redefined the meaning of ‘remix’, by complete remaking Isolee’s minimal anthem into a beautiful electronic medley of Brazilian drums, funky flutes, and sexy Balearic vocals.

An epic reworking that pushed the boundaries of house music, its impact was felt well beyond the clubs, and it became an Ibiza anthem, one that soundtracked late night cocktail lounges and wide-eyed sun rises.

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