Celebrating Black History: Pioneers of house music
A trip through the timeline of dance music
Farley "Jackmaster" Funk
As part of the DJ crew Hot Mix 5, Farley Jackmaster Funk was an important tastemaker during the early years of house. In the Unsung documentary, Farley recalled what it was like reinterpreting disco tracks for the club scene: "Those songs didn’t have structure, but the beats were killing. We brought our drum machines to the club and created electronic 4/4, it just made disco sound very thunderous.”
The influential Hot Mix 5 also include Mickey "Mixin" Oliver, Ralphi Rosario, Kenny "Jammin" Jason, Scott "Smokin" Silz and Julian "Jumpin" Perez.
In 1984, Farley released what would be the model house record with ‘Funkin with the Drums’, which he soon followed up with ‘Jack the Bass’, ‘Funkin with the Drums Again’ and ‘Give Yourself to Me’, all of which focused on jacking rhythms that would heighten the house craze in the Chicago dance scene.
Later, tracks like ‘Love Can’t Turn Around’, ‘Jack My Body’, ‘It’s You’ would also showcase his unique, whimsical production style.
