Chicago DnB takes out Chicago House

Now days the relationship is a lot better but back in the day it wasn't - guess where ALL the original Traxx House tracks (reel to reel 3/4", 1/2") ended up When Larry Sherman fronted us?!

Danny TWC has one and so does Trace - the rest, well....nuff said.

The Trax Records Story
After disco came house, but for all the tracks that were played at Chicago's The Warehouse, The Music Box or The Power Plant, no-one had yet made A House Record >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In 1983 Larry Sherman bought Musical Products, Chicago's only vinyl pressing plant. He started a label, Precision, as well as pressing a couple hundred records for anyone who paid the going rate. A local DJ called Jessie Saunders along with friend Vince Lawrence had Larry press 500 copies of a track called 'On & On', a track that some say was the first house record. Jessie and Vince sold the records from their cars to record shops all over the city and within four days they'd sold every one. Jessie and Vince went back to Larry and got 1000 more pressed, the next thing they knew 9000 copies were sold just around Chicago. These unusually high sales along with a recent visit to Ron Hardy's Music Box made Larry Sherman realise something was happening in Chicago. Larry was keen to get more involved with Jessie and Vince and their ability to sell records. Not wanting to use Larry's Precision or Jessie's Jes Say labels, they set up a new label, Trax. Jessie Saunders provided the first Trax release, 'Wanna Dance/Certainly' by Le Noiz. Other artists such as Marshall Jefferson, Rachael Cain and Wayne Williams all pitched in towards the production, Ron Hardy promoted the records through The Music Box and Larry and Vince took care of shifting them. A group of creative people had found themselves the ideal outlet. Sherman was not averse to the odd shortcut here and there - he was only too willing to grind down old LPs and second-hand vinyl to use in his pressing plant, which explains the pops and crackles in some of the original releases. He also produced bootlegs, he even had a label called Bootleg Records, a shrewd businessman in every sense. Trax is acknowledged as being the first dedicated house label, releasing seminal tracks such as Frankie Knuckles and Jamie Principal 'Your love', Mr Fingers 'Can U feel it', Adonis 'No way back' and Marshall Jefferson's 1986 classic 'Move your body' . Move your Body is referred to as the house music anthem. It catapulted house music across the globe and told everyone outside of Chicago what house music was, 'Gotta have house, music, all night long'. In 1987 they gave the world its second gift when the first acid record was released, 'Acid Trax' by Phuture, a group formed by DJ Pierre. The mid - late 80's were the Trax glory years. By the time the nineties arrived, house music was everywhere and Europe began to create its own version of the house sound. Some Trax artists moved away from Chicago to further their careers, or moved into other areas of production. Others simply gave up and disappeared from view. Larry Sherman had personal problems, but maintained Trax on and off, mainly through its Saber subsidiary. Over the years Trax have entered into joint ventures and distribution deals with various other labels and in 2004 became a subsidiary of Canadian corporation Casablanca. Thankfully there seems to be a steady stream of re-issues from the Trax back catalogue, providing a great opportunity for today's generation to listen to the records which started it all. Before house was soulful, minimal, tech, funky, or any other sub genre you can think of, it was just 'House', and Trax was the definition of house music. 5 OF THE BEST>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Marshall Jefferson: Move Your Body House music's defining moment. Written and produced by Marshall Jefferson with input from Ron Hardy, the heavy piano intro became the blue print for a wave of early nineties piano tracks. Mr Fingers: Can U Feel it Mr Fingers aka Larry Heard released the original in 1986. Still one of the finest deep house tracks around. Phuture: Acid Trax "Acid Trax" was released in 1987 and defined the acid house sound. Ralphie Rosario: U Used To Hold Me Ralphie Rosario released this gem in 1987 with Xavier Gold providing the vocals. Trax didn't release too many full on vocal tracks but this more than makes up for it. Frankie Knuckles and Jamie Principal: Your Love: Another house standard, written and produced by Frankie Knuckles and Jamie Principal. I heard somewhere that Frankie used to play this in his DJ sets way before it's 1988 release. Discography: www.traxhouse.com Words: Si Corbett Feature from Our House Mag
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