This Friday we would like to devote a minutes silence to the passing of the great man, Frankie Knuckles. Frankie was one of the last DeeJays who linked the old school of US clubbing to the new school of English (Acid) house. And as such he took dance music to the world. He learned from the legendary Larry Levan (about who we should write another time) and he taught … well, everyone really.

When you have finished the minutes silence check out how good this was for 7 minutes or so…
 

and give over 6 more minutes to how good this was
 

even before it became THIS and long before Florence and Dizzee fucked it.

And ask yourself if this was the best remix ever commissioned for 6 minutes
 

Truly this took God to the dancefloor and made the club into a revivalist church for a few moments. The altar of the 808 …

Then calm yourself and spend 8 minutes on this
 

and ask yourself if it isn’t maybe the best house record ever made? Just maybe

That’s about 25 minutes to celebrate a remarkable life. Not one minute wasted.

And like all good things you will laugh, cry a little, smile, dance & spin, reminisce on the times you first heard these tunes and the (lost) friends you were with, and do all the things we love to do. You might even worship a little with Candi Staton and Sounds of Blacknuss, and contemplate your own mortality. People used to argue about whether “machine music” was soul music. Frankie Knuckles stopped that argument in its tracks (or should that be Trax?). And even though people closer to him have written better obituaries and there are better playlists out there that is memorial enough for us.

-TH