Folks, I usually wait until I have more information but it has been confirmed that legendary House music DJ and producer FRANKIE KNUCKLES has passed away this evening (March 31st) at the age of 59. He had just completed an appearance with the Ministry Of Sound in the UK two days ago. What can be said about the man music lovers called The Godfather of House Music? First, Frankie was and is a legend, going back to when he and the departed Larry Levan spun at the Continental Baths here in his hometown of NYC (Frankie was from the Bronx). Then, Frankie moved to Chicago and became the resident DJ at the Warehouse (he went on to the Power Plant in the mid 1980s) at a time when technology met the dance floor as soulful grooves were set to synths and drum machines to create House music. That is when Frankie emerged as the man who helped bring this genre to the forefront as well as Steve Silk Hurley, Larry Heard (a/k/a Mr. Fingers) and Lil Louis. House music exploded by the late 1980s with many of these club DJs being hired by record labels to not only remix already existing tunes but to create original music. Frankie created more than his share of hits - Rain Falls, Tears (w/Satoshi Tomie and vocalist Robert Owens), The Whistle Song. He then came back to NYC to do a residency at the Sound Factory Bar (yes, I did see him spin at the club....just to WATCH him was enough for me). Then came the 1997 Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year (Non-Classical). An honor well earned and duly deserved. Frankie continued to rock the wheels of steel and create new music until his death, which many of us who love his work still feel shocked to hear and read that hes gone. Im gonna just let the music roll here, folks. Well miss you, Mr. Knuckles. youtube/watch?v=rd0Zo1WAk5I
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 04:24:54 +0000
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