House music is a synthesized electronic type of dance music that first started showing up on the scene in the middle of the 1980s. House originated in Chicago and was first created by DJs in the clubs there. It is influenced by a variety of other types of music including funky dance and disco.
No one is really quite sure why this new type of music was called House, though. It may be related to one of the clubs in Chicago where it first started, which was named The Warehouse. Chicago was known for its warehouse parties popular with the underground culture of the Latino and Black gays near the end of the 1970s and beginning of the 1980s.
Frankie Knuckles who was a DJ at The Warehouse combined synthesized pop music from Europe with other types of music including punk, disco, industrial and new wave and his unique type of music became known as House because of the name of the club.
An alternate theory on how House got its name comes from a musician named Larry Heard who says it is called that because the recording was done in people's houses.
Many DJs in this time had the drums and synthesizers at home to be able to create this style of music. Another theory put out by a DJ named Chip E. is that it is named for the way it was recorded in music studios. No one really knows which of these theories is right.The development of House music occurred in places where teenagers and other people who frequented clubs hung out like party houses, garages and clubs. Eventually this music began to get airplay on the radio. The length and origins of House make it less than ideal for the commercial market. It took musical instruments and altered their sound and used them in new and interesting ways.
There are still a lot of people around the world who are into the house music scene and who are creating new house music. Year after year, new musicians and DJs come into the house music scene, which is why it has stayed popular for so long.Many different cities across the country including New York, Detroit and Atlanta have a booming House music scene, especially in areas with a diverse population. Even in other countries like Germany, Australia and Scandinavia, it is popular. In Chicago, there is even a House Unity Day that celebrates the birth of house music in that city on every August 10th. It is not just a fad, it is a music genre that is going to continue to grow and spread.
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