 |
Harry Dennis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | House |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
Harry Dennis (sometimes spelled Harri) is a house music producer and lyricist from Chicago, United States, who was part of the original generation of house music in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Dennis is a native Chicagoan who completed his elementary and high school education in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). While attending Illinois State University (ISU), he incorporated drama and music into his core studies and became interested in songwriting and lyric development. In 1982, Dennis graduated from ISU, returned to Chicago to work, and began his music career. A frequent party-goer, he met Robert Williams, owner of a The Warehouse, a local nightclub that catered to house music enthusiasts, where Dennis met and became friends with DJ Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, and other leading members of the house music scene. Through these connections Dennis became a lyricist in the house scene.
Dennis began his recording career in 1983, releasing the single "Donnie" in 1985. He formed a group named The It with Larry Heard and Robert Owens. [1] "Donnie" was launched on the Chicago underground house scene (with Chip E. as producer) in 1985, quickly spreading to the east coast, and was distributed worldwide by DJ International in 1986.
During 1986–1989, Dennis was recruited to Trax Records by Marshall Jefferson. Together, they formed the group Jungle Wonz, recording the house hits "Time Marches On" and "Jungle".
In 1988, Fingers Inc., a group formed by Dennis, Heard, Owens, and Ron Wilson, released "Distant Planet" with Dennis as writer and vocalist. The single was released under the Indigo Music/Jack Trax label. Dennis also collaborated as a lyricist and vocalist with Owens and Heard to record the single "Gallimaufry Gallery", [2] released on the Black Market International label. During 1990–1991, Dennis penned other house tracks in collaboration with Larry Heard. They recorded an album in London on the Big Life Records label, featuring "In This Place Called Nowhere", "Endless Journey", "Brazilian Love Dance", "Rain Forest Serenade", "When Will We Learn", "Endless Flight", "Living For The Man", and "Brazilian Love Dance (Interlude)". In 1993, Dennis collaborated with Marshall Jefferson again to release "Bird In a Gilded Cage" on Trax.
Dennis returned from a sabbatical in 2005 with new material.
While working on a new album, Dennis appeared on Chicago House Radio, WHPK 88.5 FM, and Triton College. He provided voiceover on tracks for DJs. Dennis also performed live at various Chicago venues, including the Regal Theater, and often appeared with fellow house music performer Curtis McClain.
Dennis' business affiliations include house music executives such as Marshall Jefferson, Chauncey Alexander, and David Dee of Openhouse Recordings. Dennis and Jefferson released a new album on Openhouse in June 2011 entitled Jungle Wonz: The Jungle Sky EP, produced by Marshall Jefferson. This album included an updated version of the original "The Jungle" recording, along with several renditions of a new single, "Kiss the Sky", written by Dennis, McClain and Jefferson.
Following the 2012 release of his album, The Jungle Wonz: Deliverance, Dennis was featured on Chicago's Black Business Network, interviewed by founder and host, Sonja Perdue. [3]
In 2013, Dennis wrote and released a new single, "No Matter", produced by Ricard Perez on the Epoque Music label.
In September 2014, Alleviated Records released an EP entitled The IT, another collaboration between Dennis and Larry Heard. [4] The EP contains two tracks by Dennis entitled "Beauty in a Picture" and "Somebody Somewhere".
Dennis performed at the 2016 Chosen Few Picnic held July 2–3 in Chicago. [5] In 2017, Dennis and IT member Ron Trent released three tracks: a single by The IT called "Monterrey" on the Future Vision World label, "Months of Mays" on the Music and Power label, and "Black Magic Woman" on Rush Hour Records.
 | This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Formatting, non-use of wikitable(s), laundry list appearance, unreferenced.(May 2023) |
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the early/mid 1980s, as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat.
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann and Buzz McCoy. They became known in the 1980s as pioneers of the industrial music genre – although by the early 1990s they had changed to a more disco-oriented sound – and as a frequent target of censorship groups, including the PMRC, which objected to the band's humorous and satirical references to Satan, Jesus and sex in their song lyrics and stage shows.
Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the original house music DJs and producers from the area, such as Ron Hardy and Phuture.
Deep house is a subgenre of house music that originated in the 1980s, initially fusing elements of Chicago house with the lush chords of 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. Its origins are attributed to the early recordings of Larry Heard, including his influential track "Can You Feel It".
Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that year, they opened a store under the same name in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. During the 1980s and 1990s, the accompanying record label became a strong presence on the industrial music scene as well as the punk rock scene in Chicago, and an outlet for European bands. The label was later purchased in 1992 by TVT Records and was discontinued in 2001. In 2014, it was re-established by Julia Nash, daughter of co-founder Jim Nash.
Gerald Rydel Simpson, better known as A Guy Called Gerald, is a British record producer and musician. He was an early member of the electronic group 808 State, contributing to their debut LP Newbuild (1988) and hit single "Pacific State" (1989). He also achieved solo success with his 1988 hit single "Voodoo Ray", which became a touchstone of Manchester's acid house scene and reached No. 12 in the UK charts. He embraced breakbeat production in the 1990s, with his 1995 album Black Secret Technology becoming a "much-touted candidate for 'best jungle album ever.'" He also ran the London-based independent record label Juice Box Records from 1991 to 1998.
1000 Homo DJs was a side project of American industrial rock band Ministry. The project released two singles, one of which featured a cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut".
Marshall Julius Jefferson is an American musician, working in the house music subgenres of Chicago house and deep house.
Robert Owens is an American songwriter, record producer, DJ and singer, best known for his work with the Chicago house group Fingers Inc. in the mid-1980s. As a solo artist, he has placed several songs on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, two of which hit number-one: "I'll Be Your Friend" (1992), and "Mine to Give".
Larry Heard is an American DJ, record producer, and musician who has recorded under various names, most notably Mr. Fingers. He is widely known as a pioneering figure in 1980s house music, and was leader of the influential group Fingers Inc., whose 1988 album Another Side was the first long-form house LP. He is regarded as a progenitor of the deep house subgenre, bridging the gap between the futurism of house and the lush sound of disco. His landmark 1986 single "Can You Feel It" would be a major influence on dance music.
Trax Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It played a major part in the development of house music.
"Acid Tracks" is a 1987 acid house song by Phuture produced by Marshall Jefferson and released by Trax Records. Phuture consisted of Nathan Pierre Jones, better known as DJ Pierre, Earl Smith Jr, and Herbert Jackson. Jones had been interested in developing dance music and became superficially interested in house music after Spanky had taken him to see DJ Ron Hardy perform in Chicago. The trio began developing tracks without finding anything that they felt was satisfying; Jones had heard a track made on the unpopular Roland TB-303 bass machine, which led the group to purchase one.
Wreck was an indie rock band formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1988, and later based in Chicago. After releasing three albums the band split up in the mid-1990s, with singer/guitarist Dean Schlabowske going on to found The Waco Brothers.
Joseph Lorenzo Jr. Welbon, known by the stage name Joe Smooth, is an American house music producer and DJ who gained international acclaim during the late 1980s and early 1990s. By the new millennium he held the reputation of working with acts like Destiny's Child, Ludacris, New Order, Whitney Houston, and many others across genres. He is often credited as essential to the creation of house music as a genre and became an influence to major groups like Daft Punk, who often remixed Smooth's music during early live shows.
Peter Ford, better known as Baby Ford, is a British electronic music record producer, known particularly for his contributions to the birth of acid house. He has also released material under aliases with Mark Broom, Thomas Melchior, and Eon.
Vince Lawrence is an American dance music record producer, businessman and is one of the leading innovators of the genre of music called house music. Industry insiders recognize Lawrence as co-author of "On and On", the first recording officially designated "house music". He worked with Jesse Saunders in the initial creation of Jes Say Records, designing its logo by hand. He served as head of marketing and was the lyric writer for "Funk U Up", "Undercover" by Dr. Derelict, "Real Love", and many other songs released in the label's heyday. He also co-authored "Love Can't Turn Around", which featured Daryl Pandy and reached #10 in the UK Singles Chart in 1986, starting the house music revolution in the UK. He organized Trax Records, a Chicago house label. He is the founder of Slang MusicGroup, which has received numerous gold and platinum awards for their contributions.
Screamin' Rachael, born Rachael Cain, is an American musician and Chicago nativedubbed the “Queen of House Music” by Billboard magazine,. Rachael has been connected to the evolution of the House music genre. She has worked with performers such as Grandmaster Melle Mel, Marshall Jefferson, Colonel Abrams, Afrika Bambaataa, and many others.
Virgo is the eponymous debut studio album by American house music duo Virgo Four, released in 1989 on Radical Records in the United Kingdom. It compiles two 12" EPs released in the United States on Trax Records, Do You Know Who You Are? by Virgo Four and Ride by M.E.. Both were pseudonyms of Eric Lewis and Merwyn Sanders, two art students and childhood friends from Chicago. The album was first reissued in 2010 on Rush Hour Recordings.
Derrick Harris was a Chicago music producer and one of the pioneers of house music and acid house. He is known for the song "I've Lost Control", which was released as a 12" single on the Trax Records label, issue number TX 113. The song used a Roland TR-808 and a Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer to create the signature modulated waveform sound which would directly inspire acid house. The track is arguably the first to use this particular sound, and rose to cult underground popularity thanks to DJ Ron Hardy's Music Box club in Chicago.
"Move Your Body" is a 1986 house music song by American musician Marshall Jefferson. The track was released by Trax Records label, following several earlier tracks under aliases such as Virgo. After several popular tunes given to Chicago-based DJ Ron Trent, Jefferson released his first track "Go Wild Rhythm Tracks" on Trax Records and later became an A&R in 1986. Despite negative reception from his co-workers and Trax owner Larry Sherman, Jefferson's track "Move Your Body" became popular with patrons of Chicago dance music clubs in 1985 from cassette tapes, leading to the tracks eventual release in August 1986.