Ron Hardy is the only man who can test Frankie Knuckles’ status as Godfather of Chicago House Music. Though he rarely recorded under his own name and left little evidence of his life, Hardy was the major name for Chicago’s dance music from the late 70s to the mid-80s. By 1974, he had already effected a continuous music mix with reel-to-reel machines plus a dual-turntable setup at the club Den One. Several years later, Hardy played with Knuckles at a club called the Warehouse and though he spent several years in Los Angeles, he later returned to Chicago to open his own club along with Robert Williams, the Muzic Box. While Knuckles was translating disco and the emerging house music to a straight, southside audience at the Power Plant, Hardy’s 72-hour mix sessions and flamboyant party lifestyle fit in well with the uptown, mostly gay audience at the Muzic Box. A roll-call of major Chicago producers including Marshall Jefferson, Larry Heard, Adonis, Phuture’s DJ Pierre and Chip E all debuted their compositions by pressing up acetates or reel-to-reel copies for Hardy to play during the mid-80s. This CD compilation brings together some of of the classic house and electro-dance tracks he played at the Muzic Box back in the day.
