Rush Hour have teamed up with Chicago DJ/producer Gene Hunt to present an incredible anthology of previously unreleased dance music from his hometown.
The aptly named Chicago Dance Tracks will be available as a CD compilation and on two 12″s, and focusses on little-known house classics from the 1980s. Hunt started DJing in ’86 when he was just 14 years old, and quickly became one of the scene’s key DJs, playing a series of legendary parties and spinning alongside Ron Hardy during his residency at the Hyatt Park Athletic Club. Hardy imparted his considerable, hard-earned musical knowledge to the young Hunt, and the duo went on to record original music together.
Chicago Dance Tracks is sourced from the many reel-to-reel tapes that local producers gave Hunt to play out in clubs. Raw, home-made house music, aimed squarely at the dancefloor, this stuff never made it to a professional studio, let alone any record stores, and in many cases the producers mislaid their own master tapes. Thankfully Hunt has held onto all the tapes that were given to him, archiving them with librarian-like diligence, and now he’s teamed up with Amsterdam’s foremost house custodians Rush Hour to bring them to a whole new audience.
All the tracks Hunt has compiled here are rough, uncut versions, lo-fi and unpolished. Artists featured include now legendary figures such as Mr Fingers, Steve Poindexter, Ron Hardy, Farley Jackmaster Funk and Virgo Four, while there’s even a contribution from Dion, these days best known as Kanye West’s trusty producer No I.D..
There are 12 tracks in total on the CD, some of which have been edited to fit the format; all have been restored and remastered from the original, first generation reel-to-reel tapes. The artwork showcases original Chicago flyers, with artists interviews and original photos also included. The same 12 tracks are divided across two separate 12″s.
CD tracklist:
1. Virgo Four – The Dryer
2. Larry Heard vs Marshall Jefferson – You’re Mine vs Destination (Zernell Gillie’s rework)
3. Fingers Inc. – 326 Donnie (Gene Hunt’s Box Rework)
4. Mr Fingers – Fingers Fuck
5. Dion & Tony – 1015
6. Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley – I Don’t Know
7. Mike Dunn – Gherkin Aftermath 909
8. Farley J.M.F. – Yes He Saved Me (Gene Hunt Mix)
9. Craig Loftis – Yes I’m Right
10. Farley Keith Williams – J.M.F. Groove
11. Ron Hardy – Sensation (Original Mix)
12. Lil Louis – Super Clash (DJ Cease aka George Dupress Rework)