The untold story of Chicago is that after the birth of house, the city developed a major underground scene that mirrored other areas of the United States. By 1993 the Chicago rave scene had really begun to flourish with parties like 100% Pure Hardcore which featured Phantom 45 & Hyperactive; Rejoice which hosted Dubtribe along with Terry Mullan & DB; and See The Light which hosted Moby, Orbital & Aphex Twin.
Throughout the nineties other popular acts in Chicago were Danny Breaks, Ruffneck, Woody Mcbride, John Acquaviva, Sleepy C, and Underground Resistance. The rave scene in Chicago mostly carried over the drum & bass sounds from artists like Phantom 45, techno from Detroit and a lot of Chicago-style acid house. Straight house music dj's were still often featured on lineups with artists like Derrick Carter & Doc Martin.
The dj mixing style of Chicago has, since the days of disco, been a competitive format. As was seen with the birth of house music when dj's were constantly trying to outdo each other, the tradition continued the entire way through the nineties and into present day. Many Chicago dj's specialized in scratching and turntablism and most competed in DMC-style battles. Danny the Wildchild was one of these dj's who competed in and won the 1998 DMC Championships as well as Bad Boy Bill who won First Place one decade earlier in the 1988 DMC Championships.
Bad Boy Bill became famous for taking Chicago house music to a level it had never reached before. Having started his dj'ing with the WBMX dj mixing team "Hot Mix 5" and soon undertaking the challenge of mass producing mixtapes, Bad Boy Bill had developed a base to springboard onto the international music scene. Bill showcased a great deal of local Chicago flavor in his mix series Bangin' the Box which also incorporated a great deal of regional techno. In 1997 he formed House Connection with Richard Humpty Vission. Together they produced two mix compilations that had set the tone for Chicago house mixing in the late nineties.
In 1999 house music continued to progress forward. Pete Heller's "Big Love" was ranked as the #1 dance song of the year by Billboard Magazine while Junior Jack's "My Feeling" reached #31 on the UK Chart. Michael Moog's "That Sound" had also reached #1 on Billboard Magazine's chart, except this did not happen until the year 2000.
The featured session is a house mix that was recorded live during my college years nearly a decade ago. In it's entirety it featured some of the most popular and well-known house and disco house tracks of the 1999 period.
Kamasutra - Burnin
Hardsoul - Fight The Feeling
Celeda - Let The Music Use You Up
Jose Nunez - Hold On (Jazz N Groove Dub)
Ministers De La Funk - Believe (Dub)
Junior Jack - My Feeling (Kick N Deep Mix)
Paul Jacobs - Happy Days (PJ's Unreleased Mix)
Michael Moog - That Sound (Full Intention Dub)
Gambafreaks - Down Down Down (Vocal Mix)
Pete Heller - Big Love (Dronez Mix)
