"HOUSE MUSIC ... THE REAL STORY" "House music is basically all of the styles of music people try to segregate," says DJ Jesse Saunders.

Pioneer mixmaster
wants a fair cut

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By Shawn "Speedy" Lopes
slopes@starbulletin.com

Call it a grave injustice if Jesse Saunders never reaches the lofty heights of a Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox or Sasha & Digweed. After all, those exalted, jet-setting DJs who easily command $25,000 a gig are amassing fortunes by spinning music he practically invented.

"But what are you gonna do?" asks Saunders.

It was 1984 when Saunders, a 21-year-old Chicago DJ, released "On & On," a thump-heavy single inspired by an uncredited bootleg disco B-side that had become a favorite in Saunders' live sets. When the mystery song was stolen along with a number of his records at a local club, Saunders created his own signature track by mixing various musical elements through a four-track recorder, all the while using the infamous B-side as a blueprint.

Clubgoers and fellow DJs, already hip to the original "On & On" through Saunders' sets, stormed Importes, Etc., the city's hottest club mix record shop at the time, in a mad dash to get their hands on his strange new creation. When popular radio mix shows picked up on the inventive track, countless other would-be musicians around Chicago followed his lead by recording their own dance tracks at home. Thus, they say, house (though it had not yet been given a name) was born.

While Saunders is slow to take credit as house music's sole creator, many still lay claim to its invention. This has been a constant source of annoyance for Saunders, who in 1998 published "House Music ... The Real Story," a first-person account of the music's origins. Through a string of anecdotes on Chicago's club scene, Saunders systematically dispels popular myths and fallacies concerning this musical phenomenon. "There's all kinds of dirt in there," he says with a wicked giggle. "That's one of the reasons I wrote the book in the first place; I got tired of people skirting around the real story."

Contrary to popular belief, Saunders says, scene celebrities like DJ Frankie Knuckles, Farley "Jackmaster" Funk and Chip E., while instrumental in the proliferation of house, have little to do with its creation. Another point of contention is the term "house," which is in fact named for the Warehouse, the legendary nightspot where Knuckles introduced Chicago clubbers to the latest underground disco platters from New York and Philadelphia. Saunders also believes house to be the starting point for all modern forms of electronica.

"House music is basically all of the styles of music people try to segregate, whether it be trance, tribal or any of the other styles," he explains. "It's all basically rooted in house music." That includes techno, which, it is often argued, was created by a small group of Detroit DJs and musicians who began blending experimental European electronic music with American funk several years before the inception of house.

Saunders disagrees. "What's funny to me is, the people who (invented) techno play house music," he says, referring to Detroit techno's holy trinity of Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. "Each one of them will tell you that until Derrick came to Chicago and heard what house music was all about, they really didn't do anything with it. That right there tells you that they basically got their influence from house music."

Although there is great respect between the old-school DJs of Chicago and Detroit, those early innovators have been engulfed by a glut of marginally talented newcomers who have been catapulted into superstardom through major-label marketing campaigns.

"The thing that bothers me the most is the fact that the guys who are getting the most publicity aren't the best DJs," he says with a measure of ire. "To get it simply because you had a company that put hundreds of thousands of dollars behind you to promote you just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me."

Those privy to a live Jesse Saunders set are often wowed by his inventiveness and showmanship, qualities sorely lacking in most DJ performances. Through two decades of experience behind the turntables and a finely tuned ear, Saunders seems to be able to play the right song at the right time and leave audiences craving more.

"It's uplifting, feel-good music -- body music, I call it," he explains. "It just takes you away."

Jesse Saunders Where: Wave Waikiki, 1877 Kalakaua Ave. When: Doors open at 9 p.m. tomorrow Cover: $10; must be 18 Call: 591-3500

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