SOLID BUMP RECORDS

We don’t assume that everyone should know everything about the heroes of house music. A lot of the people that started noticing the label over the last two years were not even born when this thing was starting to boil. Thus, while some of our older supporters might scoff at this sort of post – forget ‘em. It’s about the seeds here. Dance music has no chance at surviving as we love it without education. That being said…

Ron Hardy was one of the most pivotal DJ’s in the progression of house, matched only by a select few such as Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles, and such. Now homeboy died in ’91 – well before anyone from Solid Bump could have possibly have been witness to what happened. But the cliff notes I have learned through years of folklore are that he was:

a) an early DJ from Chicago who had been a semi-established DJ in the pre-Knuckles era who picked up some substantial chops from Frankie after his arrival in Chi from NYC. Frankie came to front his monumental residency at the Warehouse. Notice that Knuckles was closely related to Larry Levan – thus Ron was inadvertently learning from a true source of the cutting edge and putting his own swing on their style.

b) Ron left to LA for a few years before his big break. Ron was asked to re-open the Warehouse as the Music Box after Frankie went to open the Powerhouse.

d) Ron was known for both playing much more sporadic uptempo sets than Knuckles as well as being VERY open to playing new music that made by young local producers (i.e. the burgeoning Chicago house scene). Rumor has it he would play new tapes the same night they were delivered to him from kids alongside the disco staples his crowd would expect.He is known for “breaking” a slew of house classics including “Acid Trax”.

e) he was a master at the “disco edit” when it was much harder to accomplish. He would splice tape – or by some accounts simply use tape decks to do “pause” edits. Fuck your Ableton – dude laid it down by any means necessary. His style of edit was 100% unique and can be recognized (or emulated) quickly by ear.

Ron was truly a hero in the legacy in the music we love. This post was inspired purely by a great site called Gridface who posted an interview with a kin of Ron as well as a true PLETHORA of mixes recorded live at the Music Box. I cannot stress how important of listening this is to anyone who claims to love house in ANY form. Without this man, the music would not be the same. Who knows what might have happened… but it didn’t and we have his legacy which is undeniable. Do yourself a favor and listen to a few of these mixes.

Download a slew of Ron Hardy mixes with tracklistings here. (courtesy of Gridface).

Keep in mind this was a few years after disco was “dead” – doesn’t sound dead to me…