Ron Hardy Born May 8, 1958-(died 1991) was an instrumental figure and DJ in the development of house music. A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience House music is a style of Electronic dance music initially popularized in mid-1980s Discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino An innovator and originator of the genre, he is highly regarded not only for his iconic performances at the Music Box, a Chicago house music club, but for his pioneering edits and mixes of disco, soul music, funk and early house music (sometimes known as Chicago Deep House). Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Disco is a Genre of dance-oriented music whose origins are hard to define Soul music is a Music genre that combines Rhythm and blues and Gospel music, originating in the United States. Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended Soul music, Soul Chicago Deep House is a name given to a sub-genre of House music coined in the mid- to late 1980s
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Early career
Hardy started his career in 1974 in Chicago gay club Den One. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. In the English language, gay is an Adjective that in modern usage refers to Homosexuality. Here, with a set-up of two turntables, a mixer and a reel-to-reel tape-deck, he played long nights of underground black dance music. The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded Sound from the 1870s through the 1980s Reel-to-reel, open reel tape recording is the form of magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording medium is held on a Reel, rather than being Around 1977, after working with renowned DJ Frankie Knuckles at the iconic Chicago club the Warehouse, he went to work in Los Angeles. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Frankie Knuckles (born January 18 1955, New York) is an American DJ, Record producer and Remix artist Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West At the end of 1982, when Chicago's legendary Warehouse club closed and re-opened as the Powerplant at another location, Hardy was asked to play at the old club, now renamed "The Music Box". Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Hardy of course competed with Powerplant DJ (and former colleague) Frankie Knuckles, and he was very experimental in his playing style. Producer Chip E. introduced Hardy to recording music in 1986 when the two mixed "Donnie" by The It (featuring Chip E., Larry Heard, Robert Owens, and Harri Dennis). Irwin Larry Eberhart II (born 1966 in Chicago, Illinois) also known as Chip E Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Irwin Larry Eberhart II (born 1966 in Chicago, Illinois) also known as Chip E Larry Heard (born May 31 1960 is a Memphis Tennessee-based musicia Robert Owens may refer to Robert Bowie Owens (1870 – 1940 a U From humble beginnings, Hardy's contributions to House Music are considered mammoth. House music is a style of Electronic dance music initially popularized in mid-1980s Discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino
Musical and Mixing Styles
While Frankie Knuckles at the Warehouse (and later the Powerplant) had a very smooth style of playing, Hardy was very different. He had less regard for sound quality and would play with a manic energy, mixing everything from classic Philadelphia Disco classics, italo disco imports to new wave, mutant disco and rock tracks. Italo-Disco, is a very wide term that describes the 80's non UK European Disco productions New Wave is a Rock music genre that existed during the late 1970s and the 1980s Hardy also pitched records up way more than Knuckles (pitch being the difference between normal speed and the speed at which the record is currently playing. Usually expressed as + or -, with 10 being maximum/minimum). Techno artist Derrick May remembers hearing Ron playing a Stevie Wonder cut with the speed at +8. Derrick May, also known as Mayday and Rhythim is Rhythim, is an Electronic musician from Detroit Michigan U Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13 1950 name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an
Trademarks
Hardy played a lot of reel-to-reel edits and was always tweaking the soundsystem and playing with the EQ. Equalization (or equalisation, EQ) is the process of changing the frequency envelope of a sound in Audio processing. A Ron Hardy trademark was playing records backwards. He did this by mounting the turntable headshell upside down to the tone-arm, placing a cylinder on the platter, putting the record on the cylinder and by removing the tone-arme weight, pushing the now upside-down needle into the underside of the record. The platter spun normal, but the record played backwards. The Music Box was also known for its insanely loud sound volume.
Favorite Song Selections
Ron always opened his set with "Welcome To The Pleasure Dome" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Frankie Goes to Hollywood ( FGTH) was a UK dance-pop band that were extremely popular in the mid 1980s Among the classic disco that was a staple in Chicago clubs at the time, typical tracks one could hear him play were Visage - "Frequency 7", Klein & MBO - "Dirty Talk", ESG - "Moody", Patrick Adams - "Big Phreek", Liquid Liquid - "Optimo", First Choice - "Let No Man Put Asunder", a lot of Philly Soul Classics and even pop hits like Eurythmics - "Sweet Dreams" and Talk Talk - "It's My Life". Visage is a British pop band Formed in 1978 the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic movement of the early 1980s For the American arena football team see Philadelphia Soul. Philadelphia (or Philly soul, sometimes called the Philadelphia Sound or Sweet Philly Eurythmics (often incorrectly referred to as The Eurythmics) is a British Musical duo, formed in 1980 by Annie Lennox and Dave Talk Talk were a popular British rock group that were active from 1981 to 1991 He also played Electronic Body Music acts like Nitzer Ebb. Electronic body music ( EBM, also known as aggropop) is a Music genre that combines elements of Industrial music and Electronic Nitzer Ebb (pronounced night-zer or nit-zer &mdashthe band pronounces it both ways are a British music group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Such eclecticism and the technical wizardy described were highlights of a unique style that separated Hardy from others like Knuckles and Levan. The main ingredient, however, was the soulful black disco tracks.
Beginnings of Chicago House
Midway through the 80's, many Chicago DJs and clubgoers started experimenting with creating their own rhythm tracks. DJs would play these homemade tracks, and (in short) this is how house music was born. Hardy was no exception, often getting the hottest acetates and tapes. An acetate disc (also known as a test acetate or in the United States a lacquer) is an audio disc that is created as part of the process of producing a Gramophone A roll-call of major Chicago producers including Marshall Jefferson, Larry Heard, Adonis, Phuture's DJ Pierre and Chip E. all debuted their compositions at The Music Box. Irwin Larry Eberhart II (born 1966 in Chicago, Illinois) also known as Chip E When DJ Pierre and his friends Herb and Spanky created a weird squelching rhythm track from a Roland TB 303 bassline machine, they gave this track to Ron Hardy. is a Japanese manufacturer of Electronic musical instruments electronic equipment and Software. The first time he played it, the dancers left the floor. He played the track 3 more times that night, and by the fourth time the audience was going crazy. The track was named "Acid Tracks", and the band was called Phuture. Phuture (nowadays called Phuture 303) is a Chicago -based Acid house group founded in 1985 by DJ Pierre, Spanky and Herb J But actually it was is was the Adonis "space mix" of Sleezy D's (Marshal Jefferson) 1986 release "I've Lost Control"[1] that first introduced the sound of the TB 303 to the house music community and in doing so opened the way for acid house. Acid house is a sub-genre of House music that emphasizes a repetitive hypnotic and trance -like style with samples or spoken lines usually used rather than sung lyrics
Later In Life
It has been alleged that lingering problems with heroin addiction may have forced him to leave the Music Box around 1986. Heroin ( INN: diacetylmorphine, BAN: diamorphine) is a semi-synthetic opioid synthesized from Morphine, a derivative Though he continued to DJ around the area, Hardy wasn't around when Chicago became house music's mecca later in the 80's. He died in 1991, from a heroin overdose. Heroin ( INN: diacetylmorphine, BAN: diamorphine) is a semi-synthetic opioid synthesized from Morphine, a derivative
Lately, there has been a renewed interest in Ron Hardy's legacy as a DJ. In 2004, two bootleg 12" records were released with "Ron's edits" and in 2005, Partehardy Records, run by his nephew Bill released authentic edits not heard in over 20 years. There is also another bootleg series of edits called "Music Box", containing either genuine Ron Hardy re-edits or tibutes by other dj's imitating his editing style. DJ Theo Parrish also made a series of tribute-remixes called "Ugly Edits" some of which bear a striking resemblance to Hardy's re-edits. These have been bootlegged too. Some of DJ Harvey's Black Cock edits records are tributes to Hardy's edits as well.
In addition to his DJ mixes, long-buried original productions have also come to light -- among them, "Throwback 87", a collaboration between Ron Hardy and Gene Hunt.
Ron Hardy has a section dedicated to him on the 2nd DVD of the DJ documentary "Maestro".
Sources
- Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton (2000). Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey. Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3688-5.
External links
- Discogs Ron Hardy discography and biography.
- Back to the Music Box Photos of Ron Hardy and the Music Box from 5 Magazine
- suenomartino.net Brief biography and playlists.
- DJ History Article from Faith magazine
- Ron Hardy Playlists
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