Roger Sanchez: The Tracks That Made Me

When Roger Sanchez started his career in dance music, there wasn't a tree of electronic music genres. There was only a burgeoning sound that found a union between funk, disco, and the alien soundscapes produced by drum machines and synthesizers. Alongside contemporaries like Masters at Work, Todd Terry, David Morales, and Frankie Bones, he helped create the blueprint for 40 years of house music history.

Sanchez has an iconic catalog of remixes and original music. Similarly, he's changed the DJing game by being one of the first to play on multiple turntables at once. And with that much history and perspective on the evolution of dance music, he carries a wealth of knowledge on the music that forms the foundation for the culture. So we asked him to curate a list of his top five dance classics.

In his own words, these are the foundational house tracks that have had the most significant impact on his career.

1. Robert Owens - Bring Down The Walls

"One of my favorite voices in House music. I remember hearing this Robert Owens track at the Paradise Garage and the bass line blew me away."

2. Black Riot (Todd Terry) - A Day In The Life

"This early Todd Terry track on Fourth Floor Records was a peak-hour stomper guaranteed to make the dancers lose it."

3. Underground Solution - Luv Dancin

"This was the first track I released on Strictly Rhythm records, and Tony Humphries made it an instant hit by dropping it five times in one night at Zanzibar."

4. Frankie Knuckles - The Whistle Song

"This track always made me feel as if I were watching a sunset on a beach in Ibiza. A perfect Deep House track."

5. Ceybil - Love So Special

"One of the house heroines gone too soon, Ceybil rocked the dance floors in NY when this track originally dropped."