IMS Dalt Vila 2023

10 Tracks That Defined 80s House Music

With production credits on legendary tracks like 1986’s “Move Your Body,” and Phuture’s 1987 acid house classic, “Acid Tracks,”  Marshall Jefferson is one of the originators of Chicago house.

Jefferson was born in Chicago in 1959, growing up listening to rock bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. As soon as Chicago’s Music Box club started developing a reputation in the early 80s, Jefferson and his friends were in there.

He was drawn to the feeling of house music that was absent from the disco he would hear on the radio. Inspired by artists like Jesse Saunders and Jamie Principle he decided to buy a synthesizer/sequencer and start making his own music.

Then in 1985, the year before Jefferson made “Move Your Body” he also produced now classic hits like "Go Wild Rhythm Trax," Sleazy D’s "I've Lost Control," and the following year with “Acid Tracks,” Jefferson was crucial to popularizing the squelchy 303 sound that is now known around the world as acid.

Always on the forefront of new sounds, when everyone else started getting into acid, Jefferson was moving on to the sounds of deep house, which was more in line with the original style of house he fell in love with at the Music Box.

“Open Your Eyes” was Jefferson’s first significant offering in the realm of deep house, and alongside Chicago legend Larry Heard, the term “deep house” took off just like acid.

With Jefferson’s established talent he was working steadily through the late '80s and early '90s when house music took off globally.

Jefferson is still a staple in the global house scene nearly 40 years after he stepped in the Music Box for the first time. In 2022 he’s releasing music on Ultra Records and playing everywhere from New York to Los Angeles to Scotland.

United States

acid house

chicago house

classic house

Marshall Jefferson

deep tech house

house

progressive house

uk dance

CamelPhat

Pete Tong

Jaguar

danish electronic

danish techno

deep euro house

melodic techno

minimal techno

Kölsch

electra

swedish electronic

swedish techno

Ida Engberg

Layla Benitez

John "Jellybean" Benitez

pink noise

TAAHLIAH

Spain

Dalt Vila

deep disco house

deep house

uk tech house

Jamie Jones

italian techno

techno

Joseph Capriati

uk house

Hot Since 82

tech house

Wheats

Ilario Alicante

Richy Ahmed

dutch experimental electronic

William Djoko

ALISHA

bass house

Dateless

Amnesia Ibiza

Paradise Closing Party

Paradise

big beat

disco house

filter house

speed garage

vocal house

Armand Van Helden

spanish techno

Bastian Bux

Beltran

ChaseWest

uk funky

Dennis Ferrer

HoneyLuv

raw techno

Eats Everything

pop dance

Sonny Fodera

Gene Farris

Idris Elba

J. Worra

electro house

progressive electro house

Kaskade

Luna Mar

Purple Disco Machine

latin tech house

Tini Gessler

Riordan

SYREETA

elrow

Union Park

elrow Chicago at Arc Music Festival 2024

Latmun

Lee Foss

Seb Zito

Hector Couto

german tech house

Tomi & Kesh

Jansons

Mason Maynard

Eden Ibiza

Space at Eden Week 4

Space

France

Dombresky

progressive trance

trance

uplifting trance

Aly & Fila

Germany

Human Rias

latin hip hop

reggaeton

trap latino

urbano latino

Nicky Jam

Andres Campo

United Kingdom

melodic house

Cristoph

minimal tech house

Archie Hamilton

funky tech house

tribal house

Erick Morillo

big room

4YÛ

Marshall Jefferson

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