Danny Howells
House of Music DJ
This website
is a collection of
House Music throughout
the ages.
About Danny Howells
This website is a collection of house music throughout the ages. Now, a lot of people would agree that the phrase “house music” is quite controversial because it seems dated. It seems limited to a particular time or a particular place long in the past. I understand why people think this way because they look at the past of house music as quaint or they look at it in terms of nostalgia.
However, as the old saying goes: If you don’t understand where you came from, it’s going to be very hard to get to where you wish to go. Modern electronic dance music would not have gotten this far and would not have evolved to this level if it were not for house music. Somebody had to do the heavy-lifting. Somebody had to lay down the foundation and build the cornerstone of what would later turn out to be a multibillion dollar global musical enterprise.
There are many different brand in today’s electronic dance music, but there is one truth that people cannot really escape. That truth is that electronic dance music, for all practical purposes, has become a business. Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Isn’t that a hypocritical statement? When has electronic dance music never been a business?”
You might point to the fact that the early dance parties and underground warehouse parties in New York, in the West Coast, and elsewhere has always been about money. Well, you might want to think twice because there’s actually a house party movement in places like Chicago, where people just put up party after party without looking to laugh all the way to the bank. I know that sounds crazy and I know that that sounds really unconventional, but it’s true.
People basically just put up these parties, distribute flyers, call around, and mobilize their resources because they just want to have a good time. The money— and there was really not much of it— was just there to cover expenses. Unfortunately, a lot of the early house music movement remained pitifully small precisely because people were not really all that good at managing the business end of the scene.
It was only when house music escaped the geographic boundaries of Chicago and basically spread and cross-pollinated different underground dance music scenes all over the country, that entrepreneurs with enough capitals saw its potential. That was when it became a big business, but don’t ever discount the fact that there has always been money involved in the process.
This website really explores the ins and outs of house music and looks at it as a foundational musical influence and phenomenon that continues to influence electronic dance music today. It is our hope that by properly understanding the role of house music in terms of history and in terms of creative evolution, we would be able to arrive at a fuller and more nuanced understanding of electronic dance music as it currently exists.
Music is Contagious
Make no mistake. Music is like a virus. The more viruses it comes into contact with, the more it evolves and that’s a good thing. It can be chaotic, it can get messy at times, but ultimately, it’s a good thing because change is the only constant. No music genre is immune to this. In fact, we welcome change, but regardless of how much change electronic dance music goes through, we can always point to the fact that it will always have that same house beat. You can thank Danny Howells and the other innovators of house music for that.