Chip E - The Architect Of House - Chicago 1984-88. Volume 1: Classics

Chip E – The Architect Of House - Chicago 1984-88. Volume 1: Classics | Chicago House, Acid House & Classic House Double Vinyl LP

Cat No: STILLMDLP018
Label: Still Music
Genre: House, Acid House, Chicago House, 80s House, Deep House, Classic House
Spec: Picture Sleeve
Disc Colour: Black
Format: 2x12 Inch Vinyl (Double LP)

Description:

Still Music and Jerome Derradji celebrate one of the true pioneers of Chicago House with Chip E – 'The Architect Of House - Chicago 1984-88. Volume 1: Classics'. The first instalment in a definitive three-volume archival series, this double vinyl LP collects essential recordings from a crucial period in the birth of House music, documenting the raw drum machines, jack tracks, early Acid sounds and dancefloor experimentation that helped establish the foundations of the genre.

Born Irwin Eberhart II, Chip E became immersed in Chicago's developing underground dance culture from an early age. After discovering the city's club scene as a teenager, he went on to work at influential record stores including Importes Etc. and Gramophone Records, while creating reel-to-reel edits for pioneering DJs including Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy. By the mid-1980s, he was helping turn the emerging Chicago sound into something with its own unmistakable identity.

His seminal 'Jack Trax' EP, released in 1985, became a key record in the development of Chicago House. Tracks such as 'Time To Jack' and 'It's House' did more than fill dancefloors – they helped establish the language and terminology surrounding the new musical movement. Built from stripped-back drum machines, repetitive vocal hooks, tape edits, basslines and infectious melodic motifs, these recordings capture House music while its vocabulary was still being written.

Volume 1: Classics brings those foundational records together alongside deeper selections from Chip E's 1984–88 output. Familiar favourites including 'Time To Jack', 'It's House' and 'If You Only Knew (If You Dance Mix)' sit alongside formative cuts such as 'MB Dance', 'It's Dub', 'Time To Track', 'Sensuous House' and 'House Energy'.

Across the collection, the transition from Disco into early House can be heard taking shape in real time. Raw machine rhythms, hypnotic repetition, TB-303 basslines, stuttering vocal samples and stripped-back arrangements reveal the experimental approach that made Chicago's early productions so influential. These were records created with an uncompromising focus on the dancefloor, yet their ideas would ultimately travel far beyond the city's clubs.

Presented by Still Music with the historical perspective of label founder Jerome Derradji, 'The Architect Of House - Chicago 1984-88' restores important context to Chip E's contribution to dance music. Rather than simply compiling classic tracks, the series documents the work of an artist who helped shape the sound, culture and language of House at its formative stage.

Perfect for DJs and collectors into Chicago House vinyl, 80s House, Acid House, Deep House and the origins of electronic dance music. Presented across a 2x12 inch vinyl double LP, Volume 1: Classics is an essential document of early House music and the pioneering work of Chip E.

Tracklist:

A1 - Time To Jack
A2 - It's House
A3 - MB Dance
B1 - Like This (Club Mix)
B2 - If You Only Knew (If You Dance Mix)
C1 - Godfather of House (Club Version)
C2 - It's Dub
C3 - Time To Track
D1 - Get On Up
D2 - Sensuous House
D3 - House Energy

Why Buy This Vinyl?

• A landmark collection documenting Chip E's pioneering Chicago House productions from 1984–88.
• Features foundational classics including 'Time To Jack', 'It's House' and 'If You Only Knew' alongside deeper early House cuts.
• Captures the raw sound of early Chicago House and Acid House through drum machines, TB-303 basslines, tape edits and vocal samples.
• The first of three archival double LP volumes from Still Music and Jerome Derradji celebrating Chip E's role in the development of House music.
• Essential for collectors searching for Chip E vinyl, early Chicago House, 80s House, classic House records and the roots of modern dance music.