Disco never really died.

Instead it mutated, and one of its mutant offshoots is House Music. House music retains much of the heavy regular beat of disco, but tends to be more electronic, with drum machine rhythms and synthesized basses. The music is song based, and draws on a variety of influences, including Latin, jazz, soul, gospel and reggae.

House music grew up in the early eighties in Detroit and Chicago clubs that appealled to poor and disenfranchised populations, especially the gay community. The music incorporated the Roland Rhythm Section, TB-303 Bassline and TR-909 drums. There’s both instrumental and vocal house music. Vocal house rarely focuses much attention on actual lyrics, instead trying to deliver an intense hook that will get people dancing. C+C Music Factory’s “Everybody Dance Now” is catchy as hell, but doesn’t try to be anything more than a call to dance.

One of the most notable early house cuts was Rhythm is Rhythm’s “Strings of Life”. House grew in popularity as mainstream artists like Madonna gave it more of a pop twist. Even though house music is twenty years old, most club-oriented dance music that is played today is still a variation on the formula created by early house musicians.