Frankie Knuckles
"Every project pretty much started out as a remix on spec or a simple collaboration or production request. All of these tunes were beginning to get a lot of notice everywhere I was playing and before I knew it I had enough material to make an album.
"I had so many strong songs in my arsenal we decided this compilation should reflect exactly where I am at musically right now and pull all these productions together in one place." - Frankie Knuckles
Now a household name in music, Frankie Knuckles is the man who is famously credited as being the ‘Godfather of House Music’. It was at his Chicago nightclub in the late 70’s - ‘The Warehouse’ - where he would take the ultimately danceable beats of disco and subtly evolve them into what we nowknow as house.
His achievements are formidable, a recipient of the first Grammy for ‘Remixer Of The Year’, he has worked on just about every important soulful vocalist in the past 20 years - Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, Luther Vandross, and Whitney Houston to name but a few.
Recently he famously reworked Hercules and Love Affair’s 'Blind', Depeche Mode’s 'Wrong' and Whitney Houston’s 'Million Dollar Bill'.
It is this association with a multitude of impeccable artists that has let him to put together this aptly titled new album 'Tales From Beyond The Tone Arm' - a kind of ‘concept’ compilation album that takes us through Frankie’s most recent productions, collaborations and musical experiences.
This new compilation album is split into two moods. ‘The Classic Side’ (CD1) is full of tracks that are reminiscent of the halcyon days of house music back in the early '90s, including Frankie’s own celebrated re-work of 'The Whistle Song' under his Directors Cut moniker along with long time production partner and house stalwart Eric Kupper. Here you will also find a plethora of genre defining tracks like 'Fable' (Lil Louis) and 'Worthy' (Richard Earnshaw feat. Jocelyn Brown).
‘The Soultronic Side’ (CD 2) brings it all forward, fusing soulful sounds from Inaya Day & Robin S. (Right Now) with newcomers such as Colton Ford (Let Me Live Again) and young producers and remixers like Rober Gaez and Belocca & Soneec. Finally, let's not forget the legendary ONO (Yoko Ono) who plays her part in the story with 'I'm Movin' On'.
The album also includes an impressive array of exclusives cutsfrom the likes of Sybil (Let Yourself Go), Kenny Summit and Yasmeen (Loving You), Inaya Day and Robin S. (Right Now) and Director’s Cut new remix on The Shapeshifters & C-Dock (Nothing But Love For You).