Cargo Records

Gene Hunt Presents - Chicago Dance Tracks Vol. 1

Rush Hour continues to unearth unreleased Chicago classics from the 80s golden era of house music. This time the label teams up with Gene Hunt, who started out DJing in 1986 at the tender age of 14. Gene soon became a key DJ in the local scene, playing at legendary hotel parties, and holding down a resident spot at the the Hyatt Park Athletic Club, where he spun alongside Ron Hardy. Ron passed on his musical knowledge to the youngster and the pair started recording together as well.



Many local producers gave Gene reel-to-reel tapes of their new productions to play out in the clubs. Many of these were never released and most producers lost their own tracks over time. Luckily, Gene stores all his copies like a librarian and now, 25 years (or more!) later, the time has finally come to share this great music with the rest of the world. The tracks included here are all rough, uncut versions, often home-made drum computer jams, which never made it to final production at a professional studio. They represent early output of the artists involved, some tracks dating back as early as 1982-1983. The compilation features unreleased tracks by Mr. Fingers, Steve Poindexter, Ron Hardy, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Virgo Four, Virgo & Adonis, Steve 'Silk' Hurley, and Dion.


It also includes reworks and original versions that were never properly released, like Ron Hardy's original 'Sensation', Gene Hunts version of 'Donnie', and Mike Dunn's rework of Gherkin Jerks' (Larry Heard) 'Acid Indigestion'. These tracks were deemed not commercial (i.e. radio friendly) enough by labels such as Trax or DJ International, but were all the more popular in the Chicago clubs. These were the tracks that people lost their minds to and danced off their asses to, hence 'Chicago Dance Tracks'. The CD version is jam packed with 12 tracks. Some have been edited down to fit the format. All have been restored and remastered from the original, first generation reel-to-reel tapes. The cover art and booklet features original Chicago flyers and contemporary scene photos, plus artist interviews with Gene Hunt and Jackmaster Farley.