I've never seen Kempster's book but I think the notion that Juan 'invented' Chicago house is a distortion of what he said in an article rather famous in these precincts, namely Simon Trask's December 1988 interview, in which Juan also mentions the (in)famous DS/DD battle.
http://www.mobeus.org/archives/juanatkins/ Now then, if you want a controversial Juan Atkins quote, how about this one: In this country it's very hard for creative thought to escape capitalism. http://music.hyperreal.org/library/publicity/juan_atkins/interview.html I appreciate Juan Atkins not only for his pioneering role in techno and popular electronic music generally, but because he has been a steady voice all these years for a humanistic approach to making music rather than a totally commercialized one. That said, as Juan himself has noted, it's pretty much impossible now to make a living off of recordings, so I wish him and the rest of Model 500 good fortune on their live gigs. fh ----------------- >I was thinking specifically of the book History of House by Chris Kempster >(which collects older interviews). > >My email sounded a little harsher than I intended ;-) I'm just saying it's >good now that there's some healthy debate! > > >Fred Heutte wrote: >>> Juan has even claimed that he invented Chicago house music. >> >> >> Source for that? >> >> fh >> >> ----------------- >>>I agree. Most of us weren't there. It's very easy to accept the story as >>>told by British music journalists that there were only a couple of major >>>players, but history is always messier than that. There were dozens of >>> DJs >>>and musicians all doing similar things to varying degrees of success >>>throughout the Midwest. >>> >>>Juan has even claimed that he invented Chicago house music. As important >>>as he is to the history of music, I take what he says "with a grain of >>>salt." >>> >>>J >>> >>> >>>mistamuthaf...@yahoo.com wrote: >>>> In the end it is the victor who gets to write the history book...So the >>>> story that gets told will probably look and feel a bit different than >>>> what >>>> actually happened. I would take it with a grain of salt considering >>>> Eddie's side of the story. >>>> >>>> I am leaning toward Eddie, Derrick, and Juan all being there at the >>>> same >>>> time. >>>> >>>> >>>> ------Original Message------ >>>> From: Fred Heutte >>>> To: 313@hyperreal.org >>>> Sent: Nov 26, 2009 6:45 PM >>>> Subject: Re: (313) Did anyone stick around to see the comments on Dan >>>> Bean's interview with Juan? >>>> >>>> Of course we've always known that the D in Detroit stands for >>>> Drama :) >>>> >>>> It's a revealing series of comments. I get the impression there is >>>> still something of a mini-generation gap. There are those who built >>>> the party scene in the early 1980s when DD was the undisputed >>>> flagship, and high level of DJ skills and all the party trappings are >>>> rightfully points of pride. And there are those who came in later >>>> who were starting to focus more on making tracks as well as DJing. >>>> >>>> But there was a disappointing series of hits on Juan, which at least >>>> got a corrective from Mike Clark's precise recounting of the >>>> battle-that-couldn't-have-happened. >>>> >>>> I look through the list of commenters and see so many people who >>>> contrbuted to the music that we have all been able to appreciate. >>>> There is nothing unusual about competition in a musical context, >>>> and all the resentments that build up in a local music scene, well, >>>> that's always going to happen. It's just too bad that respect was >>>> so hard to earn then, and still is today. >>>> >>>> >>>> fh >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ----------------- >>>>>Wow... what a series of comments!!! My entire understanding of the >>>>>history timeline has shifted... >>>>> >>>>>and my favorite part is that Juan says he and Derrick were working >>>>>together first before Eddie joined the crew... Eddie is so full of >>>>>it, he's always saying he came before Derrick and that he should get >>>>>more credit than Derrick, but Juan says right in the interview that >>>>>Derrick was first... classic!!!! >>>>> >>>>>~Jodie >>>>> >>>>>On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 2:21 PM, kent williams <chaircrus...@gmail.com> >>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Hoo boy! >>>>>> >>>>>> http://www.bleep43.com/bleep43/2009/10/4/juan-atkins-interview-part-one.html >>>>>> >>>>>> Comments from Todd Johnson of Direct Drive, Delano Smith, Theresa >>>>>> Hill, Al Ester, and Mike Clark. >>>>>> >>>>>> Apparently they took some exception to some of the stuff Juan said... >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T >>> >>> >> >> >> >> > >
