Chez Damier
I Never Knew Love
When something comes into vogue, as House Music has done in last few years, there is a massive danger of sounding inherently pretentious when writing or talking about it. This is not the aim of this post. If we put judgements aside the fact remains that, for those of the dancing persuasion, nothing quite beats good house music. That being said, the name Chez Damier probably won’t mean much to the average person reading this either. In fact, unless you have a special interest in 90’s house there would be no reason you would. Put simply, Chez Damier is the stage name used by Chicago born producer and DJ Anthony Pearson who came onto the radar during the early 1990’s, and ever since has become legendary in his own right.
To put this into context, House Music came to fruition in Chicago during the early 1980’s and in the following 3 decades it underwent massive change. Just listen to the classic Larry Heard production ‘Washing Machine’released in 1986 and compare it the 2015 track ‘What Am I Here For (NDATL Late Night Mix)’ by The Dangerfeel Newbies released nearly 30 years later, the difference is huge. The evolution from 80’s to 90’s house was extraordinary too and as such, one could argue that during these two decades two different generations of producers emerged. Artists such as Frankie Knuckles and Larry Heard belonged to the first generation, these were the true pioneers. Producers such as Chez Damier, Glenn Underground and Kerri Chandler belong to the second and were arguably producing some of their best works during the early to mid 90’s, a period many regard to be the golden age of house music.
Indeed, for such a well known name in dance music Damier is different to most others. He is one of those of rare producers who became big, produced some stunning tracks but never got to point where he sold out. With his integrity still very much in tact, this is a man who created the world-famous Prescription record label alongside legendary Ron Trent and with Trent co-wrote one of the most famous and influential minimal Deep House tracks ever written, ‘Morning Factory’; it is a must have track for any House junkies.
Released in 1992, ‘I Never Knew Love (Made In Detroit Mix)’ is an early Damier release and it is by far one of the finest, most uplifting vocal house tracks of its time. Everything about the production of this track from the smooth vocal harmonies to the intoxicating simple keyboard hook is testament to how talented Anthony Pearson is as a producer. Hopefully after listening to this track you may come round to doing away with the popular myth that all house music sounds the same. After all, like anything in this world, there is always going to be the good, the badly and the ugly! House Music is no exception to this rule.
To put this into context, House Music came to fruition in Chicago during the early 1980’s and in the following 3 decades it underwent massive change. Just listen to the classic Larry Heard production ‘Washing Machine’released in 1986 and compare it the 2015 track ‘What Am I Here For (NDATL Late Night Mix)’ by The Dangerfeel Newbies released nearly 30 years later, the difference is huge. The evolution from 80’s to 90’s house was extraordinary too and as such, one could argue that during these two decades two different generations of producers emerged. Artists such as Frankie Knuckles and Larry Heard belonged to the first generation, these were the true pioneers. Producers such as Chez Damier, Glenn Underground and Kerri Chandler belong to the second and were arguably producing some of their best works during the early to mid 90’s, a period many regard to be the golden age of house music.
Indeed, for such a well known name in dance music Damier is different to most others. He is one of those of rare producers who became big, produced some stunning tracks but never got to point where he sold out. With his integrity still very much in tact, this is a man who created the world-famous Prescription record label alongside legendary Ron Trent and with Trent co-wrote one of the most famous and influential minimal Deep House tracks ever written, ‘Morning Factory’; it is a must have track for any House junkies.
Released in 1992, ‘I Never Knew Love (Made In Detroit Mix)’ is an early Damier release and it is by far one of the finest, most uplifting vocal house tracks of its time. Everything about the production of this track from the smooth vocal harmonies to the intoxicating simple keyboard hook is testament to how talented Anthony Pearson is as a producer. Hopefully after listening to this track you may come round to doing away with the popular myth that all house music sounds the same. After all, like anything in this world, there is always going to be the good, the badly and the ugly! House Music is no exception to this rule.
