Chicago’s legendary Chosen Few DJs Alan King and Wayne Williams make their UK debut with an Exclusive set for Househead London on Saturday October 26th following on from the success of their worldwide acclaimed annual Chosen Few Picnic & Festival.
Drawn from popular DJs from the city’s south side, the Chosen Few DJ crew include founder Wayne Wiliams, Alan King, Jesse Saunders, Tony Hatchett, Andre Hatchett and most recently Mike Dunn and Terry Hunter. The Chosen Few played their unique brand of soulful dance music to huge crowds at Chicago night spots of historic importance in the birth and development of house music, including Sauer’s, First Impressions, the Playground and the Loft. Alan King and Wayne Williams have helped shape Chicago’s house music landscape going on to launch their worldwide acclaimed annual Chosen Few Picnic & Festival, which takes place on the July 4th weekend and is one of the largest and longest-running house music events in the world.
Their influence has been felt for more than 30 years, and they have been cited as an inspiration by countless DJs including legendary house music DJs and producers Frankie Knuckles, Steve “Silk” Hurley and Chip E. Alan and Wayne still regularly plays to rave reviews at clubs and events throughout Chicago and the U.S.
Hi Alan & Wayne, it’s great to catch up with you and you’re headlining the Househead London party on Saturday October 26th, and what can we look forward to in your set?
Alan King:
I’m really excited about the Househead London party! In my experience, the UK heads always bring a special energy to the party and are open to a wide variety of sounds. I never know exactly where my sets are going to go, but it’s usually a mixture of soulful, afro and gospel house along with disco and house music classics.
How did the Chosen Few first come into being?
Wayne Williams:
I am the Founder and President of the Chosen few DJS and started CFDJS in 1977. The Chosen Few Picnic and Festival started in 1990 and next year will be our 35th Anniversary. Our Festival is the roots of Chicago House Music and it’s very important to the City of Chicago and now the entire world as Chicago is known as the birthplace of House Music and we are proud to hold onto that tradition.
Alan King:
I started DJing the same year Wayne founded Chosen Few and as I started to get really popular on the underground disco scene on the south side of Chicago, Wayne asked me to join the crew around 1980. Before house music got a name and went on to reach worldwide, the Chosen Few were introducing this underground form of dance music to a largely straight, teenage audience across the city.
You host the annual Chosen Few Festival on July 4th and how was this year’s event and what were the highlights for you?
Alan King:
We got a lot of feedback that this year’s event may have been the best one ever. One of the highlights this year was the first-ever back-to-back set by Joe Claussell and Timmy Regisford. A personal highlight was dropping Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets” as night fell over the crowd!
One of the biggest house music events in the calendar that’s been running for 34 years, how important is the festival and what does it do for Chicago and house music?
Alan King:
This year was our 34th annual Picnic & Festival and we’re still amazed at the large international event our little “picnic” has become. The Picnic is like a big family reunion that’s about love, togetherness, and a celebration of the origins of authentic house music and its culture. The event has come to mean so much to so many people, it’s almost hard to describe. We pour a lot of heart, soul and money into the event, and we work hard to give people a great time every year.
Friends with ex-president Barack Obama, who I believe sent a personal video message for the 25th Anniversary, what have been the highlights of the festival over the years?
Alan King:
I’ve known President Obama since the 1990s, and it was really kind of him to record a video greeting to our 25th Anniversary crowd in 2015. It was especially cool because I only asked if he would do an audio message, and he took it upon himself to record the video. It was a surprise to our crowd (and I even kept it secret from most of the Chosen Few) and certainly having the President of the United States recognise and participate in our event was one of the highlights over the years! Another thing that’s really special to me about the Picnic is being able to provide performance opportunities to dance music legends whose music we played and grew up on – whether its Jocelyn Brown, Stephanie Mills, Thelma Houston, Cheryl Lynn, Leroy Burgess, Rochelle Fleming, Evelyn King, and many more.
Wayne Williams:
Obviously having a sitting President recognise your event and your city was a very special moment for us. Another special moment for me was having Frankie Knuckles play our event as he was one of my all-time favourite DJs.
House music continues to evolve and with new members Terry Hunter and Mike Dunn joining the Chosen Few, how do you see things evolving and are there any plans for new projects?
Alan King:
Terry and Mike have been incredible additions to the crew! Obviously, they’re great DJs and bring a lot of production credit and international fame to the mix, but more important to me is that they’re amazing people. The Chosen Few DJs are a true brotherhood, and we have a strong bond and love for each other. In addition to Chosen Few events, we all do our own things locally, nationally and internationally, but we’re always flying the Chosen Few flag in whatever we do. On the personal front, I am looking forward to getting much more active on the production side as I start to wind down my day job a bit.
Wayne Williams:
Terry Hunter and Mike Dunn, who I’ve known for years, are both phenomenal DJs so it was very easy to add them to our group. They also are great Producers and have been travelling internationally for many years. They bring a lot to the table and are able to shine a bright light on our entire group. We’re all brothers and close friends and we inspire each other. We are also very creative and are constantly evolving and have new ideas that we push each other to fulfil.
You’ve worked in A&R for Jive Records and broke Mr Lee’s “Pump Up London” and.., and how good did it feel to break Chicago artists & house music around the world?
Wayne Williams:
I started DJing in 1973 and first got into Funk and Disco. Then me and my brother Jesse Saunders started making records in 1984. Jesse is known for making the first House song in Chicago called “On and On” and starting the first House Music label Jes Say Records with his partner Vince Lawrence. I made the second song for that label under the Dr Derelict name titled “Undercover”. I also used an alias Gentry Ice and later worked as A&R at Trax Records and also put out Acid House songs like Dance Doctor “That Shits Wild”, “Do You Wanna Jack” and many more.
I worked at Trax until 1989 and then started at Jive Records and signed acts like Mr Lee, Adonis (who I had signed at Trax Records), DJ Pierre and Liz Torres.
You’ve also worked with Fresh Prince & Jazzy Jeff, and how were they to work with and are there any funny stories you can let us int
Wayne Williams:
At Jive I also signed Hula and Fingers as producers who with Mr Lee and myself worked on the Will Smith songs “Summertime”, “Ring My Bell” and “Boom Shake the Room”. I do have some great stories but I will save that for our next interview…Lol 🙂
Original Chicago house heads, how did you first get into house music and what memories and experiences did you have at that time?
Alan King:
The pre-house music days were the formative years of what I call house music culture and what would come to be known as house music. During this time, you had certain DJs playing this underground style of dance music to largely gay crowds. What the Chosen Few did was spread the music and culture to largely straight teenagers across Chicago. In doing so, we were able to inspire a host of future house music DJs and producers.
With Frankie Knuckles at The Warehouse and Ron Hardy at the Music Box, were the Chosen Few DJ-ing at that time and what parties and clubs were you involved in? How exciting was the city then with clubs, radio and new producers creating new house sounds?
Alan King:
Yes, the Chosen Few started DJing around the same time that Frankie started playing at The Warehouse and long before the Music Box came on the scene and before house music made it to mainstream radio. In those early days, a lot of the parties we were DJing were at high schools and in basements and backyards on the south side of Chicago, but we also played at nightspots that were instrumental in the birth and development of house music like Sauer’s, First Impressions, the Playground and the Loft. To give you a sense of how “on fire” the scene was at the time, we had to close off entry into the Loft one night because we were over capacity, and the next thing we knew the kids had gone across the street and “borrowed” a ladder from the Chicago Fire Department and started coming in through the second-floor windows of the Loft! When you added to that the Hot Mix 5 launching on WBMX radio and the young producers experimenting with house music productions that would soon go worldwide – it all added up to Chicago being the mecca of house music
Wayne Williams:
Yes the Chosen Few were DJing in venues before Frankie came to Chicago but not before Ron Hardy. We were in lofts, basement parties,tennis clubs, pool parties, huge High School gymnasiums and spaces we could rent out.
Chicago’s legendary Chosen Few DJs Alan King & Wayne Williams make their UK debut with an Exclusive show for Househead London on Saturday October 26th at Aures in Waterloo. Flanked by the UK’s finest Paris Cesvette, Deli G and Lil Meesh, tickets are available here RA: https://ra.co/events/
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