Persona Records (Chicago,Ill)
1985
Club Mix
Scattered among the classic productions of the mid-’80s Chicago house scene are those of Jamie Principle, the first to record song-based house music and the closest to a songwriter in the entire community. Principle never received his proper respect, since many of his best singles were only released years after their (usually ecstatic) introduction on the Chicago club-scene. Also, the balance of input between Principle and producer Frankie Knuckles has never been defined, resulting in singles credited to “Frankie Knuckles Presents,” “A Frankie Knuckles Production” or occasionally just “Frankie Knuckles” instead of what should perhaps have been acknowledged as Principle co-productions.
He was born Byron Walton on Chicago’s south side, and early on differed from the majority of future house producers by gaining inspiration from a novel group of artists: David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Prince and Human League instead of the almost requisite mixture of Parliament/Funkadelic and obscure disco. He played drums and clarinet as part of a band while attending church, and decided to try making music on his own by 1980. With a synthesizer and his own live drum accompaniment, Principle began writing songs and later bought a four-track recorder to set them down on tape. A mutual friend, José Gomez, introduced his recordings to the don of Chicago DJs, Frankie Knuckles, and Knuckles began dropping Principle songs — still on reel-to-reel tape — into his sets at the Warehouse.
One of the tracks, “Your Love,” became a huge hit at the clubs and on the Hot Mix 5’s radio show. Finally in 1985, two years after house music had debuted on wax, “Your Love” was released on Trax Records. Another previously unreleased gem, “Waiting on My Angel,” was released on Person Records one year later. According to reliable rumor, Knuckles attempted to sell an unreleased Principle single to both of the two major Chicago house labels, Trax and DJ International, at the same time and without his permission; soon, Principle had distanced himself from the producer, and released the dis record “Knucklehead” in response.
The B-side of “Your Love” on its Trax issue was “Baby Wants to Ride,” a piece of X-rated funk which made clear Jamie Principle’s allegiance to Prince. The ffrr label licensed the single in 1988 and it became a major international club hit. Principle hit the Americans with two singles for Atlantic (”Cold World” and “Date with the Rain,” produced with Steve “Silk” Hurley) but then signed to the Smash subsidiary of PolyGram. The singles from his 1991 album Midnite Hour did moderately well in clubs but Principle’s increasingly pop-slanted productions alienated club-goers and simultaneously failed to cross over into pop markets. He continued producing, and appeared on Jesse Saunders’ Chicago Reunion album in 1993. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Duration : 0:7:22
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I now know what he …
I now know what he meant, waiting on my angel
Don Darryl
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I love this song!
I love this song!
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
love this track …
love this track chi-town in da house!!!
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
truely divine… …
truely divine…thanks for this martin!!!!
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
great song!
great song!
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I’m Chicago born/ …
I’m Chicago born/raised- my second 12″from Rolling Stone Records:”Waiting On My Angel” my producers range from Mystic Bill (”Jungle Line”); Sonic Groove’s Dan Physics. My point 2 the last post is, music is/has become washed out and the personalities selling the commerical product now are bland in comparison- 2 give mass culture real inspiration/correct respect, its wise 2 teach a lesson..using superstars who think they R onto something “new” is the way - PLUS Jamie need b revered.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Steve Hurley is a …
Steve Hurley is a world famous producer and remixer. He is an industry heavy-weight. Jamie had his own issues, more an artist than a business person. But many of the house DJs and producers from that era have become very successful music producers and highly sought after remixers, here and abroad.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
This is MikeAlike( …
This is MikeAlike( buy my record “Model Male”)- real curious why people like Jamie and Steve Silk who crafted and molded a sound (it evolved) which is close to what now is mainstream(listen to “Circus” Brittney Spears)- why you all are still gone? Whose your busines managers- they suck.
There should be compilation mixes of Pop sellouts (Brittney/Rihanna) and needs be Jamie mixed in and sold to masses of people. Step up Please.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
this song seriously …
this song seriously never gets old. it’s one of the finest dance songs ever.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Dave I agree. …
Dave I agree. Curious to see what the other songs are/were, Life All played out?
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
this had a very …
this had a very electro feel to it
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
dkasmooth so true, …
dkasmooth so true, so true, when I hear this it takes me back to HS c/o 87!!
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Bra you came out …
Bra you came out with “Mendel”! I used to get there with my guys and as soon as we paid and that song came on, we’d be running in the gym to find someone to dance with on the downstairs checkered floor…LOL I remember those days and listening to the song now takes me right back to when it was all good in the city. Cats were still knucklin up. You were the if you had this song on a cassette tape…LOL
May 11th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I remember waiting …
I remember waiting for Frankie Knuckles to play this at the PowerPlant in ‘85 or so. This was one of the quintessential house songs…one of the 3 (in my opinion) original house songs. As a DJ at the time, these were the songs we played at Mendel that helped move the crowd from the garage sound into the House Music era.
Dave Allen