Techno vs. house: Detroit and Chicago's shared electronic roots
DETROIT. Detroit techno and Chicago house both trace back to the late 1970s, after disco's collapse. In Detroit, the Belleville Three, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derek May, built techno's synthesizer driven, mostly instrumental sound. In Chicago, Frankie Knuckles and others at the Warehouse club built house out of electronic beats and disco samples.
The two scenes grew differently. Chicago's house got branded early by DJs like Chip E. and sold through record shops; Detroit's techno spread through underground warehouse parties and radio host Charles Johnson's show, then got its name from Neil Rushton's 1988 compilation Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit. DJs from both cities call it a creative exchange, not a rivalry, united by the same goal of moving a dance floor.
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