Black History Month: Midwest Electric - The Story of Chicago House and Detroit Techno

About this episode

The episode explores the origins and impact of house and techno music from Chicago and Detroit.

It's been decades since house and techno music exploded out of South Side Chicago and inner-city Detroit, and most Americans still don't know their dance music history. In 1977 a DJ named Frankie Knuckles moved to Chicago to spin and remix disco records at an underground club called The Warehouse. Out of a fringe subculture that formed there - gay and African-American - house music would emerge to become one the biggest club music genres in the world. Meanwhile, young black futurists of Detroit channeled their city's post-industrial decay into a utopian machine music known as techno. APWW #619 Produced by Marlon Bishop and Wills Glasspiegel

People in this episode

Hosts: Marlon Bishop, Wills Glasspiegel

Topics covered

• house music
• techno music
• dance music history
• Chicago
• Detroit
• African-American culture
• music genres

Keywords

• house music
• techno
• Frankie Knuckles
• Chicago
• Detroit
• dance music
• African-American
• music history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Chicago House, Detroit Techno, APWW

Places: South Side Chicago, Detroit

More episodes of Afropop Worldwide

• Samba, Forro, Candomble, Tropicalia: The Sounds of Brazilian Artists in the US · June 11, 2026 · 59 min
• A Spiritual Journey to Mbanza Congo · June 7, 2026 · 59 min
• Music and the Story of Haiti: From Vodou to Compas to Racine to Rara and Beyond · May 30, 2026 · 59 min
• Hip Deep Angola Part 1: Music and Nation in Luanda · May 21, 2026 · 59 min
• A Tale of Two Rebellions - Zanj, Fatamid · May 13, 2026 · 59 min
• Africans in the Persian Gulf · May 8, 2026 · 59 min