Nearly 40 years after its rise, the influence of Chicago house is still felt on dance floors the world over. What seems more easily forgotten nowadays is the music previously played by the DJs who went on to popularize the genre in the ’80s – but a 1992 feature by the late Trent Adkins and Robert Ford that appeared in Ford and Terry Martin‘s zine Crossfade titled “Chicago’s House: a Checklist” offers a look 99 of the key songs at its roots.

Indeed, the list comprises 100 entries (with #88 curiously missing) that would have been called “house music” in the early to mid ’80s but wouldn’t be categorized as such nowadays. “What is house?” poses the intro. “If defined by the music made popular at the Warehouse in Chicago during its heyday, it might be best described by a list of 100 tunes that were hits there.”

“Not the records made in Chicago, but the records that influenced those records,” it goes on. “This uptempo, bottom-heavy, funky music was made in New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Italy etc., but it was revered by Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Andre Hatchett, Mike Izabuku, and other Chicago deep house jocks.”

The Zine Scene

Crossfade was the relatively short-lived DJ publication co-published by Martin and Ford, the latter of whom previously made a name for himself as the publisher of a zine called Thing, on which Adkins worked as an editor. Thing, which first published the aforementioned list with the title “House Top 100,” ran from 1989-1993 and covered topics relevant to Black, queer communities. Among them was house music, a favorite of Ford and Adkins as they both frequented the Warehouse during its heyday.

Robert Ford died of AIDS in 1993, and Trent Adkins met the same fate in 2007. The legacy of their zines, Thing in particular, has been preserved through a Google Arts & Culture exhibit as well as Artforum retrospective by Solveig Nelson.

Find the 99 titles included in “Chicago’s House: a Checklist” below.

1. MSFB – Love is the Message
2. Montanna Sextet – Heavy Vibes
3. Don’t Go Lose It Baby – Hugh Masekela
4. Powerline – Double Journey
5. TW Funkmasters – Love Money
6. Donald Byrd – Love Has Come Around
7. Inner Life – Caught Up (In One Night Love Affairs)
8. Inner Life – Moment of My Life
9. Taana Gardner – Work That Body
10. Ava Cherry – You Never Loved Me
11. Billy Frasier – Billy Who
12. Dan Hartman – Relight My Fire
13. Sparque – Let’s Go Dancin’
14. Logg – You’ve Got That Something
15. Roy Ayres – Running Away
16. Dinosaur L – Go Bang
17. Quartz – Beyond the Clouds
18. Eddy Grant – Time Warp
19. Gwen McCrae – Funky Sensation
20. Love Deluxe – Here Comes That Sound
21. Don Armando’s 2nd Avenue Rhumba Band – Deputy of Love
22. Machine – There But For the Grace of God
23. Harry Thurman – Underwater
24. Convertion – Let’s Do It
25. Loleatta Holloway – Seconds
26. Ecstasy, Passion and Pain – Touch and Go
27. Stephanie Mills – Put Your Body In It
28. Sergio Mendez – I’ll Tell You
29. Made in USA – Melodies
30. Teena Marie – Behind the Groove
31. Slave – Just a Touch of Love
32. Slave – Party Lights
33. Prince – Sexy Dancer
34. Imagination – Burning Up
35. Sylvester – Sell My Soul
36. Tony Cook – On the Floor
37. Teena Gardner – When You Touch Me
38. Patti LaBelle – Music is My Way of Life
39. Cheryl Lynn – You Saved My Day
40. Giorgio Moroder – E=MC²
41. Tantra – Mother Africa
42. Diana Ross – The Boss
43. Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – The Boss
44. Phreek – Weekend
45. GQ – Disco Nights (Rock/Freak)
46. TZ – I Got the Hots for You
47. Kat Mandu – The Break
48. Alphonse Mouzon – Everybody Get Down
49. Bruce Johnson – Pipeline
50. Mikki – Dance Lover
51. David Joseph – You Can’t Hide
52. Persia – Inch by Inch
53. The Strikers – Inch by Inch
54. Touche – Just Like a Doorknob
55. The Jammers – Be Mine Tonight
56. Skatt Brothers – Walk the Night
57. The Clash – Magnificent Dance
58. Ashford and Simpson – It Seems to Hang On
59. T Connection – Do What You Wanna Do
60. Trussel – I Love It
61. Paul Simpson Connection – Use Me, Lose Me
62. Musique – Push Push in the Bush
63. Indeep – Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
64. ESG – Moody
65. Unlimited Touch – In the Middle
66. Fonda Rae – Over Like a Fat Rat
67. Coati Mundi – Que Pasa / Me No Pop I
68. Chaka Khan – Clouds
69. Tasha Thomas – Hot Buttered Boogie
70. Debbie Jacobs – Don’t You Want My Love
71. Gayle Adams – Your Love is a Lifesaver
72. Weeks and Company – Rock Your World
73. Que Tal America – Two Man Sound
74. First Choice – Love Thang
75. Yello – Bostich
76. Dee Dee Sharp Gamble – Breaking and Entering
77. Mary Wells – Gigolo
78. Lipps Inc. – Funkytown
79. Tom Brown – Funkin For Jamaica
80. Clark Sisters – You Brought the Sunshine
81. Diana Ross – Love Hangover
82. The Originals – Down to Love Town
83. Candido – Thousand Finger Man
84. Skipworth and Turner – Thinking About Your Love
85. Positive Force – We Got The Funk
86. Chango – Paradise
87. Gino Soccio – Dancer
88. [no entry]
89. THP Orchestra – Two Hot for Love
90. Loose Joints – It’s All Over My Face
91. AURRA – Checking You Out
92. Atlantic Starr – Circles
93. Klein + MBO – Dirty Talk
94. Gwen Guthrie – Should Have Been You
95. South Shore Commission – Free Man
96. Peter Brown – Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me
97. Amii Stewart – Knock on Wood
98. Toney Lee – Reach Up
99. Kleeer – Get Tough
100. Jimmy “Bo” Horn – Spank

Image credit: Eric Krull

A previous version of this article incorrectly listed Thing co-publishers Trent Adkins and Robert Ford as the co-publishers of Crossfade.