MOVE YA BODY: THE BIRTH OF HOUSE (Elegance Bratton, 2025)
House music is everywhere. Nightclubs, music festivals, even the coffee shop I’m sitting in right now, no matter where you are, house music can be found. But do they know its roots? Do the people attending the music festivals understand what they are dancing to? Do I? Do you?
Move Ya Body tells the truth, the fascinating story of how house music came to be, finally highlighting the pioneers of not just the genre, but the cultural movement. Mainly focused on the life of Vince Lawrence, the man many would say is fully behind the genre, the film studies the history of Chicago that forced the movement, and how Vince was involved in that.
It almost feels as though Vince was destined for this life, like some higher being chose him, gave him life experiences that would push him towards the music. It was inevitable. Born in Chicago, Vince’s father was involved in the Chicago music business, coming into contact with people on Soul Train, the people that a young Vince looked up to. He didn’t grow up rich, and it was these circumstances that led to his first experience with music. When his father couldn’t come up with the money for summer camp, he instead decided that Vince would be sent on tour with Captain Sky, a funk artist he managed. Vince convinced Captain Sky that he could do pyrotechnics for the tour and he was accepted onto the bus, at only fourteen years old. It was on this tour that Vince discovered the synthesizer, and everything began falling into place.
When he got home, he needed to own a synth. He got a job at a baseball stadium, and began saving all his money to buy a second hand synth, but at the same time, something else was happening in Chicago. A radio DJ was beginning the “disco sucks” movement, one that would result in the disco demolition at the very baseball stadium that Vince was working at. What can only be described as a race riot broke out, the police had to intervene, and Vince witnessed at all. After that, disco sales collapsed, and that was the end.
Or it would have been, if not for the black Chicago youth and Vince Lawrence. The party wasn’t over yet, especially in Chicago institution, The Warehouse, where the genre gets its name from. They began working on their own music, and Vince finally got his synth, forming his own band and eventual record label. House music was born.
A picture taken at the Disco Demolition. July 12th 1979.
The music comes from a need to create no matter what, to do something even with nothing. The music is simple, and not necessarily by choice. They didn’t have a drum kit, or anyone who would be able to play the drums, they had a synth and a bass and sometimes a keyboard, and thats all it took to create one of the most popular genres. House music was born out of the hate that Vince and his friends had experienced, a need to overcome, to make something about love and joy, and just feeling good. It created a space for black and queer people to be free, there is no hate in house music. Unfortunately, as is almost always the case, the genre was stolen from its originators.
The guy who had been running the record label, Larry, had been making a mint off the music, but the artists and creators weren’t seeing any of it, but beyond this, think of house music now. As the documentary points out, when you google house music DJs, the first results are just a long list of white, straight men. There’s no mention of any people featured in the documentary, despite the genres roots. This film highlights this, whilst giving the creators back their spotlight, allowing them to claim what belongs to them. These people love the music, it is everything to them, it was their escape and their release from a hard life in a hard city, it is essential that they get the respect and recognition that they deserve, and thus this documentary itself is essential.
Another example of the white-washing comes from one of the documentary’s participants, Rachael. Rachael was in a punk band, was a supporter of the Disco Sucks movement, and was a singer on one of the first official house records. She claimed herself as the “Queen of House”, profiting off the record, despite saying she didn’t even really like the music, never mind begin to understand it. She ended up marrying Larry, and in their divorce, she got ownership of the record label that had profited for years off other people’s work. As of now, she is being sued by Vince Lawrence, as well as twenty-two other original artists, to claim back the royalties she has earned off their work.
Beyond the history, the documentary shows how fun the genre can be, it makes you want to dance, to be in the club, to live. I might as well have googled nearest club to me upon leaving the cinema, I had caught the fever. Every participant who had been involved in the music (excluding Rachael) came off as immensely charming, clever, talented, and above all, deeply inspiring.
Vince and his father.
To be able to create something out of nothing, to make the most of your situation no matter what, to work for what you love, and to spread love, joy and acceptance is an unbelievably brave thing, something that not many people can say that they have done. The originators of house music have done it, and they see no recognition for it, until now.
Next time you hear a David Guetta song, I hope you think of the black, queer youth of Chicago, giving every fibre of their beings so that the world could dance.
