“Like This” – Discussion of a Chicago House Music Anthem

      Over the course of my musical career of many years, I have been one of my harshest critics. It is the very essence of such stringent self-analysis that provides an artist/songwriter unending opportunities to evolve into a greater professional. For this reason, I would like to share my personal thoughts about the most successful work of my career to date, entitled “Like This”.

      "Like This" is a classic Chicago house music track that garnered international acclaim in 1985, when it was first released, and it peaked at #15 on Billboard Hot 100 Dance Club Play charts during that time. I was the performer/songwriter of the single, under the stage name K.Joy, and writer name of Kim Salter (also misspelled on some vinyl as Kim Sutter). Chip E. was the producer who received the prevailing credit and notoriety, due to the fact that the first press of the records only listed Chip E. as the artist. Later pressings of the record listed the artist name as both K.Joy as the solo artist, and then as Chip E. featuring K.Joy.

      DJ International, one of the two main Chicago labels releasing house music at that time, probably recognized the hit potential in this song. It had a catchy hook coupled with honest lyrics, about the underground club experience and the pivotal role the house music DJ played for partygoers and dancers alike. Such lyrical content merged with a magnetizing beat, containing a banging, sultry bass line, was most likely bound to make a good profit in the mind of the label owner. He ended up being right, because the single reportedly sold over 100,000 copies in the U.S. and abroad. It was an excellent business decision, in my opinion, to release a track during a time when house music was in its infancy. It was also good because radio disc jockeys were clamoring to be the first one to break out with anything hot, new, and unheard.

      The followers of house music were also hungry for the next track that would drive them to the dance floor in a frenzy. It even made them committed and loyal enough to stand outside of a record store in the cold, for hours, just to get as many copies as they needed of this house track that seemed to mesmerize them. The original “Like This”, despite its raw, inexperienced, un-mastered, and lightly mixed vocals, combined with unstructured lyrics that failed to follow any pattern whatsoever, became an instant favorite that people all over the world still profess to love even today.

     Although in the genre of house, this song is a classic adored by many, as the co-creator, I am baffled by its appeal since it is such a simple song. It is even further apparent when I compare it with my more recent releases of "Like This" re-sung with less imperfections, over all new professionally mixed and mastered tracks. Yet house fanatics still respond to the original version more than any other, and they request that I perform that version most often.

      I suppose the young, raw, unpolished vocals, over the gritty sampled beat (produced out of a basement studio) captured the heart of the listener because of its simplicity and purity. Apparently, they could relate to the song as a whole, and it made them feel free. It doesn’t make sense to me in some respects, but sometimes things in the music industry don’t always follow what we as creators or artists think that they should.

      The main lesson I learned from this consumer response is that perhaps simple, gritty, real, and honest is best when it comes to songwriting.