Garage House

mid 1980s · New York City, United States

Soulful, vocal-led house from 1980s New York clubs (Wikipedia).

The sound

Gospel and soul vocals over house drums, swung hats, warmer chords.

Listen for: The soulful vocal and the swing in the hi-hats compared to straight Chicago house.

Things to know

  1. Garage house is named after New York's Paradise Garage club, where Larry Levan was the resident DJ from 1977 until the club closed in 1987.

  2. Garage house keeps house's four-on-the-floor kick but brings back full vocal performances, gospel-influenced piano chords, warm pads, and a slightly swung hi-hat.

  3. American garage house and UK garage are two different genres that share one name. The Americans kept making warm, vocal, swung house; the British chopped it up into 2-step.

  4. Tony Humphries codified garage house's musical template through his residency at Club Zanzibar in Newark and his Friday-night mix show on New York's KISS-FM.

  5. Strictly Rhythm and Nu Groove are the two New York and New Jersey labels that pressed most of the foundational garage house records in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Key tracks

Family tree

  • House: Garage house kept house's four-on-the-floor but pulled it toward soul and gospel. New York producers leaned on live-sounding vocals, warmer chords, and a swung hi-hat, so the groove breathes more than the machine-tight Chicago template.
  • UK Garage: UK garage started when London DJs and pirate radio sped up and chopped New York garage house records. The imported soulful sound got faster, the drums broke into a two-step shuffle, and a distinctly British club scene formed around it.

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