Farley Jackmaster Funk

Farley Keith Williams, known professionally as Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, was born on January 25, 1962, in Chicago and is an American DJ. In 1981, he founded Hot Mix 5, a collective of disc jockeys. He began recording influential house and acid house tracks for Trax Records in Chicago. In 1985, his single "Jack the Bass" and Chip E.'s "Time to Jack" from the Jack Trax EP popularized the jacking dance style within the Chicago house scene. That same year, he released "Funkin' with the Drums Again", followed by "Give Yourself to Me" in 1986, featuring vocals from Kevin "Jack N House" Irving and gospel singer Ricky Dillard. In collaboration with Jesse Saunders, Farley created a cover of Isaac Hayes' "I Can't Turn Around", renaming it "Love Can't Turn Around". This version reached number ten on the UK Singles Chart in 1986, marking the first house music track to enter this chart and significantly contributing to the genre's international popularity. Throughout the late 1980s, Farley achieved several notable successes, including "House Nation" in 1986, which reached the top ten in the UK under the moniker House Master Boyz & Rude Boy of House. His album No Vocals Necessary (1988) featured the acid house track "The Acid Life", which was later sampled by Technotronic for their hit "Pump Up the Jam" (1989). Farley continued to remix, produce, and edit for other artists while performing as a DJ in Chicago and beyond.

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