Al de Leon

A track out of Chicago was released internationally in 1989 and blew up the club scene like no other song before it--Lil' Louis' "French Kiss." It was at the tender age of 12 back in 1974 when Louis began his DJ career--one that's shortly nearing its end. The son of noted blues artist Bobby Sims, Louis grew up on the city's West Side and was throwing some of the biggest house parties and spinning at clubs like Rivers Edge by the time he reached his teens, which led to his moniker.

Although Louis quickly built a name for himself as one of house music's forefathers, it's no surprise that most people associate him with "French Kiss," a song that embodies everything dance music evokes, from the emotional to the erotic. Casual club-goers might know it as the cleverly simplistic record that begins with a seductive chord progression on the keys before slowing to a crawl as the vocal--a woman moaning suggestively--peaks. There's something somewhat inexplicable that happens when you're on a dance floor and the DJ drops a track--the one that makes the whole crowd come together and connect with each other and the DJ. It doesn't happen every night at every club, but most everyone who's ever been to a club would agree that "French Kiss" is one song that can do just that.

"The first night I played `French Kiss,' the crowd was so loud I couldn't hear the song anymore," says Louis, during a phone interview from New York, where he now lives since moving from Chicago in the nineties. "I never experienced something like that. It was like another level." It's a song that the BBC reportedly once banned, yet it sold five million copies globally and, fifteen years later, you can still hear the biggest DJs playing it around the world.

Still revered by house heads everywhere, Louis is leaving the decks behind after a storied thirty-year career that began just before disco's decline. Ironically, the city that built house music was the same one that declared the death of disco on July 12, 1979--the night that two Chicago radio personalities organized a twisted celebration of sorts to destroy disco records at the old Comiskey Park. Luckily for dance-music fans, Louis and contemporaries like Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan didn't buy into the backlash. "On July 13 [1979], we decided it wasn't dead and continued the movement," Louis says with conviction. "I knew it was something beautiful. There's no better feeling than being on the dancefloor and hearing that 4/4. That feeling of euphoria isn't the same [with other genres] as it is with dance music."

By no means a one-hit wonder, Louis signed a major-label deal with Epic following the "French Kiss" phenomenon and released "From the Mind of Lil' Louis," one of the first house albums that incorporated jazz and other influences. He released a follow-up album, "Journey with the Lonely," in 1992.

Louis' Christmas night set at Crobar is part of his "Last Dance Tour," a yearlong effort that's already taken him to New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. While he says he's leaving the door open for the occasional special performance, he's officially retiring from touring as a DJ to pursue other interests in film, television and music. Five years ago, the last time Louis played here, a capacity crowd at House of Blues showed up to see the living legend spin. Clearly there's an audience for him, so why retire now? "Because there's 24 hours in a day, and I have other things I want to delve into," he says. "Everyone has a time and space when they're most productive. I'm satisfied that thirty years of service is enough."

After all of these years, the dance-music scene has changed significantly since the days when DJs spliced reel-to-reel tapes together. From his vantage point as one of the genre's originators, Louis has some concerns. "I'm not loving the state of dance music. The reason why it was beautiful before was because it was pure."

The outlook for dance music isn't all that bleak, however. House had modest underground roots in gay black nightclubs, and the fact that it's still alive after many said the music wouldn't last is a positive, and Louis agrees. Some would even argue that dance music is thriving despite little commercial radio support, and that should be apparent when Louis plays at Crobar.

"I will give everything I have, the kitchen sink," Louis promises. But don't expect a Madonna-style set that runs through his greatest hits, like the acid-tinged beats of "Video Clash"--Louis rarely plays his own songs. And while his roots might be in deep Chicago house, his musical tastes are broad and he expects to cover a lot of territory during the slated six-hour set.

"It will definitely be emotional. It's where house began and it's where I began. I can only imagine what will happen in Chicago."

Lil' Louis plays with Lego, Gene Hunt and others on December 25 at Crobar, 1543 N. Kingsbury, (312)266-1900

(2004-12-21)

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