House music began at some point in the mid-Eighties in Chicago. The bridge between disco and techno (with a little hip-hop thrown in), the genre reached widespread fame in the early Nineties via acts like C&C Music Factory, Technotronic and Madonna-one of the first mainstream proponents of the genre.
That said, the genre’s best songs are the earliest, more underground songs, the ones that were made before house began floating with pop. Along with Marshall Jefferson’s “Jack Your Body (House Music Anthem)” and The Jungle Brothers’ “I’ll House You”, Raze’s “Break 4 Love” is one of the earliest examples of house music at its’ finest.
Along with making you wanna dance, this song oozes pure sex, something I noticed even when I first heard this song at age 11. Of course, then, the pounding beats, the smooth male voice and the alarmingly pornographic moaning elicited giggles. Now? A whole different story. Those of you who thoughtfully consider your sex (or are world class pervs like yours truly) are well aware of what I mean.
Raze was the brainchild of producer/musician Vaughn Mason, of “Bounce, Roll, Skate, Rock” fame. He is also the guy that appears in the video, although if you are to believe the comments in this YouTube clip, the actual vocalist goes by the name of Keith Thompson and had nothing to do with the video (and this is yet another song for which I had no clue a video actually existed). Who did the moaning? Who knows? Who cares?
This was one of those regional hits…people went crazy for this in New York, but I had no idea anyone outside of the tri-state area (and maybe Chicago) had any idea what this song was until I found it on the “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” soundtrack a few years back. As far as I know, that’s the only way you can get this song. But it’s worth it.
