By 1997, when he was first in line to be name-dropped in Daft Punk’s “Teachers,” Paul Johnson had already seen several waves of Chicago’s bustling house scene come and go. Making it onto the scene just in time to experience Marshall Jefferson’s game-changing “Move Your Body,” Paul Johnson would go on to play predecessor to nearly every style to come out of the city’s long history. His contributions to the Dance Mania label are still some of ghetto house’s most inescapable tracks, and his piano house classic “Get Get Down” rivals the ubiquity of “Move Your Body” itself. Most influential of his work came from his singular disco-house sound that proselytized around the world. Highlighted on records like the Club Land EP, which has been digitally reissued by Roy Davis Jr.’s Undaground Therapy label, Paul Johnson’s indelible groove still finds itself vogue after thirty years.
A highlight from the EP, “With My Eyes” exemplifies the kind of funk brilliance that would go on to define the next decade of house music. A polite guitar loop flirts and jumps around a maddening bass line that runs rife with the courage of a Motown session player. Few things in this lifetime sound better than the thump of a classic Chicago house kick, and it’s no different on “With My Eyes.” Chicago’s conversation with other house meccas like New York and France is fully audible – “With My Eyes” plays excellently alongside any number of Armand Van Helden tracks from the era, but feels equally at home alongside the then-exploding French house sound from labels like Roule and acts like I:Cube and Modjo. The style’s residual influence on the electrified sound of the 2000’s is also apparent. The tight horn line that closes out the track would feel at home on any number of Ed Banger or early New York electroclash releases.
Perhaps it’s due to that influence that a track like “With My Eyes” still feels eminent and fresh to this day. The persisting vogue of Daft Punk and the everlasting longtail of French house have defined the 21st century of popular dance music, but the original formulas are still potent, even amongst two decades of being watered down. By the time he passed away in 2021, Paul Johnson’s legacy had been long cemented as a legend of Chicago house. But no amount of recognition or praise will ever feel comparable to the gross prevalence of dance music today. But at least, with continuing efforts to prop Johnson and other bygone pioneers up, the gospel of their music can be preached with a bit more ease.
Graphic by Xanthe Massey