Farley "Jackmaster" Funk (born Farley Keith Williams; January 25, 1962) is an American musician, DJ and record producer of Chicago house and acid house music. He is notable for writing and producing a number of highly influential tracks in the mid and late 1980s.

He has released records under various aliases such as "Farley Funkin' Keith", "Rude Boy Farley Keith", "The Housemaster Boyz", "Jackmaster Dick" or "The Godfather of House".

Career

Farley got his start in the music industry in 1981 as one of the original members of the Hot Mix 5, a DJ team at WBMX-FM 102.7 FM, Oak Park, Illinois (original members of Kenny "Jammin" Jason, Mickey "Mixin" Oliver, Scott "Smokin" Silz, Farley "Funkin" Keith and Ralphi "Rockin" Rosario). He was a guest DJ at the Warehouse nightclub, and was a resident DJ at The Playground, which later became the Candy Store The new version, "Love Can't Turn Around", reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart in 1986. It holds an important place in the history of house music as the first record in the genre to make it into the UK Singles Chart and to popularize house music overseas.

Farley had several other follow-up hits during the late 1980s, most notably "House Nation" in 1986, credited to the House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy of House, which followed "Love Can't Turn Around" into the UK top ten.

The album No Vocals Necessary (1988) contained a 303 driven instrumental acid house track named "The Acid Life" that was successfully (but uncredited) covered by Technotronic as "Pump Up the Jam" (1989).

Apart from his own works, he did some remixing, producing and editing for other artists during this time. He also DJed and performed at many parties in the Chicago suburbs, and is still playing venues as a DJ .

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! scope="row"| "Aw Shucks (Let's Go Let's Go)"

| rowspan="4"| 1985

| —

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! scope="row"| "Funkin with the Drums"

| —

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! scope="row"| "Jack the Bass"

| —

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! scope="row"| "Funkin with the Drums Again"

| —

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! scope="row"| "Give Your Self to Me"

| rowspan="4"| 1986

| —

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! scope="row"| "Thanks 4 the Trax U Lost"<br />

| —

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! scope="row"| "Love Can't Turn Around"

| 10

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! scope="row"| "House Nation"<br />

| 8

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! scope="row"| "It's U"<br />

| rowspan="3"| 1987

| —

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! scope="row"| "Hey Norton (Aw Shucks)"

| —

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! scope="row"| "U Ain't Really House"

| —

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! scope="row"| "U Ain't Really Acieed (House)"

| rowspan="2"| 1988

| —

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! scope="row"| "As Always"<br />

| 49

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! scope="row"| "Think!"<br />

| rowspan="2"| 1989

| 76

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! scope="row"| "Free at Last"

| 76

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! scope="row"| "Beat That Bitch with a Bat"<br />

| 1993

| —

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! scope="row"| "Pray 4 Me"

| 1994

| —

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! scope="row"| "Another Day"

| 1995

| —

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! scope="row"| "Resurrection EP"

| 1996

| —

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! scope="row"| "I Call on You"

| 2004

| —

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| colspan="3" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

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DJ mixes

  • Real House: Hot Mix CD (1996)

Compilations

  • Trax Classix (2005)

References

  • Biography and Discography of Farley "Jackmaster" Funk at Discogs
  • Farley Jack Master Funk at Myspace