What About This Love?

It seems it was all in vain

by j. brotherlove

Wednesday. Hump Day. The perfect day for a lovesong.

The first time I heard Larry Heard’s music was the summer of 1985. The homegrown house music scene in Chicago was sizzling and Heard played a heavy hand in producing and shaping that sound.

Heard went by the name Mr. Fingers at that time. One listen to his early tunes and you knew why; the boy can jam on the keyboards. The first Mr. Fingers song I heard was “Washing Machine”, a frenetic and hypnotic, mechanical dance cut. I’d dance at Club Laray until I was a soaking mess. My obsession with the song culminated in me looping it onto a 30 minute tape (to the discomfort of anyone who could overhear. “Does that song ever end?”).

Larry Heard’s catalog is expansive, covering house, acid jazz, new age and what he calls “adult dance music”. I feel very sad for eardrums that have never heard Heard. “What About This Love?” is representative of his most familiar recipe: A good bassline, sprinkled with keyboards and swirling chords. Add moody vocals to taste.

I have an even more delicious instrumental version on vinyl. Gotta get that ripped. Enjoy.

What about this love?
Girl, please don’t turn your back on me
What about our promise to each other

It seems it was all in vain
‘Cause now all I have is pain
Thinking why I tried so hard
And now you just disregard what we ever had

— “What About This Love?”
Mr. Fingers

Why do I now have ‘Welcome to Club LaRay’ booming in my head right now? And as a rule I hated house music, but this was the only cut I can distinctly remembering playing so much that I wore out two cassettes from listening to it all the time. Good stuff.

Larry has a gift. He creates more than great (dance) music. He conveys feelings. Love. Passion. Soul. Intimacy. It lifts my spirits yet there’s always a hint of melancholy. I always make sure I go see him when he spins up here.

Thanks for this post, j.