#3 Craig Loftis | "It All Started in Craig's Basement"

Some of the best history gets told between old friends. Before there were house music producers, there were kids in basements with cheap turntables and cheaper cassette decks, staying up all night trying to get the pause button just right. Craig Loftis was one of those kids.

Craig Loftis, aka Grand High Priest, will tell you he doesn't run around waving flags about being one of Chicago's first house music producers. But the receipts are there. A track made in 1982. A night at Mendel with Frankie Knuckles that made twenty thousand dollars. Years at DJ International where the entire Chicago house music canon was being built in real time. And Mary Mary, a track that lived on the gay scene for six years before the straight market ever heard it. This is that story.

Produced by Lori Branch and Hannah Viti. Funded by a grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Events. Music provided by Craig Loftis, Boo Williams, Vick Lavender, and Steve Ty Maestro.