Music promoter Robert Williams founded the Music Box in 1983 and resident DJ Ron Hardy brought in dancers from across Chicago who moved to a form of electronic music that would become known worldwide as house. Hardy became renowned for using cassette tapes to create spontaneous edits in the DJ booth that remixed, looped and often sped up familiar disco and R&B tracks that kept dancers on edge. He also sampled and mixed in myriad sound effects like alarm bells and incoming train noises. The original Music Box was at this then-secluded location for one year. After Williams discovered that the building was condemned, the club moved to Michigan Avenue and its DJs included Marshall Jefferson. The Music Box closed after the City of Chicago passed an ordinance in 1987 that restricted youth-oriented juice bars’ operations. Hardy died in 1992 at the age of 34.

– A.C. 

Caption: Former location of the Music Box.