Jamie Principle's groundbreaking Chicago house classic "Your Love" added to National Recording Registry
Chicago house music pioneer Jamie Principle's 1982 track "Your Love" has been selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, joining 24 other recordings recognized as audio treasures of cultural, historical, or aesthetic importance.
Principle, a pioneering Black American music artist and producer born in Chicago, conceived "Your Love" in 1982, with lyrics inspired by a poem he wrote for his girlfriend, Lisa Harris. He recorded the first 8-track of the song, along with three others, with owner and engineer Jerry Soto.
Principle entrusted the track to his friend Louie Gomez, who remixed it and passed it to DJ Frankie Knuckles. Knuckles played the song at his Chicago clubs, including The Warehouse and The Power Plant, where it gained underground fame before becoming a defining anthem of the city's house music scene.
The track was reworked in 1984 and again in 1986, when it received a formal release on Chicago's Persona Records with a mix by Principle and Gomez. In 1987, Knuckles delivered an extended remix that incorporated additional production elements by Principle and vocal contributions from Adrienne Jett. That version — Jamie Principle's "Your Love" (Frankie Knuckles Remix) — became an iconic club hit around the world.
Beyond "Your Love," Principle buttressed his house music bona fides with the Prince-kissed "Baby Wants to Ride," and also broke into the Billboard charts with his 1985 hit "Waiting On My Angel."
The Library of Congress announced its additions this week, bringing the total number of titles on the registry to 700.
Other inductees include Taylor Swift's 2014 album "1989," Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)," José Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," Weezer's debut album, The Go-Go's, Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You," and the original cast album of the Broadway musical "Chicago." The soundtrack to the video game "Doom" was also selected.