Mr. Fingers - Can You Feel It (1986)

Born on Chicago’s south side in 1960, Heard began buying records from an early age, and was influenced by his parents’ jazz and gospel collection. Though he practiced on guitar and bass as a youth, he joined a friend’s band playing drums after bluffing his way through an audition at the age of 17. Heard began practicing with fervor and became quite good, though he took a civil-service job as well to pay the bills. While playing with a variety of local bands during the late ’70s and early ’80s (including one with future house star Adonis on bass), Heard was introduced to many different types of synthesizers, and he gradually became more interested in playing keyboards than drums. Heard finally opted out of the band setup in 1984, bought a synthesizer/drum machine combo and began producing music. After a few days with the gear, he had recorded three tracks later recognized as serious pinnacles of Chicago house, among them “Mystery of Love,“ “Washing Machine“ and “Can