About Me
Lil Louis is the stage name used by Chicago-born house music producer and DJ Louis Burns. He scored a number of hits on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the eighties and nineties, three of which hit 1.His best known song, "French Kiss," featured vocals by Shawn Christopher and spent two weeks at 1 on the dance chart in 1989. The house track (now considered a classic) features a several-minutes-long breakdown in which the music gradually slowed down in tempo to a complete stop and left nothing but orgasmic moaning from Christopher. Even with its sensual sound, it crossed over to some dance-leaning pop radio stations and climbed to 50 on the Hot 100. It was a big success throughout Europe reaching 2 in the UK and in Germany for example.In 2000 producer Josh Wink released "How's Your Evening So Far?" - credited to Wink vs. Lil Louis - a track which heavily sampled "French Kiss." The song peaked at 3 on the dance chart.Louis has released albums under the names Lil Louis & the World and Lil Louis & the PartyOne of the most popular Chicago house producers during the late '80s thanks to his massive club hit "French Kiss," Lil' Louis was also the only Chicago producer to successfully deal with the major labels; he released two albums for Epic, and only left the label at his own instigation. Born in Chicago, Louis was the son of guitarist Bobby Sims, who recorded for Chess and appeared with the psychedelic-soul unit Rotary Connection. He grew up with nine siblings and played both drums and bass as a child, then began DJing in the mid-'70s (he earned his nickname after appearances at the club River's Edge while still in middle school). By the end of the decade he had his own club, the Future, where he began working on his editing techniques, thanks to a cassette deck and later a reel-to-reel recorder.Lil' Louis was born on May 13th and raised in the westside of Chicago. Before Technics 1200's, Disco, The Garage, The Music Box, The Warehouse, and The Power Plant nightclubs, there was Lil' Louis, By the age of fourteen, Louis was getting paid to DJ at clubs and lounges around Chicago. Even at such a young age, Louis had complete confidence behind the decks, playing music that he believed in regardless of its popularity, or lack of same.In 1974, Louis made his DJ debut under some very, let's say, challenging conditions. Several gangs, including the Latin Kings, the Black Gangster Disciples, and the Vice Lords, claimed different sections of Chicago. In an effort to bring peace and unity to the community, Louis' mother threw a neighborhood party to which she invited members of all of the warring gangs. In a bizarre twist of fate, the DJ had an epileptic seizure and was rushed off to the hospital, leaving a hostile crowd with no music. Louis then found himself (at the tender age of twelve) behind the deck (as per his mother's request...no, make that command). With only one turntable and an increasingly violent crowd, Louis created a calm in all the madness by playing Kool & The Gang's "Funky Stuff."By the 1980s, Lil' Louis was hosting the biggest house parties in Chicago, and he began recording his productions around that time as well. His first single "How I Feel" appeared on his own label, and he began collaborating with Marshall Jefferson on several tracks -- "Seven Ways to Jack" by Hercules, Byron Stingily's "I Can't Stay Awake." In 1987, his new single "French Kiss" became a local hit, then a platinum-selling international classic after being licensed to CBS and ffrr. The success triggered a major-label contract through Epic, and the release of his debut album From the Mind of Lil' Louis in 1989. Charting a course across jazz-fusion and R&B as well as house, the LP was one of the best produced by any of the Chicago figures, and included session contributions from Larry Heard, Die Warzau and his own father on drums. From the album, the moody single "I Called U" became another club hit. His follow-up LP, the more stylistically unified Journey with the Lonely, didn't fare as well and Lil' Louis retired from recording for over four years, preferring instead to set up his own studio in New York and work on production with Babyface and Me'Shell NdegeOcello. He returned by collaborating with "Little" Louie Vega of Masters at Work and also worked on production for Black Magic.
