Gherkin Records
A short-lived Chicago label where dreamy vocal house met early acid experiments.
What you're really asking
You're asking about Gherkin Records, a small but influential Chicago house label of the late eighties. Its catalogue runs from dreamy vocal cuts to the raw acid experiments Larry Heard made under the Gherkin Jerks alias.
It is a tight, deep seam rather than a broad scene.
Where it sits
Gherkin operated in Chicago from the late eighties until 1991, run by Brett Wilcots and Jim Stivers. It released dreamy vocal house and early acid, with Larry Heard recording as the Gherkin Jerks and singers like Robert Owens and Mondeé Oliver on the roster.
For a small label it left a long shadow over deep house.
The scene
Who: Larry Heard (as Gherkin Jerks), Robert Owens, Mondeé Oliver, Vincent Floyd and the label's circle. Label: Gherkin Records, Chicago.
What: dreamy vocal house and raw early acid. How a record gets in: it is a Gherkin release or from its close circle, not any Chicago house record.
The leading records
Keep digging
- Start with the Gherkin Jerks acid sides
- The dreamy vocal cuts
- Larry Heard beyond Gherkin
- From Gherkin into Chicago deep house