Son of Chicago Returns Soul to the Dance Floor

Lidell Townsell’s No. 1 dance single “Nu Nu” is a prime example of a new direction in house music that puts soul back onto the dance floor by injecting a smooth dose of R&B; into the sometimes dry, beats-dominated genre.

Nu Nu , says Townsell, is actually a pet term that he and backing singers Martell and Silk E (known as M.T.F., for More Than Friends) use to refer to a beautiful woman. In the song Townsell sings such upbeat lines as: Nu Nu can spend some time / Spend some time with me today / You make me want to sing / Sing in a special way.

Despite a smorgasbord of influences--including such singers as Stevie Wonder as well as rap--the beat remains house at a danceable 120 beats a minute. And no wonder: Townsell & M.T.F are sons of Chicago, where the house sound was made famous in nightclubs by such acts as Mr. Lee and Adonis--and Townsell himself.

The singer is well known in hard-core dance clubs, where his mid-’80s collaborations “Time to Jack” and “Like This” became house music staples. Last year he joined with M.T.F. and recorded “Nu Nu” for Club House Records. It was picked up by Mercury Records after it dominated dance floors across the nation. Townsell & M.T.F.’s debut album, “Harmony,” is just out.

“It’s good that people are starting to recognize artists from Chicago,” says Townsell, 25. “But we’re doing stuff that’s sort of different from what other people in Chicago are doing.”

The Chicago sound has been the launching pad for an array of new house jams from the likes of Ce Ce Peniston and Kym Sims, and the basis for the melodic sounds of “Italo house” and “acid jazz.”

Townsell is a fan of the trend he has helped create and says the future of dance music lies in mixing soulful vocals with beats and blending live instruments with electronic tracks.

“I see more real instruments being involved now,” he says. “More harmony is going to be used in songs. People are really going to get down and sing, instead of just using samples.

“And I like it.”