I started my professional DJ career in 1970, landing short lived jobs and learning the trade by watching dj's like Francis Grasso, a wonderful friend and mentor. I became a member of the first Record Pool 99 Prince Street (David Mancuso), remember meeting a terrific group of disc jockeys like Walter Gibbons, Al Garcia, Leo Sayan, Aris Rodriguez, Eddie Rivera, Paul Casella, Ronie Suarez etc.
After that I became a member of I.D.R.C. Member # 0109 and I still have the card. 1973 came and I landed a job at Mr. Laffs on First Ave & 64th St. In a matter of weeks people were lining up outside around the corner to come in and partake in the wonderous musical trip that educated the minds of all my following based on my musical training beginning from the Sanctuary, The Haven, Machine I, The Jungle, Superstar. A dream came true when I was asked to play at an After Hours (9p-7a). The place was called Cobra's, a most decadent atmosphere where the artist will come to hang out from musicians to actors. Cobra's was on the 7th floor of 18th & Broadway, owed by Dennis Johnson/Dennis Cobra and John... The ambiance started in the elevated where a dancer from the Trocedero Ballet Co. (a gay ballet company) would welcome you with a differently decorated every Friday and Saturday night. 7 floors up you walked into a living room where the hostesses were several Cobras in a large enclosed acquarium. You could actually trip your night away watching these snakes munch on guinea pigs and rabbits. Enough said!!!
What a trip of a job that was - I loved it. Throughout the 70's I worked at such clubs as LeCocu, Cobra's Lair (afterhours), Directoire/Twinkle Zone, Abracadabra, Cork & Bottle, The Ritz, Reflections/Ginza, Adonis, The Tower Suite, The Rooftop, The Top Floor, Percival, Night Moves, L'oubliette, Rockabout, The Lollipop, Green Parrot, Galaxy, Ground Zero, The Cat Club, Copacabana. Agents and Managers took notice of me and my ability to create magic on the turntables that took the audience to the point of no return on the dance floor. I had the charisma, personality and professionalism they were looking for. They had found a DJ to travel to large and small cities across the U.S. They knew I could bring the illusion of Studio 54 to their clubs something they only saw on TV or heard on the radio. The excitement, the music, energy, the superstars of the "disco era..." I could bring all of that to them. These openings took me to clubs in Honolulu - Disco Fever 2000, Louisville, KY - Octaves, Charlotte NC - 20th Century Fox, Los Angeles CA - Max 151, Dallas, TX - DaVinci's and abroad. It also gave me the opportunity to work with many famous people of the decade such as Gloria Gaynor, George Hamilton, Cher and hosting parties for stars such as Liza Minella, Larry Hagman, Dallas Cowboys and their cheerleaders just to mention a few. That was just my beginning.
In the mid 70's when I met a talented promoter/producer by the name of Roy Webb,(Salvation, Electric Circus, Copacabana fame) he gave me the opportunity to travel and to be part of many of his projects. One of them was WKTU FM in New York City bringing me to be the first DJ to play for 4 hours continously on air with Jimmy Stewart, a wonderful DJ from 12 West that was owned by Alan Harris and Tony Martino and Roy's radio show was called the Boogeyman. It was quite an experience to work for Roy at Abracadabra a nightclub of magic on 5th Ave. in NY. In 1980 I was called by Roy to open in Las Vegas for the club Money where he decided to kill disco. I had mixed emotions in participating in such an event because I personally was not ready to call it the death of disco. I agreed and off I went to Vegas to open with Sugar Hill Gang. Entertainment Tonight shot the event nationwide covering this outrageous event. A coffin was provided to bury a John Travolta look-alike. All the people were dressed in black and threw red roses on the coffin saying goodbye to disco. All this took place at midnight and then I introduced the new era of Joe Jackson, Pat Benatar, The Knack etc. and so New Wave was born.
Enough for now, but there is more to come. If you want, you can check out my website http://www.luismariodjentertainment.com or check out some cool songs on
www.youtube.com/luismariodj
Luis Mario DJ
luismariodj@comcast.net
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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