John Benitez

Early life

Growing up in the South Bronx, John Benitez and his younger sister Debbie were raised by their mother after their parents split. Their mother worked in executive offices at Sloan's supermarkets. His sister gave him the nickname Jellybean, a combination of his initials J.B. and the phrase "Know what I mean, Jellybean?" He attended De Witt Clinton and John F. Kennedy High Schools but never graduated, often ditching class for hooky parties. A neighbor paid him to DJ a Sweet 16 party, which showed him he could make a living as a deejay.

Career

In 1976, Benitez began deejaying weekends between salsa bands at Charlie's in the Bronx. He convinced the owner to open a non-alcoholic dance club and experimented with a live audience. After being expelled for truancy, he moved to Manhattan, working at La Mariposa in Washington Heights and later at the Experimental Four club in Midtown. By 1978 he earned $100 for a four-night week and moved to a West Side apartment.

He earned a high school equivalency diploma and enrolled at Bronx Community College as a psychology major, taking voice and diction classes. In 1979 he worked seven nights a week at Hurrah, Les Mouches, Club Marrakesh, Blue Cloud, and La Falafel. Between 1976 and 1980 he also played at New York New York, Studio 54, Le Jardin, and the Grand Ballroom, eventually settling at Electric Circus and Xenon. In 1981 he became resident DJ at Funhouse and hosted a weekend dance radio show at WKTU.

He influenced the dance charts by pushing 'Planet Rock' (1982) and 'Let the Music Play' (1983). In 1983 a Warner Bros. executive introduced him to Madonna at Funhouse; they became friends and she asked him to remix her debut album. He remixed 'Burning Up', 'Borderline', and 'Lucky Star', and produced 'Holiday', her first international top ten hit. He continued deejaying at Funhouse while producing and remixing for others.

In 1984 he remixed 'Like a Virgin' and signed a producing deal with EMI America Records. In May 1985 Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager opened the Palladium, hiring Benitez for the grand opening and as resident DJ. After Benitez's production of 'Crazy for You' went No. 1 that same week, Rubell decided Benitez had become more of a commercial-record producer and replaced him.

Partial discography

Benitez wrote the theme music for the Ricki Lake and Charles Perez talk shows. He worked as a film producer and earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for executive producing HBO's For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story. He also acted as music supervisor and created and mixed tracks for numerous film and TV soundtracks.

Did You Know?

• He produced Madonna's 'Holiday', which was her first international top ten hit song.
• His 1984 cover of Babe Ruth's 'The Mexican' was his first number-one single on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
• Benitez was the first DJ to appear on the pop chart as an artist, with 'Sidewalk Talk' reaching US No. 18.
• In 2005, Benitez was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.