DiscoMusic.com

Luis-Mario Orellana

New York Disco DJ (b. Set. 7, 1952-Present)

Luis-Mario (Flaco) Orellana: 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.

By this time, after being on the road for so many years I needed a break. I decided to stay in New York for a while and I went to work at the Copacabana. Then Roy called again. He wanted to do the 2nd Annual White Ball Event which he originated in Dallas TX at the Fairmont Hotel and I was part of that event. The Ritz was ready for this and it was a huge success with people like Bianca Jagger and David Bowie among the celebrities who came. I have now entered my second decade of nightclubs. Meanwhile Art D'Lugoff of the Village Gate, George Harvey of Gate Productions, Pat Kenny of the Bitter End and Kenny's Castaways and Jerry Wexler of Warner Bros. Records brought all their skills and years of experience in the music, nightclub and off-broadway theater business to bear upon the smooth style and ambiance of the new Cat Club. Roy Webb called on me to open the club. Roy brought the Cat Club dancers including Perry Lester as choreographer, to fruition, the caberet/burlesque style dancing to my music stopped the audience dead in the tracks.

In my VIP seating you would find people like Billy Idol, Prince, Janet Jackson, Michael Douglas, everyone who was anyone in the 1980s made an appearance at the Cat Club. MTV was born in 1984 and I was chosen to host their opening party as well as other events such as the Village Voice Obie Awards. And it was quoted by MTV as having the best music in town makes the Cat Club ideal for special events. The Cat Club gave the stars a new hangout and my review from the Obies was the DJ Luis Mario recognizes quality across the musical spectrum and provides the tasty mix of music that has become the signature for the clubs he has opened in his career. We all know what the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were about: remarkable how I survived, most DJ's from that era did not. I ask myself why and it's simply because you must be able to keep up with the evolution and progression of music. If you get stuck, you die. But drugs and booze can kill you too, guess I was lucky.

In the 1990s (my third decade) I continued to work in clubs like the Red Parrot at one time called Elephas in Queens and at Levels. In 1995 I decided to move to Florida. And succesfully Luis Mario's Entertainment is still growing.

I would like to pay a special tribute to the DJ's that paved the way for this new generation if DJ's that have no clue as to what it is to walk into a record store and choose a record that you felt was worthy of playing that night. To take that vinyl and place it on a Thorens turntable with no pitch control - working only with two knobs (left and right) and cueing your records and using Francis Grasso's technique of slip cueing and making it work without hesitation by learning the song inside and out. Knowing how to mix Rock & Roll, Motown and soul without basing it on BPM. Thank god I have had the experience to have achieved this and to this day I still apply it. A lot of the music came from IDRC - and special tribute goes to Eddie Rivera and his family that I still fondly remember. I still have my full collection of vinyl including test pressings and Sunshine Sound remixes. For some idea - go to my music selection or give me a call I am transferring the collection to digital. If anyone recalls any of these clubs or people I've mentioned send me an e-mail or visit my web page www.luismariodjentertainment.com it will be great to remember those days.

Photos:





# 1 My Beginning 1970
# 2 DJ Al Garcia, Luis-Mario with Cher in Dallas, Texas 1978
# 3 My I.D.R.C member card
# 4 Cobra's Dance Floor 1975
# 5 Luis-Mario Orellana's latest photo 2006

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Posted by: Luis Mario "Flaco" Orellana

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