Welcome to the DMC community Danny, a real honour to speak to you. Well what an amazing way to enter the music world at such a young age. Before we talk about your father’s ‘The Ninth Circle’ club, tell us what it was like growing up in a household with two amazing musical parents and so much music floating around…?
“My 6th Grade classmate was Creed Taylor Jr. His father was CTI & Kudu Records who had just built a serious recording studio in his brownstone. It seemed every time I went over there, Creed Sr. was trying to introduce us to one of his artists’ that was there for a session – George Benson, Freddy Hubbard, StanlyTurentine, Patti Austin, Hank Crawford, Herbert Law, more then I remember and me and Creed Jr. were too busy making a B line for his room to smoke some pot. Another childhood friend was Nile Rodgers, who at the time was a Black Panther and already a guitarist, but as far away from commercial music as you could get. He helped me pick out a guitar and showed me a few chords and said it’s all about practice now. Practice didn’t come easy for me, but collecting and playing records did. So I figured I would leave the true musicianship to the people who knew how whilst I got lost in the music already on vinyl. Because we had a piano in our house and my mother had a job managing the fan club for The Rascals, Felix Cavaliere and some of the other members would come down our place and bang out most of their future hits on our piano. Yes, all this and a lot more was going on all around me. It wasn’t until much later that I realized how special this really was.”
So, ‘The Ninth Circle’ club – a stupendous Village venue which your father opened up. What were the favourite memories from there with the likes of John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Yoko Ono, Janis Joplin and Charlie Mingus swinging through?
“JimiHenrix’s ‘Electric Ladyland’ recording studio was just around the corner and I would run in to him all the time. For the most part, I was just a kid – so it wasn’t like we had any philosophical discussions, with most of them it was more like “hi, I’m a big fan of yours” which still seemed to impress them quite a bit me being only 9 or 10 years old. I used to help out and wait on tables at The Ninth Circle for the Sunday brunch, where I actually waited on Janis Joplin, and even then, I was already a little star struck. I wanted to take her picture but my father said “you do and you’re fired! She’s here because people don’t take her picture here.” I should have went for the photo.”
A brilliant album about to hit the streets on Nervous Records ‘718 Sessions’, a mix of classics, hidden gems and bonafide hits – what tracks/artists that you spun into the mix are you most excited about?
“‘U Know that I Love U’ – Chyna With Perfect World has been a staple with me since it’s release. I tried to license it before with all sorts of difficulties. I was very excited to finally get it, it has a wonderful energy. It’s the first track on the CD and helps set the tone of what follows.”
Tell us about the moment when a certain neighbour and friend – well the Vice President of Polydor to be precise, introduced to the God Father Of Soul, James Brown in 1971…
“The vice president of Polydor lived in the apartment above me and was a close friend of my fathers. He was always asking us to come up to visit his big office, but by the time we did, James Brown had got so big that he had to trade offices with him. So when we finally get there he said “I guess I have to show you around James’s office. JB was there, so he introduced us and said “Danny’s a DJ” and JB replies “Oh, then we got to give him my latest jams!” He gave me white label promos of ‘Get On The Good Foot’ and ‘Think’ by Lynn Collins. To me JB was a god and I was just holding the records in my hands looking at them in a thousand different ways. I was used to all his records having a red label with his face on it and these were White Labels that were really striking to me – somehow at that moment I took DJing a lot more seriously and as I looked at the cover of ‘Get On The Good Foot’, I actually noticed he was wearing the same jumpsuit as was on the cover – I thought this is so surreal!”
You became a DJ and a programmer of music at your pop’s club ‘The Ninth Circle’ which by the mid 70s had become a disco – what are your memories from there?
“The Ninth Circle was a Greenwich Village hot spot and attracted a lot of musicians and artists and had a big influence on me. Being a block and a half away from the Stonewall, the Village was changing and in 1971 it became a disco. Overnight, it was so crowded that they started to charge admission. It still had a very funky downtown feel and a lot of atmosphere. I was only 14, I basically couldn’t even get in to most clubs, let alone DJ. I surly lucked out, this being my father place.”
Big 10 tunes in your box right now?
1.’Hay Hay’ – Dennis Ferrer Feat.ShingaiShonina – Objectivity
2.’Bittersweet’ – Jay ‘Sinister’ Séalee& Louie Vega Ft. Julie McKnight McKnight – CDR
3.’Across My Mind’ (Craig Alexander Mix) – Jill Scott – White Owl
4.’Fuego De Sangre’ – Glenn Underground – Superb Entertainment
5.’With More Love’ – Joe Claussell – (Advance)
6.’Baby I’m Scared Of You’ (Master Kev& Tony Loreto RMX) – Leela James – CDR
7.’State Of Emergency’ – Silver Haze – ill Friction
8.’Mom’ (Timmy Regisford& Adam Rios RMX) – Earth, Wind & Fire – Unrestricted Access
9.’Ophelia’s Happiness’ – DJ Storm – (Advance)
10.’Music’ – Billie Jewell / Peven Everett – Trippin
Creating a career in New York that would later take you to world wide fame, what was the best and worst thing about that time in the Big Apple?
“The 1970’s was the best, it was the musical and artistic freedom, especially in Greenwich Village…the casual individuality and so alive!
The worst was that the crime was high, it was slightly dangerous everywhere and some places were very dangerous, like a war zone – you needed to be careful and alert and sometimes have eyes in the back of your head.”
So you organise a birthday party for yourself, what 2 NYC DJs do you put on the bill?
“A few years back, Danny TenagliaDJ’d for a surprise birthday for me at his loft on the old Vinyl sound system. He played all pre-Garage classics and I was in heaven. I do have a lot of fabulous DJ friends, so it’s not easy chosing, but two very good friends of mine that I respect highly are Tony Smith and Hex Hector who would be pretty wonderful.”
I have asked some strange questions in my time over the past 20 years to artists, but why did you roller-skate with your then girlfriend Daphne Rubin Vega to the Paradise Garage where Larry Levan would actually let you skate around the club? Wouldn’t a cab have been easier?
“We just happened to be rollerskating outside and I said “Hey, let me call Larry and maybe we can skate to some music”. At that time, Larry was actually living in the Garage. So we went over and skated around while Larry played all the new records. Kind of hard to imagine – the Paradise Garage – for 2.”
What was your best ever Larry Levan experience?
“My favorite memory was not necessarily a happy memory, just an extreme and memorable moment. Larry was playing ‘Why’d U Do It’ by Marianne Faithful and he decided to work the lights himself. Larry was ultimately his own best light man. This is one of those times when you see Larry’s extreme emotion. Lyrics seemed very powerful in the Garage, he was obviously angry at someone, the light show was an intense combination of incredibly deep reds and blues, almost violent to the words of ‘Why’d U Do It’. Me and everyone else was saying WOW! I wonder who he’s talking to? There were so many memorable moments in 10 years of the Garage, but somehow this one really stuck with me.”
Your were the main resident at The Roxy in the early 80s for four years spinning alongside some of the finest Hip Hop DJs in the world including Grandmaster Flash and Africa Bambaataa, how did you earn the nickname Danny Rock?
“Don’t leave out DST, he was the absolute best! Scratching was a relatively new thing for downtown Manhattan and I think they were all a little taken back to see me, a white kid from downtown Manhattan scratching. One of the graffiti artists started tagging my name around as ‘Danny Rock and it stuck.”
You have rocked so many – no every! New York club including the likes of The Limelight, Red Zone, Twilo, Shelter, Palladium, The Loft, Sound Factory Bar, The Tunnel, Studio 54, The Paradise Garage and Save The Robots – tell us some memories from these incredible places…before we even come to Body and Soul!
“The Limelight of the 80’s and 90’s on 6th Ave – not to be confused with Limelite of the 70’s on 7th Ave which David Rodriguez DJ’d at. I was too young to get in and used to hear his DJing through the walls from the street (was great!). I did spin at the 6th Ave. Limelight, nicknamed Slimelite, nuff said.
The Shelter was pretty incredible in the early 90’s and was the closest thing in NYC to a Garage vibe for it’s time.
The Palladium was one of the most massive clubs of that time and it’s head lighting man Robert Desilva was actually the head lighting man for Studio 54, Roxy and even the Garage for a while… all at the same time.
The Loft was always in a class by itself and seemed like the basic blueprint for what every worthwhile underground club to follow.
Sound Factory Bar, well it had a full schedule of incredible parties and a fabulous sound system, completely underrated for what it was.
Studio 54 was all about red ropes, glitz and getting through the door. Richie Kazar was a DJ’s DJ, but I never really related to that ‘scene’ and avoided it until after it’s heyday when Mike Stone took it over. Kenny Carpenter was the DJ. Now it was black club, no more red ropes, casual, soulful, good times for me, very street and much more of a garage type atmosphere.
The Paradise Garage was always at the top of my list and always the last stop, everything seemed a little pale after The Garage.”
Best ever UK club you have played at?
“Plastic People, very small but had an extremely great sound system and a fantastic crowd to boot.”
Your work on MFSB’s ‘Love Is The Message’ is never off my i-pod, your production work with tunes on such as ‘Soul Power’, ‘Give It Up Or Turn It Loose’ and ‘Funky Drummer’ – the most sampled tune in history, are seminal – what though do you think is the greatest piece of studio work you have ever made?
“I’ve been very fortunate to work on a lot of really great music, but had to pick only one – I would probably still choose MFSB’s “Love Is the Message”.
What one artist in the world would you like to get in the studio with and make some music?
“Chaka Khan”
How did it feel inheriting ‘The Ninth Circle’ club from your father?
“Unfortunately, it was an inheritance, so it was not a happy time and I just did my best to continue it’s legacy and to see it through it’s 30th Anniversary.”
So, setting up a formidable trio with Francois K and Joe Claussell to form the Body and Soul Team which ran Sundays at Vinyl – what were those days like?
“Basically, for its entire run at Club Vinyl, it seemed quite magical. It was a weekly party where we broke new music and took a lot of chances. but it was completely casual and a lot of fun. It was hard to think of it as work.”
Best country you have ever played in?
“Japan”
You have been DJing nearly 40 years, what keep’s you going?
“MUSIC!!!and sharing it with people that love it like I do.”
You have played some memorable gigs. Central Park New York City.Japan on New Years Eve.Club Ageha in front of 21,000 people. When you hang up your headphones, what one gig will always be in your dreams…
“The night playing at Paradise Garage for ‘For The Records (Record Pool)’ 1st Anniversary.”
Your record collection tips over 80,000 – what one record would you save if your house was on fire?
“I can never find any record when I want to, I doubt that I would be able to find my favorite record in the heat of the moment!”
Best non-US DJ do you think is the finest?
“Not versed on all the top DJ’s of the world, but my personal favorite would be DJ Nori of Japan.”
And finally, what’s coming next from the master Krivit?
“I’ve spent a lot of time putting together the edits of the “Next Edits by Mr. K” Compilation. I’m sure a lot will be coming out individually too.”
