I had the pleasure of interviewing a true veteran in the field of DJing in Miami in not only the 80’s but also the 70’s, Mr. Pete Denis. He has been inducted into three Disco Deejay Halls Of Fame, He is a “Certified” Disco Historian.
I picked him up and traveled towards an early dinner, I asked him where to? He says, let’s go to Casablanca. I asked him, where is that? Well, it’s now the Habana Vieja restaurant (in Miami, FL). That’s one of my favorite Cuban cuisines in Miami, so I was a happy camper. It turns out, it’s also one of Pete’s favorite. As we sat in the middle of the restaurant, he tells me, in the 70’s this was the dance floor. The DJ booth was over there, and the roof tiles and lamps are still aged, the same as back in the day. Now in the middle of the dance floor sits that ever famous water fountain.
He started sharing with me so much history of Disco in Miami. I would consider this guy one of the encyclopedias of Disco in Miami. Pete ran the Florida Record pool from 1979 to 1981, where DJ’s got their music. Bo Crane started the Florida Record Pool in 1976, “If it wasn’t for Bo Crane, Disco wouldn’t of had the impact it had in South Florida.”
My first question to pete was, when did you get started who taught you, what equipment did you use? Pete got started DJing back in June 1971, his records were mostly all 45’s & consisted of pre disco, funk soul, Latin influences, those were the genre of choice. He started with 2 Garrard turntables, no mixers like we know them. Someone built a box that allowed 2 inputs in with a knob to switch from 1 turn table to the other. The amp was a Pioneer with 150 watts per channel which he blew in the 1st party he had.
When Pete was 15 he went to a club called Sanctuary in NY, the DJ was Francis Grasso. He loved the DJ business and sent letters to record companies where he started receiving records from Chrysalis, Motown, Warner Bros, Atlantic, TK, RCA, and he started his 45 inch collection with the occasional 12” album.
His 1st party experience was an incredible one. It was at an Italian festival on August 1971 in Little Italy in New York. There were thousands of people in the streets. His first resident gig was at Copacabana in NY, he got a little help from a friend called Paul Castellano. When they asked him how much he wanted to make, he said 350! He meant 350 a week, they paid him 350 a day.
His 1st disco song he heard was I like what I like by Everyday People, his 1st favorite disco song was Woman by Barrabas, but his all-time favorite song is My Male Curiosity, Kid Creole & the Coconuts. That is also one of my personal favorites. It’s an interesting tune, since it’s really not a Disco song, but has some funk, & R&B influences.
Club Mystique opened in January 1984 & Pete was the Resident DJ, where he played Disco until April of 1985. The management decided to do Salsa and brought DJ Alex Gutierrez in.
Pete’s favorite bands are The Trammps, The Trammps & The Trammps. (Those were his words!) Barry White, & Kid Creole & the Coconuts would be his top 3, but he does emphasize on The Trammps, The Trammps & The Trammps!
I asked Pete, what were your top 5 favorite songs. His reply was. “Impossible to answer”. He then said, Magic Bird of Fire, Salsoul Orchestra, Have a Nice Day by King Errisson, Can’t Get Enough of Your Love by Barry White, Deputy of Love Don Armando Second Avenue Rhumba Band, My Male Curiosity, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, and also added to his collection “There’s Fire Down Below” by the Fantastic Four.
Pete’s first Miami gig was at The Crown in Kendall from 1979 to 80. Pete’s favorite club was Ménage, where he was the resident DJ from 1980 to 1981. Ménage was Miami’s Top Club at the time, with crowds up to 2,500 going there on a nightly basis. Sammy’s East Side was an after-hours club that Pete worked at from 1980 to 1982, Tuttle’s was next from 1982 to 1984. He also had the privileged of being the resident DJ at Club Mystique in the Airport Hilton. Club Mystique opened in January 1984 & Pete was the Resident DJ, where he played Disco until April of 1985. The management decided to change format to Salsa because Club Mystique was doing TOO WELL, and it affected the Hilton’s Business clients and brought in DJ Alex Gutierrez. Then Pete was the very first DJ at The Forge in 1985, followed by a gig at Top of the Grove from 1985 to 1986. In 1987 it was off to the mega-club 1235 in Miami Beach. He also substituted for other resident DJ’s and was a regular sub at Faces in the Grove for the legendary Scott Blackwell. He returned to close FACES in 1986. His last resident gig was at All Star Café in South Beach in 1997.
Pete did some radio as well, specifically at Disco 96 from 1978 to 1980 with Leo Vela, Carlos Nodal, Bill Kelly, Funky Frank Walsh and others. Pete was also The ORIGINAL Power Mixer at POWER 96 back in the day when Bill Tanner was there.
Pete Denis has since retired from the club scene, and wrote a book about his Disco days, which is a very interesting experience. The book is called, “I Will Survive: The True Adventures and Escapades of the Vynil Junkie“.