Song:The Mexican
Album:Jellybean Rocks The House
John "Jellybean" Benitez is a remix pioneer. He's had plenty of success producing and remixing. And he's worked on plenty of films and TV shows. But he also had success as a recording artist in the late 80s. The Mexican wasn't his biggest hit but it was his first hit. He was born Nov. 7, 1957 in The Bronx, NY. His parents were from Puerto Rico. His sister gave him the nickname Jellybean from the expression "Know What I Mean, Jellybean?". Like many DJs, yours truly included, Benitez was a cratedigger haunting record stores. He started DJing in New York clubs in 1975. He was the resident DJ at Funhouse and he hosted a radio show. He started doing remixes with Stephen Bray of Breakfast Club. And that's when he met Madonna. He had a two year romance with her and he also worked on her 1983 debut album. He produced the single Holiday. That got Benitez plenty of remix work. And he signed a record deal with EMI's Chrysalis label. The Mexican topped the dance charts in 1984. It's a song by the 70s British group Babe Ruth. Benitez keeps Babe Ruth lead singer Jenny Haan's vocals and guitarist Alan Shacklock's guitar riff. Benitez and Bray remixed the song with session musicians Jack Waldman on synthesizer, Ira Siegel on guitar, Marcus Miller on bass and Bashiri Johnson on percussion. The Mexican appeared on the 1984 album Wotupski!?!. After Benitez became more successful, The Mexican was added to the 1988 album Jellybean Rocks The House. For the next few years, Benitez had success mostly on the dance charts. Sidewalk Talk and Who Found Who were top 20 pop hits. His final album was released in 1990 and he got into film and TV work. Today Benitez continues to tour as a DJ. He was inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame in 2005. He has a show on SiriusXM. He released an album in 2010. But mostly he loves to DJ live. Here's the video of The Mexican by Jellybean featuring Jenny Haan.
No comments:
Post a Comment