John "Jellybean" Benitez is quoted as saying; "I thought I was the best d.j. in the world until I heard Walter Gibbons play. Everything he was doing back then, people are doing now. He was phasing records, backbeating them for an echo effect, quick cuts and little tape edits that would freak people out"
hey jan, what's new?
Just thought i'd tip you on some info that i think needs correcting on your site. at http://www.oocities.org/jahsonic/Jellybean.html you have...
"His first remix was "The Bubble Bunch" by Jimmy Spicer, soon followed by the classics "Walking on Sunshine" by Rockers Revenge and Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock"."
as far as i know, his first mixing job was on my "track of the week" this week - "(dance it) freestyle rhythm" by mantus, and that was in 1979. "bubble bunch" was 1982.
Already as a child he used to entertain his family and friends by playing them different records on the turntable. This was the time when songs like "Don't leave me this way" by Thelma Houston was among the hottest songs in the charts. It was back then he first started to collect records and he soon learned, during his home sessions, that he could get the "audience" in different moods depending on what song he played...
He always thought of a DJ as a guy playing records on the radio, but when he entered the Sanctuary nightclub in Manhattan in the late seventies his life changed forever... When he heard the DJ mixing two songs together he definatly know he wanted to become a professional discoteque DJ !
Jellybean started his DJ career in a club in the Bronx, called Charlie's. But he really wanted to go further... he wanted to work in the famous Manhattan clubs. He got a gig at a club called Experiment 4 and by getting the right contacts he came to play at the trendy Xenon.
This was really a break-through for his career...
During 1978 to 1981 all the hottest clubs, like Electric Circus and the legendary Studio 54, all wanted to hire Jellybean to play in their club. From april 1981 'til june 1984 he was the resident DJ of the Manhattan club Fun House. It was during his sessions at this club the well known phrase "Jellybean Rocks the House" was founded !
The crowd at the Fun House were very musically aware and Jellybean got total freedom to explore dance music and examine the break beats, instrumental fills and all the other components of the 12-inch extended mixes. His style was so popular that he were asked to host a weekend dance show in America's No.1 radio station - WKTU.
Many new upcoming bands and artists got a break thanks to John playing their songs at the Clubs and/or in his radio show. Already back in 1980 he's included in the Special Thanks section of The Invisible Man's Bands self-titled album, which include the awesome disco song "All Night Thing".
John had achieved his DJ goals and he now wanted to go on to remixing singles. His first remix was "The Bubble Bunch" by Jimmy Spicer, soon followed by the classics "Walking on Sunshine" by Rockers Revenge and Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock".