FRANCISCO GRASSO: THE FIRST MODERN DJ
FRANCISCO GRASSO
THE FIRST MODERN DJ
The true origins of the DJ are not completely certain, but they trace way back to a man in Otley, West Yorkshire, England as early as 1943 by the name of Jimmy Savile. There are rumors that he was the first man to play vinyl live charging one shilling for admission. Humble beginnings, but the start of something much much bigger.
Jimmy Savile might be considered the first DJ, but the first modern DJ and the one who created club DJing is widely accepted as DJ Francis Grasso. The term "modern" DJ meaning the DJ as we know him now- DJs that are music artists with a superstar status, the DJ that has the power to move and influence a huge audience. When I say move an audience, I'm not just referring to making them dance and 'jack their bodies'. I'm referring also to the spiritual aspect of the art of the DJ. Moving the audience by changing the whole energy and emotions of the audience. Bringing them from the depths of the chill-out to ecstatic highs. The modern DJ that doesn't play records to please a crowd, but he shares himself with it.
Francis Grasso was born in Brooklyn, New York and at an early age played guitar, saxophone, and the drums. His first job in the dance world was as a dancer at Trude Heller's Club. One night when he went to a club called Salvation II, he was asked to DJ after Terry Noel, the regular DJ was a no show. The manager decided to keep Francis and fire Noel, thus giving Francis his first DJ gig. He started by spinning soul with African rhythms. He would play records like Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Chicago, and Gladys Knight. This was in 1968, before even the first hint of Disco music.
After this he moved to Sanctuary club situated in Hell's Kitchen that used to be a German Baptist Church and was probably the very first gay night club or at least the most notorious one. He played there until its closure in 1972. It was there that he gained his reputation and developed the techniques that he is now famous for and that helped catalyze the disco craze and the popularity of the modern DJ.
One of the techniques he is famous for is 'slip cueing'. Slip cueing is the technique of holding a record still while the turntable is still spinning beneath it in order to play the next record on an exact beat. This method is used to continually stream the music by started a new record on the last beat of the one playing and fading the volume thus making a continual mix without interruptions or pauses.
Another technique he is famous for and is perhaps more important is matching beats with the records which is much ahead of the term BPM. He was known for playing two records simultaneously for sometimes as much as two minutes which is an amazing task considering that then there was no such thing as a pitch control and no way to adjust the turntable once it started playing the vinyl.
Francis Grasso was the first DJ to truly be admired by the crowd and to obtain some of the popularity that now characterizes the modern DJ. He was friends with people like Andy Warhol, Calving Klein, and Jimi Hendrix and also dated Liza Manelli. He was also in two movies. The first was "Klute" in 1971 which showed him working at the Sanctuary for a few seconds and the second was the recent documentary of dance music titled "Maestro" which features the only known recorded interview of him.
He eventually quit working as a DJ in 1981 after losing ambition and worked occasionally in construction in Brooklyn. He died on March 20 in 2001 at the young age of 52. Sadly, his work wasn't as recognized as it should have been during the period of his life, but it still has its mark on what we know as the dance music culture today. Not only did he improve dance world with his techniques, he really changed the whole concept of the DJ.
THE FIRST MODERN DJ
The true origins of the DJ are not completely certain, but they trace way back to a man in Otley, West Yorkshire, England as early as 1943 by the name of Jimmy Savile. There are rumors that he was the first man to play vinyl live charging one shilling for admission. Humble beginnings, but the start of something much much bigger.
Jimmy Savile might be considered the first DJ, but the first modern DJ and the one who created club DJing is widely accepted as DJ Francis Grasso. The term "modern" DJ meaning the DJ as we know him now- DJs that are music artists with a superstar status, the DJ that has the power to move and influence a huge audience. When I say move an audience, I'm not just referring to making them dance and 'jack their bodies'. I'm referring also to the spiritual aspect of the art of the DJ. Moving the audience by changing the whole energy and emotions of the audience. Bringing them from the depths of the chill-out to ecstatic highs. The modern DJ that doesn't play records to please a crowd, but he shares himself with it.
Francis Grasso was born in Brooklyn, New York and at an early age played guitar, saxophone, and the drums. His first job in the dance world was as a dancer at Trude Heller's Club. One night when he went to a club called Salvation II, he was asked to DJ after Terry Noel, the regular DJ was a no show. The manager decided to keep Francis and fire Noel, thus giving Francis his first DJ gig. He started by spinning soul with African rhythms. He would play records like Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Chicago, and Gladys Knight. This was in 1968, before even the first hint of Disco music.
After this he moved to Sanctuary club situated in Hell's Kitchen that used to be a German Baptist Church and was probably the very first gay night club or at least the most notorious one. He played there until its closure in 1972. It was there that he gained his reputation and developed the techniques that he is now famous for and that helped catalyze the disco craze and the popularity of the modern DJ.
One of the techniques he is famous for is 'slip cueing'. Slip cueing is the technique of holding a record still while the turntable is still spinning beneath it in order to play the next record on an exact beat. This method is used to continually stream the music by started a new record on the last beat of the one playing and fading the volume thus making a continual mix without interruptions or pauses.
Another technique he is famous for and is perhaps more important is matching beats with the records which is much ahead of the term BPM. He was known for playing two records simultaneously for sometimes as much as two minutes which is an amazing task considering that then there was no such thing as a pitch control and no way to adjust the turntable once it started playing the vinyl.
Francis Grasso was the first DJ to truly be admired by the crowd and to obtain some of the popularity that now characterizes the modern DJ. He was friends with people like Andy Warhol, Calving Klein, and Jimi Hendrix and also dated Liza Manelli. He was also in two movies. The first was "Klute" in 1971 which showed him working at the Sanctuary for a few seconds and the second was the recent documentary of dance music titled "Maestro" which features the only known recorded interview of him.
He eventually quit working as a DJ in 1981 after losing ambition and worked occasionally in construction in Brooklyn. He died on March 20 in 2001 at the young age of 52. Sadly, his work wasn't as recognized as it should have been during the period of his life, but it still has its mark on what we know as the dance music culture today. Not only did he improve dance world with his techniques, he really changed the whole concept of the DJ.
Philippe La PlastiQue - 8. Nov, 15:39
