The Story of NYC legend : Danny Tenaglia
Beat Wala Series 02 is LIVE after our launch Party and Interview
Good Morning,
Happy Friday! How are you doing out there now summer is finally underway?
It dawned on me it is more than decade since I left London and my old life as a music journalist behind at BBC 6 Music and in truth, I firmly believed that was that.
That was until last year, when I hosted the Ibiza Tech Forum and met someone over a long vino inspired lunch who persuaded me to launch new music podcast series, BEAT WALA.
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I always knew I had a great face for Radio, but frankly, the idea of being on camera filled me with dread. Starting a video podcast series, has been one of my boldest moves and in many ways my most life changing but definitely most challenging in all honesty. More on that later……
The latest episode is with one of my all time heroes: Danny Tenaglia and we recorded the it in front of a LIVE audience on the roof top of W Hotel Ibiza last month.
Hearing so much love in the room for Danny explode as soon as I introduced him, especially after he just recovered from Cancer, was heart warming and gave me all the feels right from the get go.
As soon as I mentioned his name a burst of immense LOVE for him was felt all around as a huge cheer went up and gave me goose bumps all over.
Danny first came to ibiza in 2000 and played at the legendary Space on the terrace, thanks to Darren Hughes at what he thinks was then, We Love Sundays.
As a stalwart of the New York Club scene, Danny said he had read the hype about the island in DJ Magazine and Mixmag but nothing quite prepared him for his very first visit, which was the start of a love affair of nearly a quarter of a century, almost as old as his track, Music is The Answer.
He told me that the song got birthed after he got a call from vocalist Celeda who sang the lyrics, “Dancing and Prancing” down the line and he quickly agreed to book a studio session for a track that would quickly become an underground cult classic. Despite its roaring success and the likes of Jamie Jones, Marco Carola and Black Coffee still playing it today, he says he didn´t make any money as it didn´t even have a music video or get used in films. The last hour of the session was used to record Be Yourself, also with Celeda and he says they are the two tracks he is most proud of as they are total originals with no influence from any other musician or artist.
But before all that began, Danny left New York in 1985 and launched a successful DJ-ing career in Miami as a resident at Cheers nightclub.
There he schooled the locals in classic New York and Chicago house, but five years later he returned home, tired of only playing other people’s music to start making his own. He started to assemble an impressive roster of remixes, including Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” (1991), Jamiroquai’s “Emergency on Planet Earth” (1993), and Madonna’s “Human Nature” (1994). But his first epic was The Daou’s “Surrender Yourself” (1993): With the kick in the bass and the underlying rhythm as the foundation, Tenaglia blanketed Vanessa Daou’s wispy vocal with grand, thick chords, a combination of classic groove and modern club-ready depth that was, at the time, entirely new.
The title of his 1995 debut artist album on New York’s Tribal Records described it perfectly: Hard & Soul. But even if the cocktail was his own, Tenaglia never hesitated to declare how heavily his influences weighed in his productions – everyone from Patti LaBelle to Kraftwerk, with countless lesser-known Soul, R&B, Latin, Samba, and Disco artists in between.
In our conversation he describes cutting his teeth on the New York dance floors of Paradise Garage and the Loft and how his brothers snuck him into his first club at just 13 after persuading a bouncer to let him have his first glimpse that would lead to his 50 year career and life long path and passion.
Danny very first heard a tape that involved mixing being played in a car at just 12, he got a hold of that tape, found the man who made it and called him up. That man, asked him where he was and came to meet him in a Brooklyn bakery and gave him ten more and the rest as they say is history…. and is right HERE on BEAT WALA.
It would mean the world if you can hit play on this TODAY! Day One is the important one for us and as we continue to hunt for a sponsor to keep making this series, if we can get to Number one today, that will help us hugely.
Thank You so much for reading and supporting and if you were there that very special day in Santa Eulalia, I hope you enjoy listening back and thank you for being part of it.
Much Love and have a beautiful weekend People,
Jo
p.s If you enjoy the Episode if you can share it, Rate and review it on Spotify, which takes ten seconds, I would be forever grateful!! It is the only way we can get found.
Lastly - A Huge thank You to the incredible GYPSY WESTWOOD for her amazing Photographs . We LOVE You. xxxxxx