Junior Vasquez

Junior Vasquez, born Donald Mattern in August 1946 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is a famous New York City club DJ and remixer/producer.

Career

Mattern moved to New York as a young adult in the early 1970s with ambitions of becoming a fashion designer, even briefly attending FIT. However, as with so many New York transplants, especially in the 1970s & 80s, Mattern soon became fascinated with NYC nightlife -- specifically, legendary DJ Larry Levan at The Paradise Garage. Soon, as Donald Mattern's passion for the music, the excitement, and the one-of-a-kind experience that NYC nightlife could potentially be grew, Donald Mattern from Lancaster, PA soon became Junior Vasquez and a legend was born. In the early days of his career in the 1980s, while building a name for himself in the music world Junior worked with notable disco DJ and pop remixer/producer Shep Pettibone co-producing & editing releases from artists such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, MC Hammer, Prince, Pet Shop Boys, & others. It wasn't long before Junior landed a brief residency at Club Bassline where he began to make a name for himself as a live DJ.

From 1989 to 1995, Vasquez gained national prominence — along with music industry influence — through Vasquez's seminal residency at the original Sound Factory, a club he cofounded with Richard Grant at 530 West 27th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea District. Vasquez forged a bond with the Sound Factory space that would last over a decade and as word of his remarkable skill as a DJ spread, he quickly built a following of fans who became known as "Juniorites", and who were exceptionally devoted to Vasquez, his musical style, his unique & extraordinary skills and charisma, & the spectacle of his weekly Sunday morning after-hours parties. Because of the extreme loyalty & devotion of his fans to his parties & his music, Vasquez quickly became the most sought after DJ in NYC, and was able to make or break new releases through his mastery of remixing, live mixing, and building excitement among the nightlife scene through his vocal and devoted fans. Because of this, major record labels solicited Junior to craft club-friendly remixes of pop songs in his own unique beat-driven NYC house style at a time when most pop remixes still relied very heavily on elements of the original productions to tie the remixes back to the original versions. Because of this, and because of his reputation as an unparalleled DJ & host, musical heavyweights such as C+C Music Factory, David Morales, DJ Pierre, Björk, Marilyn Manson, & even Madonna were known to frequent Junior's Sunday morning parties from time to time. Being in such demand by artists such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Cher, Prince, Elton John, and many others, Junior also was able to create his own "private collection" of remixes he was authorized to remix (and many that he was not authorized to remix) which did not see commercial release. These Junior Vasquez exclusive "Private Collection Mixes" made his live DJ sets even more distinctive and special to his following because it was only at Vasquez's Sound Factory that these masterful remixes could be heard.

After the closure of Sound Factory on February 12, 1995, Vasquez held residencies at the Tunnel (1995-1996), & at ArenA @ Palladium (1996-1997) where his suspended DJ booth was custom-designed by Dolce & Gabbana. In 1997, he returned to the former home of Sound Factory at 530 W 27th St, reopened under new management as "Twilo" & remodeled to include a custom-designed DJ booth for Junior's exclusive use and fitted with a new sound technology called "Phazon" which became known by the late 90's as THE gold standard for large venue audio in the entire world (because of this, Twilo became known as one of the premier club venues in the world and residencies or occasional gigs were highly sought after by the top DJs worldwide, i.e. Sasha & Digweed, Paul VanDyk, Carl Cox, etc). However, Twilo was Junior's and only Junior's on Sunday mornings, and at other events DJs had to use a "guest booth" at floor-level as no other DJ was allowed in Junior's personal booth ever. "Juniorverse" @ Twilo lasted until May 5, 2001 when the party was abruptly shut down by order of the city just hours before Junior's party was due to begin. With the demise of Twilo, Vasquez began a new Sunday morning after-hours residency which he named "Earth" and whose home was the highest capacity club space in NYC, Exit Nightclub. Junior's Earth @ Exit ended without fanfare in 2002 amidst discontent from fans and [reportedly] Vasquez himself. In the years that followed, he held shorter-lived residencies at various clubs in New York, including Discotheque (Fridays), Soundfactory on W 46th St (so-named by Richard Grant who retained legal rights to the name and opened in a new space shortly after the closure of the 27th St original space); Pacha) (the newest incarnation of the 46th St location following the dramatic closing & ousting of former owner Grant); Spirit (the yet-again-remodeled and reopened Sound Factory & Twilo space at 530 West 27th Street); and Roxy NYC. Vasquez currently holds small, monthly, Sunday-night residency at Cielo (a small bar in the West Village section of Manhattan) and spins other occasional one-off parties at various venues in New York City and around the world.

In addition to his work as a DJ and Remixer, he has co-produced albums for John Mellencamp, For Real, Lisa Lisa, Cyndi Lauper, among others, and individual LP tracks for Madonna, Cher, Wild Orchid, Kristine W, and others. Junior, along with his record label JuniorVasquezMusic, is also known for breaking new artists & artists from other genres into dance/pop music such as Vernessa Mitchell, Jason Walker, Casey Stratton, Kè, Vivian Green, & Sam Harris.

Madonna controversy

Vasquez had a public falling out with Madonna in 1996, after the release of an unauthorized single titled "If Madonna Calls". The original version that Junior plays at nightclubs contains what is widely believed to be an actual phone message from Madonna left on Junior's answering machine [ [http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/5133/ "Music Makes the People Come Together"] from New York Magazine 10/09/2001] .

The song lyrics are as follows:

(voice recording ostensibly left by Madonna on Junior's answering machine at his home in New York):

:"Hello Junior, This is Madonna. Are you there?" (short pause) "Call me in Miami."

This is followed by a male voice:

:"If Madonna calls, I'm not here"

This is followed by hard tribal rhythms, with the samples of the message still playing in the loop of the track, and a male voice repeating the words shown above. Towards the end of the song, the words change and the male voice then says:

"If Madonna Calls…actually if she calls just disconnect her."

While the male vocal "If Madonna calls, I'm not here." originated on a 1992 release by an unrelated artist and was similarly sampled in the less-known "What We Need" by Sam Traxx ("UMM EP", 1995), Vasquez reportedly produced & released his own version after Madonna failed to show up for a surprise performance at Junior's party at legendary New York City club "Tunnel" at the last second. Although never confirmed, Madonna did not approve of Junior's actions, ending their professional relationship on bad terms. Chances for a reconciliation are impossible according to Madonna's longtime rep Liz Rosenberg, who in a June 2003 news story in New York Magazine said: "“I can assure you that Madonna will never work with Junior again.” [ [http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/n_8821/index.html "Donatella Gets Swept Away by Junior"] from New York Magazine 23/06/2003]

Vasquez continues to create white label (unofficial) remixes for Madonna tracks, playing them at club events and readily available on many p2p systems. However, several mixes credited to Vasquez may or may not be from him as there is no official release to confirm.

Discography

Albums

* 1998: "To the Rhythm"
* 2000: "Twilo, Vol. 1: Junior Vasquez"
* 2001: "Junior's Nervous Breakdown"
* 2001: "J.M.O. After Service"
* 2002: "Earth Music"
* 2002: "Earth Music 2"
* 2003: "Junior's Magic Orchestra"
* 2004: "Ageha, Vol. 4"
* 2006: "Party Groove: White Party, Vol. 7

Mixed compilations

* 1994: "The Future Sound Of New York"
* 1994: "This Is The Sound Of Tribal"
* 1995: "Best of Junior Vasquez: Just Like a Queen"
* 1997: "Live, Vol. 1"
* 1998: "Live, Vol. 2"
* 1999: "Junior Vasquez, Vol. 2"
* 2001: "DJ19 Plays J.M.O. Perspective Service"

elected remixes

Note: The industry standard by which a remix is considered "commercially released" is the track has been made available legally for retail sale. This can mean the remix was released on a CD single, 12" vinyl single, cassette single, or it can mean the remix was released on one of the artist's albums (sometimes on greatest hits collections, sometimes as a bonus track to a studio album's international release), or that it was included on a compilation or soundtrack album. The tracks listed below have all been released commercially in one of the aforementioned forms, with a few exceptions which are indicated with a note in parenthesis explaining the track's status. With the advent of Internet-selling using programs such as iTunes, that type of release is also considered commercial as it results in a profit and the artist and management oversee what is available on such programs.

* Ace of Base - "Beautiful Life"
* Amanda Lear - "I Just Wanna Dance Again"
* Amber - "One More Night"
* Amber - "This Is Your Night"
* Annie Lennox - "No More I Love You's/Take Me To The River/Downtown Lights (Medley)"
* Angelique Kidjo - "Shango"
* Angelique Kidjo - "Wombo Lombo"
* Angelique Kidjo featuring Peter Gabriel - "Salala"
* Aqua - "Cartoon Heroes"
* Aqua - "Around The World"
* Ayumi Hamasaki - "Appears"
* Ayumi Hamasaki - "Boys & Girls"
* The Beatles - "Come Together" (Unreleased)
* Beyoncé - "Baby Boy"
* Beyoncé - "Crazy in Love"
* Beyoncé - "Deja Vu" (Unreleased)
* Blaqk Audio - "Stiff Kittens"
* BoA - "VALENTI"
* Britney Spears - "Me Against The Music" (Unreleased)
* Britney Spears - "Toxic" (Unreleased)
* Britney Spears - "Breathe On Me" (Unreleased)
* Britney Spears - "Touch Of My Hand" (Unreleased)
* Britney Spears - "Gimme More"
* Britney Spears - "Piece of Me"
* Britney Spears - "Break The Ice" (Unreleased)
* Britney Spears - "Radar"
* Billie Ray Martin - "Your Loving Arms"
* Billie Ray Martin - "Running Around Town"
* Billie Ray Martin - "Space Oasis"
* Billie Ray Martin - "True Moments Of My World" (Unreleased)
* Billie Ray Martin - "Systems Of Silence"
* Billie Ray Martin - "18 Carat Garbage"
* Casey Stratton - "House Of Jupiter"
* Casey Stratton - "Blood"
* CeCe Peniston - "Hit By Love" (Released only on promo)
* CeCe Peniston - "I'm Not Over You"
* CeCe Peniston - "He Loves Me 2"
* CeCe Peniston - "Movin On"
* Charlotte - "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark"
* Charlotte - "Skin"
* Cher - "Love And Understanding"
* Cher - "One By One"
* Cher - "Paradise Is Here"
* Cher - "The Power" (LP Version)
* Cher - "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore"
* Cher - "Love is in the Air" (Unreleased)
* Cher - "Invisible" (Unreleased)
* Christina Aguilera - "Ain't No Other Man"
* Cyndi Lauper - "That's What I Think"
* Cyndi Lauper - "Come On Home"
* Cyndi Lauper - "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun / Hey Now (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)"
* Cyndi Lauper - "Shine" (Unreleased)
* Cyndi Lauper - "True Colors" (Unreleased)
* Cyndi Lauper - "You Don't Know"
* Dannii Minogue - "Success"
* Dana International - "You Get Down On Me"
* David Bowie - "Little Wonder"
* David Longoria Featuring CeCe Peniston - "Deeper Love"
* Deborah Cox - "Who Do U Love"
* Deborah Cox - "Mr Lonely"
* Deborah Cox - "It's Over Now"
* Deborah Gibson - "Only Words"
* Deborah Gibson - "Only In My Dreams 1997 Mixes"
* Deep Forest featuring Peter Gabriel - "While The Earth Sleeps" (Unreleased)
* Dolce And Gabbana - "Music"
* Dolce And Gabbana - "More More More"
* Dolly Parton - "Peace Train"
* Donna Summer featuring Bruce Roberts - "Whenever There Is Love"
* Donna Summer - "Melody Of Love"
* Duran Duran - "White Lines"
* Elton John - "Made In England"
* Elton John - "Rocket Man" (Unreleased)
* Elton John - "Your Song" (Unreleased)
* Emer Kenny - "Golden Brown"
* Everything But The Girl - "Missing" (Released only on DMC Remix Service promo)
* For Real - "Like I Do"
* France Joli - "Touch"
* France Joli - "Breakaway"
* Funky Green Dogs - "Fired Up"
* Geri Halliwell - "Mi Chico Latino"
* Gioia Bruno - "From The Inside"
* Gladezz - "When You Need Somebody"
* Gloria Estefan - "Higher"
* Hypertrophy - "Beautiful Day"
* Information Society - "Whats On Your Mind (Pure Energy) 2001 Mixes"
* Irene Cara - "All My Heart"
* Janet Jackson - "Runaway"
* Janet Jackson - "Twenty Foreplay" (Released only on promo)
* Janet Jackson - "So Excited"
* Jars Of Clay - "Flood" (Released only on DMC Remix Service promo)
* Jason Walker - "My Life"
* Jason Walker - "Foolish Mind Games"
* Jody Watley - "Whenever"
* Joi Cardwell - "After The Rain"
* Joi Cardwell - "Trouble"
* John Lennon - "Imagine" (Unreleased)
* John Mellencamp - "Emotional Love" (Unreleased)
* Jonny McGovern- "Orange Juice"
* Joyce Sims - "All & All"

* Joyce Sims - "What The World Needs Now"
* Juliet Roberts - "I Want You" (Released only on DMC Remix Service promo)
* Justin Timberlake - "Cry Me A River"
* Justin Timberlake - "Rock Your Body"
* Justin Timberlake - "Like I Love You" (Unreleased)
* Kariya - "Let Me Love You Tonight"
* Ke - "Strange World"
* Ke - "Believer"
* Kamasutra - "Storm In My Soul" (Released only on DMC Remix Service promo)
* K.D. Lang - "If I Were You"
* K.D. Lang - "Theme From The Valley of the Dolls"
* Kelly Clarkson - "Miss Independent"
* Kristine W - "Fly Again"
* Kristine W - "Save My Soul"
* Kristine W - "Feel What You Want"
* Kristine W - "Loving You"
* Kristine W - "Stronger"
* Kristine W - "Land Of The Living"
* Kristine W - "One More Try"
* Kristine W - "Sweet Mercy Me" (Unreleased)
* Kristine W - "Don't Wanna Think" (Unreleased)
* Kylie Minogue - "Too Far"
* Lisa Lisa - "When I Fell In Love"
* Lisa Stansfield - "Never Gonna Fall"
* Livin' Joy - "Dreamer"
* Livin' Joy - "Don't Stop Movin"
* M People - "Padlock"
* Madonna - "Hollywood/American Life" (Unreleased)
* Madonna - "Die Another Day" (Unreleased)
* Madonna - "Frozen" (Unreleased)
* Madonna - "Like a Prayer" (Unreleased)
* Madonna - "Music" (Unreleased)
* Madonna - "Ray Of Light" (Unreleased)
* Madonna - "Rescue Me"
* Madonna - "Bedtime Story"
* Madonna - "Human Nature" (Unreleased)
* Madonna - "The Power Of Goodbye" (Unreleased)
* Madonna - "Secret"
* Madonna - "You'll See" (Unreleased)
* Madonna - "I Want You" (Unreleased)
* Mariah Carey - "Heartbreaker / If You Should Ever Be Lonely"
* Mariah Carey - "Bringin On The Heartbreak" (Unreleased)
* Maroon 5 - "This Love"
* Mary J. Blige - "Your Child"
* MC Hammer - "Pray"
* Ministers de la Funk featuring Jocelyn Brown - "Believe"
* Meja - "How Crazy Are You"
* Michael Jackson - "Off The Wall"
* Moby - "Into The Blue"
* Nelly Furtado - "Powerless (Say What You Want)"
* Nelly Furtado - "I'm Like A Bird"
* Nelly Furtado - "Say It Right"
* Orgy - "Fiction (Dreams In Digital)
* Paula Abdul featuring Ofra Haza - "My Love Is For Real"
* Paula Abdul - "The Promise Of A New Day"
* Peggy Wood - "Climb Ev'ry Mountain"
* Pearl Jam - "Better Man"
* Peter Lazonby- "Wave Speech"
* Pet Shop Boys - "Yesterday, When I Was Mad"
* Pilgrimage - "Land Of Ecstasy"
* Pink - "U + Ur Hand"
* Prince - "Cream"
* Prince - "Thieves in the Temple"
* Queen - "Bicycle Race" ("Jazz")
* Quindon Tarver - "When Doves Cry"
* Qkumba Zoo - "The Child Inside" (also known as "The Sea World" song)
* Qkumba Zoo - "I'm Scared, You're Scared"
* Rank 1 - "Airwave"
* Real McCoy - "Runaway"
* Real McCoy - "Come And Get Your Love"
* Rickie Lee Jones - "Living It Up" (Unreleased)
* RuPaul - "WorkOut"
* Sandy B - Nothingness
* Seduction - "Feel Brand New"
* Shannon - "Let The Music Play"
* Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Fear (Of the Unknown)"
* Skunk Anansie - "Brazen (Weep)"
* Sounds of Blackness - "Children of the World"
* Sophie B. Hawkins - "Beautiful Girl" (Released only on promo)
* Sphinx featuring Sabrina Johnston - "What Hope Have I"
* Spice Girls - "Wannabe"
* Spice Girls - "Say You'll Be There"
* t.A.T.u. - "All The Things She Said"
* Tevin Campbell - "Strawberry Letter 23"
* Toni Braxton - "He Wasn't Man Enough"
* Toni Braxton - "Unbreak My Heart" (Released only on DMC Remix Service promo)
* Vanessa L. Williams - "You Are Everything"
* Vernessa Mitchell - "Reap (What You Sow)
* Vernessa Mitchell - "This Joy"
* Vernessa Mitchell - "Trouble Don't Last Always"
* Vernessa Mitchell - "Took My Life"
* Vernessa Mitchell - "Accept Me"
* Vernessa Mitchell - "Love Will Find A Way"
* Wes Madiko - "Awa Awa"
* Whitney Houston - "Step by Step"
* Whitney Houston - "I Learned From The Best"
* Whitney Houston - "How Will I Know"
* Whitney Houston - "The Greatest Love of All"
* Whitney Houston - "I'm Every Woman" (Released only on DMC Remix Service promo)
* Whitney Houston - "Fine"
* Wild Orchid - "Talk To Me"
* Zelma Davis - "Power"

References

External links

* [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Junior-Vasquez/14155226329/ Junior Vasquez Global Facebook Page]
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* [http://www.atlantaboy.com/gay_atlanta/2005/04/junior_vasquez_.html Junior Vasquez Interview]
* [http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Pg&article_code=1988 Junior Vasquez feature] in "In Newsweekly"
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Junior+Vasquez Junior Vasquez discography] at Discogs
* [http://www.clubplanet.com/Articles/1595/Should-Junior-Vasquez-Win-a-Grammy Junior Vasquez article]