From 1979 to 2008, I was a nightclub DJ. I fell into the music business by
accident. At the time, I owned a costume rental service. The guy who used to
do my dry cleaning worked part-time for a local Radio personality.
One day, when he was in my shop, he offered me a job as a roadie for his
DJ gigs. I was single at the time and said what the hell. And so, every Friday
and Saturday, I’d be lugging equipment and setting up his sound system.
The kid had a girlfriend he would bring to the shows, and every so often, he
would ask me to play the music so he could go out to the parking lot and do
whatever with his girl.

One night, his boss showed up and watched me play from the back of the
room. When the guy returned 45 minutes later, he got fired, and I got hired.
So now I am a DJ after eight shows. A month later, one of my customers was
in my shop renting a Santa suit, and in the course of our conversation, he
told me he was going to be a bouncer at a new club opening in two weeks.
He says I should go audition, and me, not knowing any better, agrees.
I seriously knew nothing about playing in a nightclub, but liked music. So I show
up, and eight other seasoned DJs are there. We got to do a twenty-minute set,
and I just played the hits I liked on the radio; no fancy mixes, just slammed
together, and people were dancing. The owners said I was just what they were
looking for. So, another DJ and I got the job, and it’s the busiest club in the
city seven nights a week.

After several years I went to a bigger club, once again the busiest in the
city. And then worked for a company that owned 40 clubs in Rhode Island,
Mass and Connecticut. I played every format, from Hip-Hop clubs, Rock,
Disco, House and Techno, and Gay and Straight clubs. Whenever a new
club opened, I had a residency to get things started. Later in my career, it was
mostly House clubs.

One of the clubs I worked at was in Worcester, Mass. And I’d drive there
every Friday and Saturday for a residency. On the way, I’d pass an exit for
Purgatory Chasm and another for Purgatory Road. I was writing then and
always found that name intriguing, later in 2012. I started a website with the
name Purgatory Road, basically to post my writings. I still have that account
on WordPress and had hoped to publish a book by that name. At the time,
there were no books. Now there are ten with that title. Oh well. Music has
evolved greatly through the years.

On the cusp of the 1980s, Disco was dying a slow death, replaced by New
Wave and Hip-hop and Rap…eventually, the disco beats went underground
and morphed into House Music, feeding the alternative club scene. Overseas,
the rave scene was being born, and Techno eventually fused with house to
become a force all its own. The alternative scene would eventually meld into
the mainstream as one giant party. I played both and then all. But for now,
Michael Jackson still owned the dance floors, and the predominant sound
was upbeat.

As the radios caved to funky grooves, they were infused increasingly into my playlist.
I was fortunate to grow up in what I feel was the best age for music…
My favorite years of rock and roll were 1964 to 1974. Witnessing as it transformed.
I saw all the originals as they played off the energy of the zeitgeist.
The Beatles, Dylan, Bowie, Zeppelin, The Who, and The Clash, when they
were the only band that mattered, many of them live. U2 was in a little club
when they toured the States for the first time. I saw all the original Hip Hop
pioneers firsthand as it unfolded. Play it as I heard it.

All the influences that so many artists these days try to emulate. I was
playing them in the background. They’ll all be dead in my lifetime. It’s
amazing and sad in retrospect. Growing up, music was my first escape. The
music took me places, and the lyrics opened up my imagination. Idol worship
comes in many forms to help us get out of our heads…a soundtrack for my
life as I played a soundtrack to a non-stop twenty-five-year party. Later on,
words became my escape.

 

TM DiSarro
From: POKING HOLES IN THE DARKNESS