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, I and another DJ 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
©2026 TM DiSarro / MindScapes Publishing
From: POKING HOLES IN THE DARKNESS
Available on Amazon