Outer sleeve in good condition. Generic sleeve with hype sticker. One corner saw cut. Some creasing, edge and corner wear. Original inner paper sleeves. Records have been cleaned via a Spin-Clean first and then a Degritter. Test played and sounds excellent. Records are in excellent to near-mint condition. I generally grade sleeves and records on the conservative side. From smoke-free home. All records will ship carefully via media mail unless you let me know that you prefer the more expensive but insured USPS priority mail. Tracklist
Credits
John Benitez (born November 7, 1957), also known as Jellybean, is an American musician, songwriter, DJ, remixer, and music producer. He has produced and remixed artists such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and the Pointer Sisters. He was later the executive producer of Studio 54 Radio. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked him as the 99th most successful dance artist of all-time.[1] Early life Benitez was born in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City, the son of Puerto Rican parents.[2] After his parents divorced, Benitez and his younger sister Debbie were raised by their mother, who worked in the executive offices of Sloan's supermarkets.[2] Benitez grew up enjoying music and would watch deejays at local clubs.[2] Benitez borrowed his sister's record player and practiced on two turntables. His sister nicknamed him Jellybean as his initials are J.B. and from the expression "Know what I mean, Jellybean?", he said.[2] Benitez attended De Witt Clinton High School and John F. Kennedy High School, but did not graduate. He would skip school and play at hooky parties. When a neighbor paid him to play at a Sweet 16 party, he realized he could have a career as a deejay.[2] Career In 1976, Benitez got a weekend job deejaying between salsa bands at a club called Charlie's in the Bronx.[2] He convinced the owner to open a non-alcoholic dance club, and he used the live audience to experiment on.[2] By this time, he was kicked out of school for truancy.[2] Benitez wanted to move to Manhattan, so he worked at a club called La Mariposa in Washington Heights.[2] Then he switched to the Experimental Four club in Midtown Manhattan.[2] In 1978, Benitez was making $100 for a four-night week when he moved to an apartment on the West Side of Manhattan.[2] After earning a high school equivalency diploma, Benitez enrolled at Bronx Community College as a psychology major and took voice and diction classes.[2] In 1979, Benitez worked back and forth between Manhattan and Long Island. He worked seven nights a week at Hurrah, and Le Mouches in New York City, Club Marrakesh in Westhampton, Blue Cloud in Southampton, and La Falafel.[2] Between 1976 and 1980, Benitez also played at New York New York, Studio 54, Le Jardin, and the Grand Ballroom.[3] He eventually settled at the Electric Circus and Xenon in New York City.[2] In 1981, he was hired as the resident DJ at Funhouse. He hosted a weekend dance radio show at WKTU.[4] Soon, Benitez was influencing the dance charts. He pushed the records "Planet Rock" (1982) and "Let the Music Play" (1983).[2] Record companies would send him awards when the records went gold.[2] In 1983, an executive from Warner Bros. Records introduced Benitez to Madonna at the Funhouse.[2] At the time she had released one single, "Everybody" (1982), which he played at the club. They became friends and Madonna asked Benitez to remix her 1983 debut album Madonna; soon after a romance ensued.[3] Benitez remixed her singles "Burning Up", "Borderline", and "Lucky Star".[5] He also produced "Holiday", which was her first international top ten hit song.[3] "While I was launching her career, I was launching my career as a producer," he said.[2] Benitez continued to deejay at the Funhouse while producing and remixing for other artists.[2] In 1984, Benitez remixed Madonna's hit song "Like a Virgin" and landed a producing deal with EMI America Records.[2] In May 1985, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager opened the Palladium in New York City. They asked Benitez to play at the grand opening and be a resident deejay at the club.[3] After Benitez's production of Madonna's song "Crazy for You" went No. 1 the same week, Rubell decided that Benitez has become "more of a commercial-record producer than a cutting-edge spinner" and decided to replace him.[2] Benitez remixed songs for various artists, including for Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, David Bowie, Sting, Talking Heads, Deniece Williams, Elvis Costello, Fleetwood Mac, the Pointer Sisters, and ZZ Top.[2] At the peak of his success, Dave Rimmer of Smash Hits called him "a veritable Bishop of the Beat, Deacon of the Drum Machine and...High Priest of the Handclap".[6] In 1985, Benitez signed a production deal with Warner Bros. Records.[7] When Warner Bros. asked Benitez to produce a non-rap song for the Krush Groove soundtrack, he suggested Debbie Harry, who was resurrecting her career.[2] They composed the song "Feel the Spin" (1985) together. Benitez produced Whitney Houston's top ten hit "Love Will Save the Day" from her 1987 sophomore album Whitney. Benitez was the musical producer for the film The Principal (1987) and produced the theme for Mel Brooke's film Spaceballs (1987).[2] Benitez had success with his own records as well. Between 1984 and 1991, he had nine recordings placed in the top ten of the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, including three number ones. Benitez released his debut album Wotupski!?! on EMI America in 1984. His 1984 cover of Babe Ruth's "The Mexican", for which he recruited original singer Janita Haan, regarded as a pivotal moment in the electro-hip hop underground scene, and was his first number-one single on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.[4] His single "Sidewalk Talk" (US No. 18, UK No. 47) was written by Madonna and became a top 20 hit, which made him the first DJ to appear on the pop chart as an artist.[2] Four singles from his 1984 album Just Visiting This Planet reached the top 20 in the UK.[8] The 1987 track "Who Found Who" (US No. 16) features Elisa Fiorillo.[8] In 1991, the album Spillin' the Beans saw Benitez work with John Oates, Roy Ayers and Roy Hay.[9] The single "What's It Going To Be" featured Niki Haris, one of three main vocalists on the album together with Cindy Valentine and Deanna Eve.[10] The album received mixed reviews with Ian Cranna in Q Magazine calling it "functional but forgettable".[9] Other vocalists who have performed on a Jellybean release include Adele Bertei and Richard Darbyshire. In 1995, Benitez launched an independent Latin label, H.O.L.A. Recordings (Home Of Latin Artists), which was backed by Wasserstein Perella and PolyGram Records.[11] Benitez also composed the film score for the 1995 independent comedy Lie Down With Dogs.[12] After not playing anywhere for a decade, David Mancuso invited Benitez to deejay at The Loft in New York City in 2001.[3] Benitez continues to deejay globally.[3] He owns Jellybean Productions, Jellybean Soul and Jellybean Music Group. In 1995, he founded the now-defunct H.O.L.A. recording label (House of Latin Artists) which developed hip hop and R&B music by bilingual artists and released recordings in both English and Spanish. Voices of Theory signed with this label.[4] In 2005, Benitez was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.[13] Benitez is currently the executive producer of Studio 54 Radio, which is heard exclusively on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Channel 54). Studio 54 Radio launched in 2011. It features 1970s and 1980s classic dance from Jellybean's personal collection and the vaults and collections of Studio 54 insiders.[14] Personal life Benitez dated Madonna and model Nikki Scorsese in the 1980s.[2] He married former Wilhelmina model and restaurateur Carolyn Effer in 1991.[15][11] They have two daughters, Layla Benitez and Reya Benitez.[16] They lived in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan.[17] Niki Haris (born April 17, 1962) is an American singer and dancer of pop, R&B, jazz and dance music. She was one of Madonna's backing vocalists from 1987 to 2001, and the guest lead vocalist on various Snap! singles in the early 1990s. Early life and family Haris was born Gina Nichole Haire in Benton Harbor, Michigan on April 17, 1962, the daughter of jazz musician Gene Harris.[1] She attended college in Southern California before pursuing a singing career in amusement parks and clubs in the California area. Haris gave birth to a daughter, Jordan Ann, in 2003.[citation needed] The father is Club Nouveau member, producer, songwriter (and Karyn White's manager) Jay King.[citation needed] Music career This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Find sources: "Niki Haris" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Haris (right) and Donna De Lory performing as backup singers for Madonna's Girlie Show World Tour in 1993 Haris became a close friend of, backing vocalist and dancer for Madonna during her Who's That Girl Tour (1987). She appeared in the documentary film Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991), directed by Alek Keshishian, which chronicled various personal and entertaining moments (both off- and on-stage) during Madonna’s iconic—and controversial—Blond Ambition Tour (1991). Haris also appeared in the music videos for Madonna’s number-one hit songs "Vogue" (1990) and "Music" (2000). Along with fellow backup singer Donna De Lory, Haris provided backup vocals on many of Madonna’s records between 1987 and 2000, appeared in numerous recorded and televised Madonna performances, and participated in four out of Madonna’s eight concert tours, namely the Who's That Girl Tour (1987), the Blond Ambition Tour (1990), The Girlie Show Tour (1993) and The Drowned World Tour (2001). The Who’s That Girl Tour performance in Turin, Italy, was broadcast live globally, and eventually released on home video, titled Ciao, Italia: Live from Italy (1988). One of The Girlie Show dates in Sydney, Australia, was filmed for VHS/DVD, and the Drowned World Tour performance in Madonna’s hometown of Detroit, Michigan was broadcast live on HBO, prior to VHS/DVD release. Both Haris and De Lory featured prominently in these concert tours, providing not only backing vocals and dancing but also comedic banter and interaction with Madonna throughout the shows. For the Re-Invention Tour in 2004, Haris was replaced with Siedah Garrett. The official word from Haris was that she "would like to focus on her solo career and family". Haris was also absent from Madonna's subsequent Confessions Tour (2006), the Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008-09), the MDNA Tour (2012) and the Rebel Heart Tour (2015-16), as well as from providing backing vocals on each tour’s respective album. Her vocal film work is also featured on the soundtracks of Corrina, Corrina, The Big Green, Noises Off, Coyote Ugly, Urban Legends: Bloody Mary and Anastasia. She has also recorded television themes, including co-writing and performing two songs for the Fox series Dark Angel. Haris toured with her father, until his death, while promoting their albums, Down Home Blues and In His Hands and Jazz Alley Cats. Haris performed at benefits for AIDS, cancer research and Camp Harmony for inner city children. She is a supporter for the Music in the Classroom program and Rockers Against Drunk Driving and is an annual participant in the Season for Non Violence. Niki has made several television appearances in 2008 & presently in 2009 including: The Democratic National Convention 2008, CNN, Fox Network & Fuse TV. Collaborations This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Find sources: "Niki Haris" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Haris has collaborated with many artists including, Michelle Branch, All Saints, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, Anita Baker, Ray Charles, Karyn White, Prince, Mick Jagger, Julian Lennon, LeAnn Rimes, Luther Vandross, Jessica Simpson, Pussycat Dolls, Santana, The Righteous Brothers, Rufus, Enrique Iglesias, Marilyn Manson,[2] Madonna, Tom Jones, Snap!, Joe Henry, Michael Bernard Beckwith and Ani DiFranco. Niki appeared on Donna De Lory's 2013 album on a track called 'Kinder'. Choreography and acting career This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Find sources: "Niki Haris" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Haris choreographed the MTV Awards for Madonna as well as providing some additional choreography on The Girlie Show, and for the television series Melrose Place. She helped stage scenes for Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Haris has performed in lead appearances in Truth or Dare, was featured artist on the HBO special Sandra After Dark, and had a role in the film Heat. Niki appeared in, and sang backing vocals for Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. |
