Junior Vasquez: A Living Legend’s Legacy Volume 1

Junior Vasquez who was born Donald Gregory Mattern (really?) is an American DJ, record producer, and remixer.  With ambitions of becoming a fashion designer, he moved to New York City in 1971. His enthusiasm for DJ Larry Levan at the infamous Paradise Garage led him to Shep Pettibone (another DJ/producer begging for a Legacy induction) where they edited mixes for multiple artists like Madonna, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, and more. Several of his earliest underground House hits like "Work That Pussy" and "Drag Queen" were under the moniker Ellis D with the latter featured here. In 1989, he co-founded the Sound Factory and simultaneously became an in-demand remixer for several big-label artists. After the Sound Factory closed in 1995, he held multiple residencies including at the Tunnel, and subsequently returned to the former Sound Factory now called Arena. IF MADONNA CALLS Junior introduced Madonna to vogue at the Sound Factory, which served as an inspiration for a massively successful song in 1990 by the same name. At the time, she was making a name for herself on the dancefloor by embracing the emerging House Music sounds and flipping them to a more commercial audience. She has long been associated with dance music trends by associating herself with underground names like Shep Pettibone and William Orbit before latching onto Junior Vasquez to remix several tracks from her "Bedtime Stories" album. It was around this time she had allegedly agreed to perform at one of Junior's Sound Factory shows and bowed out at the last moment. Queens being queens, Junior took one of the messages she left on his answering machine and looped it into the deep house groove "If Madonna Calls" without her permission using the phrase "this is Madonna" "are you there" "call me in Miami." The bitch track went all the way to #2 on the Billboard Dance Club charts and spawned multiple remixes — including anniversary remixes. Afterward, any chance of reconciliation and working together again went out the door. This turned out to be a lucky move on her part as she went on to introduce the world to Victor Calderone and Peter Rauhofer (who was already riding high with Club 69). Nevertheless, neither of them is getting any younger and Madge is going through some things at the moment. It's time to come together and bury the hatchet. Life's too short for former besties to hold onto grudges. This set does not reflect any official Junior remixes of Madonna other than "Secret" and the fabulous Marvin Gaye rendering of "I Want You" where Junior was commissioned to remix the track but it never received an official release. DIVA DIVA DIVA Scroll through the list of divas in the Party Favorz "Diva Hall of Fame" and you will be hard-pressed to find anyone Junior hasn't remixed. From Annie Lennox to Whitney Houston and every diva in between, there's hardly anyone in there that he doesn't know or hasn't remixed. Seriously! These two volumes honoring the master DJ are nowhere near as comprehensive and representative of this man's work and barely scratch the surface. It would take probably 10 sets to showcase his amazing talent. Drugs, Sex, and Dance In 2006, Junior gave an interview to A&U (America's AIDS Magazine) about a 5-year period where everything was a blur due to abusing crystal meth. I remember this article very well but it appears to have been taken down and his Wikipedia page omits it entirely. While he's clean and sober now and starting a new chapter in his life — this is an important story that shouldn't be buried. There are excerpts and message boards dedicated to this dark period in his life but it's not fair to quote any of them without the original interview as a source. I understand there is currently a biopic being made about his life. Considering how long he's been in the industry and how many artists he's worked with — I hope that they don't whitewash an important factor of his life that could serve as inspirat...