Tony Humphries (musician)
| Tony Humphries | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | 1957 (age 59–60) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Origin | New York City |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Radio DJ, Club DJ, Dance Music Producer |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts | Todd Terry, Masters at Work, David Morales, Louie Vega, Shep Pettibone |
| Website | tonyhumphries |
Tony Humphries became a New York City, US DJ in the early 1980s. He was one of the earliest proponents of house music and has been instrumental in spreading the genre on both sides of the Atlantic.
Humphries' work encompasses studio production and remixes, radio slots on KISS-FM and Hot 97 and DJ residencies at clubs including Club Zanzibar (NJ) and the Ministry of Sound in London, UK.
Born in Brooklyn in 1957, Tony Humphries began collecting records at age ten. Humphries' passion for music was encouraged from a very early age. His father, Rene, had emigrated from Colombia some years earlier, before going on to lead the New York Combo. Rene "El Grande Combo" Humphries, as he was known, performed alongside salsa performers including Tito Puente.
Humphries began DJing at college and got his first professional gig in 1981 at the then-new New York station KISS-FM following a chance encounter with Shep Pettibone. His big break was in 1982, when he was asked by Shep Pettibone to fill in for a mix show on 98.7 Kiss-FM in New York. Soon afterward, he was a regular contributor of the station’s mastermixes—extended and remixed versions of popular songs that had been pioneered on the station earlier by Pettibone. During most of the 1980s until 1994, Humphries had a mix show that aired on Kiss-FM every Friday and Saturday night.
In 1982 Humphries got a residency at the Club Zanzibar, in Newark, New Jersey, home of the so-called Jersey Sound.
Humphries and Club Zanzibar, alongside the Paradise Garage and its resident DJ Larry Levan, are considered to be the main driving forces behind the creation of garage house music.
By the late 1980s bootleg tapes of Humphries' KISS-FM radio shows had begun to make their way across the Atlantic. Alex Patterson from ambient house group The Orb was one such early disciple; "hearing proper DJs like Tony Humphries, that's what really got me into house music."
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