About me, I was born in Miami Beach, my family moved to Brooklyn and eventually back to Florida and North Miami. Growing up I worked in various music related fields, which included some clubs and eventually radio.
A High School friend, Stephane Lemelin was the son of a club owner (Studio 51) in Ft. Lauderdale and his dad Guy Lemelin gave me a chance to spin at his club while still in HS for a summer, this led to a really cool career. Some of the south Florida clubs that I was the mix master of for more than 2 weeks were, Big Daddy’s, Crown Lounge, Penrod’s on the Beach in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami Beach.
Incidentally I opened the Miami Beach club and simultaneously predicted it’s demise that same night, managment had a thing against playing urban music and when you can’t play the Top 10 songs of the day because they were by black artists you’ve got a huge problem!
My favorite clubs that I worked were Bermuda Triangle / Club Atlantis and the legendary Facade’ in North Miami Beach where I took over for John Dillon and stayed on almost until the end of life for the club
Sometime in my club days I met Stuart Elliott a local radio jock that had just started working as the Music Director at WCJX-FM (96.5) Miami then known as 96-X now Power 96. I attempted a few auditions which were in vain but by chance one night I ended up on the air starting a cool career that would eventually give up in 1995.
Ok here is the back story, the program director at 96-X was going to fire the overnight girl, I had been coming into the station every Monday and Tuesday to help with research, calling record stores for the hot selling songs. The Program Director looked at me and said if you can stop trying to be a DJ and just talk, you’re on the air tomorrow night at midnight. This was actually good for the station, he got a Hispanic Male on the air which was good for Equal Opportunity, a Hispanic male that called himself Mike Kelly on the air!
The start up 96-X WCJX was sold after about 1 year of being on the air and playing the Super 16 so many times that I could sing Pet Shop Boys backwards and forwards! The station aligned itself to create what is now known as the “Miami Sound”, the staff changed, the station became Power 96 and by some miracle I stayed on for a short time working for legendary programmer Bill Tanner. I ran into Bill again in 1993 while working at Ace Music in Miami and by chance asked him if he knew any stations that were looking for a “Half Assed Weekender” his response was that he knew of someone that was looking for a “very good weekender”, gave me the number of the program director at Waxy-106Fm which I called and was on the air 2 weeks later. What I didn’t know at the time was that Bill was actually consulting the station, and had confidence in my abilities even though he hadn’t worked with me in over 5 years. My claim to fame in South Florida radio was being the last voice ever heard on WAXY (Waxy 106FM) I signed the station off the air and 2 minutes later it was WBGG Big 106FM where I continued to work for a short time later.
The face of radio changed around 1995 when Clear Channel took over EVERYTHING and with that everyone that didn’t have a contract was back to 10 bucks an hour and that didn’t pay the mortgage. In August of 1992 I had purchased a home, had adult responsibilities and was working part time in radio and full time for Motorola. I had a decision to make, barely survive or work the adult job for Motorola, I’m proud to say that I’ve been with Motorola since that day.
I worked in the International Radio Division of Motorola (“CaSA” Caribbean and South America Operations) from 1995 to about 1998 where I traveled from Bermuda (N) to Tierra del Fuego (S) and from Nassau (W) to Barbados (E). I worked on radios systems in some of the most beautiful and dangerous regions of the world but never stepped foot in Colombia. I was mugged in a taxi in Buenos Aires and that’s supposed to be the safest place in South America so Colombia… I don’t think so, I am 100% positive I would have been the poster boy for FARC.
After getting tired of travel which incidentally was about 95%, I took a new job on the domestic side where an opportunity arose to move to Orlando. There has always been a strange attraction to me with Orlando. Since I was 18 and had a car and willing girlfriends I would travel there to see the mouse several times a year, I almost always stayed at the Holiday Inn on 17/92 right at the Turnpike Exit and oddly enough it was also behind the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office where as fate would have it, I met a dispatch supervisor in a meeting in 2002 who would later become my wife Carrie. FATE I think so.
I’m living in Phoenix now, moved out here at the end of 2004 from Orlando. I work for Motorola managing a large service contract for the cities of Phoenix, Mesa and Gilbert Arizona. My day to day life starts early (typically around 5am) and sometimes never seems to stop.
I grew up in South Florida in North Miami and bought my first house in Sunrise Florida in 1992 about 2 weeks after Hurricane Andrew. Hurricanes actually played a huge part in my decision to leave Florida after surviving the Fab 4 hurricanes of 2004 (Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne) and dealing with water intrusion and picking up my roof from all over the neighborhood more than once, the decision to relo was easy.
We settled in Gilbert AZ in December 2004 having driven from Orlando in 2 SUV’s one packed with 3 cats and the other packed with the baby. We stopped in New Orleans, San Antonio, Las Cruces and finally arriving in Phoenix on the 27th of December we optimistically painted the inside of a 4000 sq ft house and waited for our furniture to arrive a week later. The odd thing, we loved Phoenix the minute we left, we got to Orlando to pack the house and we literally thought that home was west now and it was effortless.
Lesson learned, next time, the cars get shipped, the corporate housing gets used and I take a month or two to get to know the area and not try to move an entire house in 2 weeks!
So here I am now in Phoenix, living in my 3rd house in Phoenix in a great area at the base of the White Tanks mountains just west of the city of Phoenix and loving life. I have a cute little 5 year old munchkin who i can’t imagine being without and am so happy that she’s part of my life.
Where am I now <Click Here>
So that’s about it for right now, more updates to come on the main page and hopefully it will be all good.