Francis Grasso: The First Modern DJ
March 7th, 2002
The true origins of the DJ are not completely certain, but they trace way back to a man in Otley, West Yorkshire, England as early as 1943 by the name of Jimmy Savile. There are rumors that he was the first man to play vinyl live charging one shilling for admission. Humble beginnings, but the start of something much much bigger.
Jimmy Savile might be considered the first DJ, but the first modern DJ and the one who created club DJing is widely accepted as DJ Francis Grasso. The term “modern” DJ meaning the DJ as we know him now- DJs that are music artists with a superstar status, the DJ that has the power to move and influence a huge audience. When I say move an audience, I’m not just referring to making them dance and ‘jack their bodies’. I’m referring also to the spiritual aspect of the art of the DJ. Moving the audience by changing the whole energy and emotions of the audience. Bringing them from the depths of the chill-out to ecstatic highs. The modern DJ that doesn’t play records to please a crowd, but he shares himself with it.
Francis Grasso was born in Brooklyn, New York and at an early age played guitar, saxophone, and the drums. His first job in the dance world was as a dancer at Trude Heller’s Club. One night when he went to a club called Salvation II, he was asked to DJ after Terry Noel, the regular DJ was a no show. The manager decided to keep Francis and fire Noel, thus giving Francis his first DJ gig. He started by spinning soul with African rhythms. He would play records like Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Chicago, and Gladys Knight. This was in 1968, before even the first hint of disco music.
After this he moved to Sanctuary club situated in Hell’s Kitchen that used to be a German Baptist Church and was probably the very first gay night club or at least the most notorious one. He played there until its closure in 1972. It was there that he gained his reputation and developed the techniques that he is now famous for and that helped catalyze the disco craze and the popularity of the modern DJ.
One of the techniques he is famous for is ’slip cueing’. Slip cueing is the technique of holding a record still while the turntable is still spinning beneath it in order to play the next record on an exact beat. This method is used to continually stream the music by started a new record on the last beat of the one playing and fading the volume thus making a continual mix without interruptions or pauses.
Another technique he is famous for and is perhaps more important is matching beats with the records which is much ahead of the term BPM. He was known for playing two records simultaneously for sometimes as much as two minutes which is an amazing task considering that then there was no such thing as a pitch control and no way to adjust the turntable once it started playing the vinyl.
Francis Grasso was the first DJ to truly be admired by the crowd and to obtain some of the popularity that now characterizes the modern DJ. He was friends with people like Andy Warhol, Calving Klein, and Jimi Hendrix and also dated Liza Manelli. He was also in two movies. The first was “Klute” in 1971 which showed him working at the Sanctuary for a few seconds and the second was the recent documentary of dance music titled “Maestro” which features the only known recorded interview of him.
He eventually quit working as a DJ in 1981 after losing ambition and worked occasionally in construction in Brooklyn. He died on March 20 in 2001 at the young age of 52. Sadly, his work wasn’t as recognized as it should have been during the period of his life, but it still has its mark on what we know as the dance music culture today. Not only did he improve dance world with his techniques, he really changed the whole concept of the DJ.
July 29th, 2008 at
THERE SHOULD BE A FRANCIS GRASSO HOLIDY FOR DJS
October 24th, 2008 at
im so very saddened by the passing of francis, i was a girlfriend of his for over 4 years and experienced everything thru him since i was 9 years his junior…. i saw factory girl last night and it reminded me of him. when i goggled his name i broke down. he was brilliant in every sense of the word…
October 24th, 2008 at
@Patricia – Awe, that’s a sad story. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your memory.
January 2nd, 2009 at
I happened to catch the end of Maestro, on Logo channel last week, and caught the name at the end .Rest in peace Francis Grasso.I quickly tivo ‘d the next showing.I could ‘nt believe he was gone.We met sometime in the 70 ’s at a bklyn club.We became close friends for a while.He lived on Coney Island Ave. in bklyn.We walked the dog at 5 in the morning.The dogs name was Fracas,a russian wolfhound.He took me to a rocking club called 12 West, the system was incredible.we had a love for music in common.I feel so saddened by his passing.
February 4th, 2009 at
I was Francis’ girlfriend from July 1970 through July 1972. I was with him through Klute, the Sanctuary and where I met him for the forth time at the Haven. I originally met him on Church Avenue in 1966 when he was 17 and we bumped into each other over the years until we finally clicked. I remember Dante the large Great Dame. He lived on Church Avenue and his mother Mary lived on Coney Island Ave. The last time I saw him was when he took me to Juniors in July 1972 and he recently moved to Emmons Ave, Brooklyn. I married the following January and wished I saw him one more time. He was fascinating, sexy, respectful and just brillant. He didn’t know his worth and that is sad. I am happy he has finally received the recognition he deserved. Rest in Peace.
April 23rd, 2009 at
Wow, folks are using my scan of Francis from the tribute site I set up years ago on tripod.com. Well the main thing is that when I started researching the history of dance music 10 years ago, there was hardly any mention of Francis at all. Shortly after my friend Phil died, I heard about Francis’ passing and felt that he deserved a lot more than we djs were giving him. That’s when I decided to add more to the wikipedia site and to make sure that djs at least known the truth about where all this came from. Jackie, Patricia, please feel free to contact me. There are so few people who can say they were actually there and heard and felt what it was like that I would love to add more about Francis than I have. Thank you Francis for my career!
September 5th, 2009 at
hey john, please feel free to contact me. i would love to share stories and reminisce your doing him such justice he deserves so much more…..
warmest, patricia
January 4th, 2010 at
Patricia,
As I’ve written, the last time I saw Francis was 1972. When did you two date? I would love to know what went on in his later life after the Santuary, Club Francis, The Haven etc which I know and lived and even though he lived in Brooklyn as I still do, never bumped into him again. I can also advise you where to reach John England who found me on My Space and a dj and music producer in Italy who contacted me through My Space. I did an interview for the Italian’s website (Blog) about the years 1966 thru 1972 which is an international music website. Francis is known as far as Africa now. I don’t know about you, I knew Francis would go places and even though he asked me to marry him, I didn’t think his life style was stable so after two years with him, I chose and married someone else. I made a mistake for sure. Anyway, like you I had a whim to look for him on facebook and that’s how I found out he died. I was in shock. He was so young. It was so sad. I guess I’m his second fiance, that’s what he called us. Although I dated him in 1966 original and in July 1970 entered into a two year relationship with him, he met a model in 1969 and was engaged to her, so she’s the first. But because he was 17 when we first met and dated, I’m probably his first love. You dated him for 4 plus years, why didn’t you marry him? Please contact me.
Jackie
March 27th, 2010 at
My first expreience in the club scene back in 1970 was with the Sanctuary and Francis as it’s DJ….Francis and the Sanctuary will be a part of my fond memories of those times forever.
There will never be another time or place like that again …
RIP FRANCIS …THANKS FOR THE MUSIC !
April 9th, 2010 at
Sorry to read that Francis is no longer on this earth..I was one of a group of six (Martin, James, Anthony, Adelle, Chrystal and me (Gilda) that partied at the Sanctuary EVERY week-end…We were usually the only Black folks there and loved every moment of it…I would get Francis to come down from the ‘pulpit’ to dance with me….and boy did we have a ball…I remember him wearing a pair of pants that were ‘palomino’ print…he was too damn cute and very nice…He always greeted my group and danced with us…what a good guy…The music was the best and it keep us coming back every week-end for several years…The Sanctuary was the BEST… I thank him for so many wonderful memories!!! Francis may be gone, but his memory lives on in many of my conversations with friends from back in the day!!!!
May 12th, 2010 at
I remember Francis back in 1971 through 1973 or 74. He was a great DJ. I remember requesting many songs to him and he was always kind enough to play those songs. Does anyone know how he died? I will always have fond memories. RIP DJ