Mark Kamins

Template:Short description Mark Kamins (April 11, 1950 – February 14, 2013)<ref name=":1" /> was an American record producer, remixer, and disc jockey famous for his role in the New York club scene.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is best known for helping launch the career of singer Madonna by bringing her to Sire Records and producing her debut single "Everybody" in 1982.

Life and career

Kamins attended Elizabeth Irwin High School in New York City.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> He grew up with songwriter Bob Thiele Jr. and they went to school with jazz drummer Denardo Coleman and photographer Amy Arbus.<ref name=":0" />

As a teenager, Kamins worked at a record shop, Record Connection, where he met DJs and that led to his first DJing gig at the nightclub Le Jardin.<ref name=":0" /> After Kamins graduated from college in 1976, he went to London where his then-girlfriend worked at Virgin Megastore.<ref name=":0" /> At the shop, he met someone who offered him a job in Greece and he ended up DJing in Athens for a year at a club called Anabella's.<ref name=":0" /> When he returned to New York, he got a job at a rock club called Trax on 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue.<ref name=":0" />

In 1979, Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, heard Kamins DJing at Trax and hired him to do A&R for the label.<ref name=":0" /> Kamins signed The Waitresses and Was Not Was to Island Records.<ref name=":0" />

When Jim Fouratt and Rudolf Pieper opened the first Danceteria nightclub in 1980, they hired Kamins as a DJ.<ref name=":0" /> When the club closed, he was hired by Steve Mass to DJ at the Mudd Club on White Street.<ref name=":0" /> He later returned to work at the second Danceteria on 21st Street.<ref name=":0" />

Around this time, Kamins began remixing songs. His first remix was "Big Business" (1981) by David Byrne.<ref name=":0" /> He suggested the instrumental for "Pull Up to the Bumper" (1981) by Grace Jones.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> "That was a B-Side of a Junior Tucker song. It was just a Sly & Robbie dub track that was hanging around. I gave it to Grace to write some lyrics on it, and she came up with "Pull Up to the Bumper."<ref name=":0" />

In 1982, Madonna, then an aspiring singer, gave Kamins the demo tape of her song "Everybody" at Danceteria.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They became romantically involved and Kamins played her music for Blackwell, hoping to sign her. The Island Records chief said, "I'm not gonna sign my A&R guy's girlfriend."<ref name=":0" /> Kamins then sent the tape to Seymour Stein, head of Sire Records.<ref name=":0" /> Stein was impressed with the song and asked to meet Madonna while he was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital, ultimately signing her to a singles deal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kamins produced "Everybody", which was released as Madonna's debut single in October 1982.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kamins remixed "A Nite Out" (1983) and "Peacetrain" (1984) by Urban Blight.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1984, Kamins recorded the Beastie Boys. He produced the 1985 album Pigs and Battleships by Quando Quango.<ref name=":0" /> In 1985, Steve Rubell hired Kamins as DJ at the opening week of the Palladium nightclub, but his style didn't work well at the club and he was fired after the opening night.<ref name=":0" />

Kamins opened his own venue, The Harem, where live Turkish musicians played along with his instrumental house tracks.<ref name=":0" />

On February 14, 2013, Kamins died at the age of 57 after he suffered "a massive coronary" in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he had been teaching.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> He was survived by a son.<ref name=":1" />

External links

• Mark Kamins on IMDb