Rick Squillante

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Rick Squillante (August 17, 1948 – April 21, 2001) was a

Dallas, Texas. He has been noted as a major influence on many of today's modern DJs in the dance music
trade.

History

Squillante started his career in the late 1970s in

synthpop, highlighted by Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Yaz, Heaven 17 and Section 25
.

Record industry

Through connections made at the Starck Club, Squillante eventually landed a job working for the Resource Record Pool in Los Angeles. He moved to the city in 1989 and was hired at

Armand Van Helden. Heavily influenced by the burgeoning UK drum and bass movement, Van Helden incorporated its trademark sub bass sounds into his rugged "Dark Garage Remix." The record peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard Dance Chart, but caused a sensation in the UK. Many[who?] credible DJs, producers and dance music historians cite it as the record that invented "speed garage", a house music subgenre popular in the late 1990s, characterized by skittering four-on-the-floor beats and deep, oozing bass parts. Despite these successes, music industry mergers and cutbacks put VU Records on the chopping block and Squillante was eventually laid off by Virgin Records in 1998. During the following years, he was not involved in the music or DJ industry, and most people acquainted with him[who?
] said he simply "dropped out of the scene."

On April 21, 2001, for unknown reasons, Squillante committed suicide.[4]

Influence

Many DJs reference the work done by Squillante as having shaped and influenced the modern Dallas dance music scene. Wade Randolph Hampton, better known as DJ WishFM, music supervisor and actor in the Sony Pictures Classics film Groove, noted Squillante's influence in a March 2006 interview calling him "the original hero of the Starck Club who showed me the way."[5] Hampton also said, "Much like Nicky Siano was (Studio) 54's legend, Starck's major DJ force, the late Rick Squillante, broke new ground – night after night. His flawless mixing and uncanny ability to merge disparate parts into a magnificent sum will forever be the standard for Starck disciples.

See also

  • Notable Club DJs

References

  1. ^ "Starck Club : McKinney Ave., Dallas, Texas". DiscoMusic.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  2. ^ [1] Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "News & Opinion: Countdown to Ecstasy (Austin Chronicle . 06-12-00)". Weeklywire.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  4. ^ "DJs: Gone But Not Forgotten". Ped111251.tripod.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-25. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  5. ^ "Clubplanet Nightlife Community". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.

External links

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