Have you got any comments on how Remixers were regarded in the beginning and how it has changed during
the years?
"I feel I was one of the first DJ's mixing, having started around 1975, while I know I wasn't the first I was right there
at the head of the pack, I would like to think I pioneered some of the art and technique of mixing 12" records. During the
80's the mixer/remixers were highly regarded for what we could do to a records life and the added exposure a good mix could
bring. In the late 80's that started to change as the producers started to understand the concept
and formula of a 12" mix and did their
own mixes and the life of the remixer specialist started to fade. Now days, a remix is more of a complete overhaul or new
production in order to give a record new life and extended sales. It's not done for the same reason we did mixes back in
the day."
He continues; "After thinking of how mixing had evolved, I realized, how difficult it actually was in the seventies
and early eighties to accomplish some of the things I would want to do in a mix. I thought I would give a little insight
into the process...
When I first started mixing, the studio mixing consoles were not as they are today or even as they were when they began to
evolve in the mid 80's. In the late 70's it was mostly an all hands approach. On many occasions it took two, sometimes
three people, and ten fingers each, to accomplish a task during the early years.
Most of the mixing consoles basically had a mute button associated with each channel/track so you could turn a particular
channel/track on or off, considering most consoles had anywhere from 24-56 channels. It was a lot to handle.
The most effective and timely way to accomplish, lets say a section where you would want to mute a particular instrument
such as a guitar, bass or vocal part to do a breakdown. You needed to mute or silence many tracks at one time you would
mute them in advance, and then edit the tape together to create the exact effect you wanted.
As years passed the consoles became more complicated where by you started to be able to group a set of fader's and mute
complete sections at a time, making the task much easier then it once was and more time efficient, also allowing for more
and expanded creativity.
In the mid 80's came the world of computerized automated mixing console. This
was when it all really started to get good
and you now had the mixing/remixing boom. Consoles that would remember not only where you wanted a mute but the
volume eq and level for that track. With that came the ability to mix a record, tear down a session and come back the next
day, insert a floppy and reset the mixing console to where you last left it.
This was a God send as it allowed for the ability to continue mixing at a later day as opposed to being in the studio
countless and endless hours trying to complete a mix, and have it come back sounding just as you left it say a week or
month later. In the 70's, you had studio engineers writing down all the levels and settings on paper and sometimes, more
than not, the mix did not come back as you had left it.
Now in the new millennium, everything is computerized and tapeless. You now have huge hard disk recorders. Everything is
done on the computer. You can literally do your mix at home and phone it in.. We have come a long way in 20 years, I did
love the hands on approach. The difference now is you can now make your creativity come alive a lot more easily."
John practically lived in the studio and he believes he has mixed/remixed and edited more records than most of the
people back then. So how would he explain the difference between - mixing, remixing and editing?
"Mixing is when you are involved in the record early and are the original mixer, something I did a lot of. I was
a mixer/engineer before I started to do remixes and before they started to call them that, [remixes] (if you can
understand what I am saying). On most of my early mixes, I was involved early in the production.
Remixing is when you are called in at a later date or after the fact, to take a record that has already been
mixed and give it a new treatment.
As for Editing, which I was really good at, it was the ability to cut tape. A lost art now days, with the digital
world, piecing things and parts together, repeating beat and phrases, that might or might not necessarily belong together
and extending the records or music."
P.Diddy has credited himself as the first Remixer - how does that feel?
"I got a kick from hearing him say he invented the remix. It was around long before him and will be there long after."
Starting out remixing and making medley's on your reel to reel at home, did you press acetates of them, or
did you bring the tapes to your gigs?
"I always pressed acetates of my Medley's and mixes so I could play them in the club. This was the reason I was doing
the tape edit/mixes, most of the songs were to short so I made them longer and then got into doing the medley's...
Here is a list of all the Sunshine Sound Acetates I can Remember I did. I do have many of them either on acetate or
tape form:"
Remixes
A Taste of Honey "Boogie Oogie Oogie"
Beautiful Bend "Boogie Motion & That's the meaning"
Bumble Bee Unlimited "Love Bug"
Carol Douglas "The Answer"
Dan Hartman "Instant Replay"
Eddie Kendricks "Date With The Rain"
First Choice "Hold Your Horses"
Gladys Knight "Its better than good Time"
Gonzales "Haven't Stop Dancing Yet"
Karen Young "Hot Shot"
LE Chic "Freak Out"
Loleatta Holloway "Love Sensation"
M "Music In My Heart"
Musique "In the bush"
Rod Stewart "Do You Think I'm sexy"
Universal Robot Band "Funky Tambourine"
Ruby Andrews "I wanna Be Near you"
(don't know what it is, its a re-edit of a something I don't remember) "U"
Medleys
Deadly Medley 1
Deadly medley II
Love And Kisses Medley
Prince Medley
Teddy Pendergrass Medley
Village People Medley
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Which of your remixes/medley's above was the first one you pressed on acetate?
"I wish I could remember, I think it was the Deadly Medley 1."
How did you come up with the idea of doing medley's?
"The idea of doing medley's came from originally trying to make songs longer, in doing this, I would add parts from other
songs and from there they started to evolve into full medley's."
I'm a sucker for medley's myself - I just LOVE them. Are you familiar with for example "Disco'80", "Bits &
Pieces", "Broadway mix", "Hollywood mix" and others? Where you involved in any of these or do you know who made them?
"I know of them but don't really know who did them. The only thing I remember is that some of them would take bits &
pieces from some of my early medleys and create new ones. If you would compare some of them with mine you would see what
I mean."
Which was your first official mix/remix?
"My first credited mix on my own was Inner Life's 'Caught Up', even though I had worked on a few others before
that but were not label credited like on 'Dance and Shake Your Tambourine', 'In the Bush' and many others."
Those three tracks all come from the Greg Carmichael and
Patrick Adams' Disco writer/producer team. Did you work with them?
"I attribute and give credit to Greg Carmichael for giving me my first start after hearing some of my Sunshine Acetate
mixes. He gave me my first shot. I did many records with Greg and some with Patrick, but getting Greg to give me credit was
tough, he always forgot... Oh well, I know what I did and he eventually got it right.
In those days there was a small group of talented people that ran with Greg, or should I, say He kept around Leroy Burgess and
Jocelyn Brown, being the focal. What else would you need! And Patrick who was
a great arranger/producer. He parlayed those into many Groups and artist as you well know."
But working closely with Greg and Patrick, and through them also Jocelyn & Leroy. Have you got any comments
on all of them? How they were to work with?
"My first experience with Greg was probably the Universal Robot Band's 'Dance and Shake Your Tambourine'. I pretty
much mixed and was involved in the production of all of Greg's records in the late 70 to early 80's even though I didn't get
credit all the time, we knew who was doing what. Unfortunately, I have not seen or spoken to Greg since the late 80's and I
hope he is alive and well.
As for Patrick, I knew him, however, did not have much contact with him. I mainly dealt with Greg but Patrick was one of
the most talented producers and arrangers out there.
Jocelyn she is special. She will always hold a place in my heart. Our first record together was Inner Life 'Caught
Up'. I knew from day one it was a special record. I always felt there was a special bond between us, we did a lot of work
together, I worked on all the Inner Life records as well as mixed her 'Somebody's Else Guy'. I also worked with her on
many, if not all, of the M+M productions. I used Jocelyn as often as I could. I hope to work with her again, maybe
we can work that magic again.."
Patrick Adams once told me himself that he consider his 1979 DISCO stomper "I'm caught up (In a one night love affair)"
by Inner Life (with lead vocals by Jocelyn Brown) as one of his best works. The reason he likes
it so much is because that record contained some fantastic background, insane string lines and tremendous energy from all
involved... It rocked from beginning to end.
This song was originally released as a 12"inch single by Greg Carmichael on TCT Records. Within a week of
its release a bidding war broke out between Prelude and what was to become
Profile Records. Prelude won by bidding $17,500 for the rights to the single. At the time this was an un-heard
amount for one single record. One year before, the entire "Keep On Jumpin'" LP by Musique had cost only
$16,000 to make.
I asked Patrick Adams what he thought of John's mixes and he told me: "John Morales is certainly one of the angels
in my life. At the time that John was involved with us, I always felt that my work was in good hands. The original process
of 're-mixing records' was intended to provide an alternative listening experience which had been optimized for people who
went out to dance at Discos. The breaks and the unique equalization of bass and drums was for the dancer. The extended versions
which built to a fever pitch was for the dancer. The sparse vocals, the swirling string and brass lines punching in and out;
All was to make a recording as hot and enjoyable as possible for a dancer!!!
John was one of the early pioneers who loved music, understood his craft and HAD RESPECT FOR THE CREATIVE WORK from which his
mixes were derived. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away Record companies always released the original recording as made
by the producer; then as a marketing tool a remix was done to capitalize on club play." [continues in the
Patrick Adams page].
As you say, I have also noticed you haven't been properly credited in many of the 12" singles I've got off
the list of records you worked on that you sent me. Sometimes someone else is credited as remixer. Could that be because
you in some of them where the original mixer of the track and someone else got in and did the remix?
"You, unfortunately, are partially right. Especially in the beginning, many producers did not want to give credit to the
people doing the work. I guess that either they wanted the credit for themselves or they didn't want anyone to know who was
actually doing it. I know I wasn't the only one not getting credited for the work. I know one thing - I wanted to keep
mixing and learning, and stay in the music business, so I didn't complain too loudly. I was grateful for the opportunity I
was given and figured it was part of paying dues and I loved what I was doing.
Secondly, as for other remixers, and remixes especially in the mid 80's when mixing 12" really took off, there was a frenzy
of mixing going on. Record companies would often get a record mixed by more that one person, sometimes two or three times,
whether it was me, Jellybean, Larry
Levan, Shep Pettibone, Tee Scott and so on. It would not be rare to see a 12" with different mixes on
the same record from different people." [For example Class Action's "Weekend", that has got a John Morales
& Sergio Munzibai (M+M) mix on one side and a Larry Levan mix on the other.] "This was done sometimes because the record
company either didn't like your mix or they wanted a different treatment on it. Most of us had our own style and signature,
at least I know you could always tell an M+M Mix."
In the early 80's John's name used to be seen together with the name Sergio Munzibai and they remixed a lot of stuff
under the name M+M. Tracks for people and groups like Rolling Stones, Thelma Houston, Melba Moore,
Ashford & Simpson, MECO, Inner Life, Aretha Franklin,
Rose Royce, Miami Sound Machine, Phil Fearon & Galaxy, Shakatak, Shalamar, Dan Hartman,
Candi Staton, Five Star, Billy Ocean Odyssey and of course
Jocelyn Brown. But the list could go on and on and on...
How much work have you done on your own (as John Morales) and how much was done together with Sergio as
M+M?
"I did quite a bit of work on my own prior to M+M, all of the Sunshine and acetate mixes, as well as all the mixing
before '82 was done solely by me. We partnered in 1982, when we met at a NY Studio called Blank Tapes
where I had worked for many years with Bob Blank. Our first record together was Instant Funk's 'No Stoppin'
That Rocking'. After that we pretty much did all our mixes together and M+M was born, except for any mixes done outside of the US.
Those were done by me since Sergio was working at WBLS & at Motown Records and was unable to travel. So I did them, but
I still kept the credit as if we had both done it."
Can you tell some more about Sergio. Where did he come from? When was he born? What had he done before you
two teamed up together? Memories... Yes, anything...
"Well, I will tell you what I remember about Sergio. We pretty much kept our private, and out of studio, lives to
ourselves. Sergio was born in Cuba, and if I remember we were both about the same age. He came to the U.S. around the time
he was 10. Sergio also started his love for music at a young age, he later became a music teacher and like me, always loved
music. He was a DJ working in Manhattan in the late 70's - 80's working at the famous Flamingo Club, he also worked
at a club called Chaps and the Rainbow Grove. In the mid 80's, he got a job at WBLS in NY as an Assistant
Program Director working with Frankie Crocker, that is how we initially met. As at that time I was also doing tapes
for the station, on one occasion we both found ourselves mixing records at the same studio (Blank Tapes). With both of us
moving from room to room within the studio to see what the other was doing and exchanging ideas, we slowly developed a
friendship and decided that we would make a good team. Thus M+M Mix was born - Morales & Munzibai. We worked together
from '82 to about '90.
Sergio, unfortunately passed away around 1993, if I remember, sometimes I'm not very accurate with dates. Sergio was a
wonderful person, full of life, he loved music and he was a great people person. Anyone who knew him loved him, and I'm sure
wherever he is - he's listening to music."
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CLICK to hear some John Morales remixed
songs...
A Night To Remember [M+M Remix]
Shalamar
Ain't No Mountain High Enough [M+M Remix]
Inner Life
Back In Stride [M+M Remix]
Maze ft. Frankie Beverly
Boogie Oogie Oogie [JM Sunshine Acetate]
A Taste of Honey
the Boss [M+M Rework]
Diana Ross
Can't Fake The Feeling [M+M Remix]
Reel People
Dance and Shake Your Tambourine
Universal Robot Band
Date With the Rain [JM Sunshine Acetate]
Eddie Kendricks
Deadly Medley [JM Sunshine Acetate Medley]
Deadly Medley Pt. II [JM Sunshine Acetate Medley]
Down For Double [M+M Remix]
Cubie Burke
Going Back To My Roots [M+M Remix]
Odyssey
Heartless [M+M Remix]
Evelyn Thomas
Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet [JM Sunshine Acetate]
Gonzalez
Hold Your Horses [JM Sunshine Acetate]
First Choice
Hooked On Your Love [JM Mix]
Fantastic Aleems
Hot shot [JM Sunshine Acetate]
Karen Young
I Know You Will [M+M Remix]
Logg
I Need Your Lovin' [M+M Remix]
Teena Marie
I Want You [M+M Remix]
Marvin Gaye
I Want You All Tonight [M+M Remix]
Curtis Hairston
I'm Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair) [JM Mix]
Inner Life
If You Feel It [M+M Remix]
Denise Lopez
In the River [M+M Remix]
I Level
Inside Out [M+M Remix]
Odyssey
Instant Replay [JM Sunshine Acetate]
Dan Hartman
It's A Better Than Good Time [M+M Remix]
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Lady Bug [JM Sunshine Acetate]
Bumblebee Unlimited
the Love I Lost [M+M Remix]
Teddy Pendergrass
Native New Yorker [M+M Remix]
Odyssey
Nice & Soft [Uptown Version]
Wish ft. La Rita Gaskin
Nightshift [M+M Remix]
Commodores
One Step Up, Two Steps Back [M+M Remix]
Betty Wright
Saturday Night, Sunday Morning [M+M Remix]
Thelma Houston
Teddy Pendergrass Medley [JM Sunshine Acetate]
Teddy Pendergrass
Too Many Games [M+M Remix]
Maze ft. Frankie Beverly
Turn Off the Lights [M+M Remix]
Teddy Pendergrass
Weekend [M+M Remix]
Class Action
CLICK to see John Morales DJ'ing...
Can't Fake The Feeling
Like A Prayer
Saturday Night, Sunday Morning
Weekend
Somebody Else's Guy
Visit John's YouTube Channel
Click cover to buy John Morales presents the M+M mixes volume 1
Click cover to buy John Morales presents the M+M mixes volume 2
Click cover to buy John Morales presents the M+M mixes volume 3
Click cover to buy John Morales presents the M+M mixes volume 4
Click cover to buy John Morales presents Club Motown
Click cover to buy John Morales presents Teena Marie - Love Songs & Funky Beats
Click cover to buy John Morales presents Teddy Pendergrass - the Voice
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Have you kept all you DJ records and have you got copies of all your mixes/remixes? You must have got
a HUGE (and GREAT) collection if you've kept all your records during the years...
"Well, like many of the DJ's from back in the day, I sold all my 12" records years ago and I wish I would have kept them
now... But I did keep all the records I was involved in mixed or produced. My discography will list what I have and in and
what format it exist, whether I have it in record, tape or cassette form. I feel fortunate that I kept all of what I have.
I am sorry I did not take more care in preserving them."
I have got a copy of John's Discography and I can tell you it's a massive and impressive list of work.
As a Mixer/Remixer - How many records have you been involved in? I got the list you sent me of your work
during the 80's, but I know there's a lot more before the first one in your list [September '82]... As we've mentioned
before "Caught up..." and several others...
"I would venture to think that I have been involved in well over 500 records."
Have you got any special memories as a mixer/remixer you wanna tell about? Or any other special memory?
"I think one of my fondest or funniest memories was when we were remixing 'Too Much Blood' for the Rolling Stones
and Mick Jagger was at the studio with us. Mysteriously that morning my leather jacket somehow disappeared. Well, a
few weeks later, I received a phone call to find out Mick was wearing it on a picture of him in Billboard. Guess he must
have liked it, put it on and left with it, mind you it was snowing, cold, 5am and my house keys was in the pocket.
Another fond memory was the first time I heard a record I mixed on the radio, it was 'Caught Up'. I was so excited to hear
it!!!"
How about other remixers, have you got any favorite remixers. Someone whose work you specially liked?
"It's hard to say that I liked anyone's work. We were so competitive back then that we always found something different
we would have done on a record someone else would mix. I did like the work of Francois K, as well as some of Shep
Pettibone and Arthur Baker's work."
Did you know or have you got any information on these and other of the classic remixers of the Disco era?
"Unfortunately I haven't really kept up or followed any of them. Most of us pretty much kept to ourselves, I think the
competitive nature of what we were doing kept most of us at a distance as well as the work schedule we were keeping."
Some special remix by another remixer you just think is so good and that you wished you had done yourself?
"Probably too many to name. You always wanted to be the one to get the call to mix it all..."
Which is your own personal favorite remix of you own mixes?
"I have to say that I am partial to my first hit, Jocelyn and Inner Life's - 'Caught Up', as well as 'Somebody's Else's Guy'... Here is a small list
of Some of My Favorite Mixes/Records:"
| Betty Wright | "One Step Up Two Steps Down" |
| Denise Lopez | "If You Feel It" |
| Class Action | "Weekend" |
| Curtis Hairston | "I Want You All Tonight" |
| I Level | "In The River" |
| Evelyn Thomas | "Heartless" |
| Commodores | "Nightshift" |
| Frankie Beverly & Maze | "Too Many Games / Back In Stride" |
| Colonel Abrams | "Over and Over" |
| Odyssey | "Inside Out" |
John follows up by adding; "Those are just a few of the ones I still listen too and brings a smile to my face. I could
have listed many more and I am sure I'll regret not mentioning some others."
You mentioned in a mail earlier that you were listening to some unreleased mixes/remixes... Have you got
many unreleased mixes? Any special mix you think it sad it never was released?
"I'm sure, many if not all of the remixers have unreleased mixes, the bigger question is do they still have copies of
them (I KNOW I DO). Many times the record companies or the artist would not like the remix and the record company would
not releases it and more than likely it would be sent to be mixed by someone else. I do have plenty of those and am toying
with the idea of releasing some kind of CD containing some of the unreleased mixes and songs."
That really sound like a great idea. Especially since John told me he had unreleased mixes/remixes of Leroy Burgess,
Fantastic Aleems and Jocelyn Brown tracks... I would die to get to hear those!!!
What about the Disco music - Did you like Disco music during that era, or was it just a job? As being a
DJ and Mixer/Remixer I guess you liked it!
"I loved anything to do with music. Even though it was a job, there is nothing like loving what you're doing, and getting
paid for it..."
What kind of music do you personally prefer?
"I listen to all kinds of music; Techno, HipHop, Pop, R&B, Country... I like good songs, good music and good singers. I
can appreciate almost anything. Right now I'm liking the Techno Anthem Stuff, there's nothing like really catchy hooks."
Since your mixes has helped launched many fine artists during the years... Any special ones you wanna
mention?
"Well, there is Jocelyn Brown. I would like to think my work with her helped her even though she in my eyes has one of
the classic unknown voices of all time. I also worked with Debbie Gibson, Mark Anthony, Miami
Sound Machine and many others. There were many act's I think I had some influence and maybe I helped along the way
somehow.
I was at the studio when Tina Turner was doing the cover of Al Green's 'Let's Stay Together'... I'd like to
think I was helpful there. This picture with Tina, it was taken when she visited WBLS in NY, as it was me who brought the
record to Legendary NY DJ Frankie Crocker's attention, who then put the record in heavy rotation, the rest is
history.
When and why did you decide to leave the music business?
"I left the music business in 1993. It was not my first choice, however, for a lot of reason during this time the fun
and enjoyment I had found in the music had gone. In '93 I developed a severe heart arrhythmia which was pretty bad and
that event changed my life. I was pretty sick for a while and after I recovered many things had not only changed in the
music business, but changed for me."
Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your heart problem, after recovering, have you been working in the Sports
Collecting Business ever since or what have you been doing?
"After leaving the music business and recovering from my ailment I was still working in music but in a different aspect.
I started to work for Atari Computers, and C-Lab & Steinberg software as a sales representative promoting their Midi
Computer & Software products which I became very good at using."
When looking back on your musical career, What is you best memory from your years in the music business?
"I think my best memories are some of the people and places I was fortunate to meet and see. I was lucky that this work
took me all over the world, visiting places I would have only dreamed of seeing. Probably something I would never had
experienced or done, had it not been for the love of music."
Finally, Anything else you can think of that you wanna tell me about?
"First off, I would like to thank you for putting me back in touch with Jocelyn. I had been wanting to catch up with her
for years... We are now taking about doing something together! I would also like to thank you for the opportunity to share
the information on my past experiences and life. To let people know about my accomplishments and my contribution to the
music we all love, as I am sure most people are unaware of who and what I and M+M did..."
John ends by telling me; "For the past few years I have been trying to get back into the music I love so much and
somehow lost, my girlfriend Gail now wants me too follow my dreams at 48. My heart is still in it, just lost it's way
a bit. I was thinking of doing an M+M greatest hits or best of... using unreleased and reedited stuff as I have many
of the master tapes to all my mixes and have almost all the records. It was fun going in my garage and getting them
the past few days."
I [Discoguy] for sure keep my fingers crossed that it will happen - soon.
Partly it has actually already happened...
Because in London in February of 2003, John and Jocelyn Brown "Caught up" with each other again - more than 20 years after
the classic original Musique release.
Still best friends they're actually talking about redoing some of the classic stuff, like some Inner Life songs and some
other VERY interesting tracks...
As you can understand, I'm very happy I managed to hook up these two longtime friends again.
So, make sure to keep your ears and eyes on the lookout for anything from them...
In 2006 John launched his own web-site
www.johnmoralesmix.com
Since the original interview took place in 2003, John has released several different albums;
| John Morales presents the M+M Mixes [volume 1] (2009) |
| John Morales presents the M+M Mixes [volume 2] (2011) |
| John Morales presents the M+M Mixes [volume 3] (2013) |
| John Morales presents Club Motown (2014) |
| All Q'd Up [volume 1] (2016) |
| John Morales presents the M+M Mixes [volumes 4] (2017) |
| All Q'd Up [volume 2] (2019) |
| Teena Marie Love Songs & Funky Beats (2021) |
| Philadelphia Int'l Records the John Morales M+M Remixes (2022) |
| Teddy Pendergrass the Voice, Remixed with Philly Love (2022) |
| All Q'd Up [volume 3] (2024) |
Besides these albums, he has been remixing for LOTS of different acts, along with touring the world DJ'ing for club nights like Glitterbox
in London, Ibiza and elsewhere.
So his career really hit off (again) after I had the opportunity to do this piece about him in 2003, and he's now busier than ever...
We got a chance to catch up a little again in October 2024 when we met at a gig in Whitley Bay, UK which my dear friend Michael Caithness
had arranged. That was a great night with an awesome set from John.
In March 2026 we got to do the below update of his career "after the original interview", just days prior to meeting up again at a gig at Pilgrim
in Newcastle, UK - where he would play together with Natasha Kitty Katt, Simon Heatherington and Hollie Cavanagh, along with a live
performance by Rozalla.
When arranging for this update we had to postpone the interview a bit as John was going to have his pacemaker replaced, why I needed to start asking
about how he felt after this...
So, how are you feeling after your surgery and everything?
"I'm feeling better, now I just have to wait for the wound to heal. I mean, I had my previous pacemaker for 15 years and you couldn't see the scar, now it's quite evident so it's probably gonna take a while for it to go away, but but I'm OK you know. I survived. It wasn't like when I had my open heart surgery. So, surgery wasn't that bad. I'm grateful that they caught it in time."
Exactly! That's the most important thing, that you're recovering and feeling better!
"Yeah, Thanks! Everything, you know, knock on wood, is good right now."
Thanks for taking this time to catch up a little, and but you still coming this Saturday I hope.
"Yes, I'm leaving tomorrow to fly to UK and then I'll come up to Newcastle on Saturday."
Perfect, I'll meet you there then.
"Yeah, definitely!"
Cool, so there was a few things I just wanted to follow up with you about before we meet...
"And I appreciate it."
Thanks, so let's just dig right into it...
Last year, 2025, mark your 50th year in the business which is very impressive. When we spoke some 20 plus years something ago, at that time you didn't DJ anymore. What made you actually take it up again?
"What made me take it up again was actually a request from Dimitri from Paris."
OK ?!?!
"I think this was in 20... I'm not exactly sure, but Dimitri had put out a compilation on BBE called Night Dubbin' and there was a couple of songs
that I had mixed on there. I think it was the Winans and 'You're my number one' by Radiance. I think there was one or two other things on
there as well..." ["Thug Rock (Dub)" by Sandy Kerr]
"He called me and asked me if I would be willing to DJ at the launch party which was in New York City at a place called (Sub)Mercer. Which is in
a wine bar in lower Manhattan and in a basement [underneath the Mercer Hotel] and, I basically told him; 'Well listen, you know I haven't deejayed in 30 years!' I guess my last gig was like in the early 80s.
And he said; 'Oh, you could do it. It will be fine!'
But at that time I had been out of the business for a while. I kind of just looking from the outside looking in, to try to keep up with what was going on. I mean, at that time people were starting to use CDJ's and CD's. So I think it would be an idea, and there was a house DJ called Hector Romero who lived in Long Island and he had put out an ad selling his old CDJ-1000's. 'Cause I had no gear at all. I didn't have a mixer. I had two 1100 turntables which I remember weren't even hooked up at the time, because I wasn't doing anything. So I made a decision to go ahead and buy the CDJ's and set them up at home. And I was trying to figure out how to use them.
To make a long story short, eventually I catered into Dimitri's request and I went down and I played at Dimitri's party. I played most of the night. The thing about the party was that there was a lot of New York based DJ's besides Dimitri being there at his party. Guys like, Joe Claussell, Francois K. and Danny Krivit.
Danny Krivit came up to me after the gig and he said; 'For somebody that hasn't played records in 20-30 years - you didn't do bad'. So I went home with that in the back of my head and I slowly started getting back into it.
Subsequent to that I released my own compilation on BBE, the M+M Mixes volume 1. I went to the UK to do some promotion and I did a couple of gigs including the Southport Weekender, and that kind of kicked off the whole resurgence of the career. And here we are around 20 years later. I'm still kind of kicking around.
I mean I'm not doing as much anymore. Nowadays I'm like pretty much kind of 'semi-retired'. I don't even know what I am! I'm still doing some gigs. But as you know, my health nowadays is not great, so it's not easy for me to do the massive traveling. 'Cause people don't realize the traveling does take a lot out of you.
So, that was basically my re-introduction, a little launch party in lower Manhattan in 2009."
That's a great story of how you actually got back into DJ'ing. I'm grateful that Dimitri got you back into the booth.
"Besides the DJ'ing I also was doing a couple of mixes. I mean, Dimitri and my old friend Paul Simpson they're pretty much the ones that encouraged me to get back into the business.
'Cause Paul had called me asking me if I still had my mixing equipment. 'Cause he was doing a mix of Marvin Gaye's 'Funky Space Reincarnation' and that kind of got things started...
You know, it's just over those couple of years, BBE was doing a lot of compilations, whether it was with Dimitri or DJ Spinna or Kon & Amir and they used a lot of my mixes from the late 70's and early 80's. They would call me, asking me if I had the masters. The guy that was doing the licensing for BBE had called me, I think it was for the Night Dubbin', asking me if I had the masters.
I said; 'You guys keep calling me for stuff, what you should do is a John Morales and M+M compilation.' and he said; 'Well let me talk to me talk to Peter and see what he says!' He came back to me saying; 'Pete says that's a great idea. He wants you to put together a track listing of stuff that you may want to use.'
At the time I was friendly with Johnny 'D' D'Mairo and Johnny helped a little bit with the track listing and putting it together and that's where the M+M mixes volume 1 was born, which was in 2009.
Then it was just a matter of kind of throwing myself back in it. So that's the long story of how this all started, but basically it just came all off the back of Paul Simpson asking me to help him do a mix and Dimitri asking me to be part of the launch party for Night Dubbin'"
That's fantastic! Things really moves in strange ways sometimes and gets you into something which you thought you'd never would do, but that was really good...
"Yeah, because at the time, I had no intentions of getting back into business. I thought I had stopped. It was probably 10-12 years since I had done anything. 'Cause I stopped doing stuff in the mid 90s, so..."
You mentioned the the M+M Mixes compilations you made for BBE, was that when Glitterbox reached out as well and you became a 'Glitterbox DJ'?
"No, Glitterbox didn't actually start until 2014."
Ah, OK!
"2014 was the first season of Glitterbox at a club called Boom in Ibiza. What happened was that between 2009 and 2014, when Glitterbox started, I was doing a lot of DJ'ing. I was working at some venues in Ibiza. I was working at a bar restaurant that had a club called KM5 which was a very popular venue at the time. I was also playing at a beach club called the Cala Bassa Beach Club. There was a singer who was singing there, her name was Marta and she had introduced me to a bunch of people and you know... everything I've done that got me back in was because of somebody else!
So, one night after we played at KM5 she says; 'There's this Glitterbox party at Boom, let's go check it out!'
I went that night and who's playing... It was Dmitri, it was Dave Lee and Simon Dunmore. So when I walked in everybody was like; 'Oh my God! John Morales! I mean as you know me, this is just what I do. I don't consider myself a personality or anything. They just kind of made a big deal of that I was there. So I spoke with Simon Dunmore and subsequently we met and I got booked to do a Glitterbox party, and here we are! 2026 and eleven years later I'm still part of the Glitterbox family!"
Exactly, that's amazing! We spoke a little of the M+M mixes, you did four of those collections for BBE. But you have also done other compilations like Club Motown, Tina Marie and Teddy Pendergrass. You also remixed som Curtis Hairston track and you also did the Philly Remixes, the later sadly only released in Japan. So, you have kind of focused the last couple of collection for different labels, like Motown and Philly, and artists like Tina and Teddy. How come?
"You know, I did the four BBE compilations. The first one was basically a compilation based on the M+M history which was mostly the old stuff. Volumes 2, 3 and 4 would basically were new mixes at the time that they were released. After that I liked to work on certain artists that I really admired. Tina and Teddy were artist that I really admired.
I always felt that Tina never really got her due for the talent that she had. So I did the Tina Marie and after that I wanted to do the Teddy Pendergrass compilation. With the blessing of Gamble & Huff and Sony Music I went ahead and did those.
Basically I just wanted to take the music that I grew up with and do new mixes. You know, not necessarily changing them, because my big thing is - I always tell people - a remix doesn't mean that you turn something into something it's not. A remix, especially with classics, can just be an enhancement. You know, making it sound better!
'Cause a lot of this stuff was done in the late 70's and early 80's, and technology has changed so I just kind of wanted to 'beef up' the sound and make them more dance club worthy. So that it could still be played in my current sets against the modern day music. Because there's a big drop off when you're playing a track that was recorded in the 70's as opposed to something that's being done now. So I wanted to technically bridge that gap.
Right now I've just started a new label with my friend Phil Rose, a.k.a. Jaegerossa, called DIA [Do It Anyway Recordings] which we've just launched.
I also have two compilations which I'm doing now with Dave Lee for Z Records.
I've just finished a Barry White compilation in the same style as the Teena Marie and the Teddy Pendergrass. There's a lot of work that goes into these artist specific things. Because you need to be able to get the original master tapes from the company, so there's a lot of trust and a lot of work. I mean this Barry White, which is gonna come out at some point this year, I've been working on it for 13 years! It started since I first did my first Barry White mix, which I think came out in M+M volume 2. It was 'Let the Music Play', which was the first one. So during all this time just trying to work with the estate and with Universal Music and it's just a long long process. I was just happy to to be able to do it. That's what's happening nowadays!
I mean, during the course of the last 12 years I did a lot of work with DJ Spen for his Quantize label. So musically I have tried to stay progressive, and also being part of Glitterbox and the dance community has kept me in tune. Because, as you are well aware, right now and over the last five or six years disco music - we're literally living back in the late 70's early 80's!"
Yes, definitely! And I love it! Actually I wanted to ask you one thing related to this... We met in Whitley Bay in October 2024, you played a 'beefed up', more housier, version of Thelma Houston's ŇSaturday Night, Sunday MorningÓ. I don't think I ever heard that version on the Club Motown release, was that something you did for yourself?
"Yeah. What I ended up doing was... With me personally, a lot of times even after I've done a mix, sometimes I go back to it and and that's what ended up happening with 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning'. I went back to that mix and I updated it a little bit. I kind of stripped it back a little bit, and I up the tempo a little bit, so this is kind of our dear friend Mike Caithness - that was kind of my my 'Mikey mix'. You know, a lot of times people come out and they hear something and then they say; 'Oh that doesn't sound like the version that was on the record!'. A lot of times I will update the songs.
I have a mix that I did for Reel People on the version of the old Geraldine Hunt 'Can't Fake the Feeling'.
Right. A great mix!
"I think I did that mix in 2017, and I constantly update that mix because it's still a great great record and it's one of my staples!"
Talking about mixes... You mentioned that you're working with Dave Lee. Together you released Mixed to the Maxxx, which was only released as a 12 inch single.
"Yes, the promo!"
Yes! Are you planning on expanding it into a full album or something?
"Yeah! The album is actually done. See... part of the problem with a lot of this is getting the licensing. That drags from from the companies. Me and Dave have been working on this compilation for a long time. We initially started talking about it, I think, well over five years ago... Possibly between 5 and 10 years ago. Then the last two years we've been trying to get the permissions for it and literally just a few weeks ago we just got it. So right now we're sequencing everything and doing the artwork and putting it together. So we're hoping that the album will be out for the summer time!"
Wonderful, I'm already looking forward to it then!
"I've re-done the Temptations' 'Treat Her Like A Lady', I did Alicia Myers' 'I Want To Thank You', have done 'Overnight Sensation', I've done 'London Town', I did Robert Palmer's 'Mercy Mercy Me', Loleatta Holloway's 'Catch Me On the Rebound'. Dave's done some great stuff, so it's gonna be good! I mean we're excited about it.
Then later on in the year I'll put out the Barry White album I told you about. That's been done for a while we just trying to get the timing right."
Perfect, all of this... it's an exciting year then to come and I can't wait to hear all this material!
"Well, I know you're coming on Saturday and I will be playing a lot of the new stuff."
Wonderful, I'll be listening with big ears then!
"For the label that I've started, I've re-done 'All My Love', I've re-done the Sharon Redd's 'Can You Handle It' and Gap Band's 'Early In the Morning'. So those are my first 3 releases. I'm very happy with them, so we'll see how that goes. But like I said, you'll hear all this stuff on Saturday 'cause I'm gonna be playing a lot of new music!"
This is a hard one... Which remix would you personally consider your best remix ever?
"That is a hard one! I always say my best mix was my first mix which was 'Caught Up In A One Night Love Affair' [Inner Life]. That's just from sentimental and you know that launched my career! But, I mean, I have people constantly telling me that one of my greatest mixes is Marvin Gaye's 'I Want You' because of how I transformed the song. I mean it's got over 10 million plays on YouTube and it's got a lot of streams. Lots of people just really love the way I integrated the song with the trumpet solo and stuff. I've done so many different mixes and and there are a lot of different genres, but I think from a personal point that the Marvin Gaye 'I Want You' is probably one of my most favorite mixes."
It's a great one so so definitely I understand that! Great choice!
Do you think the interview we did way back 20 plus years ago, has it helped your career in any way do you think?
"The interview that we did... I'm sure it helps! I mean, because, you know, a lot of people when they start researching people they they do a deep dive and your website really caters to finding the people that made these records and capturing the history - so I think it's very important!
What it's done for myself and I'm sure a lot of the other guys that appear on the website, because it's a who's who. You've done a great job collecting all the players and trying to maintain the history of the scene. So I think it's very important, not just for me but I just think for everyone else who's been involved in the music in in the last you know 20-40 years or even later."
Thanks a lot! That means a lot to me coming from you!
"Well, Thank you! I appreciate the time that you put into it, it's not easy!"
Thanks and it's getting harder these days as we're unfortunately losing more and more of the legendary people.
I know Jocelyn Brown is one of your favorites and you still keep in contact with her...
"Absolutely! She is she is one of my oldest friends. I first met Jocelyn in back in 1978, over 45 years ago and I just spoke to her the other day. We constantly speak to each other. She's one of my best friends, love her to death. I just feel bad that she's never really received the recognition that she should get for what she's contributed to this industry. But I appreciate her and I know what she has done for the music!"
Right, her voice is lovely! OK, I'll think I will leave you here. Is there anything else you want to share except for the exciting stuff you already have shared with me now?
"No, I think you're pretty much caught up now.
Wonderful! Then we'll catch up a bit on Saturday as well. Both me and my wife are coming to the event and she's looking forward to meet you as well. So, Thank you very much John and looking forward to this Saturday. Take care and keep well now!
"Thank you very much have a good day and I'll see you Saturday!"
Thanks, take care! Cheers!
"Bye!"
John has been working with numerous of acts and has been involved in well over 1000 songs. Both on his own and as part of
M+M with Sergio Munzibai.
He has had a great career and has influenced the Disco/Dance music scene with his mixes and as he says himself;
"The majority of my stuff was always very underground. Even from the bootleg days when I was making Acetates at Sunshine...."
That's where it all started!
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One thing led to another and all of a sudden John was involved in mixing and remixing records as well. He soon became one
of the first classic Remixers. I asked him: 
