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Jellybean
Biography
One of the finest remixers and producers during the post-disco days of the 1980s, Jellybean worked with many pop stars during the decade. Born in the South Bronx in 1959, John Benitez was collecting records from an early age; after he attended a nearby disco club called the Sanctuary in the mid-'70s, he became immersed in the growing disco scene and soon became one its best DJs as well as an early producer with his own reel-to-reel machine. After appearances at the clubs Experiment 4 and Xenon, Benitez moved on to such prestigious showplaces as Studio 54 and the Electric Circus. With the dawn of the '80s (and the death of disco), he continued DJing with a residency at Manhattan's Fun House (beginning in 1981), and also hosted a dance show on New York's WKTU.

Jellybean's burgeoning production and remix career went into full gear during 1981-82; he reworked seminal tracks from Rockers Revenge, the Jimmy Spicer Bunch and Afrika Bambaataa, then watched as two of his remixes from 1983's Flashdance soundtrack ("Flashdance" and "Maniac") became sizeable hits. Madonna, an early club regular who admired Benitez for his DJing as well as his production skills, drafted him to write and produce a track for her debut album later in 1983.
Selected Discography