Francis Grasso

American DJ. Born: 25 March 1949 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. Died: 20 March 2001 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA (aged 51). Grasso is considered by most modern day disc jockeys to be the inventing father of the DJ technique by mixing two records together using slip-quing technique. Having several motorcycle injuries in his early years, he was advised by his doctor to take up dancing to help co-ordinate his legs. Soon Grasso was regular at the Manhattan dance scene, later dancing regularly in Trude Hellar's club at the Village. Later on he landed his first night as a DJ in a club called Salvation II. Well known among the workers there, they asked him to fill in when the original DJ, Terry Noel failed to show up. Back then the clubs usually had the records and not the DJ's. Equipment at the club at the time was Rek-O-Kut turntables and a fader. When Salvation II closed he was out of job for a period, but later found spots on clubs like Tarots on Union Square, but most most famous of them was Sanctuary, a closed baptist church at 43rd Street & 9th Avenue. He would work there until its closure in 1972. During his career he excelled in the art of mixing two records together further when Thorens turntables with speed controls where available. He also was the first DJ to use headphones during sets when mixers started to have this feature. Back when he started, there was no such thing as headphones. Mixing was done by reading grooves, dropping the needle on the exact spot and knowing the music overall. As he perfected his craft, he later taught other fresh new DJ's his skills who would continue on to bring it forward to what DJs do today. Francis quit the disc jockey business around 1981 and spent the rest of his life living in Brooklyn. He died 5 days prior to his 52 birthday. A short interview of him is featured in the music documentary "[m=131188]" (2003) directed by Josell Ramos, which charts a part of the New York disco and house scene.