Noelyn Algar:  

Life Soul / Disco 101: A long time ago, seemingly in a galaxy far away ... Noel's long and strange odyssey in the music business began innocuously enough in 1972 as the guest host of "Teen Scene" on an AM radio station not far from his native Vallejo, and then around the same time, those first few garage dance parties. "I was the one hovering over the record player, stacking the 45's in just the right progression of fast-fast-faster, then slow dance, to keep the party flowing properly--underneath that glowing red light bulb". After graduating from high school in 1974, that morphed into performing at various dorms, co-ops, and frat parties, mostly at UC Berkeley -- where he was ostensibly majoring in Asian American Studies -- and also at SF State. "Instead of listening to Led Zeppelin, ELP, or Genesis, my parties were about dancing to Labelle, AWB, and Stevie Wonder!" And that annoying blank space between the records? "Eliminated ... I resorted to setting up two turntables, each with its own amplifier, so that I could cue up and play records back-to-back!" The beat went on from there, and here are just a few of the highlights ... 1976 - Noel's first DJ residency at one of the first discos in The City, The Rickshaw Bistro 1979 - Hs' Lordships in Berkeley, talent booker and head DJ at the first upscale urban disco. This led to: 1980 - The first mix-tape to be aired on a major Bay Area radio station, KDIA 1983 - Noel joins the KDIA air-staff, and is the first mix-show DJ to host, announce, and mix live 1985 - finally, working under the name "Noel Don Juan" ... promoted to full-time, KDIA's highest rated DJ 1986 - a very busy year, starts at KDIA, continues with a TV show, "Dance Floor '86", and ends at: KMEL, where Noel directs, mixes and produces the very first mix-shows! 1987 - Resident DJ at Club Mirage, a Bay Area classic, named "Club of the Year" in '87 and '88 by KMEL 1988 - Resident DJ at The Oasis, which under Noel's two-year tenure was dubbed: "Dance Central" by ...Expand for more