Danny Tenaglia

A longtime staple of clubland, DJ and producer Danny Tenaglia is associated with nearly the entire spectrum of house music, from tribal and garage to progressive and tech-house. He helped popularize the dark, percussion-heavy grooves synonymous with New York house during the 1990s and became legendary for his residencies at the city's top clubs of the era, including Twilo and the Tunnel. Since the late '80s, he has produced numerous classic singles (some appearing on his two full-lengths, 1995's Hard & Soul and 1998's Tourism) and remixes for Madonna, Jamiroquai, Pet Shop Boys, and countless others. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2002 (for his mix of Depeche Mode's "I Feel Loved") and has won or received several nominations for the DJ Awards and International Dance Music Awards since 2000. He has also released over a dozen mix CDs, including volumes of the Global Underground, Back to Mine, and Choice: A Collection of Classics series. He continues to tour the world and release singles such as the 2023 Cevin Fisher collaboration "Move That Body" and mixes like Global Underground #45: Brooklyn.

Raised in Brooklyn, Tenaglia listened to Motown and the Philly soul sound as a child and learned to play guitar and saxophone. At the age of 12, however, a friend introduced him to the world of DJ mixtapes and Tenaglia became fascinated with mixing techniques. He began hustling tapes on the street and, when he was old enough, hit the Manhattan club scene with gusto. Coming of age in the late '70s introduced him to the club and DJ often cited as the best of all time: The Paradise Garage and Larry Levan. Tenaglia spent much time observing Levan, and began his own DJ career soon after. Though he moved to Miami in 1985 to escape the glut of New York DJs, he was back by 1990, right on the cusp of a house renaissance led by producers like Masters at Work and Frankie Knuckles, and the output of Strictly Rhythm and Nervous Records.

Tenaglia had begun producing in the mid-'80s during his spell in Miami (a single from his Deepstate project signed to Atlantic; he also worked with Murk's Ralph Falcon) so by the time of his return to New York, he was quite comfortable in the studio. Tenaglia productions began appearing on labels like Minimal, Sexy, Tribal, and Strictly Rhythm, typically exploring garage and deep house styles. His 1992 remix of the Daou's "Surrender Yourself," which topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for 11 weeks, was a house epic which pioneered the harder underground sound which stormed Manhattan clubland (and therefore, most of America's dance scene) during the mid-'90s. Competing with friend-turned-rival Junior Vasquez, Tenaglia was the city's most popular DJ and his residency at Twilo became legendary as the home of the most emotional dance music being mixed anywhere.

Cementing Tenaglia's connection with Tribal America was the 1994 club hit "Bottom Heavy"; it also led to abundant remix work for Madonna, Michael Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Grace Jones, Jamiroquai, New Order, and Lisa Stansfield, among others. His debut album, 1995's Hard & Soul, did well and Tenaglia hosted several Tribal mix albums, including two volumes in the Mix This Pussy series plus Gag Me with a Tune. His second proper album, Tourism, was released in 1998, the year he moved his New York residency from Twilo to the Tunnel. It featured "Elements," which topped the Billboard Dance Chart for two weeks, and "Music Is the Answer (Dancin' & Prancin')" featuring Celeda, a U.K. Top 40 Hit. The album also nodded to Tenaglia's industrial influences with a cover of Front 242's "Headhunter." The mixes Global Underground: Athens and Back to Mine followed in 1999.

In 2000, Tenaglia began spinning at Vinyl, a much smaller room than Twilo or the Tunnel, presenting an event called Be Yourself, named after a single he produced for Celeda. Tenaglia also released remixes of Giorgio Moroder's classic "From Here to Eternity," appeared on Hooj Choons as part of the project Datar, and released Global Underground 017: London. DJ Mag, Muzik, and International Dance Music Awards all handed Tenaglia trophies during the early 2000s, and his remix of Depeche Mode's "I Feel Loved" received a 2002 Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording: Non-Classical. He made special appearances at Twilo for two final gigs near the end of the club's run, and paid tribute to his roots with the 2003 mixed compilation Choice: A Collection of Classics. He returned to his trademark tribal house sound with mid-2000s productions like "Dibiza (Bring the Drums Back)."

After beginning a residency at Ibiza club Space, he released the 2008 single "The Space Dance," another Billboard club chart-topper. The track was featured on his Tommy Boy-issued Futurism mix, which found Tenaglia leaning into tech-house and minimal techno. In 2011, he mixed 20 Years on the Dancefloor, included as a free giveaway with the 20th anniversary issue of DJ Mag. He announced his resignation from the DJ booth in 2012, but returned in 2014 as he embraced mixing software and released the tech-house session Balance 025. He was featured on Layton Giordani's Drumcode-issued 2017 single "Live Again." "Don't Turn Your Back," a modern-day update of the tribal sound, was released by Hot Creations in 2019.

"The Brooklyn Gypsy," Tenaglia's take on Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)," appeared on Nervous Records in 2022. The following year, he released collaborations with Sasha Carassi ("Automatik") and Cevin Fisher ("Move That Body"). Global Underground #45: Brooklyn, named after his hometown, was his third and final mix in the long-running series. ~ John Bush & Paul Simpson, Rovi