New York City's Favorite Dj "Mr. Eddie Murdaugh"

Written By: John Frazier
8-2-2010
Categorized in: 080110 - Chit Chat

By Sr. Entertainment Correspondent & Chief Editor, John Frazier

In celebration of Gay Pride and Black Gay Pride, I thought it would be interesting to "chit chat" with someone whose talent is the background and the beat of gay culture, which is music. No matter if you are Black White, Latin, Asian, rich or poor, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, one of our common threads is music. Many times the music master's go unappreciated outside of the club (s) he/she may play for. When we hear a favorite dance song, we are automatically transcended back to that place and time. If you live in NYC, most likely you've heard of this celebrity DJ.

When I interviewed Ms. Bonnie Pointer for GBM News, she mentioned that she didn't have her own recordings. I telephoned D.J. Eddie, who has the Bonnie Pointer collection or should I say his collection of music is prolific. Needless to say when I spoke to Ms. Pointer, she was extremely happy to receive the best of "Bonnie Pointer" mastered by D.J. Eddie. I understand that Ms. Melba Moore may release her collection of music. If she needs Eddie's telephone number, let me know. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Mr. Eddie Murdaugh.

The Interview:
John:	Thank you for taking the time to chit chat with me.
Eddie:	No problem.
John:	How many years have you been spinning/playing music?
Eddie:	Oh, actually since 1975, professionally.
John:	What was that feeling like, when you realized that the people dancing and moving to the music were there because of you and your reputation?
Eddie:	Boy......... it's a high, I can't explain it; it's unlike any other feeling. You realize that you're responsible for creating the atmosphere, musically. That's a great feeling.
John:	In a way you are a celebrity, am I correct?
Eddie:	I don't feel that way, I feel like I'm like everybody else. I think what makes me special is that I know most of the people I play for, many I've known for years, so I know basically know what they like, it's to the point when certain people walk in, I know that they like a certain artist, I might do a medley of that person's favorite artist, that's a good feeling. I enjoy playing music that they may not hear on the radio.
John:	Were you born into a musical family?
Eddie:	Well actually, how I got started, my parents owned a record store when I was a child, so I was always around music; they (his parents) told me by the age of five I use to play at their parties. At age five I couldn't read but I knew the labels, I knew Motown, Stax and Atlantic, I could tell what the records were by the labels.
John:	As a child, were you exposed or influenced by the music your parents listened to?
Eddie:	Oh yeah, definitely, I heard Billie Holliday, I heard Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Dinah Washington, all of the jazz and blues artist were always played either in the record store or at home, I was definitely influenced by that type of music.
John:	Where were you born?
Eddie:	I was born in Brooklyn, New York.
John:	As a professional DJ has your audience always been a mostly gay crowd?
Eddie:	No, not really, in the beginning, I brought my first set of D.J. equipment when I was 18 and I was living in New Jersey, at the time, I started going around to bars and playing (spinning records) for tips. These were basically straight bars. I didn't really play for a gay audience until I moved in New York. Well actually before I started playing in the clubs, I sold cassette tapes of my music, people started to get to know me, people started to inquire if I played at parties. During the 1970's, I started to go to the major clubs in the city, like the legendary clubs like "Better Days", "the Loft", "the Garage" and other clubs like that, and listen to the music. My biggest influence was T-Scott, who played at "Better Days", it was to the point where I would bug him for all the new records that he was playing, it was to the point that when he saw me, he would hold up the records because he knew I would bug him all night until he told me who that artist was. In the clubs, I would walk around with a pad while everyone else was dancing, (he's laughing at the memory) writing down the name of each record then I would run out and buy it the next day.
John:	What's the different in playing music for a straight crowd as opposed to a gay crowd?
Eddie:	Most of the gay kids they go a little bit deeper with the music.
John:	Wow, that was nice, very nicely put.
Eddie:	Yeah, like if you take an artist like Diana Ross, if you go to a straight club, they are going to ask for "Love Hangover", "The Boss" or something, whereas if you go to a gay club, they may ask for sometime like "You Were the One", they may request something that's not heard on the radio.
John:	What five songs are you mostly requested to play?
Eddie:	Oh, boy that's a good one. Five songs, ok. (He's thinking but can't quickly answer the question. He has a huge collection of all kinds of music) Well I would tell you the ones that I get the reactions on. One is "Band of Gold", Freda Payne, two, "I Don't Want to Lose Your Love", "the Emotions", three, Diana Ross, "No One Wins The Prize", for number four, I have to say, " the Weather Girls", "Just Us", however the list could change on any given day, depending on the crowd. The fifth would be "Dreaming", by Loraetta Holloway, this is another song that gets a huge reaction. (We shared a laugh as we recalled someone whose performance of this song is unforgettable.)
John:	I understand that you are the owner of a catering business. How do you balance the two careers?
Eddie:	I haven't been doing as much catering lately; it's been mostly the music. However, I do have people who work with me. On occasion, I've done both, the catering and the music at the same event; I had my assistants serve the food while I was dee-jaying.
John:	During your down time how do you relax?
Eddie:	Well, the crazy thing is that when I have had a lot of down time, I mostly read. I'm always at some place near a park or a lake, some body of water, which I find very calming. I don't listen to music every day, I would say, I may listen to music twice a week.
John:	Gay Pride kicks off after Memorial Day weekend and ends sometime in October. Will you take part in any of the events? If yes, where? And if no, why not?
Eddie:	That's a good question, I was just thinking about that today, I don't think I will attend this year, I've been going down to the Village, I guess, for the last 25 years for Gay Pride, it's been a big change in the Gay Pride celebrations. First of all, I feel that there are two separate celebrations, there's a black one and a white one. Years ago, from 6th Avenue all the way down to Christopher Street was opened, you had vendors, you had food stands and drink stands. Now they have everybody segregated like cattle, to get to the peer or to cross the street, you have to go all the way down and crossover, the freedom to walk around the Village is gone,... (He sounded like he's extremely disappointed on how the City of New York and its organizers are handling the Gay Pride celebrations and unfortunately this is the feeling felt by many New Yorkers and those who have attend in previous years).
John:	You are currently single. You are a handsome, smart, sexy, good looking man. Why are you single?
Eddie:	Good question. I don't know, some of it is selfishness. I have a grandson that I spent a lot of time with. I don't feel that I have the time to devote to a serious relationship.
John:	What's your opinion on gay marriage?
Eddie:	I'm for it, I'm definitely for it. I feel that they should have the same rights and benefits as the straight counterparts.
John:	Who are your favorite 5 diva performers/singers?
Eddie:	Oh, boy that's a lot. It depends on my mood that day. One day I may want to listen to Esther Phillips, Billie Holiday, then another day I may listen to Patti, Diana…you know it depends on my mood.
John:	So pick out a few, on how you're feeling today.
Eddie:	I've been thinking about Billie Holiday today, that would be one. Margie Joseph, Cheryl Lynn, and Merry Clayton.
John:	Many times hit singles are mixed for the club kids. What singer would you like to have the opportunity to Re-mix for?
Eddie:	Good question. (I really got him) I just mentioned Cheryl Lynn. I would like to do a freshening up on her music. Her vocals are always the best, but I think a remix of her music would make her more current.
John:	Moving forward, do you have any events coming up that you would like to share with our readers?.
Eddie:	Well actually I don't right now, but I'm trying to find a spot that I can rent, as I would like to have my own parties. I want to take them on a musical journey. It's not always about playing the beat all time.
John:	You listen and play a lot of music. Which artist would you say, in your opinion, is overrated?.
Eddie:	Who's overrated? Would that be current or just in general?.
John:	Current.
Eddie:	Ok. There's one person that I'm starting to get into now, that I wasn't into, and that's Lady GaGa. The thing is she's only doing what Grace Jones did a lot of years ago, you know. Also Sylvester and Boy George did it before. It took someone white to bring it to the forefront, It's like these new artist are getting credit for something done before them.
John:	And what singer do you think is underrated?
Eddie:	Who's underrated? Who would I say is underrated?
John:	Do you want to come back to it?
Eddie:	Yeah we can come back to it (We didn't come back to the question but I have a feeling he would have said Margie Joseph.)
John:	I've noticed that you do not have a website. How would someone purchase your mixes (music) and/or for a catering gig?
Eddie:	Anyone who's interested can find me at "Chiz-Chiz's" on Thursday, which is between Greenwich & Hudson.
John:	What's your favorite era in music?
Eddie:	It would have to be the 70's. It was like creativity during that era. There were a lot of people out that in the music industry. I'm still discovering people who were out there in the 70's, because there were many talented artist out there, some were not pushed musically, like Margie Joseph who was on a label with Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack, the big people for those labels, her music was great, it didn't get its proper backing.
John:	And here's my last question to you, what would people that are close to you, be surprised to learn about you?
Eddie:	That I don't play music every day.
John:	Thank you so much for the interview.
Eddie:	You are welcome.
If you're in New York City, stop by Chiz-Chiz's on Thursdays, after 5:00 p.m. and treat yourself to some old school classic R&B, disco and house music. The crowd is mostly 30 plus black men and those who love them.

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