Mickey Garcia


Mickey Garcia is an American record executive, songwriter, music producer, and DJ. He is known for founding the record label MicMac Records and for his work as a Mastermix DJ on 98.7 Kiss FM. He has written and produced over 100 songs since 1985 and is considered one of the founders of the freestyle dance genre, having produced, remixed, and written songs for artists such as Judy Torres, Cynthia, Johnny O, Tiana, Colonel Abrams and Menudo. He has been registered with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers since 1987 and has over 300 works in his catalog.

Early life

Garcia was born October 21, 1961, at St. Vincent's Hospital on 12th Street and 7th Avenue, lower Manhattan, to Josephina Montalvo and Michael Garcia. He grew up on Grand Street in Lower Manhattan, New York with 5 brothers and 1 sister. In 1975, Garcia and his older brother Tony began DJing together at block parties and house parties. Later, the brothers went on to DJ at various discotheques around the city.

Career

In 1976, George Vascones of the Latin Symbolics dance company auditioned Garcia to DJ for a talent show. After Garcia gave Vascones a cassette tape of his mix, Vascones offered him the job to DJ for the talent show at the Stardust Ball Room in The Bronx. After the show, Vascones told Garcia about a disco in Manhattan that needed a permanent DJ because the resident DJ Jellybean Benitez was leaving to work at another disco. The Garcia DJ brothers auditioned for the owner of the discotheque "La Mariposa" in Washington Heights and got the job. In 1982, Mickey became a solo DJ and began working at The Clam Bar Lounge on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. Not long after, Tony Humphries, a Mixmaster DJ for 98.7 Kiss FM, invited Garcia to mix for the station. He prepared a one-hour mix show on a reel-to-reel tape for Humphries, who liked the mix and aired the Mixshow in July 1983. Garcia went on to do several mix shows for the station.
In 1985, Garcia attended Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn and began working at the college radio station WKRB B91 “The Rhythm Of The City” as a DJ on-air personality a few days a week. Along with reading commercials on the air and reading the news and weather, Garcia would play the format music on the program logs and would remix and multi-edit various songs that were on rotation. He would invite recording artists from the New York area who had just released new songs to be interviewed on the air. Soon after, Garcia began working with Elvin Molina, who was then known for creating music demos from his bedroom. Garcia and Molina would go on to create the hit freestyle song I won’t Stop Loving You with a local Bronx lyricist named Marilyn Rodriguez. Marilyn connected them with singer Diana Garcia, who performed under the name Diamond Eyes, who recorded vocals for the song. The demo became a huge hit with DJs in the Bronx and it caught the attention of VIP Record Pool Director Al Pizarro, who made it a hit at the club La Mirage where he was the weekend DJ. Pizarro took a cassette of I Won’t Stop Loving You to play it for a few executives at record labels. It caught the attention of Eddie O’Loughlin, president of Next Plateau Records. He was interested in signing Garcia and Molina as the next producers for the popular group C-Bank and wanted I Won’t Stop Loving You to be the next C-Bank song. The two signed the track to Next Plateau Records and it became the next C-Bank release performed by C-Bank and featuring Diamond Eyes. The song peaked at #45 on the Billboard Hot Dance Charts.
In 1986, Vascones introduced Garcia to Judy Torres. Torres auditioned for Garcia and blew him away with her powerful voice. Garcia offered her a production contract with himself and Molina, then his producing partner, and they began working on several tracks to present to Torres. Garcia reached out to Rodriguez again to write lyrics to various instrumentals on a cassette tape and the song No Reason To Cry was created. The song peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot Dance Charts.
In 1987, Garcia attended the New Music Seminar at the Marriot Marquis hotel in Times Square where he met with Prelude Records owner Marvin Schlachter. They had known each other for some time as Garcia had played many songs from Prelude Records when he was a DJ for 98.7 Kiss FM. Schlachter asked Garcia if he would be interested in producing songs for MarTru Records, a new record label he was starting. Garcia had wanted to start his own record company but didn't know how to run a label or have the capitol to invest. They decided to create a label together, with Garcia making the hits and Schlachter handling the business side of things. They got an attorney to draw up the shareholders agreement and formed the record label Micmac Records, Inc. Garcia and MicMac Records have been featured in Billboard magazine, Spin magazine, DJ Times, The Face magazine, and The Village Voice.

Personal life

In 1996, Garcia met Norah Alberto at the WPN 9 television station's The Richard Bey Show where she worked as a producer. In 2008, they had a daughter named Isabella Mikaella Alberto Garcia who is an American actress, artist, and musician. Garcia was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2017.

Discography

Albums produced

Source: AllMusic
  • Johnny O
  • Love Story
  • Cynthia
  • Tiana
  • Like a Stranger
  • Cynthia II
  • Johnny O
  • ''Cynthia ''

    Charted singles produced

Selected productions and remixes

Selected compilations

  • C-Bank Orchestra - Christmas Is In The House
  • The MicMac Concert - Hot 97
  • The MicMac Concert - Hot 97.7
  • The MicMac Concert – KTFM
  • The MicMac Concert – Power 96
  • The MicMac Concert – Power 102
  • The MicMac Concert – Power 106
  • MicMac Dance Party Vol 1
  • Turnstyle Records Best Of Freestyle
  • MicMac Dance Party Vol 2
  • Turnstyle Records Freestyle Greatest Hits
  • MicMac House Dance Party Vol 1
  • MicMac Dance Party Vol 3
  • SPG Freestyle's Greatest Hits Vol 1
  • MicMac Dance Party Vol 4
  • SPG Freestyle's Greatest Hits Vol 2
  • MicMac Greatest Freestyle Hits Vol 1
  • MicMac Dance Party Vol 5
  • Tommy Boy Freestyle Greatest Beats Vol 1
  • MicMac Greatest Freestyle Hits Vol 2
  • Tommy Boy Freestyle Greatest Beats Vol 2
  • MicMac Dance Party Vol 6
  • Tommy Boy Freestyle Greatest Beats Vol 4
  • MicMac Greatest Freestyle Hits Vol 3
  • Tommy Boy Freestyle Greatest Beats Vol 5
  • MicMac Dance Party Vol 7
  • Freestyle Greatest Groups Vol 1
  • Freestyle Greatest Groups Vol 2
  • Freestyle Forever
  • Cold Front - Freestyle Latin Dance Hits - Volume Two
  • MicMac House Dance Party 4
  • Freestyle's Greatest Divas Vol 1
  • ZYX Freestyle
  • MicMac Greatest Freestyle Hits Vol 4
  • Thump'n Freestyle Quick Mixx
  • ZYX Freestyle Vol 2
  • MicMac House Dance Party Vol 3
  • Freestyle's Greatest Divas Vol 2
  • This Is Freestyle
  • Tim Spinnin' Schommer Freestyle Boom Vol 1
  • Cold Front - Freestyle Latin Dance Hits - Volume Three
  • Freestyle's Greatest Divas Vol 3
  • ZYX Greatest Freestyle Hits
  • Tommy Boy Freestyle Greatest Beats Vol 8
  • SPG Music Freestyle Greatest Collection
  • ZYX Freestyle Vol 5
  • The Ballads Of Freestyle
  • ZYX Freestyle Vol 4
  • Tommy Boy Freestyle Greatest Beats Vol 9
  • Thump Freestyle Explosion Vol 5
  • ZYX Freestyle HitMix
  • MicMac House Dance Party Vol 2
  • ZYX Freestyle Vol 7
  • 21st Century Adrenaline Rush
  • Popular Freestyle Frenzy Volume 4 ∙ Anthem After Anthem
  • ZYX Freestyle Highlights Nonstop-Megamix
  • Thump Freestyle Explosion Vol 3
  • ZYX Freestyle Vol 12
  • Fever - Freestyle Fever's Divas
  • What If Productions The Best of Freestyle Megamix
  • Divas On The Dance Floor – House Music’s Greatest Divas
  • PolySound Freestyle Classic Hits
  • ZYX Freestyle Vol 18
  • Micmac 360 Tour
  • Thump Freestyle Party
  • UBL Divas Of Freestyle
  • ZYX Freestyle Vol. 22
  • Bangin' Beats - Then & Now Vol 1
  • ZYX Freestyle Gold
  • All The Hits and More! Cynthia
  • All The Hits and More! Johnny O
  • DJ Giuseppe D. – Evolution
  • Bangin' Beats - Then & Now Vol 2
  • 12 Inches of MicMac Vol 1
  • Freestyle Hits Party Pack
  • 12 Inches of MicMac Vol 2
  • Tim Spinnin' Schommer – Bringin' The Freestyle II
  • Bangin' Beats - Then & Now Vol 2
  • Benz Street Various – Freestyle
  • Dance Through The Holidays
  • Coalition - A Common Cause
  • Warlock Freestyle Mega Hits Vol 2
  • Bangin' Beats - Then & Now Vol 3
  • Razor & Tie Forever Freestyle 2
  • 12 Inches of MicMac Vol 3
  • UBL Fierce Freestyle Classics
  • MicMac NOW! The Dance Remixes
  • 12 Inches of MicMac Vol 4
  • Battle Of The Freestyle DJs
  • Razor & Tie Forever Freestyle 1
  • MicMac Latin House Party
  • Freestyle Hits Party Pack Vol 2
  • Freestyle Hits Remixed – Giuseppe D.
  • Bangin' Beats - Then & Now Vol 4
  • ZYX Freestyle Vol 37
  • Edits Gone Wild by Joey "Danger" Altura
  • Ultimix 151 - Mic & Pep
  • Warlock Jersey Shore Anthems
  • MicMac Original 12 Inch Club Versions Vol 1
  • MicMac Original 12 Inch Club Versions Vol 2
  • MicMac Original 12 Inch Club Versions Vol 3
  • MicMac Original 12 Inch Club Versions Vol 4
  • MicMac Original 12 Inch Club Versions Vol 5
  • MicMac Original 12 Inch Club Versions Vol 6
  • MicMac Original 12 Inch Club Versions Vol 7
  • MicMac Original 12 Inch Club Versions Vol 8
  • Ultimate Freestyle Dance Remixes by DJ/Producer Giuseppe D.
  • Edits Gone Wild II by Freddy “The Edit” Rivera
  • ZYX Various – Freestyle The Ultimate Collection
  • Club Hits – Mixed by DJ Giuseppe D.
  • ''Freestyle's Greatest Divas 2 Exciting CDs!''