Chris "The Greek" Panaghi is an American DJ, producer and remixer based in
Long Island,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, United States. He performs in the electronic music genre with remixes spanning electronic dance, trance and house music and has remixed for artists including:
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
,
Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has bee ...
,
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...
,
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, ''Swee ...
,
Celia Cruz
Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during ...
,
Jon Secada
Juan Francisco Secada Ramírez (born October 4, 1961), better known as Jon Secada, is a Cuban-born American singer. He has won two Grammy Awards and sold 15 million records, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. His music f ...
,
Marc Anthony
Marco Antonio Muñiz Rivera (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. A three-time Grammy Award and six-time Latin G ...
,
Aqua
Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to:
Arts
* Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color
Business
* Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...
and
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
.
His studio work has been described as incorporating "True-to-the-vocal, pop-oriented remixes and harder,
progressive house
Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of American and European house music of the late 1980s.Gerard, Morgan; ...
tracks".
Panaghi has principally performed in the United States, but has also developed a fan base in Europe, principally in France, Germany,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and the UK.
Early career
Chris Panaghi's career began in high school at the age of 15, when he started experimenting with record turntables. Within a couple of years he had begun to perform as a mobile DJ and in local bars in his hometown of Valley Stream, Long Island. By the time he was 18 he had progressed to performing in local clubs, such as Malibu, J. Sprats, Metro 700, DNA and Zachary's.
["DJ Times"] He later began playing clubs in the New York
Tri-state area, including
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
and
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
before travelling further in the U.S. (
South Beach
South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard.
This area was the fi ...
, Miami) and internationally (Greece, Mexico, Netherlands and the UK). By this time Panaghi had also built a small studio in Long Island and brought in other musicians and staff to make records.
["DJ Times"]
Educational background
The producer studied business management and marketing at
Adelphi University
Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher edu ...
, graduating in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts in marketing.
["NY Times"] I
Radio and print
Chris Panaghi has co-hosted "The Island Underground" with B-Man (Brian Rosenberg), a syndicated radio show broadcast on
Garden City-based WLIR
WLIR was a radio station that played a new music/ modern rock format on the frequencies 92.7 FM, 98.5 FM, and 107.1 FM from the 1980s into the 2000s. Bob Wilson, longtime WLIR employee and historian, created the website WDARE (Dare FM), which ...
.
He has also featured or guest DJ'd on stations such as Sirius XM Radio,
XM Radio
XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its ser ...
, 88.7 WRHU.
In addition to broadcasting, Panaghi has been a Billboard reporter and has written for
DMA (Dance Music Authority), Streetsounds and Prime Cuts U.K.
["Boston Music Coalition"]["Allmusic Discography"]
Chart success
Panaghi has achieved chart success with a number of singles achieving gold and/or platinum status. Seven songs from his 2008 album charted in the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart, with two breaking the top 5 – 'The Feeling' and 'The Time'. He has also achieved BillBoard chart success with 'As Good as Sin' featuring Sophia Cruz.
He has produced remixes for a range of artists including Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, Celine Dion, Jessica Simpson, Celia Cruz, Jon Secada, Marc Anthony, Aqua and Yoko Ono.
["Avenue1"]["Disc Jockey 101"] In 2005 he was commissioned by
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
(Greece) to remix '
My Number One
"My Number One" is a song recorded by Greek-Swedish singer Helena Paparizou, written by Manos Psaltakis, Christos Dantis, Natalia Germanou and produced by Christos Dantis. It was the at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, held in Kyiv, awardin ...
', which had won the
Eurovision Song Contest for Greece. The remix achieved European success for the release, going gold and reaching number one in both Greece and Sweden.
International
While best known in the U.S. Panaghi has also performed in Europe, growing a fan base in France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands and the UK
and has been described as a 'key player in the field' by ''USA Greek Reporter''.
["USA Greek Reporter">]
Remixing technique
Chris Panaghi had solo responsibility for remixes and original productions for artists such as Gloria Estefan and Michael Jackson through DJG Records.
Other artists he has worked with include: Jessica Simpson, Celia Cruz, Jon Secada, Marc Anthony, Aqua and Yoko Ono.
Panaghi has additionally remixed for Sony in Greece and
ZYX in Germany.
Chris also runs the record label Amathus Music, a label that has produced artists such as Laylah, Kamarova and Keven Maroda.
Alongside this, it has produced the compilation series 50 Techno Club Tracks – Vol.1 and Vol.2, which broke the top 100
iTunes Dance Charts worldwide.
Select discography
Albums
2008
*"Hands Up: Anthems"
*"Now's the Time", DJG Records
*"You Just Don't Get It", DJG Records
*"My Life", DJG Records
2007
*"The Essentials", Sub Deep Haven
*"Pump", Sub Deep Haven
2006
*"The Time", DJG Records
*"Working the Mix", Water Music Dance
2004
*"Tranceflux", Benz-Street
2002
*"Live in the Mix with DJ Chris "The Greek" Panaghi", 24-7 / Artemis Records
*"Thump'n Freestyle Quick Mixx, Vol.3", Thump Records
2001
*"Peak Hour, Vol.2", Saifam
2000
*"Peak Hour", Megahit Records
1998
*"You're in My House", Aureus Records
Compilations
1999
*"Dance Floor Rituals", Waako Records
Singles and EPs
2008
*"My Life", DJG Records
*"Movin' On", DJG Records
*"My House Is Your House", DJG Records
*"The Feeling", DJG Records
*"The Time", DJG Records
*"Time Will Never (Fade Me Away)", DJG Records
*"You Just Don't Get It", DJG Records
2006'
*"Pump",
2005
*"The Feeling", DJG Records
*"As Good As Sin", DJG Records
*"I Wanna Feel The Music", DJG Records
*"With You", Amathus Music
*"Movin' On", DJG Records
2000
*"Get Up"
*'"Essential EP"'
1997
*"Funky", ZYX Music
*"Funky (Remixes)"
Selected remixes
2010
*"Outta Control", Laylah
2006
*"My Number One", Helena Paparizou
2005
*"Give Peace A Chance", Yoko Ono
*"My Number One", Helena Paparizou
2004
*"The Air That I Breathe", Judy Torres
*"This Is Reina", Reina
2002
*"A New Day Has Come", Celine Dion
1999
*"Oye", Gloria Estefan
1997
*"Is It Scary", Michael Jackson
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panaghi, Chris
1972 births
American dance musicians
American house musicians
American keyboardists
American people of Greek descent
Living people
Record producers from New York (state)
Remixers