Mark Picchiotti
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Mark Picchiotti is an American DJ, producer,
remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
er and
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based out of
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. As a remixer and producer, Picchiotti has amassed 24 number one singles on the ''
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'' Dance Club Songs chart, and he has remixed such artists as
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Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...
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, Sia, Sybil, Enriqué Iglesias, and
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. In 2002, he produced and co-wrote the
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single “Give It To Me” for her 8x-Platinum album ''
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''. Picchiotti was also voted one of the 40 most influential remixers of all time by UK publication ''Blues & Soul Magazine.'' His DJ residencies at nightclubs in his hometown of Chicago have included Shelter, Smartbar, Berlin, Crobar, and Medusa’s; as well as UK nightclubs
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(London) and Hard Times (Leeds). He continues to travel the globe performing at notable clubs such as Pacha (Portugal) and El Divino (Ibiza). He has also headlined the
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festival and DJed its infamous daytime after-party Laneway. Mark Picchiotti owns and operates the imprint Blueplate Records, home to his own acts Basstoy, Sandstorm, Fondue, and Streetlife. Picchiotti is also a member of several dance music duos: The Absolute, Nightman, and Doctorz, MD. Mark Picchiotti’s music has been described as house, gospel house, soulful house, and progressive house. Additionally, ''Billboard Magazine'' says of Mark’s music, “His ear for soulful rhythm is matched by a knack for sweet pop melody construction.” In the 1990s, his work with Suzanne Palmer, “There Will Come A Day” and the follow-up single “I Believe”, earned Picchiotti the mantle “Godfather of Gospel House” by music journalists.


Biography

Mark Picchiotti first rose to prominence in 1991 when he produced fellow Chicago artist
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's eponymous debut album, spawning the controversial Top 40 hit single “ People Are Still Having Sex”. This song would become Picchiotti’s first production to reach #1 on ''Billboard'' Dance, and it was used by American figure skater
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in her program at the 1992
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. LaTour’s album also featured “Blue”, a song used in the iconic film ''
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'' (starring
Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...
). In 1994, using the alias Streetlife, Picchiotti first collaborated with gospel house singer Dana Divine on the song “Love Breakdown”, released on Tribal America Records. As a result of that successful pairing, Dana was featured on one of Mark’s biggest productions, “Runnin’” by Basstoy. The single reached #13 on the UK Singles Chart, #1 on the UK Club chart, and #3 on ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs. Dana was again featured on the follow-up single “Turn It Up”, which also saw worldwide success, reaching #1 on ''Billboard'' Dance, #1 on the UK’s Upfront Music Chart, and #1 on the ''DMC'' World Music Chart, and securing a spot as ''Billboard''’s #3 club song of the year. In 1995, Mark Picchiotti began working with Craig Snider and acclaimed dance music vocalist Suzanne Palmer, spawning “There Will Come A Day” and “I Believe” under the name The Absolute. Regarding their collaboration, Palmer recounts, “As I did more performing, I began to sing commercials for radio and TV, and I came to the attention of Mark Picchiotti, a house music producer from Chicago and his music collaborator, Craig Snider, a jingle writer and producer.” She continues, “That’s how I got my break in dance music.” In 1997, Picchiotti DJed the release party for
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...
's album '' Velvet Rope'' at
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in Culver City, CA. That same year, Mark started his own
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...
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, Blueplate Records, on which numerous ''Billboard''-charting and critically-acclaimed projects have been released. Notable signings to Blueplate include: * Bebe Zahara Benet (the season one winner of ''
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'') * Kylie Minogue * Basstoy (whose songs "Magic" and "Turn It Up" reached #1 on ''Billboard'', among other charting hits) * Alec Sun Drae * Sybil *
Ralphi Rosario Ralphi Rosario is an American house musician and founding member of the influential Chicago DJ group Hot Mix 5. Biography When Hot Mix 5 was formed in 1981 on radio station WBMX (now WVAZ), Rosario, the youngest member of the group, was still in ...
(whose tracks “Everybody Shake It” and “C’mon Get Funky” reached #1 and #2 on ''Billboard'', respectively) * Eric Kupper & Peyton * Blueplate Allstars * Deep Influence * Sandstorm * Mark’s own gospel act The Absolute featuring dance diva Suzanne Palmer 1998 marked the beginning of Mark’s affiliation with
Strictly Rhythm Strictly Rhythm is an American house music record label. History The label was founded on May 1, 1989, by Gladys Pizarro and Mark Finkelstein, who were both working as A&R in a label called Spring Records. Working with house music artists ...
, an iconic American dance record label, with a production and distribution deal for physical CDs and vinyl. He also began working with the UK-based duo
Lighthouse Family Lighthouse Family were a British pop soul duo that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s and initially remained active until the early 2000s. Singer Tunde Baiyewu and songwriter Paul Tucker formed the act in 1993 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, ...
. After having gained the band’s respect with his remix of their track “Raincloud”, Mark was asked to work with the band on their following album. Subsequently, he was asked to DJ the Lighthouse Family world tour wrap party in Newcastle, England. In 1999, Mark was approached by
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/
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to produce a track for UK-based pop singer Kylie Minogue on her then-upcoming album ''
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''. As a result, Picchiotti produced the 2000 club hit “Butterfly” (#14 on ''Billboard'' Dance), and he negotiated a deal which allowed him to commission an accompanying remix EP and release it under his Blueplate imprint as a limited run. His work with Minogue continued, and he produced and co-wrote the single “ Give It To Me” for her 8x-
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album ''
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'', released in 2002. He also remixed Kylie’s 2008 single “All I See” and her 2013 single “Skirt”. In 2004, while continuing to balance his roles as a DJ and remixer, Mark signed the Leeds-based act Jersey St. and produced their single “Love Will be Our Guide”, released on
Defected Records Defected Records, or simply Defected, is a British independent record label specialising in house music recordings, compilation albums, events, publishing, artist bookings and management. Defected is one of the longest running independent lab ...
. In 2009, Picchiotti accepted the request to be the official DJ for reality TV show ''
RuPaul’s Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the fi ...
'' Winner’s Tour, sponsored by
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. Mark signed season one winner Bebe Zahara Benet and produced three of her singles; “I’m The Sh*t”, “Cameroon”, and “Dirty Drums”, all of which were Blueplate releases. Mark toured with the show again following its second season. The same year, Mark formed a joint venture with the renowned record label Strictly Rhythm, establishing a 50/50 partnership called Blueplate Global. 2009 was also the year that Picchiotti collaborated with UK artist Alec Sun Drae to produce the single “Feel Like Singin’”, a Blueplate Global release. The two continued their collaboration in 2010 when Mark produced the single “Let The Music Guide You”. Later, Mark produced Matt Zarley’s LP ''Change Begins With Me'', which won Outmusic Awards’ Album of the Year in 2012. The title track won Outmusic Awards’ Single of the Year and Rightout TV’s Best Song So Far that same year. Commercially, it was an international success; the release spent four weeks at #1 on Eurochart, and two songs from the album, “WTF” and “Trust Me”, charted on ''Billboard'' Dance. In 2013, Mark continued to remix releases from high-profile artists, including the Daft Punk single “Get Lucky” and Enriqué Iglasias’ “Turn The Night Up”, both reaching #1 on ''Billboard'' Dance. In 2014, Mark produced the dance version of Amy Grant’s “Better Than A Hallelujah”, which was released as a single and was also featured on her album ''In Motion: The Remixes''. Most recently, Picchiotti made a deal with Defected Records for several of his back-catalog titles; his 1998 track “Pump The Boogie” was included as the title track on their Glitterbox compilation of the same name. 2020 was a banner year for Picchiotti. He produced a remix for “Pump The Boogie”, which was released on Glitterbox/Defected, and he collaborated with vocalist Kenyata White to produce the disco single “Love is the Message” (released on Quantize Recordings). In addition, he worked with artist Javi Star (also known as Weezy, the coach of the
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Solar Squad) and his brother, Amani Jae, producing the R&B-influenced track “I Got You”, which was released on the storied
Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater and former nightclub at 254 West 54th Street (Manhattan), 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Opened as the Gallo Opera House in 1927, it served ...
. Marking his 25-year-long collaborative relationship with dance diva Suzanne Palmer, Mark also produced the disco single “Love Reaction”, a Nervous Records release.


Discography


Remixes


Productions


See also

*
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picchiotti, Mark Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American club DJs Record producers from Illinois DJs from Chicago American remixers American electronic dance music DJs