Tony De Vit
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| Tony De Vit | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Tony De Vit |
| Born | September 12, 1957, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England |
| Died | July 2, 1998 (aged 40), Birmingham, West Midlands, England |
| Genre(s) | Dance |
| Occupation(s) | DJ |
| Years active | 1976–1998 |
Tony De Vit (September 12, 1957 – July 2, 1998) was a club disc jockey. His singles "Burnin' Up" and "To The Limit" both reached the Top 40.[1]
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[edit] Career
De Vit started as a wedding DJ in 1976, before becoming resident DJ at Birmingham's premier gay venue, Nightingale, where he played pop and Hi-NRG. During the early 80's, he worked at Wolverhampton's Beacon Radio, playing club tracks during a regular late-night slot on the 1922 show hosted by Mike Baker (now with Smooth FM). Tracks from Bobby Orlando and Patrick Cowley featured heavily.
De Vit also played at the Birmingham club Tin Tins during this time. De Vit's was later inspired by visiting infamous Trade at Turnmills in London.
"It changed my idea of clubbing. It was the sheer energy" De Vit later said.[citation needed]
De Vit left Nightingale for Birmingham super club Chuff Chuff where he played Hard House, initially being paid £35 per gig. Within weeks he was headlining above house DJ Sasha.
In 1993, De Vit received residency at Trade.[2] Rave artists Fantazia asked him to mix one of the discs on the second album of the Fantazia House Collection series, which went on to be a UK hit, selling over 100,000 copies. In 1995, Fantazia asked him to compile an album all of his own. The Remixers: Tony De Vit was a successful underground album, consisting only of tracks remixed by De Vit and Simon Parkes.
By the mid-90s, De Vit was playing smaller venues in Inverness and Cheltenham. He also had two releases in the Global Underground series: GU 005: Tokyo and GU 001: Tel Aviv.
[edit] Death
De Vit was HIV positive. On July 2, 1998, he died due to bronchial pneumonia and bone marrow failure.
After De Vit's death, a conflict kept his records off the shelves for many years, but finally a compilation of his songs and remixes was released called Are You All Ready? on Tidy Trax records.
