Louie DeVito

by David JeffriesMainstream DJ and bigtime Yankees fan Louie DeVito never dreamed he'd have a million-selling series of mix albums while working as a construction worker in the early '90s, but he always loved music and wanted to be involved. An avid listener of New York City's Hot 103 and Hot 97 and their mix shows, DeVito was moved by the skills of DJ Franco Lamello and he decided it was time to try his hand at mixing. It took him nearly a year to get his first club gig, but it wasn't long before he was dubbed "the Man With the Golden Ear" because of his ability to pick the next big hit. A Friday night mix show on WKTU earned him more exposure, and in 1999 DeVito decided to release his first NYC Underground Party mix CD on his own. Expecting to sell only 5,000 copies tops, DeVito used his parents' house to warehouse the CDs but a little advertising and word of mouth quickly moved 60,000 copies. DeVito continued the Underground series and started the Dance Factory series to feature more popular and mainstream music. The CD sales kept growing and DeVito soon had a hectic DJ schedule putting him behind the decks for venues and events as diverse as the Casbah in Donald Trump's Taj Mahal and the celebrity-filled GQ's Man of the Year party.