True House Stories® Youtube & Spotify Video Podcast
TRUE HOUSE STORIES W/ BIRDEE
Marsha Stern & Robbie Leslie interviewed by Lenny Fontana for True House Stories® # 031
Part 1
Tune in to hear from Lenny Fontana ’True House Stories’ as he discovers how Marsha Stern and Robbie Leslie became involved in music and their biggest influences. Hear about how Robbie, Marsha and Roy Thode met each other whilst Robbie was waiting in a restaurant / club in Florida. Discover where this friendship took them!
Listen as Marsha talks about her memories of hanging out with Roy Thode.
What happened when Marsha and Robbie moved to New York, the epicenter of night clubs and music scene that they both became in solved in?
Playing at clubs such as Studio 54,The Saint and 12 West hear their stories about the amazing times they spent partying. This then continued both for Robbie as a DJ and Marsha as a light technician. Learn from Marsha how a piano type light control was designed and how she expressed herself with music and lights to absolutely bring the 2 sensations to truly mesh.
Take in the memories as both guests share how their younger involvement in the music industry has continued to take them to such great levels since the Disco Days in NYC.
In this interview you will hear all the stories of the hottest clubs in NYC in there 1970’s and 80’s from 2 incredible people in the industry as they lived and breathed this life.
Part 2
Robbie Lesliea bona fide legend in the Music Industry, DJ/Remixer/Producer Robbie Leslie has been in the nightclub business for 40 years. One of the First Generation DJs, Leslie started his career on Fire Island in 1975… an auspicious beginning. From there he moved on to New York City, where the list of clubs at which he regularly performed reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of Big Apple nightspots:
Studio 54, The Saint/Saint At Large, Roseland Ballroom, Palladium, Underground, Private Eyes, the Red Parrot, 12West and the Ice Palace. He has made numerous guest appearances at clubs in Dubai, Berlin, Budapest, Moscow, Sydney, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Toronto, St. Maarten, Punta Cana, Cancun, and San Juan. For twenty years he has been the Resident DJ for RSVP Cruises and Vacations.
Other notable residencies include the Copa of Fort Lauderdale and Key West and Twist in South Beach. As the disc jockey for New York City’s Pier Dance of 1989 and 2004, Leslie played to a record breaking crowd of over 12,000. He topped that number in 1997 while playing the post-parade celebration at San Francisco’s Embarkadero – 20,000!
Recently he was honored by the industry and his peers with the National Hi-Energy D.J. of the Year Award, sponsored by Dance Music Report. He received the Dixie Award for D.J. of the Year in 1993. In October 1999 Leslie was presented with the third annual DJ Music Award for his lifetime contribution to the world of dance music. And in 2013 he received the FIP Historical Preservation Society’s inaugural History Maker Award.
Robbie can now be found on the airwaves with his weekly SiriusXM Satellite Radio broadcast of “Robbie Leslie Presents” which airs Fridays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Robbie Leslie currently performs internationally and at special events Coast to Coast.
Marsha Stern & Robbie Leslie YouTube Video Part 1
Marsha Stern & Robbie Leslie YouTube Video Part 2
Biography Marsha Stern
moved to NYC from Florida at not quite 22 years old, to begin a career in the music business. First as a publicist (Howard Bloom Organization, Inc.) then as a record promoter (Ariola Records USA) and a record producer (Midnight Rhythm & The Joe Long Sound), all before her first introduction to lighting in 1979 via the New York City nightclub and discotheque scene.
It was during those early years (specifically 1977) when she met DJ Roy Thode at the Ice Palace 57 which had recently been opened by Jimmy Merry, also the owner of Fire Island’s seasonal Ice Palace Cherry Grove where Roy was the house DJ. It was DJ Sharon White that introduced Marsha to Roy just after the IP57 had opened. Sharon and Roy had been dear friends for years, both from Long Island, before either of them had migrated to NYC. A deep loving friendship ensued between Roy and Marsha after that initial meeting and to this day remains one of the most significant relationships of her life.
Recent years have found Marsha returning to her musical roots, working with SiriusXM on a variety of special broadcasts, consulting on Altimeter Films’ “Studio 54 – The Documentary” and most recently contributing to Brooklyn Museum’s “Studio 54: Night Magic” exhibit, which is currently on tour in Toronto, Canada. Marsha continues to maintain her presence in the lighting world as well and she recently did a webinar for Harman/Martin Professional Learning Sessions, available on YouTube.
FOLLOW MARSHA STERN
FOLLOW THE HEARTBEAT OF THE DANCEFLOOR (PODCAST FROM MARSHA STERN)
What Is The Heartbeat Of The Dance Floor®?
To recount and record the stories and music that inspired today’s dance-music culture, from the late ‘70’s right through to our modern festival culture. Whether told from the perspective of the DJ, the lighting/special effects person, the club owner/management or the record promoters of the day, these are the elements that make up “The Heartbeat of the Dance Floor®”.
Biography Robbie Leslie
Robbie Leslie is idely recognized as one of the top disc jockeys in the nation, Robbie Leslie has been performing on the international circuit for over 25 years. Leslie started his career on Fire Island at the legendary Sandpiper (now the Pavilion) in the Pines. From there he moved on to New York City, where the list of clubs at which he regularly performed reads like a “Who’s Who’ of Big Apple nightspots: The Saint (and subsequently the Saint-At-Large), Studio 54, Underground, Private Eyes, Palladium, the Red Parrot, 12 West and the Ice Palace.
He also made numerous guest appearances at Trocadero Transfer and Dreamland in San Francisco; Axis, Probe and Studio 1 in Los Angeles; Numbers and Heaven in Houston; Club St. John in San José; the Pavilion, Botel and Ice Palace on Fire Island; Roxy and Octagon in New York; Heaven in London, and clubs in Australia, Denmark, Canada and Puerto Rico. He has taken his musical talents aboard several prestigious cruise lines.
Leslie is perhaps most renowned for spinning his magic at special Circuit Parties – Extravagant theme parties and benefits created for one night in anything from abandoned warehouses to famous museums. Events of note include the Saint-at-Large White parties, the White Party at Vizcaya in Miami, The Red Party in Columbus, A.P.L.A. Garden Parties in Griffith Park and at Universal Studios Backlot, Spring to Life at the Post Office Pavilion in Washington D.C.,
All That Glitters in San Diego, the Hotlanta River Expo in Atlanta, Pride at The Pier in Ft. Lauderdale, Fantasy Fest in Key West and a wide variety of major events in venues such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles and the Civic Center and Galleria in San Francisco. He has also appeared at events in Long Beach, Maui, Boston, Houston, Aspen, Tampa, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Hartford and Charleston.
In 1988 he had the honor of playing the final set at The Saint’s fourty hour closing party, and in 1989 and 1990 he presided over the Mardi Gras festivities at New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Pub.
As the featured disc jockey at New York City’s Pier Dance celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Gay Pride, Leslie played to a record breaking crowd of over 12.000! He topped that number in 1997 while playing the post-parade celebration at San Francisco’s Embarkadero– 20.000! Recently he was honored by the industry and his peers with the National Hi-Energy D.J. of the Year award, sponsored by Dance Music report. He received the Dixie Award for D.J. of the Year in 1993. In October 1999 Leslie was presented with the third annual DJ Music Award for his lifetime contribution to the world of dance music.
He is a nine-year veteran of the original Copa Ft. Lauderdale and was the Friday DJ at Twist, South Beach for three years. Featured in the new book Looking For The Perfect Beat — the art and culture of the DJ, by Kurt B. Reighley (ISBN 0-671-03869-9), Robbie Leslie currently spins his magic at various South Florida clubs and national circuit events on a regular basis.