Early years

Benitez's mother moved from Puerto Rico in the early 1950s to the South Bronx section of New York City. She raised Benitez and a younger sibling as a single mother. He grew up enjoying music, usually listening to his sister's record collection. His sister Debbie, nicknamed him Jellybean as his initials are J.B. and from the expression "Know what I mean, Jellybean?" Benitez attended De Witt Clinton and John F. Kennedy High Schools, but did not graduate.

He relocated to Manhattan in 1975, attending disco nightclubs, which sparked his interest in becoming a disc jockey (DJ). He worked at a nightclub called Experiment 4 & Electric Circus. In 1980 Benitez enrolled and attended Bronx Community College, where he studied Marketing and Sales Promotion. Benitez worked as a DJ at Electric Circus, Hurrah, Xenon, Paradise Garage and Studio 54. In 1981, he was hired as the resident DJ at Funhouse. He hosted a weekend dance radio show at WKTU.

Music career

Madonna

Benitez started to remix singles, such as Jimmy Spicer's "The Bubble Bunch," Rocker's Revenge's "Walking on Sunshine," Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" and Stephen Bray of the group Breakfast Club. Benitez met Bray's band mate at the time, Madonna. A two-year romance developed. Benitez became involved with remixing Madonna's self-titled debut album in 1983, including the singles "Everybody", "Borderline", and "Lucky Star." He also produced "Holiday."

Other artists

Benitez produced Whitney Houston's Top ten hit "Love Will Save the Day" from her second album Whitney. He remixed songs for many other artists including Hall & Oates, George Benson, Shalamar, Jocelyn Brown, Patti Austin, Bobby O, Sheena Easton, Talking Heads, James Ingram, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, John Waite, The Pointer Sisters, Debbie Harry, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney.

Jellybean moniker

Benitez scored two 1980s US pop hits released under the Jellybean moniker: "Sidewalk Talk" (US #18), written by Madonna and featuring Catherine Buchanan; and "Who Found Who" (US #16), featuring Elisa Fiorillo. Nine recordings placed in the Top Ten of the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, including three number ones. Other vocalists who have performed on a Jellybean release include Adele Bertei, Richard Darbyshire and Niki Haris. His 1984 cover of Babe Ruth's "The Mexican" (for which he recruited original singer, Janita Haan) is regarded as a pivotal moment in the electro-hip hop underground scene, and was his first number-one single on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

He was successful in the United Kingdom as an artist in his own right. His hits there included:- "Sidewalk Talk" (UK #47, 1986) ; "The Real Thing" (UK #13, 1987) featuring Steven Dante; "Who Found Who" (UK #10, 1988) with Elisa Fiorillo; "Jingo" (UK #13, 1988) and "Just a Mirage" (UK #13, 1988) with vocals by Adele Bertei.

Impresario

Benitez continues to deejay globally. He owns Jellybean Productions, Jellybean Soul and Jellybean Music Group. In 1995, he founded the now-defunct H.O.L.A. recording label (House of Latin Artists) which developed hip hop and R&B music by bilingual artists and released recordings in both English and Spanish. Voices of Theory signed with this label. On September 19, 2005, Benitez was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.

SiriusXM

Benitez is now the Executive Producer of Studio 54 Radio, which is heard exclusively on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Channel 54). Studio 54 Radio launched August 15, 2011. It features 1970s and 1980s classic dance from Jellybean's personal collection and the vaults and collections of Studio 54 insiders.

Partial discography

Production

• B-Movie "A Letter From Afar"
• Debbie Harry "Feel the Spin"
• La India "Dancing on the Fire"
• Madonna "Holiday"
• Madonna "Borderline"
• Madonna "Crazy for You"
• Madonna "Gambler"
• Sheena Easton "If It's Meant to Last"
• Stacy Lattisaw "Nail It to the Wall"
• Whitney Houston "Love Will Save the Day"

Selected remixes

• Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force "Planet Rock"
• Agent Sumo "Why?"
• A-ha "Cry Wolf"
• A-ha "I've Been Losing You"
• Alphaville "Jet Set"
• Ana "Shy Boys"
• Bandolero "Paris Latino"
• The Bangles "Walk Like an Egyptian"
• Bonnie Tyler "Holding Out for a Hero"
• Cher "A Different Kind of Love Song"
• Cher "Believe"
• David Bowie "Blue Jean"
• Donna Summer "Eyes"
• Donna Summer "I'm Free"
• Fleetwood Mac "Everywhere"
• Fleetwood Mac "Little Lies"
• Fleetwood Mac "Seven Wonders"
• Hall & Oates "Adult Education"
• Hall & Oates "Say It Isn't So"
• Hall & Oates "Talking All Night"
• Huey Lewis and the News "Back in Time"
• Huey Lewis and the News "The Power of Love"
• Huey Lewis and the News "Heart and Soul"
• Irene Cara "Flashdance... What a Feeling"
• Billy Joel "Tell Her About It"
• Madonna "Burning Up"
• Madonna "Dress You Up"
• Madonna "Into the Groove"
• Madonna "Like a Virgin"
• Madonna "Lucky Star"
• Madonna "Material Girl"
• Madonna "Physical Attraction"
• Madonna "Spotlight"
• Michael Sembello "Maniac"
• Ollie & Jerry "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us"
• Ollie & Jerry "Electric Boogaloo"
• Paul McCartney "Ode to a Koala Bear"
• Paul McCartney "So Bad"
• Paul McCartney Michael Jackson "Say Say Say"
• Paul McCartney Michael Jackson "This Is The Man"
• The Pointer Sisters "Automatic"
• The Pointer Sisters "Jump (for My Love)"
• The Romantics "Talking in Your Sleep"
• Santana "Say It Again"
• Shakira "Objection"
• Shalamar "Dancing in the Sheets"
• Sting "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free"
• Talking Heads "Making Flippy Floppy"
• Talking Heads "(Nothing But) Flowers"
• Talking Heads "Slippery People"
• Taylor Dayne "Original Sin"
• USA for Africa "We Are the World"
• Wang Chung "Everybody Have Fun Tonight"
• Whitney Houston "How Will I Know""
• Whitney Houston "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
• Whitney Houston "So Emotional"
• ZZ Top "Velcro Fly"

Discography

Albums

• Wotupski 1984
• Just Visiting This Planet 1987
• Jellybean Rocks The House 1988
• Spillin' The Beans 1990
• A Celebration in Sound 2010

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions										Album
1984	"The Mexican"	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	—	Wotupski!?!
	"Sidewalk Talk"	18	51	1	34	31	-	-	-	-	47
1987	"Who Found Who"	16	-	3	46	95	-	-	-	21	10	Just Visiting This Planet
	"The Real Thing"	82	49	1	-	22	33	-	-	21	13
	"Jingo"	-	-	2	-	16	16	44	18	19	12
1988	"Just A Mirage"	-	-	4	-	87	-	-	-	27	13
	"Coming Back For More"	-	-	9	50	-	-	-	-	-	41	Jellybean Rocks The House!
1991	"What's It Gonna Be"	90	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	98	Spillin' The Beans
	"Spillin' The Beans"	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	—
2006	"New York House"	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	—	singles only
2008	"Secrets & Lies"	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	—
2009	"You Bring Me Joy"	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	—	A Celebration in Sound
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Motion Picture / Television

Benitez composed the theme song to The Ricki Lake Show and The Charles Perez Show. He produed motion pictures and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy for his role as an Executive Producer for HBO's For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story starring Andy Garcia. He served as music supervisor and created and mixed tunes for many soundtracks.

Music Supervisor

Among the motion pictures for which he served as Music Supervisor are:

• Carlito's Way
• Species
• Mi Vida Loca
• Get Carter
• The Shadow
• The Principal

Soundtrack works

Among the motion picture soundtracks for which he created and mixed tunes are:

• Back to the Future
• Breakin'
• Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
• Flashdance
• Footloose
• Krush Groove
• Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
• The Shadow
• Spaceballs
• Species
• Superstar
• Top Gun

[ Source: Wikipedia ]