Mike in the Night was an MC, a radio Engineer,a producer, a Remixer a Radio personality he earned
each and everyone of those titles with years of hard work and dedication ., but the title that I remember
him the most by is ” FRIEND” …..No hard work or dedication there…he was my friend ,naturally and
without effort he earned my trust, my respect, my love and admiration. He was hard headed and stubborn
,a little too frank at times ,but he was REAL. Real in an industry run by “Not so Real ” . people
He came alive behind the microphone ,a place where his looks ,his weight didn’t matter. Where he would
be judged solely on the sound of his voice and what he had to say. An unmistakable voice , heard by
hundreds of thousands of people on commercials, on the airwaves and from nightclubs all over Miami
since the early 80s. A voice that could inspire and motivate anyone who heard it ,to immediately get up
and dance. The nightclubs needed him , he WAS the party.
In 1995 he would produce the hit record ” Macarena ( Bayside Boys Remix )” on RCA records , allowing
him to construct a state of the art recording studio in West Miami. He follwed with hit ” Caliente”. and
continued to record countless of local and national artists , in many instances without charging studio time just to stay busy until the next radio gig popped up.
He was one of the youngest on air talents at legendary Miami radio station Super Q whose unique
format would be the model he would dream of using again someday on Miami’s airwaves. He recieved
that oppurtunity briefly for a few years on his return to radio after a few years absence on Miam’s Clasica
92.3 FM where he shot to the top of the ratings with unheard of numbers for a weekend show.The
happiest days of his life in my opinion. He was on top of his game . Programming “on the fly” playing the
music he wanted and knew Miami audiences craved but could not hear it anywhere. He manned the
controls at Salsa 98.3 FM on the weekends where we enjoyed a few years with a popular mix show
.After a financial dispute at one of the stations , his stubborn side got the better of him and he resigned ,it would be his last radio job before his untimely passing. He returned to the nightclubs as MC, vowing to return to radio under his terms,but the days of the ” RADIO PERSONALITY” was fading.
Replaced by minimum wage board operators with a few pre-programmed sentences here and there between
commercials and station IDs. On one of our 1 hour long drives to a nightclub we came up with the idea for
OPEN HOUSE RADIO .
“Cerrone, Leroy Gomez , Alec R Costandinos , Gloria Gaynor The Program slowly caught on .Stations in
New York,France, Brazil, Spain began playing the program. The program we created. Our bond grew
stronger.We would spend most of our ” production” time socializing and dreaming of ” What ifs” We
proved to each other that we could do it. The talent was there even though the jobs weren’t. We were
happy ,Open House Radio was ours . We often discussed the historical value of our programs as a
musical refrence to those years, delving deep into the Disco subculture almost as if studying religion or
the meaning of life itself. We had fun making those shows and looking back I preserved a little piece of
my friend in those 90+ shows that I selfishly kept here on Earth when he left.
I’ll be back making more Open House Radio shows. The way Mike used to, because when you love
something as much as we did ,it’s hard to stop.
Alex Gutierrez
By Mario M. Taboada
12-14-2012
The other night at Mikey Triay’s funeral, I chose not to speak publicly, but if I had, this is what I would have said. This is in memory of, and my tribute to a “bonanza” of a man.
I guess it’s only fitting that I point out that Mikey’s contributions to Radio were not limited to Programming, Music or Engineering. Mikey genuinely understood the “business” side of Radio…he embraced it and he enhanced it. Mikey was a true friend, and a very important allied of the Sales department. We in Sales loved him for that, we respected him and appreciated his efforts and enthusiasm. Mikey rarely said “no” to hosting a Remote or a Live Broadcast. He was always there when called upon to host a concert or event. You could always count on him to voice a commercial at a drop of dime, even when there was no compensation attached. He always gave it 100%. Mikey was always on time and he was always prepared. One thing was for sure, Mikey was going to do whatever it took to make the job-at-hand a success. And he was ready to do it again and again. It’s safe to say that Mikey significantly helped generate a lot of revenue for Radio over the years…and for that, Radio was better and many of us benefitted from it.
I’d like to share with all of you an anecdote that created a special bond between Mikey and I. A long, long time ago in TV land, there was a television series called “Bonanza”. It chronicled the lives of four brothers out in the Old West…they were the Cartwrights. There was this one brother… a strong and burly behemoth of a man, who was also very sensitive and naive at heart. He was like a child…a big teddy bear like Mikey. After working with Mikey for a while, back in the early eighties at Super Q, I approached him one day and asked him, “Mikey, you know that TV series, Bonanza?” He replied, “yes, why?” I said to him, “you remind me of one the characters on the program and if you don’t mind, out of respect, I’d like to call you “Hoss” from now on.” He was okay with that and from then
on, whenever I approached him and we were alone, I’d call him, ‘Hoss”. And if we were among other people, again out of respect, I would then refer to him as Mike or Mikey.Many of you, at one time or another probably shook Mikey’s hand. If so, I’m sure you felt the same way I did…this was a strong and mammoth hand. It certainly dwarfed mine. His grip was almost intimidating. Yet just as quick as you were impressed by the size of his hand, you were immediately comforted by the equally soft touch of his gentle and sincere soul. That was Mikey, he really was a gentle giant.
At the funeral, I noticed a common gesture by Mikey throughout the slide show presentation in memorium…a
simple sign that again well defines his character. In every slide, when Mikey was posing next to someone
“famous” or important…there was that “giant” hand again, this time serving as a “pointer” toward the other
person. It’s as if he was directing the attention away from himself…and indicating to all of us, like a child, that the person next to him was someone he respected, someone he admired or someone he approved of. This was another sign of how unselfish he was…just a simple kid in awe.Mikey, thank you for coming into our lives and adding a giant-size amount of contribution to Radio, and an equal-size amount of love to all of us.
“Good-bye, Hoss…I will miss you!”
Miss You …..Mikey….
Tag: Mike in the night
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Open House Radio
THE OPEN HOUSE RADIO STORY
Mike and I have worked in just about every nightclub and every radio Station in
Miami. Collectively we share over 30 years in the business. We have been
witness to the evolution of dance music ,since the days of Disco to the
present. Technologically Mike has been at the forefront of Studio Engineering and the
Recording Industry.
Mike’s father, Miguel Triay is the most respected Radio Engineer in the country
,responsible for massive broadcasting projects both in South Florida and Puerto
Rico.Mike Jr.was the producer/remixer of the English version of the worlwide hit :”
La Macarena”There is no doubt that music is our passion. Unfortunately this
business is not kind and most people who work in it only care about one
thing….themselves… and true talent often gets cast aside in favor of behind the
scenes deals and strategies to stay in “power” for as long as possible in this very
unstable line of work. Alliances are formed and those who shine by way of their
talent are often squashed by the powers that be. Radio Formats rely on ” research” .
Most stations play “safe” music ,in other words stuff you’re tired of listening to. So
alot of artists get lost in the cracks,especially those who did not achieve
“mainstream” or radio play.So we took matters into our own hands,hey it’s not everyone that has access to a full blown radio production studio 24 hours a day. We decided to create a “radio”
program for people our age with the music we used to listen to ,plus…. the music
that would catch our attention today. Throw in a little Salsa and those slow jams that
mad us run towards that girl we had our eye on all night and we had a program WE
would listen to and hopefully everyone else too.
We were right………In the first week we had over 2000 subscribers on I Tunes . The
Emails were overhelming. We had connected with an audience that had been
overlooked,an audience that didn’t like Hip Hop ,Reggeaton andother urban styles
that wasn’t really listening to Radio anymore.Our program is 100% authentic mixed the way DJs used to mix with the information you want to hear about these artists that you never knew before.Even the actual
artists themselves in many cases have lent their voices to the program. It’s exciting
,very exciting to be able to talk to and play the music of these great musicians and
vocalists who otherwise may not have an outlet to keep their music alive.
Open House Radio or OHR is a station I always dreamed I could listen to, and
MILLIONS OF YOU seem to agree.
Mike and I Thank you for letting us serve you in this manner.
Part 2
On December 9, 2012, at the age of 48 Mike in the Night Triay host and producer of ” Open House Radio” passed away in his sleep. It was a devastating and emotional event in my life.His influence in my life both personally and musically was beyond words. Mike and I would sit in his studio for hours talking and dreaming .We worked as a team in local nightclubs and concerts. All we wanted was to bring joy to those people like us that grew up during the 60s and 70s. Mike with his voice , myself with the music I loved….. Disco. Filling his shoes on our program ” Open House Radio” would be a difficult task. To find someone who shared the same love of this music and possessed the knowledge and experience in this genre. Long time friend and founder of the group ” Expose” Lewis Martinee fit right in , bringing his DJ experience from the legendary Hallandale nightspot ” The Limelight” and his studio/production expertise from countless of hit records. The show continued. Open House Radio can be heard all over the world on any given night. Cities such as France ( Amys FM, Generation Soul Disco Funk ) New York ( Disco 935) Miami ( Wepa.fm) and Canada to name a few. The show is a selection of personal favorites from the early 70s and 80s formatted in a ” DJ Mix” style to recreate the feel of an authentic 70s Discotheque. Soul dance Crossovers, Boogie Down as well as Rare Disco grooves constantly surprise an audience who had just about given up hope on ever hearing these tracks again.
Mike in the Night was a popular South Florida Radio Personality since the early 80s from the popular station SUPER Q FM , he later went on to work on Salsa 98 , and Clasica 92 where he lead the station in ratings for his shows on Friday , Saturday and Sunday most notably Saturday Night Fever transmitting live from many of the areas nightclubs. Mike was also involved in the Remix of the world wide sensation La Macarena.
DJ Alex Gutierrez has been heard in just about every local nightclub as well as radio stations since 1974.He has remixed hits for many of today’s Latin superstars and has been a fixture in the local Disco and Salsa scene. He is the innovator of the Latin, Beat Mixing technique emulated by most of the nation’s Latin Djs. He has recieved various awards on a local level as well as a nomination from the International Dance Music awards for best Latin Mix Show when he was on Salsa 98.
Lewis Martinee is a producer, songwriter and disc jockey based in Miami, Florida. Lewis reached number one on the Billboard Pop Charts, and has had multiple records reach top ten. Martinee received Billboard Songwriter of the Year as well as BMI Songwriter of the Year. In addition to founding the girl group Exposé in 1984, he also wrote and produced all songs on its first two albums, Exposure (1987) and What You Don’t Know (1989). He also contributed to the group’s third effort, Exposé, in 1992.
Martinee has also worked with many other artists of note, producing, writing and or remixing tracks: including Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Celine Dion, Company B, Arika Kane, Jermaine Jackson, Sequal, the Cover Girls, Debbie Gibson, Vanessa Williams, Pet Shop Boys, Son by Four, and Elvis Crespo, among others
Combining our technical as well as years of music industry experience Mike and Alex and now Lewis have set out to capture the essence of a 70s style local Disco show ,reminiscent of the popular ” SHOW DE RIKKI TIKKI’ with Enrique de la Maza back in 1977,78,79
Lewis and I also produce a weekly Dance Music Program ” Rhyhtm Mix 24/7″ heard on Clubbing Station in Canada ( Clubbing Station) and have remixed several projects for local as well as International artists.
You can Listen to past shows at our Mixcloud
