30/08/2023
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NEWS RELEASE ~ September 2, 2023
The story of Bobby D shared by a longtime friend and former writer/photographer for DISCOMAG. ~ Gino ‘IO’ Salotti –
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The 400th megaMix by Robert ‘’Bobby D’’ Dignard, for sure, a very momentous event for this passionate music lover and disc-jockey. I could not refuse to write up a short story about my dear friend, who was, for nearly a decade, my best friend and business partner, back in the 80s.
I met Bob, back in the late 70s, while I was working part-time for a small record and audio gear store in Cornwall, Ontario, where my girlfriend lived. The place was called MIKE’S DISC-JOCKEY and the owner catered to all the local DJs for their 12” vinyl records. My job was simple and pleasant. Being a true-to-heart Montrealer and having been very involved in the DISCO scene, I was to do a weekly run to the big city and purchase all the new DISCO record releases, just off the press, as well as some rare imports. I would do the rounds, even stop by the Montreal Record Pool, to check out the latest trends and bring back the best.
So once a week, usually on a Thursday morning, (first come, first served) many of the local DJs, even some coming from across the bridge in New York, would come over to the store to listen to the new records and buy the ones that would suit best the music style of their club, from Disco Bars, Rock Clubs to Roller Rinks and even Mobile Disc-Jockeys. It was a really great time for all and a meeting place for the DJs to mingle. Bob was one of them, in his late teen (19), he was part of the later ones with his mobile DJ operation called DYNAMIC SOUNDS. And of all the many mobile DJs that I came across at Mike’s Disc-Jockey, Bobby D stood out to me the most serious, professional and creative DJ, owning some of the best professional audio gear to deliver the best sound and music. His choice of music was also quite large and eclectic, since DYNAMIC SOUNDS would cater to all types of crowds, from graduation and wedding parties, to public and private events. But he did love DISCO and all style of dance music, which we both shared as a common interest. So much so that, after a while, I had a really good idea of what Bobby D would like as far as music style and genre, and would sometime pick up an odd single 12’’ record that I felt would suit him best, and was often right, while offering him a one of a kind exclusive.
And DYNAMIC SOUNDS MOBILE DISC-JOCKEY set up was quite remarkable. He owned a pair of large professional JBL 4530 loudspeakers with horns and bullet tweeters, powerful CARVER amplifiers and the classic TECHNICS turntables with a great console and some lighting equipment to create a great sounding audio-visual effect. Plus, he was great in reading his audience and adjust the music style to keep the dance floor packed, by knowing just the right mixes of music that would entertain best the crowd. I really admired Bobby D for his concern to always please his clients and for being a truly professional disc-jockey.
(Image 1)
The more he came to Mike’s Disc-Jockey, the more we became friends, sharing what we both love the most: MUSIC. And with time, he became close friends as he became a better skilled DJ and learning to mix music into a flawless stream of precision beats. He became so prolific with his Disco mixes that he ended up, playing for nearly one year, as the in-house club disc-jockey at the AARDWARK DISCO of Cornwall, Ontario, the first officially registered DISCO NIGHT CLUB in the province, which was originally owned and operated by Peter Gatien, who was later well renown in the Disco industry in the USA for his mega LIMELIGHT Disco Clubs in NYC, Atlanta and Florida.
At one point during our friendship, Bobby D had expressed to me his interest in possibly owning and operating an audio store. He inquired if Mike’s Disc-Jockey would possibly be available for sale and, as I recall, I had suggested not to pursue this venue since I felt it would not be to his best interest, knowing a bit better of just how the business was doing. But I remembered his interest in the business and how much of a professional he was.
As we became even closer with time, our friendship grew and we became the best of friends and to the point of attending to his first wedding. By that time, I knew him well enough, that I was asked to take the microphone to roast him a bit. Bobby D and his wife Pam became dear friends of my girlfriend Sue and I, and we shared quality time together. And it was at during that time that he brought back the idea of him owning an audio store in Cornwall, his home town.
It was also a time when I felt the need to better establish myself in this city in a way to be with my girlfriend and the idea of starting a new business in the home and pro audio sales and service was appealing to me. We sat down and discussed what we could do together and we decided and agreed to create a new high-end audio store, offering far better and more performing sound system to the marketplace, which was not found anywhere else amongst the existing stereo stores of the city.
That’s when we created THE AUDIO CONSULTANTS of Cornwall, first working from a renovated basement space at Bob & Pam’s bungalow, where the room was acoustically adapted and suited as a show & sound room. We negotiated with some of the best audio equipment distributors in the country and obtained not only exclusive dealerships from them but much support and help, since they appreciated our philosophy and drive, and knew that we would well represent them and their products. Our motto was simple: ‘When Listening To Music Becomes An Experience’’, and this is exactly what our many clients, whom most became out friends, over the course of nearly a decade, experienced for themselves.
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Bob and I actually created and establish the market of high-end audio in Cornwall, by taking the time to educate the neophytes and audiophiles who came to our store to learn and experience what we were proposing. By that time, we had establish our store in the heart of Downtown Cornwall, in a small and fully renovated Victorian home, since the demand had shown us, within a little over a year, that we needed to run full time operation, with again an original business scheduled of Monday-to-Friday, 10h00 AM till 09h00 PM and All-Day Saturdays.
By the early 90s, things had changed in both our lives, Bob and I had separated from our spouses, and we both had grown with a different vision of our future. It was decided to close THE AUDIO CONSULTANTS, and for me to return to Montreal, while Bobby D established a new Compact-Disc Store in Cornwall, called J&B DISC BREAKS, since CDs had become the new and preferred music medium. He also kept a few of the high-end audio brand name products we had promoted over the years for sale on private appointments, in a similar way we did when we first started back a decade earlier.
And during all this time, Bobby D never stopped once making megaMixes of the best dance music, ranging from rock, disco, house and funk, to the point of achieving his 400th official remix.
CONGRATULATIONS BOBBY’D FOR YOUR 400TH MEGAMIX !!!
