The Pop Corporation

Mr Balearic himself, DJ Alfredo, has sadly left us after being one of the most influential people in dance music’s history. He was 71 and leaves a huge ray of sunshine behind him, which the rest of the DJing world has been basking in ever since.

Born in Argentina, Alfredo ended up in Ibiza and his sets there would begin at 3am and finish at midday, so after everyone else had been partying all night, it was Alfredo who eased them into the next day, and armed with records that were a broad musical spectrum, the lack of snobbery in his sets would give birth to the Balearic beat.

What is Balearic? While many argue what exactly constitutes a Balearic record, everyone agrees that if anyone knew, it was Alfredo. His sets would cover soft rock, reggae, electro, pop, disco chuggers, proto-house, and anything else that took his fancy, and gave dancers a euphoric, spontaneous high – liquid ecstacy.

Alfredo took charge of Amnesia and reinvented what it meant to be a club DJ, and in part, shaped what it would mean to play to a dancefloor for years to come. DJs like Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling would become disciples to Alfredo’s sound, with UK nights like Shoom directly influenced by Alfredo’s legendary sets.

Oakenfold would say: “In England at that time, clubs only played one type of music, and London was full of attitude – but at Amnesia you had 7,000 people dancing to Cyndi Lauper. Total freedom.”

Alfredo said of his sets: “The people and the music made it. You’d get a young guy talking to an old person – and listening to each other.”

While no cause of death has been given, but he had been unwell. In tribute to him, feel free to argue the toss about what constitutes a Balearic record, but having a good time doing it. Failing that, here’s a set of his from Amnesia in ’89.

Truly, one of the greatest to ever do it.