Biography
Shep Pettibone rose from DJ and remixer to producer and songwriter, earning a lasting place among the most respected names in club music. From the late 1970s into the mid-1990s his output centered on master-mixes of post-disco R&B club recordings that combined force with finesse. He later transferred the same technique to mainstream pop, above all through his work with Madonna, remixing “Get into the Groove” (1985) and “Express Yourself” (1989) before co-writing and co-producing both “Vogue” (1990) and the bulk of Erotica (1992). Whether he added new instrumentation, reordered sections, highlighted drums with fresh imagination, or rebuilt tracks entirely, the results served dancefloors and radio equally. Record labels and artists routinely chose his remixes over edits or album versions for videos and broadcasts. Level 42’s “Something About You,” Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls,” New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle,” Janet Jackson’s “The Pleasure Principle,” and Cathy Dennis’ “Touch Me (All Night Long)” rank among the many recordings that owe much of their prominence to his input.
Born in New Jersey, Robert “Shep” Pettibone, Jr. first aimed for a club-DJ career yet entered the industry through radio. Late in the 1970s he spent a short time at WKTU, where fellow jock Ted Currier taught him tape-editing methods for altering disco tracks; in 1980, at the urging of Frankie Crocker, he moved to WBLS. There he gained greater exposure, with Crocker airing his master-mixes, and quickly advanced. Producer Arthur Baker, then starting out, heard Pettibone’s treatment of Gwen McCrae’s “Funky Sensation” and recruited him in 1981 for mixing and arranging. Their first commercial collaboration, a remix of the Baker-produced “Jazzy Sensation” by Kryptic Krew featuring the Jazzy 5, Tina B., and Afrika Bambaataa, marked Pettibone’s initial credit on a released record and began a durable working relationship.
Also in 1981 Pettibone joined WRKS, known as the rising Kiss FM, which offered a salary unlike WBLS. That November Billboard noted he was creating thirteen hours of dance mixes each week for the urban-contemporary station. His standing grew so strong that in 1982 Prelude issued 98.7 Kiss FM Presents Shep Pettibone’s Mastermixes, a collection highlighting future post-disco staples such as D-Train’s “You’re the One for Me,” Sharon Redd’s “Can You Handle It,” and the Strikers’ “Body Music.” Throughout 1982 and 1983 he supplied mixes for Salsoul on both new and catalog material, including Inner Life’s “Moment of My Life,” Aurra’s “Such a Feeling,” First Choice’s “Let No Man Put Asunder,” and Loleatta Holloway’s “Love Sensation.” Additional projects from the period encompassed Sinnamon’s “Thanks to You,” Mahogany’s “Ride on the Rhythm,” and “Walking on Sunshine” by Rockers Revenge, the Arthur Baker project.
Pettibone departed radio in 1984, yet listeners continued circulating cassette recordings of his Kiss FM sets locally and overseas. His studio work simultaneously broadened his reach. Although he led the Billboard dance chart in 1985 and 1986 with remixes of singles that stayed outside the Top 40—among them the Flirts’ “You and Me,” Phyllis Nelson’s “I Like You,” Alicia’s “Baby Talk,” and New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”—he achieved repeated pop crossover during those years. Early mainstream successes included Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force’s “I Wonder If I Take You Home,” Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls,” Miami Sound Machine’s “Bad Boy,” and Nu Shooz’ “Point of No Return.”
For several years afterward Pettibone collaborated extensively with Pet Shop Boys while deepening his association with Madonna, which had begun with “Get into the Groove.” Following further remixes for “True Blue,” “Like a Prayer,” and “Express Yourself,” among others, the pair began writing and producing together. They delivered the number-one pop hits “Vogue” and “This Used to Be My Playground,” released in 1990 and 1992 respectively, and Pettibone filled the same roles on ten tracks from the 1992 album Erotica, including the Top Ten singles “Erotica” and “Deeper and Deeper.” Even apart from those projects, his late-1980s and early-1990s credits place him among the era’s key behind-the-scenes figures. His later discography also features remixes for Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Prince, Depeche Mode, George Michael, Belinda Carlisle, and Paula Abdul, plus co-production of Cathy Dennis’ number-two pop cover of Wish (featuring Fonda Rae)’s “Touch Me (All Night Long).”
In the mid-1990s Pettibone exited the music business. He purchased and restored the Empress Hotel in Asbury, New Jersey, opened the Paradise nightclub inside it, reopened the hotel itself, and added a restaurant and bar; he has owned and operated the property as a resort into the 2020s, occasionally performing at the club for special events. In 2021 Arthur Baker and the Edsel label released Arthur Baker Presents Dance Masters: Shep Pettibone – The Classic 12" Master-Mixes to honor his catalog.
Born in New Jersey, Robert “Shep” Pettibone, Jr. first aimed for a club-DJ career yet entered the industry through radio. Late in the 1970s he spent a short time at WKTU, where fellow jock Ted Currier taught him tape-editing methods for altering disco tracks; in 1980, at the urging of Frankie Crocker, he moved to WBLS. There he gained greater exposure, with Crocker airing his master-mixes, and quickly advanced. Producer Arthur Baker, then starting out, heard Pettibone’s treatment of Gwen McCrae’s “Funky Sensation” and recruited him in 1981 for mixing and arranging. Their first commercial collaboration, a remix of the Baker-produced “Jazzy Sensation” by Kryptic Krew featuring the Jazzy 5, Tina B., and Afrika Bambaataa, marked Pettibone’s initial credit on a released record and began a durable working relationship.
Also in 1981 Pettibone joined WRKS, known as the rising Kiss FM, which offered a salary unlike WBLS. That November Billboard noted he was creating thirteen hours of dance mixes each week for the urban-contemporary station. His standing grew so strong that in 1982 Prelude issued 98.7 Kiss FM Presents Shep Pettibone’s Mastermixes, a collection highlighting future post-disco staples such as D-Train’s “You’re the One for Me,” Sharon Redd’s “Can You Handle It,” and the Strikers’ “Body Music.” Throughout 1982 and 1983 he supplied mixes for Salsoul on both new and catalog material, including Inner Life’s “Moment of My Life,” Aurra’s “Such a Feeling,” First Choice’s “Let No Man Put Asunder,” and Loleatta Holloway’s “Love Sensation.” Additional projects from the period encompassed Sinnamon’s “Thanks to You,” Mahogany’s “Ride on the Rhythm,” and “Walking on Sunshine” by Rockers Revenge, the Arthur Baker project.
Pettibone departed radio in 1984, yet listeners continued circulating cassette recordings of his Kiss FM sets locally and overseas. His studio work simultaneously broadened his reach. Although he led the Billboard dance chart in 1985 and 1986 with remixes of singles that stayed outside the Top 40—among them the Flirts’ “You and Me,” Phyllis Nelson’s “I Like You,” Alicia’s “Baby Talk,” and New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”—he achieved repeated pop crossover during those years. Early mainstream successes included Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force’s “I Wonder If I Take You Home,” Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls,” Miami Sound Machine’s “Bad Boy,” and Nu Shooz’ “Point of No Return.”
For several years afterward Pettibone collaborated extensively with Pet Shop Boys while deepening his association with Madonna, which had begun with “Get into the Groove.” Following further remixes for “True Blue,” “Like a Prayer,” and “Express Yourself,” among others, the pair began writing and producing together. They delivered the number-one pop hits “Vogue” and “This Used to Be My Playground,” released in 1990 and 1992 respectively, and Pettibone filled the same roles on ten tracks from the 1992 album Erotica, including the Top Ten singles “Erotica” and “Deeper and Deeper.” Even apart from those projects, his late-1980s and early-1990s credits place him among the era’s key behind-the-scenes figures. His later discography also features remixes for Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Prince, Depeche Mode, George Michael, Belinda Carlisle, and Paula Abdul, plus co-production of Cathy Dennis’ number-two pop cover of Wish (featuring Fonda Rae)’s “Touch Me (All Night Long).”
In the mid-1990s Pettibone exited the music business. He purchased and restored the Empress Hotel in Asbury, New Jersey, opened the Paradise nightclub inside it, reopened the hotel itself, and added a restaurant and bar; he has owned and operated the property as a resort into the 2020s, occasionally performing at the club for special events. In 2021 Arthur Baker and the Edsel label released Arthur Baker Presents Dance Masters: Shep Pettibone – The Classic 12" Master-Mixes to honor his catalog.