ENTERTAINMENT
A
chic N.Y. fashion designers, like Don-
na Karan, she provides atmospheric
music during the fashion shows.
She also plays private parties, like
the wedding of Leonard Bernstein's
daughter. Sarko's assistant couldn't
figure out why she was selecting
songs from West Side Story. She final-
ly told him "Bernstein wrote those
songs." Sarko's mother didn't unders-
tand why Bernstein, the music
maestro, didn't hire an orchestra.
"Mother, I am the orchestra," replied
Sarko.
Writing is also part of her domain.
She is currently talking with a
publishing company about writing a
book on her deejay experiences. "But,
a lot of people are going to have to die
first," says Sarko. She hints about the
juicy gossip of the jet-set clan. "I just
can't tell you about Princess
Stephanie or Mick Jagger?'
For the rock magazine Spin, she
reviews albums. In one issue of Seven-
teen, she wrote an article on How to
Make a Party Tape.
If she's not writing for the
magazines, she's usually featured in
the stories. The May issue of Vanity
Fair featured an article on club
culture with Sarko profiled and
photographed along with a dozen
other colorful characters of New
York's nightlife.
But the road from a Detroit base-
ment to attaining the title of the
queen of the disco deejays, as headlin-
ed in a New York Times' article, is not
a straight path. It's something like
Sarko's personality: circuitous, predic-
table and non-conforming.
Sarko grew up on Canterbury in
the affluent neighborhood of Sher-
wood Forest, near Seven Mile and
Livernois. Her parents, Eleanor and
Harold Sarko, now divorced, are
charter members of Adat Shalom. To-
day Sarko does not consider herself an
observant Jew, but rather culturally
Jewish. Sarko makes this observation
on her childhood: "I liked nothing bet-
ter than to listen to records. I had lots
—
Wolfgang Wesen er
nita Sarko, New York's
queen of the disco dee-
jays, began spinning-
records at age four in a
Detroit basement. Her
budding career was reinforced every
summer at her Woodhull Lake cot-
tage, selecting records on the juke box
at the Big House. During adolescence
she hosted countless parties in her
Sherwood Forest home and made dai-
ly jaunts to the Mumford Music store.
Today it's the Palladium, a chic disco
in Manhattan, where Sarko is the
musical director of the Michael Todd
Room.
Sarko, who describes herself as
"30-ish," lives the life teenagers fan-
tasize. She hobnobs with New York's
hottest rock stars, wears gobs of
make-up and dresses in either funky
clothes or elegant gowns. She sleeps
until mid-afternoon and then parties
all night.
"Every night I go to a party. I
paint my face and wear ball gowns.
Then, I get paid to play records. I'm
doing what a kid does on weekends,"
says Sarko.
Sarko is more than a discotheque
deejay. She is a celebrity diva. Sarko
doesn't just spin records. She sets
moods and manipulates parties, with
an eclectic repertoire ranging from
new British rock sounds to African
songs to classical instrumentals. She
has neither rules nor regulations,
mixing and mis-matching sounds and
styles.
This non-conforming, chaotic style
is Anita Sarko. Sitting in her
mother's Bloomfield condominium,
with blond bushy hair, peacock blue
eyes, and wearing a flannel dress
decorated with cowboys, she says, "I
get bored easily. I just clicked when
I went to N.Y." Her gravel voice is a
refined Lauren Baca11.
Sarko performs a myriad of dee-
jay duties. At least two nights a week
she's at the Palladium playing live;
other nights she programs tapes for
the club. She co-hosts once a month
the cabaret show "No Entiendes." For
Queen
Of The N.Y. Deejays
Detroit-born Anita Sarko is
the doyenne of the turntable
CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ
Special to The Jewish News
GOING PLACES
WEEK OF AUGUST 14-20
MUSIC
DETROIT SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA Meadow
Brook, Bernstein concert, 8
p.m. Sunday, admission,
377-2010.
PINE KNOB MUSIC
THEATRE Crosby, Stills
and Nash, 7:30 p.m. today,
Echo/New/Gene, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Ready For The
World, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday,
admission.
MUSIC IN THE PARK
Shepherd Park, Oak Park,
Peter Noone,
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, free,
545-6400.
"IN THE PARK"
SUMMER CONCERT
SERIES Shain Park,
Birmingham, A Salute To
The Young At Heart, 7:30
p.m. Thursday, free,
644-1807.
MEADOW BROOK
MUSIC FESTIVAL
Meadow Brook, Johnny
Cash, Larry Gatlin and
The Gatlin Brothers, 8 p.m.
today, Michael Franks, 8
p.m. Saturday, Pat Metheny,
8 p.m. Monday, admission,
377-2010.
THE 1987 STROH'S
JAZZ SERIES Chene
Park, Detroit, Tito Puente,
8 p.m. Saturday, admission,
567-0990.
SHAW FESTIVAL
Niagara-On-The-Lake,
Ontario, Charlotte Moore
and Denis Simpson,11:30
a.m. Sunday, admission,
(416)468-2172.
CONGRESS OF
STRINGS Wayne State
University, Community
Arts Auditorium, 450 Kirby
Mall, full string orchestra,
7:30 Friday, free, 577-1795.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
SERIES Chene Park,
Detroit, Bachl-Chor, 7:30
p.m. Wednesday, free,
567-0990.
WARREN SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA Warren
City Hall, selections of
American music, 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, free, 754-2950.
CHILDREN
JEWISH COMMUNITY
CENTER 6600 W. Maple,
West Bloomfield, The
Emperor's New Clothes,
7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Aug.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
55