Mike Triay, radio host behind ‘ Macarena’ hit
Mike “In the Night” Triay, 48, a Miami radio host who was part of the production team responsible for the mid-’ 90s hit Macarena in the United States, died Sunday after suffering a heart attack.
Mr. Triay, Carlos de Yarza and radio personality Jammin Johnny Caride were the Bayside Boys, whose English- language remix of Spanish duo Los del Rio’s song Macarena turned what had been a popular song in Latin America and U. S. Latin clubs into a major worldwide hit.
Caride, who in the mid-’ 90swas onMiamistation Power 96, caught on to Macarena after customers at a Miami club where he worked as a disc jockey kept requesting the song. He brought it to his bosses at Power 96, who asked for an English language version. Caride asked Yarza and Mr. Triay, his partners in Bayside Records, to help him rework the original.
The trio added English lyrics sung by Carla Vanessa and a dance beat more suited to U. S. audiences. The result, Macarena ( Bayside Boys Remix), topped Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart in August 1996, and stayed there for 14 weeks, becoming one of the biggest radio hits in history. Its simple, catchy lyrics and distinctive dance made it a pop- culture and party mainstay.
Mr. Triay, whose parents were Cuban, was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and came to Miami with his family in the late 1970s. He started working as a disc jockey at a Spanish- language station in Miami while he was in his late teens. In the mid-’ 80s, he helped Caride start his radio career, and the twomen remained close personally and professionally.
“He always gave people a chance, hewasalwaysopen minded, never negative,” said Caride, now a disc jockey and program manager at Miami station WXDJ- FM. “He was a big guy, but his heart was even bigger.”
Mr. Triay, who also produced voiceovers and commercials, retired fromcommercial radio in 2010 but continued to run an Internet radio station, In the House Radio.
He is survived by his mother and sister, both named InezTriay.
A viewing will be from 6 p. m. to midnight Thursday at Rivero Caballero Funeral Home, 8200 SW 40th St., Kendall.