Mike In The Night Triay (Macarena Remix)

Mike Inthenight Triay's Story

Born in Puerto Rico, March 03 1964.  I met Mike when he was barely 6 years old.  As we grew up together just ten years older than him; we shared a lot of time at his house. Ines ad a dance study and would drill us on the comparsas for Casa Cuba. Mike was always around being a great jovial, happy kid.

As we grew up, graduated from HS, college and joined the Army.  We parted ways not knowing when to meet again. This is the period most of you enjoyed him as he graduated from Loyolla here in Miami, and joined his father at Super Q, and made his career in this business. 

He developed a great passion for the radio industry by hanging around his father’s stations since he was a child, showing early promise due to his golden ear just like his father before him. He started his radio career as a DJ in Super Q. He was the founder of the Bayside Boys and producer of the English version of La Macarena.  Wikipedia’s write up of the Bayside Boys’ Macarena remix gives testimony to Mike’s exceptional talent.

After being remixed by the Bayside Boys and having English lyrics written and added by Grammy nominated producers Carlos de Yarza and Mike Inthenight Triay and sung by Carla Vanessa, it became a worldwide hit in mid-1996. The single spent 14 weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, one of the longest runs atop the Hot 100 chart in history. The single spent its final week at number one on its 46th week on the chart, recorded as the latest number-one single in Hot 100 history. During its heyday, the song was played frequently at professional athletic games, rallies, conventions, and other places. Many believe that a world record for group dancing was set in 1996, when a crowd of 50,000 people danced the Macarena in Yankee Stadium in New York City. The song stayed in the Hot 100 chart for 60 weeks.

The Bayside Boys toured the world and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show with the Macarena remix. Mike’s recent passions centered around the Open House Radio show with DJ Alex Gutierrez and co-founding IPartyMia with DJ RAF to organize the best events in Greater Miami for people who want to have fun and fully enjoy all that Miami has to offer.

Mike now has a Wikipedia entry, and this thanks to the Remix of the Macarena with the  Bayside Boys. Google has at least 16 picture of him (6 of them with cute looking women and the rest of him alone or with friends) Mike’s favorite movie was Saturday Night Fever, a theme he later used in one of his radio shows, his heroes are (God, his dad & mom) Mike made the whole circuit of Miami radio stations (Super Q, Salsa 98, Clasica 92, Amor 107 in both SBC and Univision Radio.

Mike died at the age of 48, so did Whitney Houston, Edith Piaf (for you younger whippier snapper) a French singer who interpreted the Hymn to Love in 1960., He died the same year Dick Clark & Don Cornelius both host of  (American Bandstand & Soul Train)  I guess maybe they were short of the Latino beat.  Mike left a void on many of us.  Mike In-the-night Triay died at age 48 on December 9th, 2012 from a heart attack.  He was an exceptional announcer, a producer, DJ, and sound engineer.  He was the son of Miguel Triay, Sr. the finest radio engineer in Miami, who also died because of a heart condition earlier this same year.  Mike was slated to soon be the Production Director of Rumbera Network 105.5 FM.  Mike’s accomplishments are too many to enumerate.

The man with the golden voice, the golden ear….and golden sight as Alex Gutierrez & Mario Taboda mentioned in their eulogies to Mike was something I did experience.  Some time ago around 2003 (about ten years ago) I worked in Coral  Gables and wanted to help out a young aspiring singer, who worked as a receptionist.  She gave me a Demo CD and I took it to Mike at Univision radio to give me his opinion.  As I surrender the CD that had basically the face of this young lady. He said to me: sorry she is too old and kind of fat……..this girl was 26 and just had chubby cheeks. Her voice  was far better than many others around. But Mike was capable with that clinical eye to determine that it would be very difficult for to look into a career of singing. Mike ‘s experience later told me that the up and coming girls in their teens from Disney or Nickelodeon were the hot commodity. That it was the whole package (Looks, age, voice)  what made you a successful candidate.

Mike could detect talent.  Mike’s voice made women go crazy when he hosted Saturday Night Fever at any disco in town.  His voice a masterful radio voice , easy to listen to, was consequently part of the Leon Medical Centers, Inc. disclaimer after each commercial.  Mike’s final month work was with us at Leon Medical Centers, were his mon and dad are taken care of. I remember the elder Mike asking me constantly to talk to Mike to lose weight.  And to take care of him. As Mike the father got worse, he continued to put that on my shoulders.  I love Mike and would only ask him how he felt, never told me if he was in pain, or something bothered him. I saw Mike every week when he would come in to record the infomercials for LMC.  A couple of times he came in a wheel chair.

That is is when I did start getting worried about him… All this after his father’s death on Jun 19^th. In less than 6 months Mike’s own health deteriorated. It was a painful thing to observe and live through. Mike’s loss of his father (his friend, mentor, hero was a devastating blow.) Depression had much to do with it all.  Working at LMC I have picked up a couple of things about being sick or suffering from a condition. And that is that sometimes other lateral issues, exacerbate the problem and could lead to death or contribute to it. Mike was afraid of going into surgery. If not he would have done it many years ago.  Mike’s guiding light (his father) was no longer there to fustigate him keep him on the ball. So at the end, all of us who know him, felt quite inept to help. To advise, to help him through this difficult time of grief. But keep this in mind at no time Mike showed all that troubled him inside.   He was a great actor, that could role play to us a Happy Mike, when in fact he was totally distraught.  May this serve as a lesson to us all. So we never quit trying to help someone. Insist. Assist or simply be there to listen.  Mike’s death was due to heart failure, but many other things too.

But today we are all gathered here to commemorate his life and give to the American Heart association so we can help others. As we say in the Greek Orthodox church on our Memorial services:  “eonias inminin, eonias inminim… may his memory be eternal….