Ray Velazquez was the A&R man and Disco consultant for Vanguard from 1979 to 1984. Ray was hired by owners Seymour and Maynard Solomon who originally started the Vanguard Recording Society in the 1950’s as an outlet for jazz, folk and classical music. Around 1977 Vanguard jumped on the Disco bandwagon and began releasing 12 inch Disco singles by The Player’s Association, Poussez!, Frisky and others in large part through the efforts of Danny Weiss (producer) and Mark Berry (engineer). Despite being a small independent label Vanguard made an impact on the Disco and dance scenes right on up through the 1980’s. In 1979 Ray was brought on board to help promote and scout for talent since he was a working Disco DJ and knew the New York club scene well.

Ray Pinky Velazquez was born on May 28, 1955 in Arecibo, Puerto Rico and raised in New York City