Richie Kaczor (9 December 1952 – April 1993) was an early DJ during disco's infancy in the 1970s.
His DJ career began in New Jersey. Kaczor played at clubs in New York City and surrounding states before being asked by nightclub owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager to begin a residency at Studio 54. Kaczor, along with Nicky Siano, were the two original DJs to play at the New York venue. Also, James Opdyke a friend of Richie "who also played at the Underground and the Saint" was there to fill in during bathroom breaks.[1]
Richie Kaczor has been credited for popularizing Gloria Gaynor's track "I Will Survive", which would later reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] Siano asserts that it was Kaczor who first noticed the track, originally a B-side to "Substitute", and turned it into a success.[3] The track became so well associated with Studio 54 that its lack of inclusion in the movie 54 led Tom Moulton to suggest that the movie "can't be about Studio 54 then, because Richie played that record. It became his biggest record."[4]
On March 4, 1980, Kaczor and Studio 54 lighting engineer Robert DeSilva opened the upper level Disco 40 in Hamilton Bermuda.[5]
Kaczor died in 1993 at age 40.[1]