Killer Joe Piro

Frank "Killer Joe" Piro (2 March 1921 – 5 February 1989) was an American dance instructor to high society who popularized steps of the discotheque era of the 1960s and 1970s.

Early life Piro was born in East Harlem, the son of an Italian tailor. He described himself as 'skinny and ugly', and, to meet girls, began dancing. Piro got hooked on dance by frequenting the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in his late teens.

He won his moniker at the dance contests that were a big feature of the New York City scene in the 1940s. The "Killer Joe" nickname comes from a supposed ability to wear out one partner after the other on the dance floor. It has been suggested that John Travolta's role in Saturday Night Fever (1977) owes more than a little to Piro.

While serving with the United States Navy in World War II, he won a National Jitterbug contest held at the 1942 Harvest Moon Ball, and earned a transfer to Broadway's equivalent of the Hollywood Canteen, where he strutted his stuff with Katharine Cornell and other stage stars.

Dance instructor After the war, Piro started winning dance contests at the Palladium Ballroom in Manhattan with such frequency that he said they offered him $15 a week to be a teacher and stay out of the contests.

Despite being the undisputed "King of the Discotheque", Piro never opened his own club. Asked why, he replied, "I like things the way they are. I don't want to be watching a cash register, watching the waiters - it would take all the beauty of dancing away from me and I would get old."

The record features music to accompany the Watusi, the Monkey, the Swim, the Bossa Nova, the Merengue, the Jerk, the cha-cha Watusi, the Hully Gully, the Mlle, the Frug, and the Shake, among others. Songs include "The Girl from Ipanema", "What'd I Say?", "Twist and Shout" and "Hang On Sloopy" as well as the main theme, "Killer Joe", by The Rocky Fellers. The album exhorts, "There is a great deal of fun waiting for you, so don't waste a moment, hear this album, and have yourself a discotheque."

Later life Piro was featured in a 1960s print advertisement for Mobil. The advertisement described the dangers of driving while tense, showing an image of Piro's face that was edited to make him look scarier.

In 1965, Smirnoff Vodka hired Piro to create a new dance called the Mule for the Moscow mule (at the time the "Smirnoff mule"). Piro and his partner appeared in an advertisement for the drink. In 1967, Piro served as choreographer for the stop-motion film Mad Monster Party? (1967). During the 1970s and early 1980s, although no longer the mega-celebrity he once was, he still remained a much-respected regular at various New York discos and was also on the board for the New York Friars' Club. He died of kidney disease at Lenox Hill Hospital at the age of 67, just shy of his 68th birthday.