Friends of a Williamsburg disc jockey who was seriously injured in a bizarre accident inside an Oregon motel room last week are rallying to help pay his medical bills.
Soul music DJ Jonathan Toubin, 40, was relaxing in a ground-floor Portland hotel room on Dec. 7 when a car plowed through wall, pinning him on his bed.
He remains in critical condition at a Portland hospital.
One of the city’s premiere DJs, Toubin is widely credited for reviving the city’s soul scene three years ago and has spun records at the Brooklyn Museum, and even one of Mayor Bloomberg’s parties.
“He made dancing in New York popular again,” said his friend and booking agent Michelle Cable. “He’s turned certain clubs around and made those places hip. On some nights, 700 people would come through a club with only 100 capacity during a party from 10 pm to 4 am.”
Toubin was a hot DJ at Williamsburg venues such as Zebulon, The Commodore, Daddy’s, and Glasslands, where his signature party, “Soul Clap Dance Off,” is one of the Kent Avenue venue’s most raucous events.
But now the turntables have turned, and Toubin’s friends are mobilizing to give back to the DJ who gave them so much.
On Friday, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Heavy Trash, Tunde Adebimpe, Ryan Sawyer, and Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers headlined a fundraiser at Brooklyn Bowl to underwrite Toubin’s medical bills.
And Glasslands turned its canceled Dance Off on Saturday into a benefit show in Toubin’s honor.
It’s no wonder that friends are answering the call, said Cable.
“Jon is one of the most charming, sincere, charismatic people,” she said. “He has 4,000 friends on Facebook and they really are his friends. He’s one of these people who has lived a full, diverse life.”
For info, visit www.iheartjt.com, and donate via Paypal to ihearttoubin@gmail.com.
Reach reporter Aaron Short at ashort@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2547.
