Ahmed Khan (DJ Khan)

Ahmed Khan has been at the heart of the dance music scene in Atlantic City since the late 1980s. Khan was the DJ behind several long-running nightclubs including The Chelsea, Déjà Vu, 32 Degrees, and The Casbah.

Khan was an on-air mixshow DJ for many radio stations including: 91.7 FM WLFR (Pomona,NJ), 1040 AM WUSS (Atlantic City,NJ), 98.1 FM WMXI (Hattiesburg,MS), and 99.3 FM WZBZ (Atlantic City,NJ).

Khan can currently be heard every Saturday from 12 pm-2 pm on HandzOnRadio.fm. Khan also has a regular residency at Tango’s Lounge at Tropicana Atlantic City on Saturday nights playing an eclectic mix of NuDisco, 70s-80s-90s, Top 40, House, Hip Hip, and Latin.

In addition to his career as a professional DJ, Khan is a certified Chemistry teacher. Khan's ethnicity is Indian-Italian.

EARLY LIFE

Ahmed Bashir Khan (also known as DJ Khan) was born in Washington, DC USA. His father, Bashir Khan, was born in Palanpur, India and was brought to the United States by the Indian Ambassador, M.C. Chagla as his chef. Khan's mother, Virginia Ruffolo, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised by her Italian immigrant grandparents. Khan's parents met and married in Washington, DC while his father was a chef and his mother was a waitress at Raj Malik's Taj Mahal Restaurant. Khan has six half-brothers from his father’s first marriage. Khan's parents separated when he was in elementary school.

Ahmed Khan

EDUCATION

Khan grew up in Washington, DC where he attended Ben W. Murch Elementary, Marie H. Reed Community Learning Center, and Alice Deal Junior High School. Khan and his mother moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey where he attended Atlantic City High School. Khan matriculated to Stockton University (formerly Richard Stockton State College) where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry (B.S. Chemistry). Khan returned to Stockton to earn a Masters degree in Instructional Technology (M.A.I.T.). Khan is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity (T.K.E.) and was listed in Who's Who Among American College & University Students.

CAREER

At Stockton, Khan became friendly with DJ Cameron Williams, who had a show on Stockton's radio station 91.7 FM WLFR (Pomona) every Saturday night from 8 pm to 11 pm. Khan's DJ career started at the radio station answering the request line and performing shout-outs during the show.

In the summer of 1987, Williams was promoted to Music Director. After Khan received his FCC radio broadcast license, he was given his own radio show. He played Go-Go music from Washington, DC. Khan had a 3-hour time slot on Saturday nights from 5 pm to 8 pm that preceded Williams's show.

Later that summer, Khan bought his first pair of turntables and DJ mixer. Khan estimates that he has played for more than 1 million listeners in the course of his DJ career.

Through Williams, Khan met Kevin “DJ Cosmic Kev” Owens and Roy “The Doctor” Heck who were prominent disc jockeys on the radio and in nightclubs.

Early on Khan realized that when you only DJ 1 or 2 nights a week you find yourself spending your entire DJ paycheck on new music. So at the conclusioin of his sophomore year at Stockton, Khan began substitute teaching at Absegami High School, Oakcrest High School, and Mainland Regional High School. Khan continued to substitute teach for 5 years and eventually was hired full-time at his alma mater, Atlantic City High School.

NIGHTCLUBS & GUEST SPOTS

Khan’s first exposure to the nightclub scene happened when his mother entered him into a DJ contest with Buddy Morton, owner of the Surfside Club in Margate, New Jersey. The contest was based on the number of attendees who came to hear him play. Khan lost. However, the lesson learned was that it is important to develop a following. Khan became friendly with Morton who would occasionally use him to substitute for his resident DJ, Franz. In 1988, Morton sold the Surfside. When it re-opened, Khan was hired by the new owners to DJ for a promotion called “Beat The Clock College Night” every Thursday.

In the summer of 1989, Khan’s fraternity brother, Mark Arabatzis, who had also been a DJ on WLFR, plugged Khan into a new club in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey named Sutor’s Sports Bar. In Fall 1989, Khan met Jimmy Stritch, Tony DeTitto, Jerry McGee, and Pauli Day who were the resident DJs at Morton's & Saba Pullella’s newly opened Key Club in Atlantic City. The club created a late-night time slot on Sunday's beginning at 2 am. Khan’s musical brand was also being used at Pulella’s other club called the Oceanfront in Brigantine, New Jersey.

During the summer of 1990, Khan was approached by the manager and some of the staff from a club in Margate, New Jersey called Gilhooley's. Khan was forced to split time with a band. It caused Khan to understand the necessary adjustments to his music selection. In 1991, Khan approached an adjacent club named Polo Bay which was a conglomeration of nightclubs with various locations including Stone Harbor, Long Beach Island, and Center City Philadelphia. Their music format was very structured. The lesson Khan learned at this venue was that music programming can be free-flowing; but it can also be structured.

The Jersey Shore at the time was seasonal. Very few clubs had enough customers in the winter to justify staying open. In 1991, a doorman from the Key Club named Mike Scott suggested that Khan DJ at a new club in Atlantic City called the New Wonder Gardens. The club was a predominantly African-American club playing strictly rap and R&B. Khan had enough experience and reputation to get over. He maintained a residency there for about six months.

In Khan’s dual life as a school teacher, many of his students had heard him on WLFR radio. Conversations with the students revolved around music and social activities for teenagers in the area. In 1991, Khan decided to open a teen dance on Friday nights. He called it the Sound Factory after the club in NYC. He rented the American Legion Post #430 in Cologne (Galloway Township), NJ and bought a sound system. Khan went into partnership with Cameron Williams, Cosmic Kev, and Khan’s T.K.E. fraternity brother, Joe Murphy. The teen club was successful. However, as was the case with most teen clubs at the time, security became an issue. After a few fights, Khan decided to move to a different location in Ocean City, NJ for part of the summer of 1991 but folded shortly thereafter.

In September of 1991, Khan’s college friend and fraternity brother, Harold Cabezas struck a deal with Phil Delareto, the owner of Philip's Nightclub (formerly Delareto's) in Galloway Township, NJ to run "College Night" on Tuesday nights. Harold called Khan to DJ. It was a 4¹⁄₂ hour party. Attendance grew exponentially and soon there were 600 college students in the club and another 200 waiting in line outside of the club. People would come from as far away as Glassboro State College (now Rowan), Atlantic Community College, and Rutgers (Camden). The night was so successful, it eventually expanded to 2 nights on Tuesdays & Thursdays. The College Night Party ran for four years. After Phillip's, Khan worked nightclubs including The Wave @ Trump Marina (AC), Pure Passion (AC), and Six Shooters (AC).

In 1998, Khan took a break from DJing to help raise his family. However, as family funds became tight, Khan was forced to get back into the mix. So in 2000, Khan approached Greg Lister who was the co-owner of Delirium Nightclub in Margate, NJ to DJ. He worked there for several months along with other resident DJs including Jay Rosen and Gabor Kiss.

NATIONAL EXPOSURE

In the summer of 2000, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino opened a club called the Casbah Nightclub @ Trump Taj Mahal. Khan reached out to the Vice President for Entertainment, Steve Geitka to DJ. The club drew clientele from NYC, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, and other parts of the country. Understanding the need to play music representative of the diversity of the crowd, Khan's strategy was to play a lot of vocal techno and trance but infuse hip hop and other genres whenever possible. The line to get into the Casbah was three hours long. The club set up portable bars in line to serve the people waiting to get in. Geitka later hired Richie Rich of Q102 (102.1 FM WIOQ) in Philly to expand the shift with Rich opening and Khan closing. Khan left over a contract difference with Geitka.

After a brief stint at Enigma Nightclub in Atlantic City, Khan’s good friend, Bill Borrelli brought him on-board at Atlantic City's #1 nightclub, Déjà Vu Nightclub. This was ironic because this club was also opened by Buddy Morton for whom Khan had worked at the very beginning of his DJ career. As Déjà Vu's other resident DJ's systematically left, Khan became the head DJ. Gary Quintin quit to start a new career in adult filmmaking. Tony DiTitto became chronically ill with West Nile Virus. Bill Borrelli quit to focus on his main career in law enforcement.

Khan recalls, “Out of all of the nightclubs I've worked at or been to, I always had the most fun at Déjà Vu. The sound system was the best in the City, the staff was very friendly, the management was very relaxed so they permitted me to play whatever I wanted. Everybody had a good time!”

MUSICAL STYLE & INFLUENCES

Khan describes himself as a “Renaissance Man” because he is musically proficient in many genres of music. Khan’s father was from India and his mother was Italian. This ethnic mix made for quite a diverse musical household. His father exposed him to Indian musicians like Lata Mangeshkar and Ravi Shankar. His mother exposed him to groups like the Beach Boys and the Temptations. She also played many obscure records like the Duke of Iron & the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Khan spent a lot of time playing sports with the neighborhood kids. At home, he was often unsupervised listening his mother's & father's record collections and to the radio late into the night. His favorite stations included 95.5 FM WPGC (for Casey Kasem's American Top 40), 100.3 FM WDJY-FM [OK 100] (for DJ Cornelius (Brute) Bailey) & 93.9 FM WKYS (for DJ Chris James). Khan began "DJ'ing" at age 12 when he would record all of the good disco songs from the radio and from 45’s & vinyl LP’s and put them back-to-back on a cassette tape. His mother would play these tapes at parties in their apartment.

In school, Khan’s friends listened to Go-Go music particularly Chuck Brown & E.U. In the meantime, disco and funk were gaining much popularity with the emergence of groups like The Bee Gees & KC & the Sunshine Band & Parliament & Earth Wind and Fire.

While in high school in Atlantic City, Khan was heavily influenced by rap music like Run-DMC & Whodini and 80’s Pop like Wham & the Police. In college, his influences broadened even more with Freestyle music like TKA & Coro and house music like Marshall Jefferson & J.M. Silk. This exposure to such eclectic music caused Khan to develop a broad repertoire from which to play.

RECORD POOL

In 1989, Atlantic City saw a huge increase in tourism. It became the #1 tourist destination in the United States. Khan recognized that the cost of staying ahead of the DJ competition as well as putting Atlantic City on the musical map was to constantly buy new music to play. However, the cost of records was expensive. So Khan started the Atlantic City Record Pool. A record pool is an association of DJs in a geographic region who receive promotional records from record labels/companies. This saved on record shipping costs, time spent contacting DJs and researching the marketplace, and provided exposure of new music to people from various markets (DC, Baltimore, Philly, North Jersey, and NYC). The record pool lasted for approximately 10 years until the advent of CDs and mp3 technology replaced the need for record pools.

PERSONAL LIFE

Khan was married for five years from 1998 to 2003. He has three children from the marriage Marissa Khan who is a graduate of Drexel University, Alexander Khan who is a graduate of OCVTS, and Mariah Khan who is a student at Stockton University.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Khan recounts, “As I look back, I realize that I’ve been in the game a long time. I’ve been fortunate to be able to maintain a part-time DJ job for so many years. It’s my love of music that has kept me in the game.” Khan’s currently on haitus from his Teaching career to focus more on his DJ career and his family.

SELECTED AWARDS

Khan’s residency at Tango’s Lounge at Tropicana was given the AC Weekly Magazines Nightlife award for best Casino Lounge in 2019.

NOTES

REFERENCES

Article Atlantic City Weekly Retrieved December 7, 2017 & August 3, 2017

Article Philadelphia Daily News Retrieved August 5, 2011

Article Atlantic City Magazine Retrieved September 2005

Article New York Daily News Retrieved October 15, 2006

Article At The Shore Magazine Retrieved March 24, 2022

Article Network 40 Magazine Retrieved October 26, 2001

Article Whoot Newspaper Published October 11&18, 1990 & November 1&22, 1990

EXTERNAL LINKS

 FACEBOOK DJ Ahmed Khan Group Page

 YOUTUBE Ahmed Khan

 INSTAGRAM DJ Ahmed Khan

 TWITTER @DJAhmedKhan

 MIXCLOUD Ahmed Khan

 HANDZONRADIO DJ Ahmed Khan Live from Khan Estates

 LINKEDIN Ahmed Khan

 PINTEREST DJ Ahmed Khan