promoter hospitalized

doug kanegawa, left, with a friend

-Organizers held a fundraiser Wednesday at Vanguard Hollywood for longtime L.A. club host Doug Kanegawa, whose promotion firm is called DMK. Kanegawa, who has been promoting hip-hop events for Asian-American and mixed crowds since I can remember (which is to say, at least since the early '90s) suffered three strokes in January and was put on life support. A good friend of mine who is part of Doug's extended family also tells me that he suffered a heart attack on top of that. I'm not sure if that's true. According to a post on DMK's site, Doug retained consciousness and some use of his right-side limbs, although he apparently can't breathe on his own. My friend says the fundraiser netted a substantial amount, but that it's a drop in the bucket compared to the costs of treating him at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

I feel bad because the last time I saw Doug, last year, I chewed him out for not being able to honor drink tickets at a DMK/Venice Surfing Association party where I DJ'd for free. I hope he gets well.

Lately Doug is probably best known for his occasional "Choreographer's Ball" events at the Key Club in West Hollywood. He also held down Saturdays at Vanguard before getting the boot in favor of Giant's electronic dance music weekly. His "Groove Factory" events happen Tuesdays at Tokio in Hollywood. I remember when Groove Factory was at a now-defunct venue on the Sunset Strip, Barfly, and Kiefer Sutherland was a regular. Doug is particularly tied in to the local hip-hop community. Perry Ferrell's band, Satellite Party, as well as rap crew the Visionaries, performed for free at the event Wednesday.

More info about his health and how you can help is here (scroll down to the "support Doug" button).