Alfie Wade, the pioneering DJ — called the father of Montreal disco, a promoter, pianist, vocalist, and nightlife visionary who lived a life shaped by music, movement, and meaningful connection.
Born in 1932 in Montreal’s St-Antoine district, he grew up near Rockhead’s Paradise and the Saint Michel, two places embedded in the city’s cabaret history.
His mother worked in cabarets as a flower girl, selling flowers and cigarettes, and Wade grew up around performers, bands, and the excitement of live entertainment. A Duke Ellington record owned by his father became a defining early influence. Best remembered as a pioneering disc jockey and promoter in the 1960s at places like Don Juan, Le Drug and Vieux Rafiot (better known as Alfie’s), he grew up down the street from Rockhead’s Paradise, started the first Oscar Peterson fan club in the 1940s, and studied piano with Daisy Peterson Sweeney and later studied at Montreal’s Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique…