The other kids in the South Bronx neighborhood had cool nicknames: Paco, Chino, Flaco, Sly, Lobo. He was just plain John Benitez. "know what I mean, Jellybean?
" teased his younger sister Debbie for the thousandth time. She suddenly realized she had struck gold. "Understand, rubber band?
" The trademark name first gained recognition in the local teeny bopper circles where Benitez would spin records for Sweet 16 birthday parties, eventually moving on to after-school dance parties at Charlie's on Third Ave. in the Bronx. After realizing that he would rather play music than go to school Benitez dropped out of Dewitt Clinton and JFK high schools. He packed up his turntable equipment and headed to Manhattan. Benitez established himself as a top dance deejay with cult follwings at the hot clubs of the time, like the Funhouse, the Limelight, Xenon and Studio 54. It was around the early 1980s that he met a young, upstart singer named Madonna. He became her boyfriend and record producer. And while the relationship didn't last, Benitez' star status did. He went on to do remixing for Paul Simon and produced records for Whitney Houston and Julio Iglesias. Hollywood called on him to supervise music for movies as "Flashdance," "Top Gun" and "Carlito's Way". More recently, he composed the theme to the "Ricki Lake" show. But while he seemed to hae it all, marrying former Wilhelmina model Carolyn Effer in 1991 and having two daughters with her Benitez still had not realized on of his boyhood dreams. He wanted to operate his own major record label - a Spanish version of Motown. This week Benitez, 37, who wears his sneakers and jeans and ties his hair back in a ponytail, realized the dream at last, announcing that he was launching a new bi-lingual record label - the first independent Latin label of its kind. H.
O.
L.
A. Recordings (Home Of Latin Artists), which has the backing of a Wall Street investment bank and of PolyGram Records, can satisfy "a thirst" among younger Latino's who want to identify with their culture, Benitez said. The producer has not announced the artists he will sign to H.
O.
L.
A., but he wants to put out seven albums by the end of the next year, four of them bi-lingual pop records. "There has never really been anything like this," said Benitez. "By recording pop, R & B and Latin soul in English and Spanish and somtimes in Spanglish, and then releasing them together simultaneouly, the label will represent so many things to urban socially and culturally. "I want this to do for Latinos what Motown did for the black community, " he added. But as hectic a week as it has been for Benitez in preparing to announce the venture, he took time out to compain aboult not being able to locate a Roberto Clemente baseball jersey anywhere in the city. "I really want to be able to wear a Clemente jersey around, but I just can't find a place with one in stock. Can you believe it?
" said Benitez, sipping a decaf cappuccino at the trendy Coffee Shop, one of four restaurants his wife owns in the city. Benitez' mother, who worked as an executive at the Sloan's grocery store chain while he was growing up, serves as general manger of his wife's company. "Clemente was a hero for me, and he was always giving something back to his people," Benitez said of the fellow Puerto Rican and Pittsburgh Pirate standout who was killed in a plane crash in 1972 on his way to help Nicaraguan earthquake victims. Benitez said Clemente made him feel proud of his Latin roots. It's the same kind of feeling he wants H.
O.
L.
A. to stir for young Latino music fans by creating positive Latino role models. H.
O.
L.
A. will cater to the growing and increasingly lucrative crossover Spanish/English market in which artists such as Gloria Estefan, Jon Secada and most recently, and posthumously, Selena, have had successes. Long-time Benitez friend and music impresario Quincy Jones said: "I think it's great what he's doing. He's contemporary . . . and, like Gloria Estefan, he has a take on the taste of the audience he wants to attract.
" On Thursday, Benitez announced that PolyGram would do the marketing, manufacturing and distribution for his independent label, which will be based in New York. In December, Benitez announced he was partnering with investment bank Wasserstein Perella, advisers to Time and Warner and Matsushita and MCA on their mergers. "We knew of Jellybean's track record and we knew nobody out there was doing what he wanted to do, which was tap into the potential of this younger Latino market," said Townsend Ziebold, a managing director of Wasserstein Perella, which provided a reported cash infusion to Benitez of $15 million. "We wanted to get a toehold in something that is going to be explosive.
" And even though he now rubs shoulders with investment bankers and lives in a $1.
5 million, five-story townhouse on Gramercy Park South, Benitez who earned his high school equivalency diploma makes frequent trips back to the Bronx to talk with kids about staying in school and having dreams. "I tell kids that even though I dropped out, I had a plan and they should, too," Benitez said. "People from bi-cultural backgrounds face unique challenges, but I never gave up on my dream, no matter how many people told me it wouldn't work.
"