I said, Hi, Rod, and he walked in. Here, Vogue presents the best looks from Studio 54. I do! It was a haven of illicit sex, illegal drug use, and the wildest parties the city had ever seen. Ad Choices, Donald Trump Still Collects Six-Figure Pension from SAG-AFTRA: Report. Was it as extreme as its been written about? Club owner Steve Rubell asked him what he was doing for the summer and hired him on the spot. A German male model, Uva Harden, originally found the location and brought on an investor plus a woman named Carmen D'Alessio to handle the publicity. The dancing and fun continued until the early hours, the atmosphere heavy with the stench of poppers and Elizabeth bebopping with a bevvy of gay porn stars, until Warner put his foot down and said that they were leaving., Andy Warhol also wrote a less-than-flattering recap of the shindig in his journal. If there was already a similar type like you inside, you could easily be refused at the door. He said he told him, Well, you know America was discovered by an ItalianThe front of Studio 54 was decorated like the front of a boat. How much cocaine are we talking?Cocaine was ubiquitous. Even Andy and Divine now seem a bore. Show Schedule. And Montaug was one of the victims,dying from the disease in 1991 (via The New York Times). There wasnt a line of people and you went to each person and turned them away. The Upper East Side socialites were doing cocaine. George Kennedy: [ singing ]"All the hip joints knew my face. What does it feel like looking out at that crowd?Well, its overwhelming, but you feel safe because youve got a lot of security. The bartenders at McMullens were making $800 or $900 a week, because it was so successful. But most celebrities knew there would be paparazzi there, and they could be on Page Six the next day. But Pittman also nodded to florist Renny Reynolds and event planner Robert Isabell, the latter of whom once dumped four tons of glitter on the dance floor when the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Coronation. Every party has to end sometime, even one as awesome as Studio 54. My mom came from a political family. Are there maybe, lets say, surprising celebrity interactions that stick out in your mind?Yeah. Siano claims, "Steve [Rubell] wanted an invisible DJ, so that it wouldn't interfere with the club." I met a quarterback. It wasn't their idea to open a new disco. During this time, you can visit and enjoy the museum's. New York was very, very loose at the time. *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. I was very young. 2hrs. Nearly 35 years after her underappreciated romantic comedys release, the Oscar nominee returns to the Lower East Side. "On a good night Studio 54 was the best party of your life," says Anthony Haden . Paolo M. Miranda - busboy. The doomsday mom, who wanted to rid the world of zombies, is accused of murdering two of her children. He said he . Marc Benecke, center, a Studio 54 doorman. After it all came crashing down and the club closed, Benecke took a much-needed West Coast hiatus. "It's always in the air. Hotels that feel different because they make you feel something. People would do amyl nitrate on the dance floor, poppers, and also quaaludes. And, perhaps to make Miestorm more entertaining, he also gave him his first quaalude. The two men were very good friends, despite being incredibly different personalities. "Y'all be in labor for hours, baby be sleep, women be sleep, we can't have a little peace at the hospital while we there everyday until it's time to go home come on" Now 39 years sober, Sheridan is in private practice as a psychotherapist in Providence, Rhode Island; he is also the father of one of my best friends, which is how I know about his past life as a disco lounge lizard, as he put it in our recent interview. So they were on pretty good behavior. In this case, it was one of their own employees that shut it down. I had been going there a lot, I wasnt getting any work acting and I was getting a little tired of tending bar, and this seemed like a very exciting thing to do. - Studio 54: Night Magic is curated and designed by Matthew Yokobosky, Senior Curator of Fashion and Material Culture, Brooklyn Museum and runs March 13 to July 5, 2020. Then there were the celebrities who used the DJ booth as a place to hang out, getting in the way of the records and making Siano and Kaczor's job impossible. Its co-owners Steve Rubell and Ian . He was all of 19-years-old. Being young, pretty, and in New York City, this of course meant a lot of them were wannabe actors and singers. Hed have dinner in fairly large groups and you could get a sentence out here and there, but in general, he was more of an observer than a participant unless he knew you really, really well. "I'm the most important person to talk to." According to the modest Peruvian, she brought . Mifepristone will remain widely available through April 19, the deadline for the Court to decide whether to let stand an order rolling back access. Snoogy Brown - ( Snoogy didn't work at Studio 54. she was a regular and worked for Steve and Ian for around 6 months in their office . Scott Bitterman, a former busboy and assistant manager,wrote on his blog that notorious attorney Roy Cohn and fashion designer Halston died from AIDS complications, as did the club's host Joe Renny, and even owner Steve Rubell, in 1989. However, the notorious New York City nightclub encountered a fair share of obstacles while party-goers ravaged the dance floor . Warhol was known to capture the spirit of the era, and all of his friends, through snapshots on instant film. In any case, the owner taught him everything about how to get a great mix of people in Studio 54 every night. But screwing the government out of their money? Not everyone, not really me either. "It was the whole mix of the people: people from all around the world, all income levels, all professions mixing together and absolutely getting along (and) enjoying themselves," Pittman said. There were a lot of ordinary people eking out a living in Manhattan, going out to have fun, but they knew what the club was about and they knew it was about acceptance and celebration. Studio 54 was the first club that worked with a strict door policy. The Studio 54 doorman was all-powerful. Studio 54. IRS agents raided Studio 54 on December 14th, 1978, seizing garage bags of cash, financial documents and five ounces of cocaine. He frequented the other clubs of the era, such as Paradise Garage, Infinity, Max's Kansas City, and Mudd Club, but Studio 54, which he attended from opening night, was different. Rollerena on the dance floor at Studio 54. Everybody was in awe. He was a regular. Bob was watching Bianca [Jagger] take poppers and he said to Diana Vreeland, It really becomes more like pagan Rome every day, and she said, I should hope soisnt that what were after?, That would be Disco Sally, a sprightly thing in her late seventies who danced like a thirty-year-old, and was accompanied by a handsome young man named John on her arm, wrote Mark Fleischman in Inside Studio 54. As Netflixs Halston reminds us, Studio 54 was a fever dream of excess. In just a minute, I want to go back to the secret language at the door.Well, we would identify certain people that we wouldnt let in, like we would say, BBQ house party if, say, eight straight white guys dressed like John Travolta showed up at the door. And we all made really good money. Hes now back with a Studio 54 radio show on SiriusXM and a new position with Schrager, as the New York EDITIONs night manager. They were offering me money, and they were getting a little annoyed with me. They saw me behind the bar, and they asked Jim McMullen about me. The law was willing to look the other way on that stuff. If he was never going to let you in, he'd ignore you, or worse, mess with you. People see you as arrogant, whereas for me it was more of a self-defense mechanism. All rights reserved. According to a prosecutor (via MarketWatch), the owners were skimming up to 80% of the club's revenue. He was like a fairy godmother. And Studio 54 doorman Marc Benecke as his witness, looking the part above the . Per The Andy Warhol Diaries: Hearing how much money Steve actually had, he could have been treating us so wonderfully. Anything wentso much so that, when I asked Halston biographer and Studio 54 regular Steven Gaines for his craziest story about the club, he offered an anecdote so risqu that we cannot print it in full here. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. I was nervous. ]I kept Barry Gibb waiting for half an hour. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. The busboys were running around in tiny shorts, for goodness sake. But people who were in the main industries of New York, finance, fashion, entertainment, it was considered normal. You had to be very protective of who was inside. Anything Went. He also had zero experience as a doorman or even with the club scene. Those people just looked at me and turned and walked away. It was a festival of light and music, and the effects were incredible. And the people looked at each other and they said, Oh, its that kind of a place. At that moment, Rod Stewart walked in right behind Rollerena, in an orange suit with pink shoes. But even if you worked at McDonalds and you liked to come and just dance, and you had good energy, you could get in. New owners took over Studio in 1980. Therefore, celebrities and people in general were willing to let their hair down a lot more. Troye Sivan and More of the Bestest Party Pics This Week. What Halstons been most upset about in the Studio 54 bust is that the IRS agents discovered another little room that nobody knew about, and Halston is hurt because hes such a close friend and Steve hadnt told him about it., After Jen Shahs Arrest, How Can We Keep Enjoying Real Housewives? Barry Jenkins on Bringing The Underground Railroad to TV How Swimming With Sharks Tried to Warn Us About Scott Rudin Quil Lemonss 2021 Vanity Fair Oscar Portraits Andrew McCarthy on Pretty in Pink and the Brat Pack The 2021 Oscar Ceremony Was a Noble, Doomed Experiment Elliot Page Finally Feels Able to Just Exist From the Archive: The Unsinkable Jennifer Aniston. Rubell had the waiters dressed up like Pilgrims and he was serving turkey, recalled Warhol in his published diaries. Montaug also ran the roving cabaret revue No Entiendes which showcased among others a young Madonna and early performances by the Beastie Boys. Is Prince Harry going? And two of the acts who appeared in his shows were Madonna and the Beastie Boys. Studio 54 is known for having been one of the world's most high-profile, exclusive discotheques during the late 1970s and early 1980s. One night, it was late and I was out at the door alone, and this guy walked up to the rope, bell bottoms, vast amounts of gold chain and a long shag haircut. The Products This Climate Journalist Uses to the Last Drop. Or Michael Jackson, or theres Mick Jagger. Back then it was kind of normal for people to be excessive. He had this drag queen muse. He talked about working on the balcony, only to be sent to "fetch cigarettes" so people could use it to hook up. "It's where you come when you want to escape. Bobby Sheridan takes us back. You got up and you danced, and you might end up dancing with Catherine Deneuve or anybody, but there was a sense that different rules applied. Vote up the Studio 54 snapshots that make you want to queue up and bribe a doorman. As the CBD line expands into skincare, founder Amy Duncan shares the personal story behind her company, The Street Artist's Favorite Cities to Explore at Night, The Fashion Figure's Approach to Escaping through Travel, The Art Auctioneers Culturally Defining Destinations, The Influential Poet Turning Girl Power into Woman Power, The Ballerina That Became an Icon by Breaking Down Barriers, The Fashion Innovators Personal Game Changers, How the Visionary Entrepreneur Turned Hospitality into a Celebration, A Visual Exploration by the Iconic Magnum Photographers, The DJ Bringing the South African Club Scene to the World, The Feminist Icon and Conservationist on How We Can Still Save the Planet, How the Creative Polymath Is Pushing Fashion to New Heights, The Six Activists Who Should Be on Everyones Radar, The Art World's High Priestess of Polka Dots, Through The Eyes of Photographer Kat Irlin, How a New Generation Reimagines Cuba's Future, Trainspotting's Author, on EDM, Addiction, and Twitter Rituals, The Young Curator's Pioneering Approach to Miami's Newest Institution, ELAINE LANCASTER'S LOVE, LIFE, AND MAKEUP TIPS, How the Miami-born Artist Is Becoming the Archaeologist of the Future, How the Comme des Garons President Goes Against the Flow, The London Legend on the Next Generation of DJing, The Illuminated World of Artist Olivia Steele, The Media Pioneer on the Business of Consumption, Veteran Art Dealer Kenny Schachter on Collecting Like There's No Tomorrow, How the Artist's For Freedoms Project, with Eric Gottesman, is Changing Political Discourse, The Vivid Dreams of the Art World's Most Connected Man, A View of London, Miami, and New York Through Different Lenses, How the London-Born Artist Reappropriates Hip Hop for Female Empowerment, How the Supermodel and Creative Force of Nature Goes Out of Her Comfort Zone, Dream Destinations for a Sonic Experience, On Life in the Front Row and Lucid Dreaming, The Young Chef's Best Tables for Old-School New York, Meet the Two Bootlegging Alchemists Transforming the Spirits Industry, For Barcelonas First Female Sake Sommelier and a Nomadic Chef, Food Is a Simple Performance, Confessions from London EDITION's Davide Segat, The Fashion Model's Tips for Living Well and Doing Good, The NBA Legend on Retirement and the Religion of Basketball, 20 Questions for the Music Maven, Disco Nerd, and Pop Aficionado, On How to Be the Host with the Most and a Guest Who's the Best, The Entrepreneur and Insider on Fashion 2.0, Model of the Moment on How a Picture Isnt Worth 1,000 Words, The Model and Muse on Love and Loyalty in the Digital Age, The Illusion of Bliss and the Radical Movement of Selfhood, The Creative Model's Semi-Secret Spots in Barcelona, Travel Essentials from Streetwear Photographer Travis Gumbs, How James Jagger and Project 0 Are Using Their Star Power for Preservation, The Spread Love Project by Nicholas Konert. But before you went in there, you had to check your coat. Even after the original owners went to . How did you do that? Pro- and anti-Jordan protesters clashed with police trying to keep them out of the hearing room, while the chairman knocked Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's crime policies. Studio 54 has gone down in history as the ultimate nightclub, a place where everyone who was anyone went to get down, boogie, and be seen. Written by Jacqui Palumbo, CNNNew York. The photographer credits this to the late Rubell, who died in 1989, and Schrager. It caught the eye of FX guy Ryan Murphy, who plans to spotlight its demise in the next season of American Crime Story. She sent out some invites, and opening night saw big names like Cher, Henry Winkler, JFK Jr., and Warren Beatty show up. (It involved bodily fluids expelled competitively in the Studio 54 basement. After 40 years in the family business, Jeanie Buss is looking to conquer a new arena: womens wrestling. Once I get down, I can't get off the floor. They spun the tunes that got all the very drugged-up patrons on the dancefloor, after all. According to interviews with various ex-employees in New York Magazine, many of the people the owners hired seemed to have simply walked in and offered their services or met them through a friend. Studio was a reflection of all of that.. As an editor who worked in the . What good was owning the coolest club in the world if you didn't party in it yourself? Somehow, the pairing worked, and when Rubell died in 1989, Schrager said, "I'll never have that kind of friend again. It was a joyous prelude to the AIDS epidemic, which reared its head in the early 1980s, before claiming around 50,000 American lives a year during its peak in the mid-1980s, and fundamentally changing New York nightlife. Once he told a guy to go to Bloomingdale's and buy the same blazer Benecke was wearing. I was right behind him, and he got on the floor and they put his album on. Getting into Studio 54 in the 1970s was a nearly impossible endeavor. But asthe director of a documentary on the club said, "For something that was so brief, Studio 54 had a disproportionate impact on the people who went there." It was like a hipster version of a Studio 54 doorman. We went up to the balcony and just sat and talked, I told him about my background. It was the hottest nightclub in the world, this is the greatest performer in the world, performing music that everybody loved. A lot of art-world personalities went to Studio 54, but was Studio 54 a part of the art world? After Studio 54, Mr. Fleischman opened Tatou, a New York music club and restaurant, then established other branches in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Tokyo and Aspen, Colo. From the 1990s to about 2007 . Actor Alec Baldwin worked for two months as a waiter at Studio 54. According to The Independent, he said that he "sometimes" took them up on it. From classic dance and disco music and legendary DJ's to the original doorman who decided whether you got in or went home, Studio 54 Radio is the ultimate re-creation of dance music's greatest era. We were all there to work really long hours. According to The Guardian, the balcony, with its slightly secluded nature, was covered in easy to wipe down materials for any body fluids that got spilled up there. Who do you particularly remember? Shortly before Studio 54 opened, Joanne Horowitz met owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager at their other club, Enchanted Gardens. I was a poli sci major in school, I wanted to become a lawyer. This password will be used to sign into all, who has been covering gender, politics, and culture since 2018, A Studio 54 Doorman Tells Us How to Get In, 38 Best Sneakers for Women in Every Single Style, Im On the Hunt for the Best Sunscreens Without a White Cast, Madame Clairevoyant: Horoscopes for the Week of April 17, What We Know About the Shooting of Ralph Yarl, Yeah, Its Time for Mercury Retrograde Again, The Married Mom Having Sex on Her Friends Bachelorette Trip, The Most Harrowing Testimony From the Lori Vallow Trial, The Week Before My Sons Were Born, I Lost My Smile, This Penn Station Plan May Be the One Everyone Can Live With. When Bells palsy paralyzed one side of my face, I had to find other ways to express joy. According to The Vinyl Factory, Siano was "one of the most renowned DJs in New York at the time" and "his technique on the decks helped further the art of mixing records as we know it." However, once HIV exploded, it did so with a vengeance. Enter the coat check girls. In this video (warning: strong language), recorded in 1982, the host introduces the act as "the world premiere of [record label] Sire recording artist Madonna!" Like a fat little Kewpie doll. Knowing his time was coming to an end and not wanting to die suffering, the former bouncer invited some of his closest friends to his apartment, including Madonna, who joined by telephone (viaNew York Magazine). Scott Bitterman started bussing tables, but that wasn't where he stopped. It was before cell phones and before TMZ and all the media outlets that we have today. Steve wanted a salad of people, is what I keep reading.A lot of wealthy people were there and a lot of celebrities, but there were a lot of kids who were busboys at restaurants in the Village who had a great look. Beyond being just the bouncer, he was also the gatekeeper for the "look" of the club, and anyone who didn't fit his definition of what that look was would find themselves at the end of the line. But he wouldnt sit on a banquette and do coke in front of people. Mark Fleischman, former owner of the legendary space, has chosen to end his life after an eight-year battle with an undiagnosable neurological disease. And then they redid the Palladium, and that was happening. Yeah, I actually told this one guy to go buy this blazer that I had on at Bloomingdales. They were very into social issues and I grew up being politically aware at a very early age. Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now. People told me theyd say, I cant write this, and hed say, Oh, of course you can. I think that was a huge part of the allure, that people felt comfortable [at the Factory]. We'd watch from the windows on the eighth floor to see who was cute and ask them to come up, like a teenage Studio 54 doorman situation. I think the Village Voice put it best when they said you cant reheat souffl, and thats basically what the story was at 54. Fleischman took over Studio 54 in 1978 after the two original owners were arrested for tax evasion, although the club closed its doors for good in 1986. She and some other . ", Steve Rubell and Carmen d'Alessio in Norma Kamali coats (1977). Steve and Ian, the owners of Studio 54, came in looking for another doorman, a preppy doorman, to help out Marc. He used to hide his costumes in different nooks and crannies in the city because there was no way he could changeespecially in those daysfrom his job on Wall Street. Every night, hopefuls crowded the rope outside Studio 54, masochistically waiting for the approval of a doorman (like Mark Benecke, seen here) or Steve Rubell. The photographer that captured the disco and diamond dust of legendary club Studio 54, The photographic work of Dustin PIttman -- the focus of this feature -- is part of the exhibition 'Studio 54: Night Magic' at the Brooklyn Museum, which is temporarily closed. What made the atmosphere special, the photographer said, was the co-mingling of people from all walks of life. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. No. What did you talk about?Nothing! Steve liked the fact that I knew nothing about the whole nightclub scene. It wasnt all over the place. Michael Overington, the club's general manager, explained to New York Magazine, "Maybe a few busboys like Lenny [Miestorm] partied, but the doormen, the people who dealt with money, the technical people handling sets in the back, they didn't party.