Why was Studio 54 such a big deal?

[quote]Surely there were other places in the 70s that were better that attracted an equally high profile mix of celebrities and politicians.

There was not.

The subjective admission policy; celebrities were safe

It was before the Internet. Didn't have manufactured celebrities. Artistslike Klaus.

Now we have a waterfall of minor somebodies working their tails off to be CELEBRITIES.

Because Rubell and Schrager were canny marketers.

They made sure the implications of cocaine use (man on the moon dropping down from the rafters), the easygoing sex with anyone, the proximity to celebrities, and the nasty exclusionary practices of the doormen were well publicized in places like People magazine.

It made people want to go.

Typical NYC manufactured hoopla

Lightning struck. A lot of people have been trying to recreate the whole thing, but it doesn't seem like anybody can. Doing "another Studio 54" seems like a stupid dream, though I'm sure second rate entrepreneurs and dingbats of all varieties will never stop trying. That combo of real celebrities and weirdo scenesters is hard to match, and try-hard attempts to do so just look kind of sad. And really, you'll probably just wind up with a bunch of idiot "influencers," reality show flotsam, and second rate rappers.

I was quit impressed with them whenI read that Mr. FULL OF HIMSELF- Frank Sinatra was refused entry to Studio 54.

They let me in.

I remember Alec Baldwin working there. The word I got from another (hot) guy working there was that Baldwin was kept by sugar daddy. A doctor.

R8- Alec Baldwin was and is a HOMO so this is not really surprising I guess.

There's a lot of people who think Studio 54 was a copycat of the gay disco Studio One in West Hollywood. Both Rubell and Schrager went to Studio One several times before they opened Studio 54.

Studio One had a back cabaret place where a lot of straight LA celebrities would go to - but they had to walk THROUGH the gay club to reach it. After the show, some would dance at Studio One.

Your deranged HHS czar might have blown his gasket at Studio 54.

If there’s a cure for this, I don’t want it. Don’t want it.

Yeah, they were pretty funny about who's in and who's out r7. I remember this interview with one of the people who worked there, and she was pretty entertained that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards got waved right in, but the rest of the Rolling Stones had to pay the cover charge.

There’s a cringey entry in the Warhol Diaries about Studio 54 and RFK Jr, , who Warhol described as “the one with buck teeth who really looks like his father.”

RFK Jr was trying to impress/fuck one of Warhol’s friends-I think it was Barbara Allen-by lighting a match and saying, solemnly, “when I see a flame like this I can’t help but think of my dad and uncle.”

It was nanny fucker Michael Kennedy, R14, not Junior, who, but for his pronounced buck teeth, was the son of who looked most like the old man.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Studio 54 was the first club that had a selective door policy. That made it intriguing to people.

They turned celebrities there as well. They turned Cher away the first time she came. Nile Rodgers recounts how Chic were turned away (even though they were invited by Grace Jones as her guests)

That added to the mystique of it being a top club where only the creme de la creme could get in.

So many great photos here of Studio 54. That seemed like such a glamorous era.

Barbra was never turned away.

There was also the infamous drug raid. The rumors were that when the police entered the men's room. Liza was in there fucking some guy.

Miss Davis arrives.

[quote] Liza was in there fucking some guy.

With a strap-on?

I believe it.

Shtudio 54 wash jusht the besht plashe in the world ever! It wash fantashtic! Absholutely incredible!

[quote]Nile Rodgers recounts how Chic were turned away (even though they were invited by Grace Jones as her guests)

And without that happening, we would've never have had the great song Le Freak, with it's chorus of "Aww - Freak Out.." which is a censored version of the "Fuck Off" they got at the door of Studio 54 when they tried to explain there were friends of Grace's to get in. After that happened, the went back to their place and wrote the song, coming up with the bassline first.

All of RFK's children needed orthodontics, some of them desperately so, but they didn't get their teeth fixed. Why not?

[quote] There was also the infamous drug raid.

Didn't some notably straight-laced actress end up with everyone else's "baggies" tossed on and under her table?

It wasn't Karen Grassley but someone like her. maybe it was an urban legend.

[quote] All of RFK's children needed orthodontics, some of them desperately so, but they didn't get their teeth fixed. Why not?

With 11 kids, there was no money for such indulgences.

In that stupid bio about Liza, she claimed there were no drugs at Studio 54.

[quote]Why was Studio 54 such a big deal?

Because it was such an improvement on the previous 53 Studios.

Yeah, that was always the Kennedys' problem: lack of money. Always clipping those coupons!

E30 - Well, some of us would rather clip coupons than sell our pussies out as a mail-order bride to an ugly Greek billionaire for money.

But you do you...

Ethel, dear, nobody was bidding for your clown car pussy. Yeah, damn right I stand by my choice.

Up until 1975, it had been a CBS television studio.

It’s funny that the hottest spot in town was once in Midtown.

There was a Chinese restaurant that club habitues would often go to before partying. I read an article on it several years ago. I don’t know though- Chinese food before sex and drugs? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I think you mean Mr. Chow?

R32 - well, I had 11 kids to raise and you had...two? That's cute. Almost three but your skinny ass couldn't handle it.

Not my fault my husband preferred to bang this hole rather than that skank Marilyn and hundreds of other women. No wonder you only had 2 kids - did your pussy grow cobwebs from neglect? I hope Ari had some pledge or disinfectant.

Or maybe Maurice Templesman did. Ari, Maurice - do you go for ugly on purpose or is the money just too good?

Jackie, Liza and Bianca

[quote] No wonder you only had 2 kids

Jackie actually gave birth 4 times: (the stillborn) Arabella, Caroline, John, Jr., & Patrick.

[quote]r37 = Jackie, Liza and Bianca

...and???

It's a Studio thread, in case you've forgotten.

So, who's the fourth person at r37?

[quote] It's a Studio thread, in case you've forgotten.

And we all know the DL gods forbid any deviations from thread topics.

R38 - 50% survival rate is nothing to brag about, dear. I had some challenges with my 11 as you well know, but they all survived to adulthood.

Raising 11 kids on my own was a challenge but I didn't blow a crass Greek billionaire to help me out.

I'm sure your nannies found it challenging raising your two children.

Now if you'll excuse me, my glass is getting a little dry and I need a refill.

Crazy to think Drew Barrymore was getting drunk there when she was like 8.

Why? Adam Rich had been a frequently photographed client.

The basement of Studio 54 was open drugs and sex, with celebrities participating. What a crazy time.

Or was that Plato’s Retreat?

I constantly read about Studio 54 as a teen growing up in the outer boroughs -- when I finally got inside the space (in its current use as a theater) I couldn't believe how small it really is.

[quote] I constantly read about Studio 54 as a teen growing up in the outer boroughs -- when I finally got inside the space (in its current use as a theater) I couldn't believe how small it really is.

Much like Dealey Plaza ... & Trump's hands.

I always got in, the three or four times I went. I had been living with a roommate who, months after I had moved out and the place opened, told me we were two of the original 3000 members. But Rubell and his partner quickly closed the place as membership-only. It became that popular instantly.

I didn’t really care, though. I hated disco music.

Manufactured exclusivity.

[Quote] Typical NYC manufactured hoopla

… written from the Chuck E Cheez that serves as the social hub of his Pittsburgh suburb …

That’s where your Andy Warhol came from, right?

Anybody got something to drink in this shithole?

Studio 54 was followed by several legendary nightclubs that drew high wattage guests, mixing vips with the fabulous and the beautiful nobodies. Here are a few:

1. Mudd Club (1978–1983, Tribeca). Why it counts: Anti-glam but full of boldface names — David Bowie, Lou Reed, Betsey Johnson, etc. What made it matter: You had to be somebody, but being weird counted as much as being rich. Key crossover: Art + music + fashion elite.

2. Area (1983–1987, Tribeca) Why it counts: Socialites came with artists. Themed installation parties were so good that Warhol and Lagerfeld showed up. What made it matter: Complete reinvention of the space every few weeks. Invitations became collector’s items. Key crossover: The only place both Bianca Jagger and Keith Haring would party.

3. Palladium (1985–1997, Union Square). Why it counts: Created by Studio 54 founders Rubell & Schrager. Designers, models, bankers, celebs. What made it matter: Art collection on the walls (Basquiat, Haring, Scharf). Glamour meets muscle. Key crossover: Early Calvin Klein ad models + Wall Street boys + Andy Warhol.

4 Nell’s (1986–2004, 14th Street, near 7th Ave). Why it counts: Created by Nell Campbell (a.k.a. Columbia from Rocky Horror), it was selective without being grotesquely flashy. Think: literary crowd, fashion insiders, music royalty. Who went: Prince, Madonna, Naomi Campbell, Mike Tyson, Andy Warhol, George Michael — plus writers, downtown legends, Eurotrash. What made it matter: Velvet-rope exclusivity with a cerebral vibe. No blaring dance music — a supper club + small dance floor + cultural capital. Key crossover: Pre-Internet celebs + high society + old-money bohemia + downtown gay brilliance.

R55 - what's a club? You dance in FRONT of other people? How do you dance AND watch your phone at the same time?

[quote]It’s funny that the hottest spot in town was once in Midtown.

At one time the mostly all were.

Before Studio 54 there was the Peppermint Lounge on 45th Street.

"As the Twist craze hit in 1960–1961, celebrities swarmed into the Peppermint Lounge – Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Liberace, Noël Coward, Frank Sinatra, Norman Mailer, Annette Funicello, even the elusive Greta Garbo – to dance to the house band, Joey Dee and the Starliters. Jackie Kennedy was such an enthusiast that she arranged for a temporary "Peppermint Lounge" to be mounted in the White House.'

The Peppermint Lounge

I got in but then they threw me right out, when I tried to order a bottle of Schlitz!

Quote from Bianca in an article Bob Collacello wrote for Vanity Fair in 2013:

“I would rather die than talk about Studio 54,” Bianca Jagger told me when I approached her about this story. “I wish it never existed.”

that nose picker is trolling us from the grave

Dolly: "I wanna create a theme park, but Sandy says if I do I can never come out of the closet".

Halston: "Same with me and K-mart"

OMG!

Imagine making the mistake of taking Liza home for a drug addeled roll in the hay. Only to wake up the next afternoon to her on your phone, calling everyone she knows. Announcing her engagement to (insert your physical description as she wouldn't remember your name at that moment).

GIMME EVERY DRUG YOU GOT H!

I had a coke-addled orgy there with Michael, Brooke, Emmanuel and Bubbles.

[Quote] Why was Studio 54 such a big deal?

Because it wasn’t such a small deal.

THREAD CLOSED.

I am not going to be thrown out of a basement by a faggot queen like you! You’re nothing but a no-culture cheap faggot dressmaker!

Studio 54 was/is a block from the Midtown North Precinct. No one ever mentions that. Like the cops weren't fully aware of what was going on inside?

Jessie Lange

OP, how many places do you think has people entertaining on horses?

It was the place for drugs and back room sex run by the mob. It only lasted a very short time.

People loved going to a place where they might be turned away for being ugly or poor.

Fat Liz Taylor was drunk and high on coke in the basement of Studio 54 one night, and Andy Warhol got her on tape to describe in detail the cocks of her husbands and the men she fucked.

The morning he died, she was on the phone to his office, demanding that Warhol business manager Fred Hughes destroy the tape.

Her John Warner years.

*entered on horses.

Trudeau’s wife showed her pussy in there. There are unfortunate photos of it.

[quote]Why was Studio 54 such a big deal?

Timing and alchemy

Disco was the rage.

Justin's Mum r76

I read somewhere that barbacks would walk around sticking people in the bum with needles. Probably some cocktail of B12, ketamine and meth.

NO BRIDGE AND TUNNEL

NO QIANA FROM THE AMERICANA

This old cunt went.

There used to be a paparazzi photo of her at 54, tripping and falling flat on her ass. Bob Colacello was present with Diana Vreeland when it happened, and Diana sad “there gors Betty” as Bacall’s ass hit the floor.

[quote] All of RFK's children needed orthodontics, some of them desperately so, but they didn't get their teeth fixed. Why not?

The problem was not that their teeth were crooked, but that they had huge horse teeth, like the Windsors. Orthodontics won't fix that.

Bob Colacello, who seems totally talentless, has made a living out of being a yenta. Respect.

I missed the Studio 54 years; however, I did have some fun at The Limelight, The Palladium and Nells.

Plus, many other clubs& ABS, and other places that I can't believe I survived doing what I did from 1986-1995.

James St. James& Michael Alig told me "I was doing too many drugs-drinking too much" at the Limelight 1 night. So, I had sex with "The Angel of Death" Another time, 3 "Wall Street douche-bros" were doing more Coke in the men's room taking about some major financial deal going down that afternoon. It was 4am. My boss's company made Billions off of the deal 2 days later, along with my FIL Canadians companies.

I don’t want any old bags like Gloria Swanson, using my good name! Get me Candy Bergen!

It was of an era: I didn’t go there for celebrity sightings or see-and-be-seen, but the music was great and the place was dripping with sex. I had a boyfriend who was a regular and it became our weekend outing — fueled by diet pills, Quaaludes, and alcohol. Occasionally, we’d pick up a third or a couple along the way — the more the merrier. Little did we know that our lives would be torn apart by AIDS a few years later. When I look back on it, it all seems rather innocent.

[quote]R82 There used to be a paparazzi photo of Bacall at 54, tripping and falling flat on her ass. Bob Colacello was present with Diana Vreeland when it happened, and Diana sad “there goes Betty” as Bacall’s ass hit the floor.

Bacall was probably a well known alcoholic by then : o

Her true talent was as a model. She really was amazing looking back when she worked for Vreeland, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, etc. (Of course, she was just 18 years old or something, which helps.)

Grease premiere party

Grace Jones talking about flashing her pussy. Elton John and Divine chatting it up. Phyllis Diller showing leg.

Olivia, Stockard, Edd Kooky Byrnes, Frankie Valli, Allan Carr

Where was Travolta? Dody Goodman and Eve Arden?

R89 Thanks Ive never seen that. Lots of faces! Who is the blond choochiecoo broad dancing at 29:45

Oh it was fabulous! Drugs? NO THERE WEREN'T!

It was magical time. I guess I was one one of the young and pretty nobodies that got in as house decoration. I was friendly with one of the doormen and was ushered in and that became a routine. I hung out there most nights except Mondays. I think it was closed on Mondays and everyone went to Ice Palace on 57th Street. Studio 54 was glamorous. The music was great. Truly hedonistic and bacchanalian. The magic died when AIDS hit. All my Studio 54 gang succumbed to the virus except for myself and another friend so it seems that it was all a dream. I think it was a peak moment in New York nightclub culture and a big deal because it defined that short time of communal decadent partying before the plague took so many young, vibrant, creative people out.

[quote]r93 I hung out there most nights except Mondays. I think it was closed on Mondays and everyone went to Ice Palace on 57th Street.

Wow. Even at my most alcoholic I'd never have imagined going to a dance club every single night [bold] : o

Wasn't such a big deal. They even let Lorna in.

Alec Baldwin gay? "Baldwin called reporter George Stark a "toxic little queen," repeatedly referred to him as a "little bitch"

Well he was not wrong but that does not mean he's gay.

I’m not saying he’s gay. I’m just saying he used to be a preacher.

Phyllis Diller? Not surprised that toxic Republican cunt was there.

As I was only about 10 years old at the time, this scene from Eyes of Laura Mars is exactly what I image the music and style of the time circa1978. I could see these models being at Studio 54 after their work was over. Apparently Quentin Tarantino's review of the movie has the same opinion.

FYI, that line the male model makes about $100 an hour would be equal to about $500 in today's money.