Studio 54 Opens-Disco's Headquarters

I've got to admit that I was never a fan of Disco music.

When Chicago DJ Steve Dahl caused a riot at a baseball game when he burned disco albums, I was on the sidelines cheering him on.

Although I was a baby DJ at the time—and had to actually spin “K.C. And The Sunshine Band”, I was a rock fan—and usually turned the studio monitor DOWN. It’s one thing to have to PLAY that music. To have to LISTEN to it was another matter entirely.

Disco’s “Ground Zero” was the nightclub “Studio 54”, which opened on this date in 1977. Taking exclusivity to heights never before seen, “Studio 54” almost overnight became THE place to be---and getting in became an obsession.

Two college roommates at Syracuse were the owners—Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager. After a chain of steak restaurants failed, they went into the nightclub business.

Part of the plan was to overtly and shamelessly EXCLUDE all but the most chic, beautiful and famous patrons. Purposely denying entrance to a “B-list” celebrity occasionally was part of the plan to cultivate a desire to “get in” that turned into a crusade for many Manhattan residents.

The woman behind the success of “Studio 54” was one Carmen D’Allessio, a public relations entrepreneur whose Rolodex included names like Liza Minnelli, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote and Bianca Jagger. She created what is now termed “buzz” in advance of the club’s opening that, by the time it did, became a MAJOR event.

Here is a video clip of the short history of the nightclub-check out the young Michael Jackson, a regular patron:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dl726_FKhc


Disco was the music that kept the club pumping. That it became the embodiment of the disco era, it is perhaps only fitting that “Studio 54” died a death almost as sudden as the demise of disco music itself.

As the video implies, the rampant use of drugs at “Studio 54” was bragged about too much---as was the cash being generated by the activities, both legal and illicit inside the club. Raided by authorities, the owners were brought up on charges of tax evasion (among others).

“Studio 54”’s swan song was on February 4, 1980—a closing party appropriately entitled “The End of Modern Day Gomorrah”

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