It’s easy to look back and think how wonderful everything was, but, when I look around me today and see how bored and repressed we are spending our weekends staring at our cellphones and playing video games...yes! You bet it was a wonderful time. You had to get off your sofa and go make your own fun. And people WANTED to enjoy themselves and others around them, not sit glued to a barstool mesmerized by a flatscreen above the bar showing a basketball game.
Long live DISCO! from artists nowadays sampling it, and hearing Disco at virtually every wedding reception, club, and social gathering almost anywhere....Disco still remains strong and well remembered. Disco's downfall was it was too popular! Everyone was tring to ca$h in on disco, in elevators, restaurants, airports, even a Burger King commercial had their "King" on rollerskates skating to Disco..so like too much too fast of ANYTHING, Disco became an overdose...
Steve Rubell was a fascinating man. I wish we had more material, books/plays/movies about him and Studio 54, a wonderful (IF U were a pleasure seeker) night club, that for an all too brief moment, brought back a sense of romance + glamour not seen in NYC since the days of the Stork Club, & "54" was probably better known & more influential on Nat'l pop culture than any previous night club, anywhere. Thanks for putting this up!
Incredible place. Been nothing like it since and never will be. Would never work in 2021. Smart phones and social media are ruining social interaction.
I just LOVED going there night after night. It was so exciting! The place had the energy. People were always saying : LOOK! look at that! There was always something to see! and of course you wanted to look your best and be seen. The music was amazing to dance to and most of us who went danced until they stopped playing the music! I would often get there late at night and leave in the morning! It was just great to be a part of that culture. After dancing all night I would often go to the
Born in 74, i grew up with Disco and was fortunate enough to miss the overdose so it took a special place in my heart. As a drummer and i think it's easy and fun to play Disco music even to this day..it's mostly highhat. One of the things i admire is you NEVER hear a depressing Disco song, as found in many music genres. Some examples of Disco today, are great songs like: Passion Pit - "The Reeling", The Naked And Famous - "Punching In A Dream", Keane - "Everybody's Changing", and many more.
...Disco also had a way of gathering so many races in a club back then and everyone had a good time with no fear of violence, bombings, etc. it's a shame we can't do it all over again but at a slower pace..but hey, you never know...everything in life seems to come around again and for me on the drums, although i am a diehard Alt. Rock fan, Disco will always hold a special place until it comes around again for those of us that didn't receive an overdose :-)
First Song Is Shake your groove thang By the Peaches & Herb, Second Last Dance By Dona Summer, Disco Nights By GQ, A pice of YMCA Special RMX, Cher Take me Home
I am posting the right person I am 55, Steve tried to get me to go down to NYC to dance at Studio 54 and I did not ever go, but the club in Concord Steve and Ian owned was a great place and many of the stars from 54 would come up to Concord NH with Steve and Ian as it was the "Get Away Spot" for them. I would show up and Steve would make introductions telling them, "..Ralph is the dancer." Always with a smile he treated me like I was royalty, I was just a poor farm kid with dance moves & style
As a young man during my teens and early twenties I became a friend to Steve Rubell and his partner Ian Shrager. Steve was the most charming person one could ever meet. We shaped each others lives in many ways and he had a big influence on my life, I shall never forget him and his friends he introduced me to personally. Many famous people he guided to me have now all these years later completely captivated me with their accomplishments and wonderful personalities. It is now time to step out.
THANKS! I saved everything I could from the place and took lots of pictures. I really wish I could get someone to help me put a book together. I keep in touch with people I went there with and one of them actually works with someone who tended bar there. He has a lot more stories to tell! He also wants to write a book. I think mine would be a lot of fun because I have the photos, he doesn't! Thanks for your nice comment
Amazing! I'm very much into Studio 54 right now (54 is also my age) and am angry at the paucity of information about the club and the times. I do have Anthony Haden-Guest's book. I also saw some of the items in the Palm Beach Modern auction of Rubell's papers and photos. Just makes me mad that all we have of this wonderful place is a silly, inaccurate Hollywood movie. The documentary was pretty good--could have been better tho. Thanks!
@myleyfan4life same here...i just finished watching that film and i was surprised with Mike's acting.... One of the best films i've seen for some time..it captures the whole night-life scene.
These words came from me when talking to Barry Gibb as I was young and arrogant not wanting to talk and only meet women by dancing. "Well you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a women's man no time to talk" I asked him to help me dance with the girls, thus "Somebody help me dance" When he asked me what I was going to with myself, my life, I responded, "I'm staying alive" anyway the song is about this conversation, he asked me sing it back to him, the lyrics describes me & my state of mind.
I was in grammar school when the place was going on. In 2011 its hard to understand much about those times. I remember pieces but I think those years are another dimension from now. Its better to concentrate on health and lifestyle development now anyway. I dont think anubody knew a thing like they would now. Perhaps we will be better in a future disco scene.
Hello William Thanks for your insightful words, I was very lucky to have known Steve Rubell, Ian Schrager, Nik Cohn and countless other celebrities. The fact is my story is the story of Saturday Night Fever, Nik Cohn really did not lie back in the day, I coined the phrase which I used on Steve Rubell to enter one of their clubs in NH underage, it worked and I danced like crazy. Nik witnessed this and still does not know what really was going down the words nervously came out of my mouth All True
I remember seeing something on TV.. probably on NBC one night looking for Diff'rent Strokes or something and there was a special running called A Night at Studio 54. I have been looking for some kind of record of this but have never been able to find anything about it
@readynow12345 So very well said. I do agree that he could be obnoxious, more than your typical city attitude but in the same way because it was his baby and he made it so big you have to consider that with all the fame and success he developed a bit of an inflated ego. However he was always sweet to me as well. I never had to pay for drinks or anything at the club. It is unfortunate that I never got to know him outside of the club or later in his life and I was so sad to hear what happened.
@readynow12345 I was never at Palladium, so maybe not unless you went to Studio. I left NYC in 1981. I moved back in 1996 of course, but very long after the end of the disco scene.
Looks like Tiny Tim couldn't get it! Honestly, it doesn't really seem like his kind of scene, but he appreciated disco as a significant chapter in pop music history, a subject he knew a lot about.
I wrote the story here is excerpt, "...he smiled very big and said to me, “Your back here again!”, being caught off guard by his remark as how to reply to him I nervously blurted out, “You know how it is Saturday night fever!” I kept on smiling and noticed the man at the top of the stair catwalk whisking his chin grinning and staring at me, as Steve Rubell laughingly replied, “Saturday night fever!” which I quickly responded, “Yeah you know Saturday night fever I came here to dance!”..."
The man at the top of stairway smiling looking and listening was none other then Nik Cohn the story is true and lots more goes with it check storyboard for movie and you will find my image for that time long ago in the age of disco. William now you are fortunate as one of the first to know this reality fact.
@BreezesofConey You can blame the movie studio for the version we got in the theater. They weren't liking what they were seeing in the dallies as the movie was being made, it was too risque, dark and gritty. So they changed it, rewrote alot of it. The ending was changed to be more of a feel good ending. It was disappointing, I remember feeling that when I walked out of the theater, my wife said at least it gave some insight to what it was like at 54.
Club like this can be done again but security is KEY!!!50 and OVER, metal detectors, armed private security, uniformed police, no loitering in parking lot, car scans before gate entry. No cell phones, no smoking, no cameras, no recording devices, no video equipment, devices and disco music only!!!!
Despite what people think, this wasn't the only place for craziness and in fact... we the members of NYC's gay community can tell you that we were partying in other places before this club opened. It was so publicized only because it was the first time a mainstream club featured such an atmosphere. What made it more surprising was the fact that it had a huge celebrity draw and the the crowd was completely mixed. As for the drugs and sex... you could the same plus more in the gay clubs.
@gud11man I have to disagree. He sort of stripped Steven of his sweetness and highlighted his bad side. They overplayed what happened that was BAD about studio. Guess it's hard for a modern person to try and understand what the scene really was at the time, the social mood, everything. I was very disappointed in the film because it didn't evoke any of my own memories of the club. Going to see Cabaret there, however, did.
Interesting observation. I agree that most were upbeat, but there was a dark side to Disco Culture and it was sung about. Sylvestor, an exotic drag queen from SanFransisco comes to mind. He knew he was terminal w/AIDS just as his records started climbing the charts, & he could get very intense. His hit record, Stars, sounds very upbeat, but it was a tribute to Alister Crowly. Grace Jones could be very scary w/her whip & S/M "gear" Donna Summer's Disco Opera had it's darker passages.
cont'd PLAZA HOTEL and have breakfast in the EDWARDIAN ROOM. Here, people were dignified and reserved and yet we were all wound up from dancing at STUDIO ! Not to mention, famished! I almost always order the EGGS BENEDICT, served with fresh squeezed orange juice, Ovaltine and perhaps a croissant. We went from dancing wild all night to calm and reserved. I truly am blessed to have enjoyed those wonderful times.
@@BoraBoraSharkBoy I sure did! I actually worked 3 jobs, never took a weekend off and loved what I did. I believed I should work when I was young so I wouldn't have to when I got older and it was a good thing I did that. My jobs were fun though.
@readynow12345 I don't. I have no particular fondness for people simply because they are attractive. Most especially attractive people are intolerable because they know they are. They expect the world to kiss their ass even if they have nothing else going for them. I like people for who they are and how they are. I knew Steve in the 70's, through the club. His attitude had more to do w/ being from E. NY and not so much being Jewish. My best friend at the time was both and he, too, is sharp.
It’s like disco always gets marginalized to the “Disco” sound but I feel like there were a lot of disco records that were really clean R&B/Soul-Pop gems. For some reason these songs don’t get as much recognition. People look at Disco in only one aspect.
