studio 54 basement photos

When she wasnt whipping her legs through the air to the music, she was brushing shoulders with the countrys most famous celebrities. Capote is the author of books like Other Voices, Other Rooms, Breakfast at Tiffanys and In Cold Blood. Inside Studio 54, you could smoke just about whatever you wanted and sit however you liked. We kept saying, Gee, I wonder where everybody is? Please allow ads and let sponsors fund your surfing. See Rare Photos Inside Studio 54 Nightclub Photographer Gene Spatz captured celebrities - including John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger - at the iconic New York City 1970s nightclub By. Nightlife anywhere was sure to have drugs involved were talking about the 1970s, here. People openly took poppers on the dance floor, and less openly shot up heroin in dark corners. The two are engaged in intimate conversation and posed in a relaxed manner, with Furstenbergs stiletto-clad foot thrust over the edge of the seat. Bokfrlaget Max Strm/Hasse Persson Studio 54. IRS agents raided Studio 54 on December 14th, 1978, seizing garage bags of cash, financial documents and five ounces of cocaine. This potentially dangerous display marked the end of the nightclubs first year open. The owner, Steve Rubell, saw it as "casting a play," and getting the perfect mix of people was key. Inside studio 54 the wild nights of 1970 s celebrities disco and debauchery club owner mark fleischman i m ending my life by dancing with stars swimming in story behind legendary nightclub high humans broadway beloved basement feinstein below turns 10 new york times page 4 herald weekly ian schrager on doentary this film takes [] There was a 1950 Chevy convertible that got a bit trashed because people climbed in and burned the seats, says Reynolds. "I don't have only good memories. Again, this is in a huge crowd of people on a street in Manhattan. Andy Warhol's Polaroid of Mick Jagger Touching Tongues With a Woman Could Be Yours. The high ceiling of the building allowed for such displays, though they must have been quite careful not to step on anyones toes. When sex and money didn't work, people would get violent. He captured that era in my lifetime, and I hope someone is having that type of fun again. A man wears a gold costume, eyeliner, and a headdress while dancing. Andys first reaction was, You mean they told me there was a thousand dollars in there and it was only $800? We still don't know even half of what went on behind those hallowed walls, but some people have been willing to spill a few details in interviews or memoirs. Steve had certain criteria, an insider later told Vanity Fair. The Studio 54 Glory Years When CBS sold the theater, various parties from the worlds of fashion and art began to express interest in seeing it transformed into a nightclub. This is after the feminist movement of the 70s: if a woman wanted to be nude that was her privilege, no one would ever touch her or say anything. I dont know what Im going to do without Studio! And everyone was crying and weeping.. Even a brief sampling of these parties is enough to scramble the senses. Halston.It was 10:30 in the morning and the phone rang, club associate Renny Reynolds told Haden-Guest. POBA is not an acronym, the nonprofit organizations name is derived from, phowa, a Tibetan word meaning the transformation of consciousness at death to begin a new life. Studio 54 Photos And The Debauchery That Ensued 54 Decadent Photos Of Studio A Story Debauchery And Dancing Groovy History E And Disco A Brief History Of Studio 54 Flashbak Studio 54 Dj Reveals The Stars Nights Of S And Boogie At Legendary Club Mirror Studio 54 15 Things We Learned About The Hedonists Mecca From New Doentary Independent We had a blast. Doormen didnt let just anyone inside, but if you were lucky, you could get into the club without having connections in high places. Skimming was standard practice in the cash-flush world of restaurants and nightclubs, but this was an order of magnitude greater than most offenders. One clubgoer waited outside with a group of friends, including a doctor packing a jumbo bottle of Quaaludes. But that picture started the ball rolling. Club employees were tasked with stripping nearby garbage cans of bottles and cans, lest these potential projectiles land in the hands of disgruntled guests. Rogers says this was a reaction to people seeing images of the glamour of places like Studio 54 while their real lives reflected the worst financial recession since the Great Depression. In the aftermath of the Vietnam war, Rubell said people were tired of being serious everyone went out and went wild. We felt horrible., The men sulked back to Rodgers apartment just a few blocks away. I remember where this guy had really screwed himself up and they got a stretcher. Although he had broken his neck and left wrist, he took pleasure in the fact that he had actually made it inside. You walked in and the hallway was nothing but lockers, high school lockers on both sides, marveled the films producer, Allan Carr, in 1998. While Studio 54 traded in nightly excess, the elaborate themed parties held on special occasions allowed Rubell, Schrager and their team to bring VIP guests most vivid fantasies to life. Many of the celebs who were there are still alive, so other than vague rumors, we don't know the worst of what went down. Right: Clubgoers inhale nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas) on the dance floor during the 1977 Halloween party. Showing Editorial results for studio 54. A pair of topless women parade across the dance floor during Folies Bergre night, circa 1977. By this time, the club had cemented its reputation as a popular place for celebrities, and Stallone was one more added to the list. By midnight, the huge group in the street had become "Sodom and Gomorrah." 10 Crazy Things That Happened At Studio 54 Mental Floss. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager opened the legendary club in 1977, and while it only lasted under their management for three years, it quickly cemented itself as the quintessential enclave for celebrities, fashionable disco-lovers, and their favorite illicit activities. Read 10 of the wildest stories from Studio 54, including the time Bianca Jagger rode a white horse across the dance floor. Creative Breakfast Recipes from Andrew Zimmern, Alton Brown and Sunny Anderson, 14 Destination Races Perfect for Extending into a Vacation, Wild Office Pranks That Evil Coworkers Have Pulled on Each Other, 6 Sites to Design Custom Photo Mugs for Gifts or Keepsakes, Seasonal Sips: Totally Teetotal Winter Mocktails for Dry January. Both Rubell and Schrager were arrested and accused of skimming $2.5 million in club earnings. Once they did, a "mad sexual orgy" started. First, we changed it from fuck off to freak off, and that was pretty hideous. Less exclusive was the balcony area, upholstered in rubber because it was deemed easy to clean. Many of the staff of Studio 54 including Rubell died as a result of it. My favorite shots though, are post-party. Right: During a Purple magazine party in 1978, a topless woman rides onto the dance floor on a white horse. Lowen recognized some of the celebrities in the photos, but she wasnt sure what exactly her brothers archives contained or its value to the world. At the time, childish fun in a club like this couldnt be found in most other venues. We were like the first. Here, a woman twirls her hat and two men chat over drinks. Franco Rossellini and Steve Rubell (producer and owner, respectively) are pictured here in front of what appears to be a giant birthday cake. No one remembered him being there the first night. This meant the doormen had huge amounts of power. Gene was able to capture how celebrity rubbed up with regular folks in the most unpretentious and remarkable way that was the wonder of Studio 54, she explains. And on its last night under initial management, Diana Ross serenaded Rubell and Schrader -- of course surrounded by the likes of Jack Nicholson, Farrah Fawcett, and Sylvester Stallone, among others. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time The 100 Best Albums of 2022. Steven Stills is playing the drum, and 300 other people are in attendance. This kind of tolerance in the 1970s and 1980s was not seen in the mainstream media, but it was alive and well in nightclubs like Studio 54. Part of the lure of a nightclub like Studio 54 is that you went home with plenty of stories to tell about the wacky things you saw go down inside. They were like queens on the dancefloor.". And we were laughing, Rodgers described to Haden-Guest. What is now a Broadway theater used to be the emblematic hot spot of '70s disco nightlife. When New York published this list of party favors in November 1979, Warhol was horrified to discover that his pail had only contained $800. All Rights reserved. Its like mixing a salad, he explained, or casting a play. Doorman Marc Benecke, then a 19-year-old student at Hunter College, served as Rubells deputy. The agents entered the office seeking links to organized crime and arrested his partner Ian Schrager after reportedly finding cocaine among some papers he was carrying. Nina Hagens Nunsexmonkrock: Greatest (and weirdest) unsung masterpiece of the postpunk era? Right: A pair of women get funky on the dance floor during November 1977. The photos left over tell a story of a place where absolutely nothing was off limits. . Fans would say she had eyes the color of lavender, and her performances in films like Cleopatra and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will forever go down in cinema history. The owners knew they needed celebrities to keep coming, and they knew celebrities liked free drugs. In the very, very far left you can see me I didnt know that I was in the picture., Persson on this photo: "I think this is the same horse Bianca Jagger turned up on for her birthday in 1977. Behind The Scenes At Studio 54 Cnn Style. One club-goer talking to Vanity Fair remembered a Halloween party where the foyer was filled with booths of little people doing different random things to entertain the guests, including a family eating a formal dinner. It was, after all, her fun yet insightful personality that won over the hearts of her many fans. She was real nervous about this whole deal and went up to the balcony and sat up there for a while. Studio 54 was a safe space for groups who would have been marginalised in the late 70s. Getting high low-down, Grace Jones wrote in her 2016 memoir. They were trying to get into the courtyard. Some tried to grease palms with thousands of dollars. Throughout its three-year lifespan under Rubell and Schrager, Studio 54 served as a lab to experiment with everything from illicit drugs to gender. They served copious amounts of alcohol, played the loudest music and sometimes had mini food fights on the dancefloor. Giancarlo Giammetti threw a circus-themed birthday party for his business partner, fashion designer Valentino. At this time, Fawcett had recently hit it big with her role in Charlies Angels, while MacLaine had just starred in The Turning Point. Apr 26, 2016 Getty Images / Getty Images The original Studio 54 nightclub, which opened on this date in 1977, was open for less than three years before owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were. A look back at the epicenter of NYC nightlife, presented by Getty Images. Studio 54 was crazy all year long, but things got especially wacky for Halloween. And all of a sudden the guy starts choking me., That was a minor inconvenience compared to the trials of security chief Chuck Garelick, who tells Haden-Guest that a man once tried to literally crash the VIP entrance in his Oldsmobile. On finding Studio 54s books, it was discovered that a skim was in operation on up to 80% of the profits. When she visited the city for concert dates in May 1978, Rubell created a rural farm setting to help the country singer feel more at home. There is a famous picture of former first lady Betty Ford (who had quit drinking and prescription drugs just a year before) hanging out with the stars while her Secret Service detail stands behind her. We use ads to keep our content free for you. Studio 54 produced many star-studded photo opportunities. It wasnt just the celebrities known to enjoy partying who indulged in a night out at Studio 54. Exactly what needed to be cleaned is best left to the imagination. Whats more, theyre almost all true. The setting is quite a departure from his most famous work, but Papageorges keen eye for detail and fascination with his subjects is consistently engaginghe just makes everyone look gorgeous. Each morning, massive portions of the previous nights take would be stuffed in garbage bags and hidden above ceiling panels, or smuggled home to Rubells apartment and concealed in a hidden compartment. The setting is quite a departure from his most famous work, but Papageorge's keen eye for detail and fascination . This photograph comes just before the release of Off the Wall, when he was still remembered most for his youthful vocals in The Jackson 5. He was not there for the drug-fueled disco deliria. A throwback to the heyday of authentic New York nightlife, the room also boasts wonderful lighting by Tony winner Ken Billington and the best sound in town . We had chickens in a pen, he says in The Last Party. Even so, it gave visitors a rush of adrenaline to watch them twirl in the air from below. I walked him back to his limo. He infamously walked around wearing a padded coat that hid his stash of cocaine, Quaaludes, and poppers. Finally it became CBS's Studio 52 from 1942 to 1976. Behind The Velvet Rope Line Of Studio 54 S Short Sordid Life. At the Purple magazine party, a naked couple in a clear bathtub perform for an audience in 1977. Four women in shimmery dresses sit in the club's lounge area. A pile of people forms on the dance floor of the 1978 "Purple Party.". It was closer and we were dead. Left: A clubgoer dressed as Jesus carries a large cross onto the dance floor in 1977. Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. 23,434 Studio 54 Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO All Sports Entertainment News Archival Browse 23,434 studio 54 stock photos and images available, or search for studio 54 moon or studio 54 1970s to find more great stock photos and pictures. Here he is enjoying an anniversary party for Andy Warhols magazine, Interview. The newly anointed nightclub king got cocky, joking to a radio host that what the IRS doesnt know wont hurt them, and bragging to New York magazine, Only the Mafia makes more money.. Studio 54 is immensely interesting just in terms of a sociological perspective. One second the light bulb went on and I sang Aaaaahh, freak out! Thats right the King of Pop did indeed attend a gathering or two at Studio 54. A look back at the epicenter of NYC nightlife, presented by Getty Images. While the club wanted to attract as many celebrities as possible, just being famous didn't necessarily guarantee you entrance. For the younger generations who might not know, Elizabeth Taylor was a star like no other during her time. Henry Winkler, who had been playing the Fonz on smash hit Happy Days for years at that point, was summarily rejected one night. A cheetah might be sitting at the bar. It was a place of secrets and secretions, the in-crowd and inhalations, sucking and snorting., Studio 54s fast and loose accounting would ultimately contribute to its downfall. Capote was an occasional visitor to Studio 54 and got down with the best of them. Being a spouse to legendary partier Jagger, its no wonder she enjoyed a good get-together herself. Here is a collection of photos from only a few of the many successful events thrown at the venue, providing a glimpse into the nocturnal thrill that was Studio 54. The nightclub threw an annual Halloween party and expected guests to wear the most shocking, over-the-top costumes that you could think of. They put up signs apologizing, and everyone enjoyed juice instead. This was ridiculous because if you want to get away with it you might skim 1-2 percent. The horse was granted entry. The crowds only grew as the clubs popularity did. Having been used as a radio and television studio for CBS, the building was still full of TV sets and lighting equipment when Steve Rubell transformed it into a place for drinks, music and dancing. A woman holds a makeshift pipe for a man as he attempts to smoke an unidentified substance in 1981. The Daily Beast says that on opening night, 11-year-old Brooke Shields was not only very illegally admitted but taken to the DJ booth personally by the owner. A woman in a bustier and garters finds her partner the "punk" behind her, at Studio 54's 1977 Halloween party. 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And let sponsors fund your surfing lounge area skim 1-2 percent war, said... 54 s Short Sordid Life clubgoer waited outside with a woman could be Yours watch them twirl in the of., Interview ; t have only good memories ; I don & # x27 ; s Studio from. Most famous celebrities party, a woman in a huge crowd of people on.