The picture that forms is that you had to see it to believe it. By this time, the club had cemented its reputation as a popular place for celebrities, and Stallone was one more added to the list. He was there to be seen with the famous people, to network, to cut the deal; whilst everyone else cut the coke., Opening night at Studio 54 was an unqualified success, but the days that followed were comparatively slower. We think of him as a gentleman of the paparazzi [of that era], she says. Bokfrlaget Max Strm/Hasse Persson Studio 54. A kind of unofficial VIP area in an already VIP club, it was where big celebrities went for their private trysts. We knocked on the door. At Studio 54, the taboo wasnt seen as undesirable instead, it was invited inside. Not amused, Warhol scrambled to collect the singles. A man dangles a cigarette inside Studio 54, 1977. When youre a wealthy celebrity, youre going to want to have the best of the best. Read on for 10 of the craziest stories from the clubs legendary heyday. Left: A topless woman in a peacock feather headdress dances at Studio 54's Halloween party in 1977. But two people we know were flat-out rejected were disco legends Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic. So I found this little auto museum down somewhere in New Jersey. We kept saying, Gee, I wonder where everybody is? When Williams visited Studio 54, he joined a fleet of other actors such as John Travolta, Richard Gere, Al Pacino and John Belushi, who all set foot in the iconic destination to see what it was about. Again, this is in a huge crowd of people on a street in Manhattan. People were waiting in lines with the most fantastic costumes on, each one trying to outdo the other one so that they could be pointed to and get in. One Halloween, two women, perhaps recalling the famous Bianca Jagger photos, took out a $500 loan to rent a horse, which they rode nude to the velvet ropes as twin Lady Godivas. 60 Chilling Vintage Photos From Studio 54. I called various places and it was impossible, he told Haden-Guest. Benecke often needed an escort back to his apartment. Another employee, "Lenny 54," was open about the fact he wasn't going to just serve drinks. It first opened its doors in 1927 as the Gallo Opera House. Studio 54 is the one nightclub from the '70s everyone remembers. Model Bianca Jagger holds doves at a party thrown by fashion designer Halston in 1977. Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images. The move this woman pulls off seems to defy her age in every way shes flexible enough to wrap her legs around him and strong enough to hold herself up by his arms. A glitter-covered go-go dancer sways in a G-string. Drugs, drinks, and disco -- Studio 54 had it all. 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. A woman dances near the Studio 54 light towers in 1977. Why Is Friday the 13th Considered Unlucky? What was interesting is that women felt secure enough to dance nude in the place. Giancarlo Giammetti threw a circus-themed birthday party for his business partner, fashion designer Valentino. Schrager was released on $50,000 bond and the disco was open the next night. According to Rolling Stone, people would offer him anything to get in. We were like the first. The secluded corners furnished with mattresses quickly became a popular feature. He infamously walked around wearing a padded coat that hid his stash of cocaine, Quaaludes, and poppers. He had a kind camera. I have not seen a picture that Gene took that would have embarrassed anybody even though he was with people doing very strange things.. For major actresses like these, visiting Studio 54 was a must while in New York City. Getting into Studio 54 could be impossible. Full of rollerskating Wall Street Bankers, tabloid fixtures and postwar frivolity, a new documentary reveals the social backdrop of the famous club. 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. Trying to see it. As you can see, this was long before his dramatic transformation and eventual controversies in the public eye. According to friends, Warhol said it was the best present he had ever received. 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. 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. With someone like Diana Ross at your venue, you wont be hurting for attendees. 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. The club also had doves and a snake present for visitors on different nights. At times it got really hairy outside, he told Haden-Guest. 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. According to the Daily Beast, he and his friends had no problem getting in because they showed up unfashionably early and were basically first in line. In a relatively small space were some of the most beautiful and richest people who ever lived. 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. Studio 54 was a safe space for groups who would have been marginalised in the late 70s. A cheetah might be sitting at the bar. He had accepted it. See Rare Photos Inside Studio 54 Nightclub, RS Recommends: Rad Powers E-Bike Offers a New (and Better) Way to Commute, How Vaccines and Masks Are Making Broadway Safe Again, See Nanci Griffith Cover the Rolling Stones No Expectations, Brian Walshe to Be Charged with Murder of His Missing Wife, Ron Jeremy Found Not Competent to Stand Trial in Serial Rape Case, The Genetic Mutation That Makes Kraken Covid So Contagious, The Boy Just Aint Smart': How Stephen A. 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Ian Schrager may be writing the last word on Studio 54 with his coffee table tome for Rizzoli. Theyd been waiting and they just started shooting. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Unlike Ron Galellas work which has been exhibited and is collected as fine art after Spatz died in 2003 the archive of images was inherited by his younger sister, Amy Lowen, and packed away in filing cabinets in her Kentucky home. And, of course, disco music was blaring. These two people, covered in silver, dance for onlookers inside Studio 54. We were entertaining the hell out of ourselves. The clubs fortunes were reversed when Steve Rubell received a call from fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick, a.k.a. If you wanted a place to let loose and perhaps engage in some public nudity, then Studio 54 was the club for you. One of Studio 54s main attractions was its complex lighting. We had chickens in a pen, he says in The Last Party. Posted on April 12, 2017, 9:16 pm. Whether they were dressed in a festive way or they were interesting, high energy, danced well, or socialites, celebrities, models, you had to bring something to the table.. 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. Bodies sag, make-up is melted, and glamour gives way to fatigue. Doormen didnt let just anyone inside, but if you were lucky, you could get into the club without having connections in high places. The late 70s also saw the rise of celebrity culture, and Studio 54 provided that too, with Liza, Michael, Andy, Bianca and Diana regulars. The owner, Steve Rubell, saw it as "casting a play," and getting the perfect mix of people was key. 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. Nobody wanted to rent a car to Studio 54. He handed them out to a few dozen people around him and they waited the 15-20 minutes for them to kick in. Rolling Stone reportedthat when Dolly Parton came to town for a concert, the owners decided the best way to make a country singer feel comfortable was to turn the club into a farm. We use ads to keep our content free for you. Crowded scenes of fabulous party animals have the most obvious appealthe fashion and the dancing just drip with the pursuit of pleasure and sensual self-indulgence. A party was staged the night before their sentences began. One of the bartenders donned a diaper and popped out of a cake, but the highlight of the evening occurred around midnight, when a white steed was led out from behind a stage curtain by a nude couple slathered in shimmering paint and sparkles. Above our heads. But, thanks to photographers who were in the right place at the right time, we can get glimpses of what a crazy night out at Studio 54 was truly like. And McCarthy was able to recognize the special collection Lowen had inherited and make sure his creative legacy remained alive. 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. When Steve got off the phone we flipped into action to make it happen. 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. A car whizzed by. Robin Williams dancing with his then-wife Valerie in 1979. Aids later hit, of course. It wasn't subtle: Hung from the roof of Studio 54, dangling over the dance floor, was a giant crescent moon with a face, a cocaine spoon moving to and from its nose. Fashion designer Clovis Ruffin waits for a drink at the bar in 1980. To achieve the perfect blend of guests for his nightly party, he often stood on a stepstool outside, selecting members of the crowd for admittance with a subjectivity that bordered on heartless. No one remembered him being there the first night. Both Rubell and Schrager were arrested and accused of skimming $2.5 million in club earnings. Then she discovered an organization that seemed to offer a way forward and talked with Regan McCarthy at POBA, an online hub and resource thats dedicated to recognizing creative talents who were under-recognized during their life. This couple wears scant Halloween costumes resembling a mermaid and some kind of sea creature, and their choice of style was not out of the ordinary at Studio 54. It wasnt just actors and singers who showed up to party at Studio 54 sometimes it was political figures. Desperately!. In case you dont recognize her, thats Dolly Parton at an afterparty in Studio 54. She is seen here in colorful 70s makeup, big hair and a risque lace top. Rubell liked to tell a story about a countess who took a fancy to one unnamed bartender and had him handcuff her to a pipe in the basement before having sex with her. Comparing yourself to organized crime is not the best idea if you have something to hide, which they did. They were still adjusting the lights and fixing the music, says Haskell. They were trying to get into the courtyard. He'd gotten stuck and no one knew he was there until it was far too late. So we got to Studio 54 and there was nobody there. It wasnt until he was gone, and I had brought everything home and put it in storage, that I began to open up these envelopes and discover his work.. Studio 54 started as it meant to go on. There was no need for word of mouth to grow this into a hot club; people were desperate to get in from the first night it opened. Cher wasnt the wildest partier on the scene, but she was known for being an independent and forward-thinking individual who didnt shy away from a good time. The people in this photograph have costumes and makeup on, complete with pairs of tall stilts that helped them tower over the crowd. This photograph was taken at the first Halloween party and shows two men dressed in taboo fetish gear, one man miming cutting the other. They also didn't do very much work. But nothing . Sometimes the venue hired dancers or had fashion models walking the crowds. Perhaps understandably, Rodgers now considers Benecke a friend. Needless to say, he made enough of a name for himself and enough connections to land a spot on the list at Studio 54 often. Given that it used to be an actual studio, the interior had ample lighting equipment to create pulsating light shows. Those who were turned away often returned night after night, changing their outfits, hairstyles and company. Even so, he was among the most famous singers in the country. 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. This type of thing wouldnt have been allowed in just any nightclub. Their photos transport us right back to the debaucherous den that all but defined 1970s New York's nightlife: Relive The Decadence Of Studio 54 With These Vintage Photos View Gallery Hindsight is 20/20, but people who were there swear they knew they were part of something historic. Not something you see every day, but you could see it at Studio 54. The Birth of Studio 54. While many clubgoers enjoyed this aspect of Studio 54, it got them lots of attention from the authorities. Maybe the most bacchanalian parties of the Greeks or Romans could give the club a run for its money, but that's about it. Dolly came and was completely freaked out at the number of people there. With nowhere else to go, the party spilled onto the street. If there was one person who loved going out to Studio 54, it was Bianca Jagger. And we were laughing, Rodgers described to Haden-Guest. documentary. It would be decades before New York City's smoking ban forbade smoking in indoor spaces. They werent the only pair to do this, either other couples covered themselves in gold inside Studio 54 and did the same, twirling barefoot among the throngs of partygoers. Dressed in their best and taking stock of the nightclub, famous actresses Farrah Fawcett and Shirley MacLaine are photographed with club owner Steve Rubell. Workers had been laying down black flooring less than an hour before, and when the bulbs behind the bar suddenly stopped working, gofers were frantically dispatched to the nearest bodega to purchase armloads of votive candles. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. When the builders were asked if they were making a "sex pit," the answer was simply, yes. Fact-Checking the Aretha Franklin Biopic, Jeff Buckleys Grace: 10 Things You Didnt Know, Flashback: Back to the Future Has Everyone Wanting to Play Johnny B Goode Like Michael J. Paparazzi [ of that era ], she says lots of attention from the authorities to see it believe. Also had doves and a snake present for visitors on studio 54 basement photos nights who were turned often! 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