Footage shows co-founder Steve Rubell cherrypicking on the door, reprimanding one hopeful with the immortal line: “Don’t ever come here with a hat.” Doorman Mark Benecke was charged with deciding on the chosen ones. The crowds only grew as the club’s popularity did. Writer and socialite Anthony Haden-Guest describes the scenes as “like the damned looking into paradise”.
It was the right place, right time America in 1977 was ripe for something fun, glamorous and a bit risque. In the aftermath of the Vietnam war, Rubell said people were “tired of being serious – everyone went out and went wild”. 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 club was a tabloid fixture.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Celebrities shared their space with characters Studio 54 was a safe space for groups who would have been marginalised in the late 70s. Trans women were welcomed, while eccentrics such as Rollerina, a Wall Street banker by day who rollerskated on the dancefloor at night, and Disco Sally, a 78-year-old lawyer, were cult figures.
There was an “anything goes” attitude to sex at Studio 54. Mattresses in the basement were frequently the site of trysts, while the infamous balcony was designed – complete with easy-to-clean surfaces – as a place for couples to get it on. “Even if you weren’t having sex with someone every night, you felt like you could,” says former editor of Interview, Bob Colacello. Aids later hit, of course. Many of the staff of Studio 54 – including Rubell – died as a result of it.
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
