a world I've never known

tt here. sheldy sent me to a talk last night at theMuseum of  Arts and Design on Columbus Circle. I had thought it was to be about fabulous nights spots like Angelo's and Maxie's and Tony Pastor's and Delmonico's. As it turned out it was about the heady disco days of Studio 54, Heaven, The Saint in the 80's all the way to the intimate designer events of today which are organised by people like Suzanne Bartsch, Lady Fag and Desi Monster. That's them below:

They were joined by Brian Butterick  (aka Hattie Hathaway) and Michael Musto of  the Village Voice

For your information the earliest nightspot recorded is The Wooden Horse Tavern established in 1612 when NY was NA...the Big Clog.
Lady Fag kicked off by emptying the entire wage envelopes she has accrued as a party organiser and hostess over the last five years.. She intends to make a dress of them. Her first payment at her first event was a drink ticket and the second was a job.  Her outrageous and fascinating ensembles complete with signature arm pit tresses have inspired countless artists and performers, including Lady Ga Ga who professes to be of the culture but whose members disown her. I guess they mean they think she was influenced but not a creative contributor..like Madonna stealing 'vogueing'
Lady Fag now has a following of party animals who support her weekly events and learn about them online or on the vine.
Suzanne Bartsch remembers being chosen to get in to Studio 54 ( how humiliating would a rejection be from that?) and from then on has been a pivotal party thrower. She first got into it when she ran a clothing store and felt her customers, who included Westwood and Galliano, needed a play pen in which to display their latest creations. The work to achieve a full house for every party is gargantuan and Ms Bartsch relies mostly on the telephone for her promotion. She insists that dressing up is  pivotal to the enjoyment of these evenings of fantasy and that music and dancing come a close second and third.  To achieve the designated look for each appearance she starts at the shoes and the hair and then fills it all in. Or she chooses one piece and designs the entire look around that. She was wearing a yellow crocheted dress that was so fantastic as to defy description. She welcomes all who want to party.
When the celebrities stopped turning out to the big dance venues the scene changed and there sprang up a phenomenon of Club Kids who became celebrities for their wild dress and taste in music and drugs. Desi Monster was such a kid and saw the blossom and final spiral to destruction of the phenomenon as well as the deaths of a number of the blossoms. One of those kids, Michael Alig, was to have made a video conference appearance from prison at the talk tonight but some legal complication prevented it. He brutally murdered one of his clubber friends over a drug deal. Desi is now an event designer.
Michael Musto provided wonderfully dry commentary about his ongoing love affair with the night life of this city. He notes that Zoloft is now one of the main drugs of choice . His final statement....."Every generation gets the nightlife it deserves"    I wish there was still a Delmonicos.