Latest / DISGRACELAND / Studio 54: Disco Decadence, a Dead Body and Bags of Cash

Transcript

Studio 54: Disco Decadence, a Dead Body and Bags of Cash · DISGRACELAND

0:00
Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis.
0:17
Speaker 2: The stories about Studio fifty four are insane. Arguably the
0:22
Speaker 2: most legendary nightclub of all time, Studio fifty four celebrated, encouraged,
0:27
Speaker 2: and flaunted hedonism, farm animals, little people, giant cokespoons hanging
0:32
Speaker 2: from the ceiling, Drugs, cocaine, quelude, sex, and other romanesque
0:37
Speaker 2: acts of debauchery were rampant inside the walls of Studio
0:40
Speaker 2: fifty four, as were the criminal exploits of club owners
0:44
Speaker 2: Steve Rebel and Ian Schrager, both of whom carefully cultivated
0:48
Speaker 2: the allure of Studio fifty four, drawing first on the
0:51
Speaker 2: inclusiveness of disco culture's early days and later on the
0:55
Speaker 2: exclusive cult of celebrity personality. Famous musicians John Lennon, David Bowie,
1:00
Speaker 2: Mick Jagger, along with the world's most famous celebs, not
1:03
Speaker 2: just actors and actresses, but international heads of state, royals,
1:08
Speaker 2: and even Braddy Dynastic Kennedy kids, were all a ubiquitous
1:12
Speaker 2: presence seen nightly dancing with abandon amongst ordinary New Yorkers.
1:17
Speaker 2: So constant was the celebrity presence at Studio fifty four
1:20
Speaker 2: that Studio fifty four redefined the concept of celebrity for
1:24
Speaker 2: the modern age. That's a fact, Andy, Truman, Eliza Suddenly
1:29
Speaker 2: their last names didn't matter. Studio fifty four had made
1:33
Speaker 2: them even more famous, and Studio fifty four made its owners,
1:37
Speaker 2: Steve Rubel and Ian Schrager, a lot of money and money.
1:42
Speaker 2: The abundance of it was the problem, not the sex,
1:46
Speaker 2: of the drugs or the great music. That's right, great music,
1:50
Speaker 2: because disco is great music. That music I played for
1:54
Speaker 2: you at the top of the show. That wasn't great music.
1:57
Speaker 2: That was a preset loop from my melotron called Coke
2:00
Speaker 2: Baroque MK one. I played you that loop because I
2:05
Speaker 2: can't afford the rights to La Freak by Chic And
2:08
Speaker 2: why would I play you that specific slice of fuck
2:11
Speaker 2: Off Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was the
2:15
Speaker 2: number one song in America on December fourteenth, nineteen seventy eight,
2:20
Speaker 2: And that was the day federal agents showed up at
2:23
Speaker 2: two fifty four West fifty fourth Street and effectively shut
2:27
Speaker 2: down one of the greatest parties America had ever seen.
2:31
Speaker 2: On this episode, sweat soaked and totally coked celebrities debauchery
2:35
Speaker 2: on the dance floor cash, trash, a dead body at
2:39
Speaker 2: the disco in Studio fifty four. I'm Jake Brennan in
2:44
Speaker 2: This Is Disgraceland. It was simple. If you owned a
3:10
Speaker 2: bar or nightclub in New York City and had a
3:12
Speaker 2: jukebox in your place, you were going to have to
3:15
Speaker 2: go into business with the Mafia. Jukeboxes were one of
3:18
Speaker 2: the many rackets controlled by the mob. Truth was racketeering
3:22
Speaker 2: millions of dollars in jukebox nichols all over the country
3:26
Speaker 2: was a time honored practice, going back to Mayer Lansky
3:29
Speaker 2: in the nineteen thirties. Movie star Debbie Reynolds caught a
3:32
Speaker 2: taste of it when she tried getting into the jukebox
3:35
Speaker 2: game as an investment in the sixties, only to see
3:37
Speaker 2: most of her financial stake gobbled up by the Genovese
3:40
Speaker 2: crime family. Mob control of jukeboxes also gave made guys
3:45
Speaker 2: easy access to all sorts of classy nightclubs and dance
3:48
Speaker 2: bars where they could frequent regularly with their goumas. So
3:52
Speaker 2: if you didn't want wise guys cutting in on your profit,
3:55
Speaker 2: or worse, hanging out at your club, you would best
3:57
Speaker 2: find a form of entertainment that wasn't a juke box,
4:01
Speaker 2: especially if you were gay in trying to establish a
4:04
Speaker 2: club in New York in the nineteen seventies, you had
4:06
Speaker 2: enough problems you didn't need the mafia jamming you up.
4:10
Speaker 2: So a jukebox was out. And bands, good bands anyway,
4:14
Speaker 2: not the cover's crap that would attract the unwanted straight
4:17
Speaker 2: crowd and possibly also the mafia's attention, weren't really an
4:20
Speaker 2: option either, So DJs were a necessity. DJs music officionados
4:28
Speaker 2: with impeccable taste who could source new, exciting as of
4:31
Speaker 2: yet unheard of forty fives from places as far away
4:34
Speaker 2: as France in Western Africa, and as near as a
4:37
Speaker 2: couple of hours down the road in the Gamble and
4:39
Speaker 2: Half Warehouse in Philly, records like Sugar Pie Guy by
4:43
Speaker 2: the Joneses and Wild Safari by Barabas, music that would
4:46
Speaker 2: attract the preferred clientele, clientele who wanted to dance and
4:50
Speaker 2: to connect emotionally out in public, sort of for the
4:54
Speaker 2: first time. These were early to mid seventies recordings that
4:58
Speaker 2: had nothing to do with the post sixties malaise of
5:00
Speaker 2: the first part of the decade. These were records that
5:03
Speaker 2: were wilfully ignorant of the societal pressures of the day,
5:06
Speaker 2: the drag of the economy, Vietnam, and water game records
5:10
Speaker 2: that were meant to be an escape. These were the
5:12
Speaker 2: records being played in Manhattan's first openly gay dance clubs.
5:19
Speaker 2: The music these DJs played rhythmically, relied on a repetitive,
5:23
Speaker 2: reinforced kick drum nearly a constant four on the floor
5:26
Speaker 2: beat to keep the dance floor full, and celebrated hedonism
5:30
Speaker 2: and individuality, a sense of individuality that turned out could
5:34
Speaker 2: be empowering for a subculture regularly persecuted because of its sexuality,
5:39
Speaker 2: a type of music called disco. Clubs like the Ice Palace, Infinity,
5:44
Speaker 2: and Hurrah hired DJs who not only sourced this exciting
5:48
Speaker 2: new music, but who also knew how to perform it.
5:51
Speaker 2: And I don't use that word perform lightly. Disco DJs
5:55
Speaker 2: or good ones anyway sequence the records they played to
5:58
Speaker 2: not only keep the dance floors f but to elicit
6:01
Speaker 2: an emotional reaction from clubgoers to connect through music, through dance,
6:06
Speaker 2: and in an emotionally resonant way, one that was enthralling, compelling,
6:10
Speaker 2: and totally fun. Most early disco was a combination of obscure,
6:14
Speaker 2: deep grooved Black American soul and imported world music being
6:18
Speaker 2: played in European discothechts. In addition to attracting sophisticated gay Manhattanites,
6:25
Speaker 2: some of whom worked in fashion stylists, hairdressers, and makeup artists,
6:29
Speaker 2: these clubs also attracted beautiful women models who would follow
6:33
Speaker 2: their gay male coworkers from the fashion industry for an
6:36
Speaker 2: undeniable good time to clubs where there were no obnoxious
6:40
Speaker 2: straight men to hit on them, Clubs where they were
6:42
Speaker 2: free to dance and to have fun until the early
6:44
Speaker 2: morning hours. The vibe at these clubs was specially unique.
6:49
Speaker 2: It was a moment in time post Stonewall, pre Reagan.
6:52
Speaker 2: For the first time anywhere in America, being gay was
6:55
Speaker 2: being seen as something other than a liability. It was
6:58
Speaker 2: fun in am I opened if you were gay or
7:02
Speaker 2: straight in an ally, the experience of dancing at these
7:05
Speaker 2: clubs was glorious. You couldn't help but feel emotionally connected
7:09
Speaker 2: to most everyone in the room. The DJ at Hurrah
7:13
Speaker 2: knew this, and he calibrated his set accordingly. The last
7:17
Speaker 2: song was crucial. It wasn't about kicking the party off
7:21
Speaker 2: from the club at four point thirty am to some
7:23
Speaker 2: driving after hours. It was about creating a lasting emotional
7:27
Speaker 2: connection before parting ways. He had just the song Donna
7:31
Speaker 2: Summers Loved to Love You Baby, the Georgio Moroder Penn
7:35
Speaker 2: sixteen and a half minute vamp filled with Summer's ecstatic
7:38
Speaker 2: moans and groans was more than just sex. It was
7:41
Speaker 2: a high walk cable of connectivity that pulsed through the
7:44
Speaker 2: early discuss scene, Timed right, played at just the right
7:48
Speaker 2: moment during the night, the song was enough to make
7:51
Speaker 2: those in the know openly weep on the dance floor because,
7:54
Speaker 2: aside from the sex, the sweat, the pulsing lights, the
7:57
Speaker 2: requisite clubland drugs and booze, the burgeoning hedonism, if you
8:01
Speaker 2: were in on this song, it meant you were in
8:03
Speaker 2: on something special. It meant you were special because you
8:07
Speaker 2: were in on what was going on. He couldn't help
8:10
Speaker 2: but feel it, and not just on the dance floor,
8:13
Speaker 2: but in the larger club scene in New York at
8:15
Speaker 2: the time. Something big was about to happen. The little
8:19
Speaker 2: dude from Brooklyn at the bar knew it too, and
8:22
Speaker 2: it didn't matter how fucked up he was either. Last
8:25
Speaker 2: call had come and gone, and the quayludes had kicked
8:28
Speaker 2: in big time. The bartender asked him if he was
8:32
Speaker 2: going anywhere, and the little dude smiled riley, as if
8:35
Speaker 2: in on an even deeper secret. The bartender then shouted
8:38
Speaker 2: over the pulsing Donna summer track, you look like you're
8:41
Speaker 2: having a good time. The short dude replied.
8:44
Speaker 3: With, yeah, I think I'd taken too many queens.
8:52
Speaker 2: On your name it address. The bartender smiled and wrote
8:57
Speaker 2: his info in the back of the match book. The
8:59
Speaker 2: short dude's around back at him and tried again to
9:01
Speaker 2: make his mouth work.
9:03
Speaker 3: Thanks writing bell, He's called steal fifty fool Scot.
9:38
Speaker 2: There was simply too much money, too much cash, too
9:41
Speaker 2: much to count, too much to account for. At the
9:44
Speaker 2: end of another successful night at his new clubs Studio
9:47
Speaker 2: fifty four, co owner and master of Ceremonies extraordinaire Steve
9:51
Speaker 2: Rubel used to collect all the cash in a big
9:54
Speaker 2: plastic trash bag. He'd stash it in a safe, hide
9:58
Speaker 2: it in the ceiling squirrelhundreds of thousands of dollars of
10:01
Speaker 2: it away in his Upper East Side apartment. He'd flaunt it.
10:04
Speaker 2: He'd stuff it into the insides of his puffy winter
10:07
Speaker 2: jacket and roam the bowels of the studio, handing it
10:10
Speaker 2: out to unsuspecting clubgoers. He'd set an extra trash bag
10:14
Speaker 2: full of cash aside in his office and let his
10:16
Speaker 2: new friend Andy Warhol come over and just play with it.
10:20
Speaker 2: Andy loved cash, but most of all Steve Rubell and
10:23
Speaker 2: his business partner Ian Schrager would skim it off the
10:27
Speaker 2: top of the nightly take illegally. Skimming cash was always
10:32
Speaker 2: part of the plan, going all the way back to
10:35
Speaker 2: opening night April twenty sixth, nineteen seventy seven, two fifty
10:42
Speaker 2: four West fifty fourth Street. The first guests to show
10:46
Speaker 2: up at the opening of Studio fifty four were ushered
10:48
Speaker 2: in with little fanfare. Near empty, the new club, an
10:52
Speaker 2: old converted CBS television studio, seemed cavernous cold. The guests,
10:58
Speaker 2: one of whom was an ambition his up and coming
11:00
Speaker 2: real estate tycoon from Queen's Donald Trump, and his new
11:04
Speaker 2: wife Evnna, fresh from dinner at A Lane's to see
11:07
Speaker 2: what all the hype was about, were not impressed, but
11:10
Speaker 2: that would soon change. Shortly the clubs started to fill
11:13
Speaker 2: up around them, and it filled up fast. They came
11:19
Speaker 2: pouring in through the front door, the side door, the
11:21
Speaker 2: back exits had to be opened to accommodate the surge
11:24
Speaker 2: and crowd inside. Months of smart publicity, well placed notices
11:28
Speaker 2: in local papers, perfectly timed tip offs to celebrity handlers,
11:32
Speaker 2: an organic word of mouth throughout the disco scene had
11:35
Speaker 2: created a swell of anticipation for the new club, and
11:39
Speaker 2: an hour or so after its official opening, that swell
11:42
Speaker 2: had crashed down upon Studio fifty four. Chaer made the scene.
11:47
Speaker 2: People freaked out. She and actress Margot Hemingway hit the
11:50
Speaker 2: empty dance floor before anyone else and just went for it.
11:54
Speaker 2: Strategically placed photographers from local rags started snapping picks of
11:59
Speaker 2: basically the only thing that was happening at the club
12:01
Speaker 2: up to that point. Two celebrities dancing norms soon joined them,
12:06
Speaker 2: and it was cool, this mixing of class status. It
12:09
Speaker 2: was compelling. More people joined on the dance floor. Brooke Shields,
12:14
Speaker 2: not yet a teenager, brought there by British journalist Robin Leech,
12:17
Speaker 2: was one of them. Michael Jackson showed up accompanied by
12:20
Speaker 2: Diana Ross, both of whom were in town filming The Whiz.
12:23
Speaker 2: Photogs photographed. The music pulsed deep, deep bass from the
12:28
Speaker 2: state of the art sound system. Got to Give It
12:30
Speaker 2: Up by Marvin Gabe, I Feel Love by Donna Summer,
12:33
Speaker 2: Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder Chicks. Everybody dance. The music
12:38
Speaker 2: was contagious, and thus so was the dancing. The vibe
12:42
Speaker 2: was real right, The dance floor was hot, sticky, euphoric.
12:46
Speaker 2: Self consciousness wasn't an option, abandoned, visceral and fun filled
12:50
Speaker 2: the room. Liberation, men dancing with men, women dancing with
12:54
Speaker 2: whoever they wanted, Unencumbered bartenders, young cut, twenty somethings, shirtless
13:00
Speaker 2: clad nothing but type jim shorts, and tennis seekers hustled
13:03
Speaker 2: the crowd for tips. Celebrities mingled with New Yorkers in
13:06
Speaker 2: off the street. No one busted the vibe or the groove.
13:10
Speaker 2: It was almost innocent for a New York minute anyway. Inside,
13:15
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, there were one thousand people, and
13:17
Speaker 2: there were another thousand people trying to get in. Outside
13:23
Speaker 2: on a fifty fourth Street, the crowd ballooned. Steve Rubelle
13:26
Speaker 2: stood on a fire hydrant next to his head of
13:28
Speaker 2: club security and cherry picked want to be discoers from
13:31
Speaker 2: the sidewalk for entry into his own private theatrical production.
13:36
Speaker 2: Choosing lucky entrance into his suddenly exclusive club was like
13:39
Speaker 2: he would say, casting a play. Like Grocho Marx's famous
13:43
Speaker 2: line that he wouldn't want to be part of any
13:45
Speaker 2: club that would have him as a member. Steve Rubell
13:47
Speaker 2: knew what kind of people should get in, and ironically
13:51
Speaker 2: he joked that Studio fifty four clubgoers shouldn't look anything
13:55
Speaker 2: like himself, schlubby, short, unimpressive, outer borrow bridge and tunnel,
13:59
Speaker 2: a frame he invented. Despite his self perceived shortcomings, Steve
14:04
Speaker 2: Rubelle had a keen eye for glamour, not celebrity necessarily,
14:08
Speaker 2: but physical beauty, vitality, charisma, individualism. The scrawnye boy from
14:14
Speaker 2: Brooklyn with the pockmarked face had found a loophole in
14:17
Speaker 2: Grudgo's joke. He wasn't just a member of the club,
14:20
Speaker 2: He owned the club, and so he ruled, like a
14:23
Speaker 2: little disco Napoleon that he was casting his embittered glamorous
14:26
Speaker 2: spell with a new kind of magic wand of his
14:28
Speaker 2: own invention, the original velvet rope. The velvet rope connected
14:33
Speaker 2: on stanchions was first deployed outside Studio fifty four. His
14:37
Speaker 2: entrance to keep the prostitutes working Times Square out from
14:40
Speaker 2: under the marquee and away from the customers. But with
14:43
Speaker 2: the swelling crowds looking to gain entrance into the club,
14:46
Speaker 2: it quickly became a tool to keep the crowd at bay,
14:49
Speaker 2: clearly dividing those who had it from those who didn't.
14:53
Speaker 2: The velvet rope empowered Steve to keep anyone who looked
14:56
Speaker 2: like him out. Steve had started from the bottom, now
15:00
Speaker 2: he made it. He was special, and his club was
15:02
Speaker 2: only for the special people, and he was going to
15:04
Speaker 2: make damn sure he was the only person like himself inside.
15:09
Speaker 2: Outside the studio on opening night, while Steve cast clubgoers,
15:13
Speaker 2: the crowd spilled into the street in completely blocked traffic.
15:16
Speaker 2: Sirens wailed, beatcops shook their heads in discussed prostitutes wondered
15:21
Speaker 2: what in the hell was happening to their neighborhood. What
15:23
Speaker 2: an ass pain? Warren Batty tried unsuccessfully to get in,
15:27
Speaker 2: so did Henry Winkler, and the Fawns was shit out
15:29
Speaker 2: of luck. Words spread around the excited crowd that Frank
15:32
Speaker 2: Sinatra was circling in a limo his people trying to
15:35
Speaker 2: devise a quick entrance, and there was the doctor in
15:38
Speaker 2: the crowd, who, like most of the people around him,
15:41
Speaker 2: had been trying without any luck to get in. Soon,
15:43
Speaker 2: he figured that if no party was to be had inside,
15:47
Speaker 2: then there was a party to be had out on
15:48
Speaker 2: the sidewalk about thirty or so waves of people back
15:51
Speaker 2: from the studio's entrance. He pulled the man a his
15:55
Speaker 2: jarricized container of queludes from his coat pocket and began
15:59
Speaker 2: passing them out to everyone around him. About twenty minutes later,
16:02
Speaker 2: the pills kicked in, and so too did the pent
16:05
Speaker 2: up sexual tension in the good Doctor's immediate vicinity. A
16:09
Speaker 2: street side orgy kicked up amongst the fully looted crowds
16:12
Speaker 2: surrounding the doctor. Sex in the street on opening night,
16:16
Speaker 2: because why not, because it was something to do, because
16:19
Speaker 2: it was Studio fifty four. The next day, Steve Rubelle
16:26
Speaker 2: was ecstatic the opening was a smash it all, but
16:28
Speaker 2: said so right there on the cover of the Goddamn
16:31
Speaker 2: New York Post with its front page coverage of the
16:33
Speaker 2: club's first night, complete with a photo of share at
16:36
Speaker 2: the studio. Rubell worked the phones, called everyone he knew
16:39
Speaker 2: to let them know what a success. The opening was
16:42
Speaker 2: his business partner, Ian Schrager worked the books. Ian, an
16:45
Speaker 2: attorney with a sharp mind for business, calculated the skin
16:49
Speaker 2: the cut for him. Steve and his other partner, Jack Ducha,
16:52
Speaker 2: off the gross from the door of the bars. The
16:54
Speaker 2: code checked cigarette concessions. It was not an insignificant number.
16:58
Speaker 2: Business was about to go boom. Steve took a call.
17:03
Speaker 2: It was international fashion designer Halston. He'd read about the
17:06
Speaker 2: studio in the morning paper and wanted to know if
17:09
Speaker 2: he could throw a birthday party for the soon to
17:11
Speaker 2: be ex missus McJagger Bianca Jagger at Steve's new club.
17:15
Speaker 2: Of course, Steve exclaimed. He quickly made arrangements with Halston,
17:19
Speaker 2: hung up in deadpan to his business partner Ian Bianca
17:24
Speaker 2: Jagger is throwing her birthday party here. We need a horse.
17:29
Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this word word word mark.
17:38
Speaker 2: Benecke Studio fifty four st doorman and head of security
17:42
Speaker 2: couldn't believe what he was seeing there. Cutting through the
17:45
Speaker 2: nightly mass of wannab Be Studio fifty four entrants lined
17:48
Speaker 2: up and assembled on the other side of the velvet
17:50
Speaker 2: rope on fifty fourth Street were two women naked women
17:54
Speaker 2: on horses, riding the horses through the crowd up to
17:58
Speaker 2: the velvet rope in hopes of getting by Steve Rebel
18:01
Speaker 2: and gaining entry into the studio. The women, like everyone
18:05
Speaker 2: else in the world, had read about Bianca Jagger's party
18:08
Speaker 2: at the studio and the papers. Bianca was photographed riding
18:12
Speaker 2: into the club and to her party on the back
18:14
Speaker 2: of a beautiful white horse that Steve had arranged. So
18:17
Speaker 2: these two women figured they could one up Bianca and
18:20
Speaker 2: not only mount horses, but mount them naked and be
18:23
Speaker 2: so over the top they would be guaranteed entrance. Steve
18:27
Speaker 2: Rebel took one look at them. They were bridge and
18:30
Speaker 2: tunnel all the way. Steve told them their horses could
18:32
Speaker 2: come in, but they couldn't to take their naked asses
18:35
Speaker 2: back home to Bay Ridge or wherever the fuck, and
18:38
Speaker 2: that's exactly what happened. Steve Rebel could be vicious at
18:44
Speaker 2: the door, demeaning want to be customers right to their faces,
18:47
Speaker 2: insulting their appearance, their fashion choices, their clout. It made
18:51
Speaker 2: for a cult of exclusivity. Steve made sure the qualifications
18:55
Speaker 2: for getting inside remained hard to pin down. It wasn't
18:59
Speaker 2: just novelty or hamp or glamour. It was originality and authenticity. Disco'sally,
19:04
Speaker 2: a widowed septagenarian born in nineteen hundred who still had
19:07
Speaker 2: the craziest moves on the dance floor. Rollerina, a staple
19:11
Speaker 2: of Greenwich Village and the club scene, who was never
19:13
Speaker 2: spotted without our trademark skates on inside the club, stockbrokers
19:17
Speaker 2: blowing off steam by coming out to party in drag
19:20
Speaker 2: and mingling with drag. Queen Royalty Divine, who could be
19:23
Speaker 2: seen yucking it up with Elton John For all the
19:26
Speaker 2: excess inside the club, Steve had an eye for balance,
19:30
Speaker 2: keeping the blend of crazy characters, celebrities and regular clubgoers
19:34
Speaker 2: just right like a secret recipe Studio fifty four as
19:39
Speaker 2: eccentric regulars and velvet rowe policy became legend. Doorman Mark
19:43
Speaker 2: Bennecky regularly exchanged entrance for sex. The shot of super
19:47
Speaker 2: ego adrenaline Steve got from ruling over the crowd was
19:50
Speaker 2: better than sex. Steve may have been callous and mean
19:53
Speaker 2: to his customers outside, but inside he took care of
19:56
Speaker 2: his guests, especially his celebrity guests, showering them with drugs, alcohol, gifts,
20:02
Speaker 2: and elaborate parties. Whether it was New Year's Eve or Halloween,
20:06
Speaker 2: Bianca Jagger's birthday, Andy Warhol's, the parties at the studio
20:10
Speaker 2: were not to be topped. Magic rained from the ceiling,
20:14
Speaker 2: whether it took the form of a literal ton of
20:16
Speaker 2: glitter or wrapped gift boxes full of designer fashion. Dolly
20:20
Speaker 2: Parton held an after party at the club with live
20:23
Speaker 2: farm animals. One Halloween party featured peep show booths where
20:27
Speaker 2: inside little people performed everyday scenes. Another birthday was circus themed,
20:32
Speaker 2: with costumes provided by legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. Celebrities
20:37
Speaker 2: flocked the studio. Fifty four, Liza Minelli, Andy Warhol, and
20:41
Speaker 2: Truman Capoti. New Yorkers all adopted the club as their
20:45
Speaker 2: regular and there were more celebrities, of course. Robert de
20:48
Speaker 2: Niro co mingled with his native New Yorkers and hit
20:51
Speaker 2: out from paparazzi. Bruce Springsteen traded in his blue collar
20:54
Speaker 2: credentials for the high life. Andre the Giant hung out
20:58
Speaker 2: with the little people literally. Jagger got bored with Bianca
21:01
Speaker 2: and found a new love Texas model Jerry Hall. Keith
21:04
Speaker 2: Richards found his future wife as well another model, Patti Hanson.
21:08
Speaker 2: Steven Tyler got to know Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson got
21:11
Speaker 2: to know Brooks Shields. John Travolta got sweaty with Sylvester Stallone.
21:15
Speaker 2: Grace Jones got naked a lot. Despite the velvet rope politics,
21:20
Speaker 2: Studio fifty four on the inside, like disco culture, was
21:24
Speaker 2: about inclusivity, celebrities, working stiffs, stockbrokers, firemen, whoever. It didn't matter.
21:30
Speaker 2: As long as you were interesting and had something to offer.
21:33
Speaker 2: Young old, gay, straight, drag trans you were welcome, provided
21:37
Speaker 2: you could get inside, where you were granted access to
21:40
Speaker 2: a never ending shangri law for freaks, weirdos, and outcasts,
21:43
Speaker 2: where even the most stigmatized members of society could rub
21:46
Speaker 2: shoulders among other body parts with high society shining stars.
21:51
Speaker 2: New York's underground queer community was at home It's Studio
21:54
Speaker 2: fifty four in a way that no suburban commuters could
21:57
Speaker 2: ever be because the squares imagineas just weren't big enough.
22:02
Speaker 2: But in this nighttime Xanadu on fifty fourth, the shadowy
22:05
Speaker 2: corners of the outside world, like bus station glory holes,
22:09
Speaker 2: became the main attraction in the club. Balcony, which was
22:12
Speaker 2: rubber lined for convenience, to make for easy clean up
22:15
Speaker 2: after heat of the moment. Sex X and that was upstairs. Upstairs,
22:19
Speaker 2: the balcony at Studio fifty four was for sure for blowjobs,
22:23
Speaker 2: but if you were looking for something more, there were
22:26
Speaker 2: mattresses in the basement, grimy, filthy mattresses strewn upon the
22:30
Speaker 2: dingy basement floor of Studio fifty four for those who
22:33
Speaker 2: just needed to fuck. The basement was sort of the
22:36
Speaker 2: unofficial backstage where pretty much anything was allowed, as if
22:40
Speaker 2: the open sex and blatant drug use going on upstairs
22:43
Speaker 2: wasn't heatonistick enough. Downstairs was where the truly debauche got down.
22:49
Speaker 2: To gain access to the basement, he needed to be somebody,
22:52
Speaker 2: and Steve needed to believe you were somebody and worthy
22:55
Speaker 2: of his attention and his drugs cocaine and quailudes, lots
22:59
Speaker 2: and lots of coin and quayludes. A trusted bartender a
23:03
Speaker 2: security member would lead you behind one of the main
23:05
Speaker 2: room's bars. There was a secret door. It would open
23:09
Speaker 2: and you'd be guided down a dark, dingy stairway into
23:12
Speaker 2: a darker expanse. Instantly you transcend it from glitz to grime,
23:17
Speaker 2: a concrete floor, low ceiling, sticky stained furniture randomly placed
23:22
Speaker 2: amongst old set props from the venue's past days as
23:25
Speaker 2: a television studio, and there was little light. The throb
23:29
Speaker 2: from the massive subs upstairs, propelling those on the dance
23:32
Speaker 2: floor into primal motion. Bled through. You'd hear murmurs, random
23:36
Speaker 2: fits of funhouse mirror laughter amidst bottles being popped and
23:40
Speaker 2: blow being hoovered. Debbie Harry grabbing the ear of Andy Warhol,
23:44
Speaker 2: Truman Capoti sprawled out on a sofa in his bathrobe,
23:47
Speaker 2: champagne bottle dangling from his hand, Margaret Trudeau and Linda
23:51
Speaker 2: Ronstein hanging off of a jin soak, Ryan O'Neil sweating
23:55
Speaker 2: subterranean sex appeal, and Steve Rubelle hanging off of his
23:58
Speaker 2: every word mattresses. They were set off to the side
24:02
Speaker 2: and makeshift cubicles for privacy. If the drugs allowed, and
24:05
Speaker 2: if the blow didn't blow your top, and if the
24:07
Speaker 2: kayludes didn't cut you down to size, you could steal
24:10
Speaker 2: away for a quick romp. During the daytime, the basement
24:17
Speaker 2: was largely avoided by Studio fifty four staff, but one
24:20
Speaker 2: morning avoiding the effects of last night's party was no
24:24
Speaker 2: longer an option. The smell was too much, too strong.
24:30
Speaker 2: The doormen and money counters could barely go about their business.
24:33
Speaker 2: They swore a stray animal had climbed in and gotten trapped.
24:37
Speaker 2: The scent of rot was seeping in through the air vents. Reluctantly,
24:41
Speaker 2: Steve had the air vents inspected. What they found was
24:45
Speaker 2: rattling inside the basement ceiling air vents. A dead man.
24:51
Speaker 2: Shunned from the velvet rope too many times to count.
24:54
Speaker 2: He donned his tucks and decided to sneak in Studio
24:56
Speaker 2: fifty four through the air vent. Something jammed him up.
25:00
Speaker 2: Who knew how long he'd been trapped in there, screaming
25:03
Speaker 2: in horror, competing with the blasting music, the funhouse laughter,
25:06
Speaker 2: and the constant ecstatic din and hum of hedonism. He
25:10
Speaker 2: was dressed to the nines, dressed for the party, a
25:13
Speaker 2: party he'd never attend. Dead in the air vent, Steve
25:19
Speaker 2: breathed a sigh of relief. The air vent, not the drywall.
25:23
Speaker 2: No need for the sledgehammers, no need for poking around
25:26
Speaker 2: and potentially exposing what was hidden. Mere feet from the
25:29
Speaker 2: dead man in the ceiling rose and rows of cash,
25:32
Speaker 2: the skim hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars hidden
25:36
Speaker 2: away from the irs right there in the rafters and
25:38
Speaker 2: crawl spaces of Studio fifty four. Fuck off. Fuck off.
26:10
Speaker 2: It was New Year's Eve and disco hit maker Nile
26:12
Speaker 2: Rogers and his Sheep bandmate Bernard Edwards were at Nile's
26:15
Speaker 2: apartment a couple blocks away from Studio fifty four, fucking
26:19
Speaker 2: around on their guitars, totally dejected, angry, pissed at doorman
26:24
Speaker 2: Mark Benecke for not letting them buy the velvet rope
26:26
Speaker 2: and into the studio's much hyped, highly exclusive New Year's
26:30
Speaker 2: Eve party. To make matters worse, Nile and Bernard weren't
26:34
Speaker 2: just going to the club to party. They were going
26:36
Speaker 2: on business to meet with Grace Jones to discuss producing
26:40
Speaker 2: her next album, so in effect, they were standing her
26:43
Speaker 2: up and fucking up their business in the process. They
26:46
Speaker 2: banged on their guitars in between chugs of warm champagne
26:49
Speaker 2: straight from the bottle. Fuck off. They were messing around,
26:54
Speaker 2: channeling their anger at Benecke. At Steve Hubll Ats Studio
26:57
Speaker 2: fifty four, the house the disco while disco music was
27:01
Speaker 2: being built in part by Nile and Bernard fuck Off,
27:05
Speaker 2: and the more they played, the more it became clear
27:08
Speaker 2: that the sound of what they were messing around with
27:10
Speaker 2: was actually sounding pretty good. As they dug in fuck Off,
27:14
Speaker 2: soon organically morphed into freak Off and then freak Out,
27:20
Speaker 2: and just like that, ic created a disco anthem born
27:25
Speaker 2: out of Studio fifty four is ridiculous exclusivity. Sheikh's Le
27:29
Speaker 2: Freeque would go on to sell seven million copies and
27:31
Speaker 2: hit number one on the Billboard Hot one hundred, becoming
27:34
Speaker 2: the first song to hit number one three different times
27:37
Speaker 2: over its lifespan of twenty five total weeks on the chart.
27:41
Speaker 2: Nile Rogers and Mark Beneckey are now friends, no doubt,
27:44
Speaker 2: because Mark's actions led to the creation of Sheikh's massive hit.
27:48
Speaker 2: In part, the success of Le Freak led to now
27:52
Speaker 2: Rogers becoming an in demand producer into working with Madonna
27:55
Speaker 2: and David Bowie, not to mention the untold millions of
27:58
Speaker 2: dollars the track nerated for its songwriters, and the millions
28:04
Speaker 2: were stacking up elsewhere as well. In an interview in
28:07
Speaker 2: New York Magazine in nineteen seventy seven on the success
28:10
Speaker 2: of Studio fifty four, Steve Rubel told the magazine only
28:14
Speaker 2: the Mafia does better. That set off alarms at IRS headquarters.
28:19
Speaker 2: Clearly Rubel was joking about the amount of money the
28:21
Speaker 2: club was making, but the joke must have been rooted
28:24
Speaker 2: in some sort of truth. Everyone knew, especially IRS agents,
28:29
Speaker 2: how notorious the nightclub business was for skimming. It was
28:32
Speaker 2: a cash business, so it was easy to skim money
28:35
Speaker 2: off the top of the nightly take and not report
28:37
Speaker 2: it to the federal government and thus not pay taxes.
28:40
Speaker 2: In business taxes in nineteen seventy seven, or a robust
28:44
Speaker 2: forty eight percent, the IRS suspected Rubel was screwing Uncle
28:48
Speaker 2: out of serious coin, so they got to work. Rumor
28:54
Speaker 2: was the IRS had a plant, a snitch, a disgruntled
28:57
Speaker 2: employee or regular, someone disrespected angered by Steve Rebelt. Someone
29:01
Speaker 2: Steve treated like shit, either dressed down in front of others,
29:05
Speaker 2: kicked out of the club, or more than likely refused
29:07
Speaker 2: to let pass the velvet rope. It didn't matter either way.
29:11
Speaker 2: The snitch was pissed, angered at being treated like shit,
29:15
Speaker 2: and so he told the IRS everything he knew. The drugs,
29:19
Speaker 2: Mountains of cocaine, an endless supply of coludes. Steve kept
29:23
Speaker 2: it in his office, kept it hidden away in various
29:25
Speaker 2: spots around the club, kept drugs on him, especially when
29:29
Speaker 2: he had his big, frumpy winter coat on. Then he
29:31
Speaker 2: was definitely holding and more than drugs. The coat was
29:34
Speaker 2: big enough to stash stacks of cash as well. Cash
29:38
Speaker 2: Steve would hand out to friends, Warhol especially, but would
29:41
Speaker 2: also use it to bring back to his East Side apartment,
29:44
Speaker 2: where he had close to nine hundred grand and small
29:47
Speaker 2: bills ensconced in his safe. Ian Schrager, Steve's business partner,
29:51
Speaker 2: was rumored to be driving around the city with four
29:53
Speaker 2: hundred grand in cash in his trunk. Ian managed the
29:56
Speaker 2: nightly take and most everyone worked at Studio fifty four
30:00
Speaker 2: New Every night. At midnight, the receipts and the cash
30:03
Speaker 2: registers would be switched. The cash register receipts from the
30:07
Speaker 2: earlier part of the evening would account for one set
30:10
Speaker 2: of financial books, and the cash register receipts from the
30:13
Speaker 2: second part of the evening would account for a second
30:16
Speaker 2: set of financial books, two sets of books that Ian
30:19
Speaker 2: Schrager kept meticulous records off. When thirty Federal Irs agents
30:24
Speaker 2: rated Studio fifty four in the morning of December fourteenth,
30:28
Speaker 2: nineteen seventy eight. The books stay On, earthed in the
30:31
Speaker 2: raid made clear to them that on average, Steve Rubelle
30:34
Speaker 2: and Ian Schrager were skimming about seventy thousand dollars a
30:38
Speaker 2: night over the course of a year and a half.
30:40
Speaker 2: All in, they'd taken two point five million dollars off
30:43
Speaker 2: the top into their pockets tax free. In addition to
30:47
Speaker 2: seizing records, agents also seized trash bags filled with cash
30:51
Speaker 2: from the basement and five ounces of cocaine. Steve Rubelle
30:56
Speaker 2: was arrested that day. He and Ian hired a high
30:59
Speaker 2: profile attorney, Roy Cone, a bull of a lawyer, former
31:03
Speaker 2: attack dog for the red baiting disgraced Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy,
31:07
Speaker 2: and future mentor to the aforementioned queen's real estate developer
31:11
Speaker 2: and future President Donald J. Trump. Roy Cone did not
31:15
Speaker 2: fuck around. He dug in and began to fight for
31:17
Speaker 2: Ian and Steve. And Steve Rubell, perhaps inspired by Roy
31:21
Speaker 2: Cohen's notoriously aggressive tactics with the press in his most
31:25
Speaker 2: egregious act of hubris, decided it was a good public
31:28
Speaker 2: relations strategy to accuse White House Chief of staff Hamilton Jordan,
31:34
Speaker 2: of using cocaine in the basement of the studio earlier
31:37
Speaker 2: that year. Not about Sealed Steve and Ian's faith, The hubris,
31:41
Speaker 2: the elitism, the success Steve Ian's Studio fifty four, the
31:45
Speaker 2: high profile crime and court case were in the papers
31:48
Speaker 2: almost every day. By the time the sun came up
31:50
Speaker 2: on the party of the nineteen seventies New Yorker's Americans. Frankly,
31:55
Speaker 2: they were pissed off and tired of the elitist, bullshit celebrities,
32:00
Speaker 2: designer drugs. These were high society East Coast delete problems
32:04
Speaker 2: for a culture that was bending toward Ronald Reagan conservatism
32:08
Speaker 2: in an idealized, regressive notion of what America should be.
32:12
Speaker 2: It was schadenfreud when the judge gave Steve Rubell and
32:15
Speaker 2: Ian Schrager three and a half years in federal prison
32:18
Speaker 2: for corporate and personal tax evasion, a sentence that was
32:21
Speaker 2: ultimately reduced due to the duo's participation in helping the
32:25
Speaker 2: government convict four other New York City club owners competitors
32:29
Speaker 2: of Studio fifty four. What a swell couple of guys.
32:32
Speaker 2: The studio remained to open under new management and eventually
32:35
Speaker 2: new ownership when Steve and Ian went to jail in
32:38
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty, but effectively, with their departure in the turn
32:42
Speaker 2: of the decade, the party was over. Disco began with
32:47
Speaker 2: the spirit of inclusiveness, a music and a culture that
32:50
Speaker 2: encouraged and celebrated individuality, a culture that was welcoming no
32:54
Speaker 2: matter where you came from or what your identity was, male, female, gay, straight, trans, drag, rich, poor, young, old.
33:03
Speaker 2: It didn't matter. You were welcome, so long as you
33:06
Speaker 2: were welcoming yourself. Studio fifty four embodied the spirit of
33:10
Speaker 2: disco in a lot of ways, but not for everyone.
33:14
Speaker 2: That was the irony. Steve Rubelle's exclusive velvet rope policy
33:18
Speaker 2: smacked of elitism and led to not only the demise
33:21
Speaker 2: of Studio fifty four, but of disco as a dominant
33:24
Speaker 2: cultural force as well. Nineteen eighty nine, July Aloft in
33:32
Speaker 2: downtown Manhattan, the remnants of a dinner party turned cocaine pregame,
33:37
Speaker 2: turned night out at the club with more coke, turned
33:40
Speaker 2: after party back at the loft where it all started,
33:42
Speaker 2: with more lines and some grass to take the edge
33:45
Speaker 2: of early morning hanging out. Semi famous DJs, stockbrokers, a
33:50
Speaker 2: street artist in Grace Jones, still naked a decade plus
33:54
Speaker 2: since their days at Studio fifty four, smoking a joint
33:57
Speaker 2: in the corner, relatively chill scene, despite the better part
34:02
Speaker 2: of the evening being in the rear view. Too high
34:05
Speaker 2: to go home, too tired to do much of anything
34:08
Speaker 2: but wait on the sun. Steve Rebel is sitting alone
34:12
Speaker 2: on the sofa. He's frail, ten years removed from his
34:15
Speaker 2: heyday at Studio fifty four, his life since a prison term,
34:20
Speaker 2: a quick career resurgence upon his in Ian Schrager's release,
34:24
Speaker 2: new clubs and hotel ventures, and then the gut punt
34:28
Speaker 2: reality of AIDS. Steve was positive HIV, and on that night,
34:36
Speaker 2: the night he effectively escaped Beth Israel Medical Center to party,
34:40
Speaker 2: he looked like death, knowing that the writing was on
34:43
Speaker 2: the wall, that he only had a few days left
34:46
Speaker 2: to live. Steve had been drinking heavily and taking whatever
34:49
Speaker 2: drugs were put in front of him, and now the
34:53
Speaker 2: coughing wouldn't stop, much to the annoyance of the other
34:57
Speaker 2: guests in the loft. Steve knew it, and Steve I
35:00
Speaker 2: knew he had to get back to the hospital, and
35:02
Speaker 2: through the fits of coughing, he tried to make the
35:04
Speaker 2: dial on the rotary phone work, but no luck. Whenever
35:08
Speaker 2: he'd get his bony little finger into the hole to
35:10
Speaker 2: spin the dial, he'd start coughing again violently, and he'd
35:14
Speaker 2: have to start all over. And the coughs were thunderous,
35:18
Speaker 2: despite coming from such a frail man and seemingly endless,
35:21
Speaker 2: and driving the others in the loft to distraction. To annoyance,
35:25
Speaker 2: Steve tried to dial again, more coughing, no dice, and
35:29
Speaker 2: again more coughs. Steve's hacking was now drowning out not
35:33
Speaker 2: only the conversation but the music coming from the stereo.
35:37
Speaker 2: Soon he was likely to start waking the neighbors. Something
35:40
Speaker 2: had to be done. The owner of the loft took
35:43
Speaker 2: it upon himself to let Steve Rubel know he wasn't welcome.
35:52
Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created
36:16
Speaker 2: by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis.
36:20
Speaker 2: Credits for this episode can be found on the show
36:22
Speaker 2: notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If you're listening as
36:26
Speaker 2: a Disgraceland All Access member. Thank you for supporting the show.
36:29
Speaker 2: We really appreciate it, and if not, you can become
36:32
Speaker 2: a member right now by going to disgracelampod dot com
36:35
Speaker 2: slash Membership. Members can listen to every episode of Disgraceland
36:40
Speaker 2: ad free, Plus you'll get one brand new exclusive episode
36:44
Speaker 2: every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special audio collections, and
36:48
Speaker 2: early access to merchandise and events. Visit disgracelampod dot com
36:53
Speaker 2: slash membership for details, rate and review the show, and
36:56
Speaker 2: follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at Disgrace
37:00
Speaker 2: lamppod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at
37:03
Speaker 2: Disgrace Lamppod Rock a Roller. He's a bad, bad man.