famous nyc nightclubs 1990s

As a visual person, wherever I pointed my camera, there was an explosion of fabulousness to capture. Popular history claimed the citys dance scene died under the strain of the forces that killed the disco craze. He studied a doctorate in English literature at Columbia University by day, and clubs by night. That was his niche. It also had some serious DJs and parties complete with a state of the art sound system and light show. Revisiting the Hedonistic Bliss of New York's Legendary '90s Nightlife Scene. Lot 61 - The dominating force of the early aughts of New York nightlife, Amy Sacco actually opened the uber successful Lot 61 in the late 1990's. The bar was famous for having 61 flavors of . The streets were grimy and the neighborhoods segregated but in the club world, we were integrated and drugs were not necessarily part of the experience. After a few weeks at the same location (if we stayed at the same location) we picked up more and more people who would hear about it, and then the parties would get out of control. Spas business model was predicated on pricey entrance fees, a booming sound system, and a crowd mix that would let you know that you were partying at a nightclub in New York City. At House of Yes, one of this tales endless postscripts played out as real-time legend. This will help to share the story with others. How all of this was financed might be the best Studio 54 story of all: when the IRS shut things down in 1979, it was because theyd found garbage bags of money (and drugs) stashed throughout the club. Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards at the Danceteria in 1980. For artists and performers it was a golden age with clubs needing to book events seven-days-a-week. The DJ would be in command, and when the music reached a crescendo, the entire room seemed to climax together in unison. That was what enabled me to move to NYC. Another pair of parties that took place during Lawrences week here directly reinforced this lineage. He is also a chameleon who moved seamlessly through the multiverse of colliding worlds that was New York City nightlife in the 1990s. At The World we would see the latest house hits performed every week. Filled with foam bubbles, the kids all had good clean fun bopping around in there. A NEW collection of photos reveal the outrageous antics of the so-called 'Club Kids' who dominated the New York City party scene in the 1990s. Those flyers went everywhere. The last time we were there, we shared a table with a guy spending his last night on the town before heading to prison for a year. The bar was famous for having 61 flavors of martinis and a delicious cosmopolitan, which seem so horribly lame now but were actually headline grabbing at the time. Regardless, I ended up giving an employee from Mars a cassette which had hip-hop on one side and house music on the other, and somehow she gave it to the club director Yuki Watanabe who actually called me and gave me my first job as a DJ in the basement. Pictured: Debbie Harry on the stage before a performance. Studio B Dancing, late night parties and a DIY vibe in a Brooklyn nightclub. Fabulous was the word of the era, and it came in all forms. The Tunnel might well have started the trend of making the most popular clubs in New York a) in Chelsea, b) in historic buildings ironically co-opted for neon graffiti 1990s-type purposes and c) enormous. Something went wrong. April 21, 2023. Reading Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor as a clubber in the city is to reflect not only on whats been lost over the past three decades, but on how the sounds, events and characters at the center of Lawrences story still influence NYCs nightlife. As time went on, I was going out to find new spaces for these parties. One of our first spots was Brothers Barbecue our dream place, cause it was a soul restaurant and was small. At times, it seemed a continuation of the classic New York story one that was interrupted by Mayor Giulianis zero tolerance policies of the 90s, which included a moral crusade on nightlife by excavating and enforcing a race-dividing civic ordinance from the 1920s called a cabaret license at others it was a brand-new one with familiar roots. (Steve Eichner) NEW YORK CITY - New York City after dark in the '90s was an ecstatic fever dream fueled by club kids . Flashs skills at cutting up records, and his interpretation of the cross-genre flow at the heart of the citys original sound (disco, rap, funk, dance-punk, Latin, mutant electronic, all in the mix) were rapturous and timeless. The event wound down in 2007, when the bar went out of business and the MisShapes started touring, released a book, and were over it. The venue shut down nearly a decade ago after the building's owner, New York University, raised rent, and now the building has NYU classrooms. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. See more ideas about night club, new york night, copacabana. The East Villages Fun Gallery, co-founded by arts doyenne Patti Astor (one of the stars of the first hip-hop film, 1982s Wild Style), presented the Bronxs finest graffiti writers next to future fine-art legends Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Drag queens, crossdressers, facepaint, and sexiness everywhere. The most famous version of Danceteria, one of the most iconic New York night clubs of the '80s, was located at 30 West 21st St. That party, nicknamed the Loft, basically launched global DJ and club culture; and in presenting its details, Lawrence suddenly had a career documenting the founding corner of contemporary dance music. It was going to be hard to go back to playing my other bumble-fuck gigs after having this taste of the high life. Studio 54 took its disco very seriously, Le Clique was all about the Moulin Rouge. US residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data. This is a list of notable current and former nightclubs in New York City. The original club closed in 1981, and now it's kinda surprising that this building which has studio space for the Roundabout Theatre Company and a restaurant called 54 Below was once home to an impossibly glamorous dance club. Luckily, I did a good job that night plus, it probably didnt hurt that I was cheap labor. Often homemade or assembled from thrift-store items, the outfits were unique and bold expressions of identity. Oops. Even Emmy-award winning actor Peter Dinklage has a scar to remember (from his neck to his eye-brow to be exact) after getting kneed in the temple while rocking a bit too hard on stage with his former band, Whizzy, which ironically became good practice for his future on Game of Thrones. Warhol reportedly held court in the clubs private back room almost nightly, with substances and strip teases always on the docket. Address: 289 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10001. It wasnt just about the law. Club flyers, by design, were ephemeral objects distributed on street corners, outside of nightclubs and concert halls, in clothing stores and retail shops, and were not intended to be preserved for posterity. The venue was the epicenter of the no wave and new wave scenes, and was frequented by Nico, The B-52's, Black Flag, Jean-Michel Basquait, Keith Haring, Madonna, and David Byrne, who immortalized the club in the Talking Heads hit "Life During Wartime." This two floor bar offers "softened socialization" and on-tap cocktails like their "Wiggle Room Martini.". Out of the capes that stood up like tee pees, a waltz with the boys and a Russian song by the production singer proceeded. New York City nightlife has always been pivotal within pop culture. Founded by Italian immigrant John Perona as a speakeasy on 52nd street in 1931, El Morocco would become famous for its ostentatious zebra print interior as well as parade of the glamorous people (including Marilyn Monroe) who sought an escape from Prohibition. I walk up Crosby Street these days past posh new hotels and boutiques having forgotten that at 116 and 160 were parties I attended. They were all alphabetically organized with little index cards like youd see in libraries. The World, like many NYC clubs, was a place for the mafia to launder drug and prostitution money, so the clubs didnt need to make a profit, which is one reason the scene was so vibrant. Also, he was always taking photos. Drenched in throbbing neon while whirling away inside the relentless, pulsating music, a simple passing glance and an open mind could lead to the journey of a lifetime. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. Download the STARZ app to catch up on Power now, and dont miss the Season 3 premiere on Sunday, July 17 at 9pm on STARZ. Looking back, Spa seemed to be holding onto a different era as a new business model of bottle service emerged. Spa After his genuinely outstanding Life closed down, Uncle Steve Lewis brought much of his gang to Spa, a raucous water themed dance club near Union Square. With the club opening hosted by Andy Warhol, this nightlife attraction was destined for greatness. Larry Levan photographed in the DJ booth at Paradise Garage in 1978. Many participants of the Life and Death tour came to that weeks installment of the Loft, at 46, the planets longest-running classic club night. These were one version the best version of a new New York dancefloor. The historic venue was eventually purchased by New York University, and is now an enormous dorm for NYU students. Revisiting the Hedonistic Bliss of New York's Legendary '90s Nightlife Scene. Steve Eichner was just a starry-eyed kid with big dreams when he packed up his camera gear in his hometown of Long Beach, Long Island, and set up his first NYC photo studio at 27th St. and 11th . I was a waitress in the day or worked in the clubs as a bathroom attendant or coat checker. Lotus was meant to be a place for everyone, dancing dining, conversation and wildness, and as the Meatpacking District developed, the space was a raging success. Studio 54 and other clubs have, since the 1960s, been exercises in . To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Visual artist Walt Cassidy, who partied with the Club Kids, documented the uniquely self-indulgent era of nightlife through provocative images in his book New York: Club Kids. Dynell still plays around town, but on this weekend, he and a coterie of other artists and gallery owners, DJs and musicians, writers and editors, club owners and scenesters, were detailing the circumstances of Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor to a rapt audience. Franois Kevorkian is one of the New Yorks beloved dance music elders, bridging todays city to the one depicted in Life and Death (he rose to prominence as a DJ and remixer in the early 80s), continuing to champion musical multiplicity, balancing new and old (at his Cielo swan song he presented Scuba, a popular British DJ who plays minimal techno). Owned by Peter Gatien, the church turned nightclub was at the center of the punk and disco scene in the '80s. The building was remodeled in 2003, and is now home to a handful of stores including the St. Mark's Market, a Supercuts, and a Chipotle. Studio 54 was the pillar of the New York club scene for many years. Below, we look at twenty-nine engrossing images of the underground rave scene as it grew throughout the 1990s: Ravers often wore multi-colored plastic bracelets known as "kandi," which often featured the words "peace love unity respect." Those who wore them were referred to as "kandi kids." MDMA, also known as Ecstasy or Molly, became the . I was lucky to see Paris Grey sing Big Fun, Good Life with Inner City (one of the first house hits) as well as Bas Noir, Jomanda, A Guy Called Gerald, Liz Torrez, Loleatta Holloway, Two Tons of Fun, and even XLR doing Work It to the Bone.. Cree McCree talked with the photographer about his career and a handsome new book collection of his work for PKM. One of the biggest turning points in my life was getting that job. Steve Eichner is a legendary nightlife photographer. On Now Bar and Lounge. Here, we present . My favorite was the shampoo room at Limelight. One of the oldest and most historic nightclubs in NYC, the Latin themed night club oozed with Old Hollywood glamour and sophistication.With performances from some of the largest acts in show business this establishment has stood the test of time. I remember the burnt orange ambience of the club lighting, how it was bathed in smoke. On the eve of a week that would see New York City host a handful of events to celebrate and spotlight the release of Tim Lawrences new book, Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980-1983 a study of what the author convincingly identifies as the citys cultural renaissance, when hip-hop, new wave and dance music collided in clubs like Mudd and the Paradise Garage one of the books characters was making a rare Brooklyn appearance at a space in Bushwick. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. The Bottom Line was a fixture of Greenwich Village nightlife from 1974 on through 2004, and featured performances by Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Hall & Oates, Laura Nyro, Neil Young, Dolly Parton, The Ramones, Miles Davis, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, The Violent Femmes, The Police, Linda Rondstadt, Todd Rundgren, and many others. Spanning the late 1980s through the late 1990s, when nightlife buzz travelled via flyers and word of mouth, No Sleep features a collection of artwork from the personal archives of DJs, promoters, club kids, nightlife impresarios, and the artists themselves. Scroll To Top. Strippers were dispatched throughout the club to help encourage some serious debauchery. The origin of that lane is the New York described in the pages of Lawrences book. / copacabana. Emotionally, critically, intellectually, its hard to say that New York is the kind of mecca for dance music that it was in the 70s and 80s. Nowadays, the notion of a DJ running the gamut from dub to hip-hop to disco/house to techno to African sounds, playing to a large crowd that takes it all in, is less norm than its own peculiar lane. As Lawrence writes, the Downtown communitys cross-cultural collaborative spirit was not limited to clubs. The second version of The Knitting Factory was located on 74 Leonard St. from 1994 through 2009, and hosted gigs by a wide range of indie and experimental artists. But CBGBs was not for the faint of heart, fights and substance-fueled violence were a regular occurrence, including Dee-Dee Ramone who reportedly had frequent jealous battles with his groupie girlfriend (picture broken beer bottle threats and smashed windshields). 12 Lost Gay Bars of New York City Michael Ryan. The years that followed still brought plenty of noteworthy nights and denim-drenched outfits. Lawrence dug into the three years between the decades dawn and the oncoming midnight of the crack and Aids epidemics, before Ronald Reagans neoliberal policies and Manhattans first real-estate boom took hold of New Yorks cultural life. Yet, what changes when you leave a longtime residence? We brought in a shitty sound system and set it up in the back, and it just took off from there. Better yet, you could dance to that transformation. The visuals of the clubs were extremely enjoyable. One of the biggest was at this olive oil warehouse in Tribeca with no working elevator. The original Max's Kansas City was a popular hangout for a wide range of artists and writers in the late '60s Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Serra, Phillip Glass, William S. Burroughs, and Allen Ginsburg, just to name a few and was the epicenter of early '70s glam rock scene, with Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop as bar regulars. Featuring dance cages and several private rooms dispersed along its distinctive narrow length, The Tunnel was a mecca for club kids of all types who flooded to its specialty rooms designed like Victorian libraries, S&M dungeons, and other whimsical locales, including a separate gay bar in the back of the tunnel. Even the co-ed bathroom at Tunnel was a place for merrymaking. Paradise Club, The Times Square Edition, 701 7th Ave, New York, NY 10036. When nightlife expert Tim Lawrence came to the city to promote his book about the early 80s, the clubs he went to revealed how much has (and hasnt) changed. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. The venues didnt matter to me. The space pioneered a lot of lighting and projection effects, and hosted early electronic music performances by Terry Riley and Morton Subotnick. The timing and location of the nights entertainment Grandmaster Flash at House of Yes was entirely coincidental. Walt Cassidy is still . Looking through old flyers is to walk through a ghost town buried under high-rise condos, Starbucks and CVS stores, and remarkably anonymous 21st century architecture. (The party took place the night of the second presidential debate, which made Shermans selection of Sympathy For the Devil beyond pointed.).

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