Studio 54

To inform people about one of the most elite, outrageous, one of a kind “mother of all nightclubs”.

Studio 54 was the universal epicenter of ’70s hedonism. A thundering disco hothouse of beautiful people, endless cocaine, and every brand of sex…the scent of it subtly lingering in the air, a sensuous nuance of the distinctive atmosphere of the 54.

Every year millions of night clubs opens and closes all over the world but none of them could gain the reputation, success and fame of the legendary “Studio54”.

Studio54 is as a “tossed salad” because there were Straights, gays, bisexuals, transvestites, transsexuals, blacks, whites, young, old, celebrities, common folk, famous, infamous, etc…coming from every corner of the world.

In our Post we will be discussing what is studio 54, the importance of this club and how it ended.

1. What exactly was — and is — Studio 54
   Well, Studio 54 will forever reign as the hottest, most elite and outrageous, one-of-a-kind “mother of all nightclubs”. During its early reign, Studio 54 was like real-life theatre, with a fascinating cast of characters being selected for each night’s grand cabaret performance party from the multitudes clamoring to get past the famed velvet ropes. Celebrities galore made the VIP guest list posed for the paparazzi, often disappearing from sight into the notoriously infamous basement of the club. Gaining entry into Studio 54 became an almost spiritual quest for many hungering to be a part of the “beautiful crowd”. Celebrity status itself did not guarantee the entry into the exclusive 70s party palace or inclusion in the inner circle of the studios VIP list.



2. Why was Studio54 that important
   
   • The Ambience
     Studio54’s undeniably feel-good music, off-the-wall styles or anything else that could ever again be recreated. It was a mood, an atmosphere; a care free, no holds-barred, non-stop party of seemingly uncountable indulgent and excesses. It was a magical moment in time where people felt they were in a party land for the whole world.
   • The outer atmosphere
     Standing outside the infamous velvet ropes, what people did and said in order to get in was like in some dream state…women selling their bodies, and men selling their women in order to gain access to the mother of all clubs…a car jumping the sidewalk to do away with the doormen…a woman willing to strip totally naked to get in (she did and got in)…money bribes by the thousands)!
3. How it ended
   The reasons Studio54 finally closed down (in 1986) can’t actually be simply summed up.
   After the owners Steve & Ian had gone to prison for tax evasion and drugs Mr. Fleishman purchased the club that turned off the former inner circle, as was no longer really “the place to be seen. The criteria for entry became much more lax and were drawing a different kind of crowd under the Fleishman ownership. Meanwhile The Disco craze was coming to an end, with the notorious anti-Disco movement led by Chicago DJ Steve Dahl. AIDS had come into the public consciousness, putting a damper on the people’s “wild ways.” The “elite” crowd that frequented the club before the “big bust” was afraid of bad press and/or implication regarding their drug use, promiscuous activities, and so on. A kind of shadow just eventually fell over the place…
   Given all this, Mr. Fleischmann claimed to be “burnt out” after owning/running it after 4 years.