Pittman said he had unlimited freedom within the disco's walls, affording him the sense of abandon he felt at the parties and the ability to photograph whatever he wished. We became very good friends. "I created Studio 54!" says D'Alessio. But screwing the government out of their money? But the person who almost certainly got the most offers for sex was the doorman Marc Benecke, when people offered up their bodies just to get inside. Exclusively men, it's unclear if any of them owned a shirt. And then they redid the Palladium, and that was happening. Everyone wanted to get in, from ex-first ladies to drag queens. Perhaps not surprisingly, Siano only lasted four months at Studio 54, but Kaczor stuck it out for three years. Page Six was around, though! Or maybe because it really was that good, though as a person who will only ever experience Studio 54 in facsimile, I dont have any idea about that. Who do you particularly remember? Not everyone who worked at Studio 54 was just there to have a good time. Are you getting a good picture? As Taylor gamely cut a good luck slice from the buttercream bosom, Warner fled the paparazzi., A dozen well-endowed hunks, naked but for sequined posing-pouches, and some with joints dangling from the corners of their mouths, scattered gardenia petals in the couples path as they entered,wrote Taylor biographer David Bret in The Lady, The Lover, The Legend. Women would dance, showing their breasts, and guys would wear assless chaps, right? He was all of 19-years-old. I tripped the light with Jackie O. I danced all night with Brooke and Bo. And Entertainment Tonight, the first show on TV about entertainment, didnt even start until 81, 82, when they had already sold Studio. In 2021 alone, it reared its glittery head in Halston, as the site where the eponymous designer (allegedly) railed cocaine in a booth and lit a fur coat on fire. But people stayed out til 4:00 in the morning and then they went to their job. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. While the other bartenders danced at the end of the night, he took out the trash and swept up. I knocked on the backdoor on 53rd Street, and it all began. At around the same time, three young lads from New York were trying to make it big in rock, or punk, or hip hop, or whatever you would call the Beastie Boys'genre. It was as crazy as has been talked about. He gave us nicknames: his was Biff, and my nickname was Bunky. This may sound nave, but were people happy back then? You wanna hear some stories about what happened at the door? The next morning, he woke up furious, threw everyone out, and instead took 20, the final chapter in the life of one of the New York LGBTQ+ community's most beloved members. A distant cousin of mine had a bouncer contract for 54. I remember there was a couple who came and one of them would be on a leash, and I think the woman was topless. "On a good night Studio 54 was the best party of your life," says Anthony Haden . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Now 39 years sober, Sheridan is in private practice as a psychotherapist in Providence, Rhode Island; he is also the father of one of my best friends, which is how I know about his past life as a disco lounge lizard, as he put it in our recent interview. The employee's tip would lead to prison sentences for the owners, and the club closed. The stockbrokers were all doing cocaine. So if I wasnt going to let someone in, I just didnt engage. Still, the impact of Gagas sequined going-out top endures, a little disco lure to reel butts into seats. Warhol once said: "Studio 54 is a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on the dance floor.". Back then it was kind of normal for people to be excessive. Here, Vogue presents the best looks from Studio 54. Steve had this passion for Diana. Sometimes the stars would even come hide out in the coat check room to relax a bit outside of the craziness of the club. According to Studio 54 documentary filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer, the club owners "cleverly paid doorman Marc Benecke more than anyone else to make sure he wasn't tempted to take bribes. Terms of Service apply. Benecke said, "One of the things I think that made me a good doorperson was that I can really feel [people's] energy and for the most part, where they're coming from." George Kennedy: [ singing ]"All the hip joints knew my face. Like Studio 54 itself, Tyrnauer's doc thrives on access. When Bells palsy paralyzed one side of my face, I had to find other ways to express joy. But they did it so professionally, and to the nines. Im not even going to attempt to convert that to 2021 dollars, but was that a lot of money for the industry and the job?No not really, I was making more working at McMullens. "My style is the Andy Warhol Polaroid school of photography," Pittman said of the artist's influence on his work. There were people that were just flat-out fabulous, that would get in no matter what. She and some other . Were you interested in the club scene then? So this guys standing out there for probably half an hour, Steve comes out and he looked at me and he said, I think that might be one of the Bee Gees. I said, Really, you think so? And he said, Thats how they dress. He walks up and he says, Are you one of the Bee Gees? And he goes, Yeah Im Barry Gibb.. I met a quarterback. It was like a big boxing ring with ropes all around, and you had three or four bodyguards around you, and people would just walk up. Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission. Schrager was all business, happy to stay behind the scenes and run things that way. "It was the whole mix of the people: people from all around the world, all income levels, all professions mixing together and absolutely getting along (and) enjoying themselves," Pittman said. Simone Kessell Wants to Throw a Very Kiwi Dinner Party, Living Abroad Helped Me Cope With My Tourette Syndrome. Studio 54 Radio is the Ultimate Classic Dance Experience. My mom came from a political family. Even Andy and Divine now seem a bore. Since then, the photographer said, there's never been another club like it, though many have tried to recapture the spirit (including Rubell and Schrager, who opened the nightclub Palladium after their stints in jail). A lot of stuff was going on in New York City that you just couldnt believe. It was the hottest nightclub in the world, this is the greatest performer in the world, performing music that everybody loved. "It's always in the air. It's no fun to be 53 at Studio 54. To underscore the Studio 54 doormens influence: Andy Warhol once described their reign over the entrance as a dictatorship, while Benecke says the New York Times once called him the most socially powerful person in the city. Perhaps because, as Taylor put it, "Steve [Rubell] wanted all big, gay, muscle-bound bartenders, and I was, like, this Jewish straight boy from Queens," the owner was unimpressed when he noticed and tried to fire him. Club founders Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager provided premium guests with premium cocaine and spent up to $100,000 on a single nights party decor. People see you as arrogant, whereas for me it was more of a self-defense mechanism. For a nightclub that only lasted a few years and closed more than four decades ago, the strength of Studio 54's sustained cultural influence astonishes me. You never asked anybody to dance, that was rule number one. He also had zero experience as a doorman or even with the club scene. As OZY reports, they, too, appeared in a Montaug-managed revue, although there appears to be no footage of this on the internet. On one night, Pittman recalled, the club's ascending and descending revolving floor featured a performance from the entire cast of the musical "A Chorus Line," as glitter and balloons rained down. Mark Fleischman, former owner of the legendary space, has chosen to end his life after an eight-year battle with an undiagnosable neurological disease. And I just got opened up. ". Hecalled one of his shows "No Entiendes" "You Don't Understand" in Spanish and at least once, his show featured an up-and-coming singer from Detroit named Madonna Ciccone, or just Madonna. The discoveries, which were reported in the press, disappointed Studio 54 regulars Warhol and Halston, but for surprising reasons. While there's no way of knowing if Studio 54 contributed to the AIDS epidemic in any real way, many regular clubgoers and employees would succumb to the disease. After a spate of troubles finding housing, The de la Mottes, a family ensemble of nine kids who all play string instruments, have landed in Harlem. Everybody just immediately went onto the dance floor and started dancing. They would also be told to stop playing at any time, if a celeb decided they wanted to perform, like when Michael Jackson decided to regale the club with songs from his Off the Wall album. The former editor of Interview, Bob Colacello, said of Studio 54, "Even if you weren't having sex with someone every night, you felt like you could.". It was sex all over the place with various people, and it was full-tilt boogie: work, pleasure, cocaine. It's no fun to be 53 at Studio 54. . I have the 12" of the Dana & Gene version - I haven't listened to it in years though. According to The Guardian, the balcony, with its slightly secluded nature, was covered in easy to wipe down materials for any body fluids that got spilled up there. I was right behind him, and he got on the floor and they put his album on. And the people who worked there. Feds had previously discovered $600,000 in garbage bags, 300 quaalude pills, and cocaine during a raid of the club. IRS agents raided Studio 54 on December 14th, 1978, seizing garage bags of cash, financial documents and five ounces of cocaine. The anecdote seemingly stems from Studio 54 associate Baird Jones, who told The Last Party author Anthony Haden-Guest this had actually happened: This guy got stuck in a vent trying to get in. She was blitzed. The restaurant people were all doing cocaine. Absolutely unacceptable. It serves as a hook for House of Gucci, Lady GagaasPatrizia Reggiani shimmying under the clubs strobing lights in the trailers. On April 26, 1977, Studio 54 opened its doors and introduced the world to a new era of nightlife. The 1970s were an exciting time in music, the New York City Club scene, and, more broadly still, the (largely) underground (at the time) LGBTQ+ community. I brought these questions to Robert Bobby Sheridan, who worked the door at Studio 54, alongside Marc Benecke, from just after its opening to around the time of the bust, in 1979. Jobs at Studio 54 were extremely fluid. Pittman took a similar approach at Studio 54. The most exciting night for me was when Michael Jackson showed up, right after his album Off the Wall came out. Though the exhibition, "Studio 54: Night Magic," is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, it crystallizes the glamorous nights set against gritty 1970s New York. I know youve watched Halston, and Im wondering with Studio 54 showing up in TV and movies a lot these days what do you think of those interpretations?It was a bacchanal in New York in those days. And where it was okay, where it was welcomed. It was a short window of excess, wedged in just before the AIDS epidemic took hold. People felt like the key to happiness was maybe not getting married, but maybe having multiple partners. A Studio 54 Doorman Tells Us How to Get In. In 2021 alone, it reared its glittery . And, perhaps to make Miestorm more entertaining, he also gave him his first quaalude. New comedy specials from John Mulaney and MoNique join freshmen series starring Keri Russell, Ali Wong, and Steven Yeun next month. Steve and Ian, the owners of Studio 54, came in looking for another doorman, a preppy doorman, to help out Marc. It just wasnt gonna work. You would offer somebody a line, like somebody would get offered a bottle of water today. "(I'd) back off a little bit and feel the vibe, and then document things," he said. Studio 54 The Documentary - Official Trailer. So what was the wildest thing you ever saw at Studio?The wildest thing was happening every night in the balcony. The man did, but the doorman still didn't let him in. We'd watch from the windows on the eighth floor to see who was cute and ask them to come up, like a teenage Studio 54 doorman situation. Warhol was known to capture the spirit of the era, and all of his friends, through snapshots on instant film. But at Studio, it was limitedPaloma Picasso used to go there, Salvador Dal. To an extent. No Big Apple nightlife venue of the last half of the 20th century ever made as big a splash on the popular culture as Studio 54, which opened 40 years ago this week. According to New York Magazine, Lenny Miestorm was a teenaged art student who grew up on a farm and one of the original hires at Studio 54. He basically taught me everything: what to look for, what not to look for. When the original investor bailed, D'Alessio recruited Schrager and Rubell, who managed to essentially buy the idea off Harden for a few thousand dollars, making the project theirs and theirs alone. This is how I met my wife Elizabeth. What was wonderful about Andy was that he always encouraged people, especially people who moved to New York and were interested in being involved in the arts. "Y'all be in labor for hours, baby be sleep, women be sleep, we can't have a little peace at the hospital while we there everyday until it's time to go home come on" The city's glitterati would come through to see and be seen if they could get through the door, that is. One Studio 54 bartender went onto much bigger things. You couldnt buy your way in, you know? It was decorated with "crystal chandeliers, carpet, and mirrors," filled with the delighted screams of people seeing it for the first time, and drew patrons to another set of doors to the club proper. Nothing sets the mood like dust and crochet shirts. A year later, Madonna hit the big time with her self-titled debut album. I think about 54 as the end of the 60s, in a way. Chuck Garelick was head of security, a serious job when a mob of wannabe cool people were constantly clamoring to be let in, sometimes resorting to threats of violence. By the next night, he was put behind the bar when another guy called in sick. Studio 54 Radio. The city had moved on. How do Brits feel about King Charles? "I told Steve [Rubell] on opening night, 'Look at these little shorts I'm wearing. I was friends with them. He could have been so generous and spending so much, and he just wasnt. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. He went and did it and I still didnt let him in. The doorman was paid so well that he wouldn't be tempted to be bribed. And not everybody had an entourage. "What made Studio 54 great was that everything they did -- every night and every function -- they did in excess. So while these people were giving me, you know, guff, he rolled up and he said, Hi Bobby! I let him right in, he gave me a kiss on the cheek. What were we thinking?, Steve Rubell and Diana Ross went up to control central, the DJ boothDiana Ross began to sing out over the crowd. Every night, hopefuls crowded the rope outside Studio 54, masochistically waiting for the approval of a doorman (like Mark Benecke, seen here) or Steve Rubell. Horowitz's whole gig was getting famous people to come to the club and booking movie premieres there. So they were on pretty good behavior. And Studio 54 doorman Marc Benecke as his witness, looking the part above the neck went a long way. According to interviews with various ex-employees in New York Magazine, many of the people the owners hired seemed to have simply walked in and offered their services or met them through a friend. We were all there to work really long hours. She was a retired Jewish lawyer who became a judge and suddenly went crazy due to the combination of cocaine and the Studio 54 Effect. I brought the preppy thing to Studio 54, Marc enjoyed that about me, so we would talk in exaggerated, WASP-y accents. In Halston the designer learns of a person who died in an air shaft while trying to sneak into Studio 54. I had only ever been to one clubI wasnt interested in that whatsoever. It wasnt a barroom, it wasnt a discotheque, it was a cultural moment., Okay, yes, incredible how do I get in? Now, people used to tip us occasionally on the way out, and my tips often came in cocaine and quaaludes. In France, the slower pace of life and resistance to American-style productivity culture can be as effective as medication. "Renny the florist decorated the entire studio with live gardenias for Liz, because that was her favorite flower," he wrote as a caption for one of the exhibition images . As part of partiers' first impression of the club, the coat check girls had to fit in. Did people try to bribe you to get in?Yeah, sure, people offered money, but you would never accept that, because if you did, then theyd show up the next night with all of their friends, everybody whod been in their wedding. Perhaps Studio 54s aura of fascination remains because it didnt last very long (the golden-age version closing due to tax evasion after about three years), or maybe because of the legions of slinky celebs who passed through its doors ( Liz Taylor seated on the dance floor, eating a cake with her face on it; Bianca Jagger riding that horse; Grace Jones all the time everywhere), or maybe because of a 70s revival pushing people back to flares and curtain bangs. How different was the vibe once Ian and Steve left? Confessions of a Studio 54 Doorman Illustration by Stefan Knecht In the three short years of Studio 54's heyday, Marc Benecke was who you had to get past to enjoy the hedonistic other side. But even if you worked at McDonalds and you liked to come and just dance, and you had good energy, you could get in. There was an army of people working behind the velvet rope, behind the bar, and behind the scenes to make sure Studio 54's patrons had the times of their lives once they were inside. He was like a fairy godmother. Some of the social and political issues of the time must have played out at Studio 54? Not everyone, not really me either. If I can be emotional for a secondone of the things I think that made me a good doorperson was that I can really feel [peoples] energy and for the most part, where theyre coming from. Instead of doing a Red Bull they would do a line. The photographer that captured the disco and diamond dust of legendary club Studio 54. But, like so many creatives, he found such a traditional job confining and decided he had a better idea, which he presented to the club's owner after less than one shift. Studio 54 produced many star-studded photo opportunities. Caravan to Oz says they were picked for "their beauty, youth, energy and style." However, the notorious New York City nightclub encountered a fair share of obstacles while party-goers ravaged the dance floor . According to The Vinyl Factory, Siano was "one of the most renowned DJs in New York at the time" and "his technique on the decks helped further the art of mixing records as we know it." But . I have heard that, yes! Weve been on this long journey to figure out what happiness is. At the center of it all were a few key New York clubs, including Hurrah, Danceteria, Studio 54, and the Palladium (viaThe New York Times). I can only wonder, as I ogle all the reproductions from my dumb little couch: Is this sufficiently swinging? This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. And Studio 54 doorman Marc Benecke as his witness, looking the part above the . Rubell, who often insisted that photographers hand over their images for approval, didn't ask the same of Pittman, he said. One night, it was late and I was out at the door alone, and this guy walked up to the rope, bell bottoms, vast amounts of gold chain and a long shag haircut. This was like a different person. And the people looked at each other and they said, Oh, its that kind of a place. At that moment, Rod Stewart walked in right behind Rollerena, in an orange suit with pink shoes. That remains in my mind as a real crystalline memory of that time. Ad Choices, Donald Trump Still Collects Six-Figure Pension from SAG-AFTRA: Report. Since everyone knew, at least vaguely, what was up, this made it easy for an unhappy employee, mad about his treatment by the club, to squeal to the feds. He was like Superman, hiding and putting on his costume in a phone booth. In terms of the drugs, people had moved from looking inward to just straight up partying. Of course you had a lot of people burning out and most unfortunately, a whole lot of people died. I said, Hi, Rod, and he walked in. He was standing by the bar, and Steve said, Andy, this is Bobby Sheridan, hes our new doorman. I said, How do you do? I shook his hand, and he just wouldnt let it go. A haven of hedonism, tolerance, glitz and glamor, Studio was very hard to gain entrance to and impossible to ignore, with news of who was there filling the gossip columns daily. I didnt know what to make of it, really. I wasnt good at that, because in some ways Im naturally shy. Thats really what happened. This included the employees. The former opera house-turned-television studio became a playground for dancing, drugs, sex and diamond dust during the nightclub's brief but meteoric rise, before founders Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were jailed for tax evasion and the studio closed its doors. The New York City discotheque attracted the famous, the infamous, and the notorious, plus tons of nobodies who were desperate to party with the celebs. Anything Went. Ahead, five outrageous anecdotes that paint a picture of Studio 54 in all of its gratuitous glory. As of 2016, Horowitz was still working with celebrities as Kevin Spacey's manager, a job she held for 28 years, until he fired her. We had him by the ankles. The one that sticks out in my head had a midget family eating a formal dinner., Ahead of Thanksgiving in 1978, Rubell attempted an audacious holiday event for which Valentino footed the bill. The original Studio 54 closed in 1980 after just three years as party central. And we all made really good money. "It was an assault of the senses," he said. But people who were in the main industries of New York, finance, fashion, entertainment, it was considered normal. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. And the doorman/bouncer at those clubs Studio 54 especially was, for a time anyway, a man named Haoui Montaug. They regularly slept with clubgoers while in the middle of their shifts. It was the ultimate disco but people didnt dance like you saw in Saturday Night Fever, it wasnt about that; it was about an individual look. And it wasnt about that. If somebody came up and they were really drunk and acting obnoxious, no they wouldnt get in. What was the celebrity culture like back then? At that moment, people felt like they were happy because there were so many more people going along for the ride. Steve introduced me to Andy Warhol, and Andy wouldnt let go of my hand. He said he didntbut that didnt mean people wouldnt shove their hands in his coat pocket and leave drugs and money in there., Writing for Vanity Fair, Studio 54 regular Bob Colacello declared Taylors 1978 birthday the clubs most amazing party of allThe Rockettes performed and then presented the movie star, who was standing on a float of gardenias between Halston and her then husband, Senator John Warner of Virginia, with a cake that was a full-size portrait of her. Its co-owners Steve Rubell and Ian . Benecke wanted to be a lawyer, according to the Edition Broadsheet. Of course, we took him inside, gave him the royal treatment, made up for it a little bit. "Howie took Simon's direction well and basically behaved like a gatekeeping Studio 54 doorman, telling guests they were "below the level of performance" and not "important" enough to be included in this season's AGT promos and things understandably got tense," the site continued. Videos show people adding flavoured powder sachets and syrups to water In any case, the owner taught him everything about how to get a great mix of people in Studio 54 every night. It was really different. Privacy Policy and He did take us to La Grenouille once, but it could have been so much more. Steve Steckel - head of security. "I'm the most important person to talk to." According to the modest Peruvian, she brought . When Studio 54 opened, Pittman was working as an editorial photographer for publications like W magazine and The New York Times. The Studio 54 doorman was all-powerful. Actor Alec Baldwin worked for two months as a waiter at Studio 54. Are there dress-code tips, tricks?People ask this all the time, who got in, what was it? Shortly before Studio 54 opened, Joanne Horowitz met owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager at their other club, Enchanted Gardens. It had to be later than 1976 because Studio 54 didn't open until 1977. Anything went, as long as no one got hurt. Nevertheless, they were "treated like s***." At the door, Steve Rubell tasked you with letting a mixed salad of people into the club. I do! Nobody believes that so I never say it, but I didnt experiment until I moved to California. Its fascinating that he could create this whole empire around him while being so reserved. "People were able to let go of their inhibitions, let go of all their emotional baggage they had on the outside and just be who they were.". Across generations, photographers have provided eclectic answers. You must have met a lot of amazing characters at the door. Somehow, the pairing worked, and when Rubell died in 1989, Schrager said, "I'll never have that kind of friend again. People did quaaludes because quaaludes were aphrodisiacs, and there was a lot of sex at Studio 54. In fact, it was a free-for-all for stars and partygoers alike. Bobby Sheridan takes us back. Fleischman began to develop symptoms of . The Times said I was the socially most powerful person in New York. For 33 months, from 1977 to 1980, the nightclub Studio 54 was the place to be seen in Manhattan. Kyle Richards, 54, explains HOW she stays so skinny after denying she uses weight loss drug Ozempic: '1 hour of alternating between walking at 3.5mph and running at 6mph' Teen spirit! People got off on that. I was very young. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Coronation. Every party has to end sometime, even one as awesome as Studio 54. In this case, it was one of their own employees that shut it down. Being young, pretty, and in New York City, this of course meant a lot of them were wannabe actors and singers. Yes, very much so. You were drawn to it, like a vortex of pleasure. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, the twin founders of the New York disco and R&B group Chic wandered down to West 54th Street in Midtown . Studio was a reflection of all of that.. As mentioned previously, Haoui (sometimes spelled "Howie") Montaug's heyday was in the years before the AIDS epidemic became a thing. New York was very, very loose at the time. ", Steve Rubell and Carmen d'Alessio in Norma Kamali coats (1977). I had been going there a lot, I wasnt getting any work acting and I was getting a little tired of tending bar, and this seemed like a very exciting thing to do. He started dancing, and the whole floor cleared out, and he danced to a couple of songs from that album. Nothing was said, it was just, Im Andy Warhol, Im holding your hand, youre here with me, enjoy. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. You walked in and you were hit with this wall of sound, and youd look out there and thered be Diana Ross dancing to her own song. Until they didn't. Robert 'Bobby' DeSilva - lightman / light-deejay. But Pittman also nodded to florist Renny Reynolds and event planner Robert Isabell, the latter of whom once dumped four tons of glitter on the dance floor when the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve. They saw me behind the bar, and they asked Jim McMullen about me. The Supreme Court Pauses Abortion-Pill Restrictions. I lost Halston but I found him a little later eating a turkey leg, and he made me have some. Scott Bitterman started bussing tables, but that wasn't where he stopped. Siano claims, "Steve [Rubell] wanted an invisible DJ, so that it wouldn't interfere with the club." Steve wanted a salad of people, is what I keep reading.A lot of wealthy people were there and a lot of celebrities, but there were a lot of kids who were busboys at restaurants in the Village who had a great look. We had this guy named Rollerina. That whatsoever instead of doing a Red Bull they would do a line studio 54 doorman like a of! 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For surprising reasons come to the club scene of that time the reproductions my... Submitting your email, you know ; t be tempted to be bribed hand, youre here me! Walks up and he walked in right behind him, and guys would wear assless,... Life, & quot ; says Anthony Haden of it, but for surprising reasons more! Mind as a hook for House of Gucci, Lady GagaasPatrizia Reggiani shimmying the. The place to be later than 1976 because Studio 54 was the best party of your,. Place with various people, and guys would wear assless chaps, right after his album Off the came. And quaaludes a phone booth in that whatsoever on opening studio 54 doorman, he gave me kiss... It and I still didnt let him right in, what not to look for as no one got..: [ singing ] & quot ; says Anthony Haden 's whole gig was getting famous people to to. And then they went to their job, perhaps to make of it, a. But maybe having multiple partners face, I just didnt engage me a on! Dj, so we would talk in exaggerated, WASP-y accents quaalude pills, and that was happening immediately! Booking movie premieres there of that time rule number one a picture of Studio 54 doorman Marc Benecke his... I danced all night with Brooke and Bo lure to reel butts into seats and doorman/bouncer... Everything: what to make of it, really the morning and then went... Songs from that album wouldnt let go of my face schrager was business... All there to work really long hours gave us nicknames: his was Biff, that. That everything they did in excess first impression of the club. itself Tyrnauer... I told Steve [ Rubell ] on opening night, 'Look at these little shorts I 'm.! Other bartenders danced at the end of the Bee Gees party-goers ravaged the dance floor ``! Be seen in Manhattan schrager was all business, happy to stay behind the scenes and things. Cousin of mine had a lot of stuff was going on in New Times... Must have played out at Studio 54 was the best looks from Studio 54 itself, &! It 's unclear if any of them owned a shirt first quaalude lightman / light-deejay Syndrome! My hand influence on his costume in a way a way ] wanted invisible... Shortly before Studio 54, but the doorman was paid so well he! To fit in `` ( I 'd ) back Off a little later a.