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Just in time for the Halloween season I thought we would hit up on the Party Monster days. Otherwise known as ‘Party Monster and the Club Kids age’.

Just so you know where we’re coming from here, there have been books written and film made about a real group of people known as The “Club Kids”. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s groups of young people went clubbing – nothing remarkable about that. But somehow they got themselves known, well known, famous and then infamous simply for being guys and gals who went partying – it was a social group that, up until then, had not been seen. There was something in the music and the culture of the time that drew this glamorous, outrageous way of dressing out of young people and the Club Kids went all out to get themselves known for being known.

We might call them ‘IT’ girls now but back then they were simply Party Monsters. To be one of the set you had to be young, usually under 25, you would have to have a sense of self styling and would have to be prepared to be outrageous. They’d get up to all kinds of antics in their efforts to get themselves noticed, putting on false airs and graces, false personas and wild costumes. All of these folk were very gifted at self promotion, making something out of yourself, or making something out of nothing you might say, and they were also good at organising the wild parties they soon became associated with. Their lifestyle was fast and furious and often self destructive, with drugs and alcohol addiction going hand in hand with late nights, the wild parties, the outrageous costumes and the antics. But, at a time when the New York (and elsewhere) scene was recovering from the seventies and calming a little, these guys stood out and soon became notorious.

And once they started to get well known the self perpetuation started: they were known simply for being known, they got invited to clubs so that the public would come and gawp at them and that night the club sold out. They were invited onto TV shows to talk about their way of life and ratings went up; they were paid a fortune just to turn up and be at a night spot, a bar, a club. It was a good job if you could get it! They did actually do some work though, they organised club nights, party nights and events at the Limelight club but also at a McDonalds restaurant.

But this kind of fast living and wild partying only leads to one thing; well, it can’t last forever. The ‘king’ of the Party Monsters of New York was a guy called Michael Alig. He rose to fame as one of the Party Monster set, started his own magazine and record label but then the hedonistic lifestyle took over and he spiralled down through drug addiction and finally ended up killing his live in dope dealer and going to gaol.

A movie of his story, and the other party animals around him, was released in 2003 to mixed reviews. Titled “Party Monster” it stars Macaulay Culkin playing the bisexual, self promoting drug addict Michael Alig. The movie also features a performance by Seth Green as James St James and a cameo from Marilyn Manson. It is based on the book “Disco Bloodbath” by James St. James who was another of the original party monsters. The co-adapter/directors of the movie (Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato) have also made a documentary with the same title so if you’re interested to buy the DVD make sure you are getting the version you want.

I can’t promise that watching the movie will help you understand why the “Club Kids” became so famous so quickly but it should go some way to explain the history. Maybe it’s just because they were young, wild and outrageous… Whatever the reason there is a lesson to be learned and a moral too and maybe that’s the appeal of the story: live fast, die young.

You’re too young to remember the actual Studio 54 I’m sure, but you may have heard of it and wanted to know what was so special about it. Why does the name, no the legend, live on all these years later? What was Studio 54?

To understand it completely you have to travel back to April 16th 1977 and to put that into perspective: that was the year that first saw VISA on credit cards, rings were discovered around Uranus (I’m not joking), the first spacewalk took place and Sarah Michelle Gellar was only 12 days old. Meanwhile over on 254 W. 54th Street, New York, two friends, Steve Rubell and Ian Shrager opened their doors for the first time and thereby started the legend of Studio 54.

In simple terms it was a night club; but a glittering one. They had tried owning and running steakhouses in the city but soon decided that there was more money to be made in alcohol, hence the idea of a club. With Rubell’s drive – he was always the loud and gregarious one, they bought and renovated the old TV studio, transformed it into the club, hung an illuminated man-in-the-moon over the dance floor and the rest, as they say is history.

Some of the first guests no doubt helped the club on its rise to fame and thanks to the likes of Andy Warhol and Liza Minelli it soon became the place to be. And I mean the place. Within months everyone around the world knew its name and this wasn’t just because the glittery and famous went there. It somehow came to symbolise everything that represented the era at the time, the so called ‘Me’ era. Everything was about hedonism and having a wild time, parties and fun, dancing and sex. Straight sex, gay sex, bi-sex sex… Rubell encouraged everything, not necessarily at the club but he threw the doors open to gay and straight people alike. And he insisted on certain things and had a manner about him which enhanced his reputation: you had to fit in, you had to look right and it was not uncommon for him, as he walked and viewed his dance floor, to tell people to go home and change; he even didn’t let some people in simply because they were ‘too ugly’.

He knew how to keep the public coming through the doors though. Realising that to make money you have to spend it, he lavished gifts on his famous guests. He threw a huge musical spectacular for Bianca Jagger’s 30th birthday for example and presented Andy Warhol with a dustbin full of dollar bills – the famous loved it and the general public loved to come and see the famous loving it. One thing fed off another and it’s reported that the club made over $7 million in the first year.

But, as they say, all good things must come to and end. In December 1979, just 32 months after opening, Studio 54 was closed down. The Internal Revenue Services raided it, finding bags of money simply lying around, and checked the records. Shrager had been very detailed in his record keeping and had noted every gift that had been given to the celebrities, including gifts of drugs and ‘poppers’. The two were sentenced to three and a half years each in gaol, but served only 13 months due to striking a deal with the prosecutors. Once free they went back to the club business with the Palladium and from there into the hotel business. Studio 54 didn’t reopen.

But still the question remains: why the legend? Why do we still remember Studio 54 all these years later? It was a quick blast of hedonism and the ‘anything goes’ culture of the days but so were many other places and things. Maybe that’s the point: Studio 54 was a mystery and a legend from the day it first opened its doors to the day it closed them some 1000 days later. And it still is. Now when you see a Studio 54 party you will know what it is all about.

Station 4 (3911 Cedar Springs) is one of the largest clubs that I have been inside. Although, I do hear the clubs in Berlin are larger It may be the largest gay dance club in Texas and have the largest dancefloor with an exception of Southbeach in Houston. You know they like to do things HUGE in Texas. Here are some pics from S4 Nightclub in Dallas: Photos include some of the crowd and Krystal Summers who was presenting the drag show in the Rose Room upstairs at S4 on Sunday night. Krystal Summers is definately one of the celebrities at this club and has the hooters to prove it. You will also find Edna Jean Robinson and Cassie Nova who do fabulous comedy routines. There is no smoking in the Rose Room area which is nice!

S4 is open wednesday through sunday and is 18 to enter on most nights including Weds, Thurs, and Sundays. Sundays are called “The Grind” for hip hop and are one of the most popular nights with the 18+ crowd. You will normally see a line outside the doors around 11:30pm and the club closes at 4am or so. Thursdays are the Cafe con Leche at S4 with DJ Cubanito with a latino mix. Wednesdays will be the Boys Night Out where the hottest guy wins $100 prize by shirtless dancing on the box.

S4 has some of the best bartenders in the world who are actually fast. I get impatient at other clubs because I am so spoiled at Station 4. The logo of the club looks like Studio 54 but it really comes from the former name of the club Village Station which has been remodeled for its 4th time now and been in business more than most nightclubs.

Caven Enterprises owns the club which also owns Sue Ellen’s (the “L” Word), JR’s Bar & Grill (sports bar), and TMC (The Mining Company, more circuity club). Almost every website I have found online seems to have the old information on this club so many out of towners may miss out on what Dallas and the Oaklawn scene are really about.

And we thought the mortgage crisis was bad for California residents… maybe it all comes into play… but seriously at Mickey’s the Roof is on fire but let’s not let another gay club burn m*f*er burn.

There has been lots of big club news this week as two major clubs will be closing down.  The Boom Boom Room in Laguana Beach, CA.  I am jealous that I have never been to this “Boom Boom” room but the gay club located inside the Coast Inn will be closed down for good following Labor Day weekend.

If you feel you still have any hope to save the Boom Boom Room then check out this website for more details but I am sure its too late for any action.  TowleRoad’s blog also has some information on the closing of this historic gay landmark.

Not only has this closure sadden many gays but we found out today that Mickey’s nightclub located in the gay WeHo area of Hollywood will be shut down for some time due to a fire that broke out.   Mickey’s Bar on Santa Monica Blvd. suffered severe fire damage and one person was hurt from the fire.

Tuesday afternoon the blaze broke out and there are even reports that TMZ.com has people complaining that the strip contest was cancelled because of the fire.  It is too bad the fire has destroyed such a nice club that the gay community has supported for so long.  Once the investigation is over from the fire department we will surely get some clues to what happened and the timeframe of when and if the club will be back up and running again.

Ok just one more club closing for the week.  Angles’ nightclub is closing its doors for the second official time to have its 25th Anniversary and farewell T-Dance then it will have new owners. Read more here.

Just think how many clubs have closed so far this year - China White (Ft. Lauderdale), Roxy (NYC), Avalon (NYC), and the list grows on…

Yes, it’s true that Angles is having its own funeral this weekend.  The club that was voted best club in Oklahoma for 10 years straight in the Oklahoma Gazette (gay and straight) – and probably any publication (remember the “gaysian invasian”) for a few years of those. You know I joke a lot!  But seriously it was the top dance club in Oklahoma for years then when other clubs were built in Brickto  wn it went back to being just the best gay dance club. 

Saying goodbye to Angles is too sad to attend the event.  I refuse to go to the last event because I feel like we are going backwards in time.  I feel some of our gay causes have went in a good direction but some have went far backwards.  Let’s hope something positive can come out of this.  Let’s hope the party is not crashed like their Studio 54 party by the fire marshal and police harassing queers who are just out dancing and socializing.

Madonna talks about her “Secret” in her hit song and mine has always been going to Angles and the Wreck Room as a place to get away from the crazy world, a place to feel myself feel the music and let go.  When I first started going to Angles and the Wreck Room I did not even need Alcohol to dance or drugs or anything but the awesome music… My “Secret” place in the atmosphere dancing at Angles helped me through so many things in life including college, work problems, frustration that needed danced out.  Dancing at Angles to “It’s a Beautiful Life” or “Mamma Mia” were you would have chill bumps down your back just really made my night and my weeks and was a comfort I always needed.

Angles would always have theme parties like no other club.  It is rare clubs do theme parties anymore because the circuit event promoters want to own those.  Otherwise, I cannot imagine why clubs are not like Scott Wilson’s Angles with themes and creativity.  It has all gone away.  I did enjoy the Spring Sweat, White Party, Pride T-Dance, Studio 54 Party (for the 2 hours it was open that night).

Angles’ was ahead of its time considering it was located in the Bible Belt of Oklahoma and not far from the extremists in Kansas.  It already looks like a club should look like today on the inside.  It even looked cool before it remodeled a few times.  Some clubs are cheesy but Angles always had a cosmopolitan and trendy look inside that kept it ahead of its game along with lighting and sound that would take you away.  The light system did consist of lasers and track lights that moved up and down with the enormous mirror ball (we used to call that Kelly’s left tit).

Hard News Online did an awesome piece on Angles’ Nightclub closing down and here are some quotes from Scott Wilson himself about what they went thorough.  If you check out their site make sure that you read Floyd’s writing to give you even more history.

“At that time my business partner, and then life partner, Don Hill and I did a lot of traveling and we loved to go to New York City and have a good time at studio 54 and other clubs, said Wilson. “Of course there just wasn’t anything like that here in Oklahoma City so we decided to open the club.”

Wilson and Hill chose the former site of the Oklahoma City ice plant on 39th Street. The club was designed to look like a warehouse complete with a garage door.

“I think few people, who weren’t there understand what this place meant to the gay community before the inclusion and larger acceptance. Still fewer understand what it meant during the AIDS crisis,” Wilson said. “Angles was built the way it is for a reason. Before we put the big web address on the side of the building a few years. All during the day people drove by thinking it was a warehouse. We did that because we didn’t want it to be bombed or the focal point of anyone’s attention.”

The did attract attention and in the early days both the city and the community were less than supportive.

“In 1983 the FBI came to us and said that there had been death threats. At one point there were FBI agents up on the roof of the building because there had been some bomb threats and other stuff. It was handled with the federal authorities and that was the only time we had anything like that,” he said.

FINAL EVENTS:     

• Angles 25th Anniversary will be celebrated on Saturday, August 25 with DJ DeLorenzo from Albuquerque
• Sunday 26th join Angles for the Farewell T-Dance at 6pm

Last weekend definitely was something that made this year one of the most dramatic years of all time.  I have survived all kinds of scandals including the great hair pulling scandal of 2000-something and the attack of the giant mustache man with razorbacks.  This one tops the most frustrating event of the year.

Studio 54 is supposed to be a time to remember the good club days with all the VIP, glamour, celebrity sightings, club kids, hot bartenders (Shane) dressed in umbros, and trays of party favors.  If you remember the movie Studio 54 which was one of my favorite movies ever it starred Ryan Philippe, Neve Campbell, Salma Hayek, and Mike Myers.  I can’t say I have found a club type movie any better than this one.  Even Party Monster was not as cool as the almighty Studio 54.

This is not the nightclub you hear so much about in Vegas at the MGM but a smaller venue with what was supposed to be a more colorful party. The Studio 54 party last weekend is an annual event that was held a few weeks early.  There was not as many people attending this year due to school not starting in the local area yet but it was still almost filled with customers.  It was fun at least until the police showed up and the Fire Marshall closed the club down.  Not only did they close a club down for over occupancy but they also tried to arrest the DJ (friend of mine and wonderful guy).

All of this in a Studio 54 themed party playing retro dance classics.  This just took me back to the closing day of 54.  When I saw the DJ being escorted from the DJ booth outside to the police car it was definitely getting out of hand.

I had friends who were attending the party for the first time that were all dressed up for the event and they all looked around in shock.  The police and fire marshal escorting people out of the building without even letting us close out our tabs.

Then there were rumors circulating around that the Copa down the street who owns a competing club made some sort of deal or called the Fire Marshall until something was done.  There is also a rumor that this same group may have bought the venue that threw the 54 party.  No matter what the outcome of this it could mean tough days ahead for the Oklahoma gay scene and very shady days ahead from the guys over at the Copa.

It started out a fun night but ended up a tragic party.  Let’s hope we can bring back the Studio 54 party somewhere and in some city and do it RIGHT!

We attended the Cazwell party at M.I.N.C. bar located near the fairgrounds in downtown Dallas (also near the deep ellum district). The party was slow until around 12:30 when people waited in a slow line to get in the door. It was a fabulous mix of people ranging from the straight, curious, and the ultra-gay. There were not as many club kids there as I would expect but we still brought back a few of the club kid memories. This time it was more classy and not as exciting as we expected being big fans of the New York Club scene when it was full of horny club kids.

DJ Sammy Jo spun some great beats featuring the old school club hit girls and boys by blur. We also got to see a performance from three delicious drag queens including the nasty girl. James St. James wore some fabulous hair that was made up of shaving cream if you can tell in the pic below. Just fabulous! He seemed to be full of energy but the party overall was not that exciting. It was nothing like a night out at Club One back in the day or a night at Coliseum in Ft. Lauderdale. Can we say the real party monsters are going unrecognized? Maybe so.

Richie Rich introduced everyone at the beginning of the party and is always a great host. He has been to Minc a few times for parties including when Amanda LePore was there to do a show. Minc is definitely the spot to find some fun in Dallas as it started out as a club ran by the head bartender of the former Club One which was club kid central and the home to many hot raver boys and Abercrombie circuit boys.

The Party Monster party that hit Minc was definitely a fun event but it needed more “nasty” and more “crazy” to make it a real party monster pleaser. Maybe in the future the parties will get a little wilder. Or maybe people are just not ready for the real party! 

Here are some pics we had of the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Some pics of the bar and a g-string go-go dancer.  Pulse is fun just about on any Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday night and is 18 to enter.  They have a mega-bright white room that may be a little too bright for some but others like it.  They used to have an outdoor patio but it seems they did away with that.  The dancefloor goes deep into the building and is long and narrow with great beats to move to.  The Pulse nightclub located near downtown Orlando has a total of three rooms to enjoy.