DANCETERIA: WHERE STUDIO 54 MET CBGB IN 1980S NEW YORK Duke University Press Magazine,   27-9-16 Tim Lawrence’s new book, ‘Life And Death On the New York Dance Floor, 1980-1983’, explores a particularly fertile period in American dance music. As disco’s stock continued to fall, a strange new party circuit emerged from the art-driven downtown scene to take its place. Few clubs embody this moment better than Danceteria, an upstart project that brought hip downtown-style post-modern irreverence to the dancing masses. This exclusive excerpt from the book, a chapter titled ‘Midtown Feels The Downtown Storm’, explains how it all came together—and then fell apart.   BY TIM LAWRENCE Danceteria sent shockwaves through the city’s party scene when it opened in May 1980, all the way down to the Mudd Club, where its owners had spent a fair amount of time hanging out. Dedicating the basement to DJing, the first floor to live bands and the second floor to video, the venue presented revelers with a novel element of choice—not because of the range of entertainment, but because all of the options were available at once. The shift to sensory overload was unmistakable as two bands appeared live every night, two DJs shared the turntables, and experimental filmmakers curated showings within a groundbreaking video lounge. In isolation, each floor oozed with the alternative inventiveness of downtown. Taken together, they offered a level of explorative creativity that threatened to dwarf the offerings of Club 57 and the Mudd Club. Yet in contrast to both of those spots, Danceteria was located not in downtown but midtown, toward the Eighth Avenue end of 37th Street, where commerce ruled the streets. With Jim Fouratt and Rudolf Piper at the helm, the mongrel explorations of the Lower Manhattan party scene were set...

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Studio 54,  1982 One hour before the re-opening .. the crowds gatherned outside had shut 54th st down from Broadway to 8th Ave. By Jim Fouratt,   2008                                                                                                                     WEBSEARCH Steve and Ian were in jail .. but had asked Rudolph and me to reopen Studio 54. While the world thought they had sold the place, they still held creative control and asked us to oversee the operation for the “new owner” and protect the branding value. In the background is Bruce Kirkland, an alternative music label honcho in the early 80’s, Among the act I presented live were Heaven 17, Nina Hagen/Malaria, Soca, Gang of Four, etc.. The one BIG change we added was to have female, as well as male bartenders .. (Steve asked from jail: ” Jim, will they be topless?” I answered ” no, Steve, only the male bartenders.” STUDIO for me was and remains, the actual best club environment ever. Perfect and it changed as the night went on and the crowd became larger .. once in, everyone was free to be who they thought they were …or, actually were. the visual artist Chuck Nanny and the writer Pat Wadley (female) were our door people who made sure the eclectic DANCETERIA mix was kept. FYI: outside there were thousands of clamoring people wanting in and the police had to close 54th street for three blocks.. WILD it was until the “new owner’s coke behavior made it a nightmare . We left to open the new PEPPERMINT LOUNGE on 52nd Street .. on the very location of the fabulous early ’60’s Peppermint Lounge, and took most of our people and employees with us, How it happened : Frank Roccio approached me asking me if would be interested in a space on ’46th...

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