Memories of Studio 54: Halcyon & on & on

For the relatively short time of 33 months in the late 1970’s, Studio 54 was the decadent soft centre of 70s hedonism in NYC.

Naysayers called it a sleazy and dangerous place. But for famous people and completely unknown but beautiful young things, it was a place where people could get up to whatever they wanted, with relative anonymity and freedom. Endless mountains of coke also helped to keep the party going.

The mediocre world of tax eventually caught up with Studio 54’s owners, bringing this perilous house of cards down, but it wasn’t to last forever – until then it was glorious, decadent and notorious.

“I have Social Disease. I have to go out every night. I love going out every night. It’s so exciting” – Andy Warhol, Studio 54 patron.

“I will go to the opening of anything, including a toilet seat. Every time I go to Studio 54 I’m afraid I wont get in—maybe there will be somebody new at the door who won’t recognize me.” – Andy Warhol

“It felt like you were going to a new place every night. You were, because they changed it all the time for the parties. The Dolly Parton party…It was like a little farm with bales of hay and live farm animals—pigs and goats and sheep. And the Halloween party: as you came up the ramp in the foyer, you looked through little windows into little booths with midgets doing things. The one that sticks out in my head had a midget family eating a formal dinner. It was like a nonstop party. There didn’t seem to be any guilt in those days. Decadence was a positive thing. Cocaine was a positive thing. It had no side effects. Or so we thought.” Kevin Haley former model, now a Hollywood decorator.

“I had more fun at Studio 54 than in any other nightclub in the world. I would have dinner with my children, put on my cowboy boots, take my Mercedes, park in the garage next door, go in for a couple of hours, find someone, and leave” – Designer Diane Von Furstenberg.

Bianca Jagger’s 1978 birthday bash was a “baby party,” with ice-cream-cone vases, bowls of Cracker Jacks, and busboys in diapers.