The Best Party of Your Life

It was a nightclub like no other. Where regular schmos like you and me could dance and drink with celebrities like Andy Warhol and Michael Jackson. When it opened in 1977, crowds gathered outside that Midtown club, waiting and hoping for a chance to enter what would soon become the global epicenter of the disco craze and the most famous nightclub in the world.

The building was originally an opera house, but it was the genius of two entrepreneurs by the name of Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager who decided to buy the building and turn it into a disco nightclub. Though the club was only open for three short years, it garnered much attention from A-list celebrities. Nestled in New York City’s 8th and Broadway, Studio 54 was a place of anonymity and strived for a “care-free” environment.

Being accepted inside Studio 54 was no easy task. Steve Rubell was known to be ruthless at the entrance, celebrities and strangers alike, and only the best dressed were allowed in. Andy Warhol referred to Studio 54 as “a dictatorship at the door but a democracy inside”.

The stories of glamor, debauchery and overindulgence are legendary - Nobody can forget the image of Bianca Jagger riding into the club for her 27th birthday on a horse. Or Sally Lippman, better known as “Disco Sally”. The 77 years old regular at Studio 54 found a new lease on life in the disco scene. And don’t forget the drugs with the altarpiece being a neon ign representing the man in the moon, with a suspended spoon that rocked to and fro, delivering snorts of cocaine to his greedy nose.

It all came crashing down in December 1978, when Rubell was quoted in the city's newspapers as saying that Studio 54 had made $7 million in its first year and "only the Mafia made more money". This got the attention of the IRS. Shortly after that, the nightclub was raided and Rubell and Schrager were arrested. In June 1979, the two men were indicted on charges of skimming $2.5 million, as much as 60 percent of Studio 54's receipts over the past two years.

So they went out with a bang on this day in 1980. Studio 54 closed with a final party, entitled “The End of Modern-Day Gomorrah”. Diana Ross sang. Richard Gere, Andy Warhol, Lorna Luft, David Brenner and Reggie Jackson (complete with fur coat and cowboy hat) braved the crush. And the more than 2,000 persons who showed up to say goodbye cheered their "heroes" in the wee hours at the going-away party for Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager at Studio 54.

It was the end of something amazing. The end of a place where everyone: famous or not, rich or poor, gay or straight, young or old - could come together to escape and dance (and do more). We’ll never see anything like it again. As Andy Warhol put it, “Studio 54 is a way of life”

A couple “did you knows” about Studio 54:

• The band Chic was shut out from getting into the club, even though they were invited by Grace Jones. Nile Rodgers got inspired from the “F off” they got from the doorman and changed it to “Freak out” and wrote the song “Le Freak”

• Actor Alec Baldwin worked at Studio 54 as a waiter and busboy.

• In 1978, Milton Bradley had a launch party for their new game, Simon at Studio 54. They must have realized that the trippy sequences of flashing lights would appeal to the disco set.