House Music Break: Let's Go (Don't U Want Some More)

The title may not sound familiar, but I guarantee that if you spent any time in nightclubs between 1988 and 1995, you heard this song. Often. Just press play and you'll see...

Ringing In The New Year

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind ?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and old lang syne ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we'll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

.

Afternoon Dance Break - It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day

The Palladium, which was sadly torn down in 1998 to make way for N.Y.U. dorms, was one of the best clubs in NYC. Originally built as a movie/concert venue in 1927 - it was bought by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in 1985 (after they lost Studio 54) and they turned the space into a mega-nightclub.

The picture above is the view from the stage, looking over the dance floor and "into" the vast club. There were multible bars, side rooms, and places to find trouble - including the old balcony theater seats which remained when the Palladium was transformed into a club (not visible in the picture). As you can imagine, ALL KINDS of shenanigans went on in those dimly-lit seats.

According to the Palladium Facebook Tribute Page, this 1992 song - by DJ's Clivilles & Cole (under the name "S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.") became the "Palladium House Anthem"...

In 1992, C+C Music Factory recorded a song under the moniker S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. for the Soundtrack to the movie The Bodyguard (starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner). The song, "It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day", was the only song on the soundtrack performed by an artist other than Whitney Houston to be released as a single in the US. The remixes of the song, which were released via Arista Records on CD single, cassette single, and Double-12" Vinyl single, were titled "The Palladium House Anthem I" and "The Palladium House Anthem II". At that time, C+C Music Factory member Robert Clivillés was the resident DJ at The Palladium.

Lance Bass A-Go-Go

Lance Bass poses with NYC go-go dude (and DavidDust featured hottie) Geronimo Frias at a nightclub recently. Whatever you say about him, Mr. Bass certainly knows where to find the cute guys.

Source: Wilsonmodels, the fantastic gay NYC nightlife picture blog.

Return Of The Roxy?

OK, I realize about once a year I do a post about my favorite gay mega dance club possibly reopening - but this time it REALLY might happen.

If you recall my earlier writing, THE place to be on Saturday nights if you were gay in NYC was the Roxy. The roller-skating-rink-slash-nightclub ruled Saturday nights from 1991 until the night it closed in 2007. The club shut down due to its proximity to the High Line (see below). Developers wanted to demolish the Roxy and build condos which could take advantage of the views of the park next door.

But the real estate market dried up just as fast as New York nightlife. Ever since 2007, there has been no big gay dance club night in all of New York City. Sure, there is Splash and and a few other places to dance, but in my day "Splish" (as we called it) was the place you went for cocktails BEFORE heading over to Roxy. Then again, I am old as dirt.


Former club owner Gene DeNino has reportedly submitted a liquor license application, and rumors are he might team up with former Saturday night promoter John Blair to drum up enough investors to get the club up and running again. The rent is said to be around $60,000 a month - but that could be easily covered on one Saturday night with 3,000 queens paying $20 a piece at the door just to get in.


Then again, every queen in NYC thinks they are fabulous and deserve comped admission (or at least reduced-priced admission) - so maybe "making the rent" isn't as easy as it looks on paper.

Regardless, I am declaring for all the world to hear: Even though I stopped going to clubs many years ago - I WOULD drag my fat ass back to Roxy. I have so many memories (well, not really memories ... more like VAGUE IMPRESSIONS) of good times there. And if my bartender Cathy goes back at her post (and I wouldn't be surprised if she did), then I might even consider making a Saturday night habit out of the Roxy again. Lordy, those kids HAVE NO IDEA what kind of mess that could be.


If Roxy happens to open up before October 23rd, we will take a trip there for Drunken Dust Bunny Weekend II. Plan ahead...

Notorious Limelight Nightclub Becomes A Mall

This story makes me so incredibly sad and makes me feel so incredibly old. One of the reasons I moved to NYC in the early 90's was because there were places like the notorious Limelight night club. Or, as we affectionately called it back in the day, "The Slimelight".

Waiting to get in

The Limelight was opened in a deconsecrated Episcopal church in 1983 by nightclub impresario Peter Gatien. My fascination with the club began in college, when I would read Michael Musto's column in the Village Voice to find about the infamous "Club Kids", who ran amok in NYC clubland at the time. The Club Kids fascinated me, and although I didn't fancy wearing eye makeup and outrageous costumes myself, I loved how they were able to manufacture a certain level of celebrity out of nothing. Basically they got dressed up, went out to clubs, got drunk and high, and acted nuts - and for this, some of them were quite well-known.

Club Kids at the Limelight

So, on my many visits to NYC before I moved here, I always went to the Limelight. Wednesdays ("Lick It") and Fridays ("Heaven") were the best nights to go, because half the club was strictly gay, and the other half was mixed. The cool thing was that us gay boys could go anywhere in the club, but straight guys (and many girls) weren't allowed into the gay party. We even had our own entrance, and it felt very "VIP".

I moved to NYC in November of 1993, and I spent my very first Thanksgiving Eve (Lick It Wednesday) at the Limelight. I arrived at the club early (before the cover charge kicked in - I was broke) and I found myself in "The Chapel" (the gay dance floor) in the middle of a Thanksgiving feast - WITH THE CLUB KIDS! I don't know who threw the party, or quite how I managed to get in, but it was fantastic. They had put out a serious buffet - complete with Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, and all the traditional trimmings - served on china (not paper plates). It was the only Thanksgiving turkey I had that year.

The meal was most likely provided by Peter Gatien to show his love for the Club Kids by giving them a decent holiday meal. After all, most of these kids didn't have much money - like me they were fabulous but poor. And it would make sense for Gatien to thank them, because many of us came to Limelight just to be near these outrageous characters.

On the dance floor of the Limelight

After a while, many of the Club Kids got out of control with drugs - and The Slimelight became well-known as a place where you could buy Ecstasy, Cocaine, Special K, and pretty much any other drug you wanted. And drug use was quite out in the open - most people didn't even bother to take it to a bathroom stall. This drug-fueled madness culminated in the killing of drug dealer Angel Melendez (who I remember from Limelight - he really did wear wings) by Club Kid King Michael Alig back at Alig's apartment. This was the story portrayed in that horrible movie, Party Monster.

Sex was pretty much out in the open also. I saw guys having sex on couches beside the dance floor, I saw a sex show performed in a small room on a single bed, and at one point there was a room full of bunk beds for anyone to use. But, most famously, there was "The Lick-It Lounge" - the dark room down a long ominous hallway where boys "got to know each other". Or so I've been told...

For a blond party-boy from Pennsylvania in his mid-twenties, the Limelight was pretty much the absolute greatest thing ever invented. However, open drug use and rampant sex don't get overlooked forever - especially when Rudy Giuliani runs your city. So NYC finally shut the Limelight down, and the Feds deported Peter Gatien back to his native Canada for tax evasion. The party was over.

After a unsuccessful stint as a club called "Avalon", the Limelight stood vacant for years. However, they have recently opened the main dance floor for use as a space for Sample Sales...

And now, according to recent media reports, the Limelight will be turned into a mall. And even though clubbing isn't my thing anymore, the idea of that fabulous space featuring racks of "Juicy Couture" makes me incredibly sad.