Club Kids
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The Club Kids were a group of young New York City club personalities led by Michael Alig and James St. James in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This group was notable for their outrageous costumes and extensive drug use -- in particular, ecstasy, ketamine, and heroin, although preferences ranged. Some were even assigned names and personas by Alig himself.
Michael Alig's notability and influence quickly grew. At one point, he was on the payroll of several clubs owned by Peter Gatien for just showing up with his entourage of Club Kids in order to draw more customers to the clubs. When they wanted to add a little variety to their night-life, Michael and the club kids began holding illegal parties in various public places including a donut shop, the old high line tracks, and the New York subway.
At the height of their notablity, the Club Kids toured the United States, appearing on several talk shows, such as Geraldo, The Joan Rivers Show, and Phil Donahue.
Other New York City Club Kids from this era (late 1980s- early 1990s) include DJ Keoki (Alig's former boyfriend), Angel Melendez (Alig's drug dealer/murder victim), RuPaul, Amanda Lepore, Sophia Lamar, Robert "Freeze" Riggs, Lisa Edelstein (Lisa E), Astro Erle, Keda, Sacred Boy, Jenny Talia, Kabuki, Lahoma, Desi Monster, Richie Rich (who later formed the fashion label Heatherette with Traver Rains), Walt Paper, Christopher Comp, Sushi, and Gitsie (Cynthia Haadje).
After the Club Kids' rise and fall, many moved on to other creative opportunities. Some are still active in the New York nightlife scene, including Amanda Lepore, Sophia Lamar and Astro Erle.
The 1998 documentary Party Monster: The Shockumentary and the 2003 feature film Party Monster (both directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato), were based upon the memoir Disco Bloodbath by Club Kid James St. James, an autobiographical recount of his life, focused on Michael Alig and "Freeze" Riggs murder of Angel Melendez
The club kids became an international trend influencing the party scenes all over the world.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- St. James, James. (1999) Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland. Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-684-85764-2
- Party Monster: The Shockumentary (2003) Dir. Barbato, Randy and Bailey, Fenton. Documentary. Dist. Picture This Home Video.
