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This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (October 2008) |
The Club Kids were a group of young clubheads led by Michael Alig and James St. James in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This group was famous for their outrageous costumes and extensive drug use -- in particular, ecstasy, ketamine, and heroin, although preferences ranged. Many of them were assigned names and personas by Alig himself.
Michael Alig's fame and influence quickly grew. At one point, he was on the payroll of several clubs owned by Peter Gatien for doing nothing but 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 and the New York subway.
At the height of their fame, the Club Kids toured the United States, appearing on several talk shows, such as Geraldo and The Joan Rivers Show.
Other Club Kids include DJ Keoki (Alig's former boyfriend), Angel Melendez (Alig's drug dealer, whom he murdered), RuPaul, Amanda Lepore, Sophia Lamar, Robert "Freeze" Riggs, Lisa Edelstein (Lisa E), Astro Erle, Keda, Ben Garstka, Sacred, Jenny Talia, Kabuki, Lahoma, Desi Monster, Richie Rich (who later formed the fashion label Heatherette with fellow Club Kid Traver Rains), Walt Paper, Christopher Comp, Spygirl, and Gitsie (Cynthia Haadje).
After the Club Kids' rise and fall, many moved on and have not been heard from since. Many others 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.
The club kids became an international trend influencing the party scenes all over the world. The Stockholm clubs Vegas, Donnas Delight and Delicious are just a few examples.
External links
- YouTube.com Watch the original Club kids at Jane Whitney's talkshow
- http://www.michaelaligclubkids.com/
- Collection of Club Kids Pictures, Videos, and Links
- Michael Alig's Official Message Board
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.
See also
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This article about an organization in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
