Hannah Maguire

Also, at this time in history, Manhattan is really dangerous and cheap and full of artists.

People hadn't been priced out of New York yet.

People hadn't been priced out of Manhattan yet.

But the problem was this.

Gay clubs had the best music.

Therefore, they attracted the best dancers.

All of the most beautiful women in the city, the models, the actresses, they all go to the gay clubs with the glam squads from their shoots.

They're not going to the straight bars to stand awkwardly and watch sport.

But straight men, desperate to meet models, and they're in the wrong bars.

And going to a gay bar back then, social suicide.

They're not doing that either.

So Ian and Steve decided that what New York City needed to solve this problem was a bisexual disco.

By 1976, there were over 8,000 dance clubs in the US, but they weren't cool.

Like, it's kind of like, I was listening to the radio the other day and they were talking about how for the first time, children are listening to the music that their parents listen to again.

It's like kind of come back round again that like kids are listening to Springsteen, you know?

And they were talking about ABBA and they're like, yeah, of course, we're all like ABBA was very successful, but ABBA was never cool.

So before Studio 54, there are disco clubs, there are dance clubs, but they're not attracting the top tier, coolest people.

Which is what you want.

According to Ian Schrager, when you have a club, it is supposed to be cool.

It's supposed to be subversive to the status quo, a little bit arrogant, underground.