Michael Alig: The King of the Club Kids
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ม.ค. 2021
- Michael Alig: The King of the Club Kids
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Michael Alig (April 29, 1966 - December 25, 2020) was the self proclaimed King of the "Club Kids," a group of young New York City clubgoers who became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1980s and early 1990s through their flamboyant costumes and wild behavior.
He further reached national attention due to what transpired between himself, Angel Melendez, and Robert "Freeze" Riggs.
He passed away on Christmas Day 2020 at his Washington Heights home in Manhattan.
Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts on Michael Alig.
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Source Material:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael...
www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/st...
/ thepeeew
Glory Daze: The Life and Times of Michael Alig (2015)
Party Monster (2003)
Party Monster: The Shockumentary (1998)
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OK i went down the rabbithole, Michael Alig's boyfriend at the time and the fourth person in the apartment was Daniel Auster, son of famous author Paul Auster. In 1998, After testifying against Peter Gatien's ecstasy drug ring trial, Daniel Auster pleaded guilty to being in the room at the time of the murder and stealing $3,000 in money from Andre "Angel" Melendez but received only 5 years ...PROBATION. It seems, Daniel's rich family lawyer got that deal that Alig claimed he would get for giving evidence.
Wow! I had no idea about Daniel Auster! Thank you for this. I couldn't find anything on it until I searched "michael alig daniel auster" so crazy. Makes me wonder if it truly was premeditated.
As someone who is 45 and has worked with the drag community for over 25 years, you did a good job nailing the info on Daniel. You are 100% right on that. I came here to tell them but you beat me to it... LOL :)
This is amazing research. So there were four people there. Crime. More please thank you
Thank you for your research. I've read a lot about Aliq and never knew this!
the really interesting thing is that, while very very few accounts of That Night even mention Daniel (even the NY Times alig obit didn't mention), Alig can be seen in the Glory Daze doc suggesting that Daniel was not merely a bystander that night, but actually participated (the three sat on Angel as Alig "inadvertantly" smothered him, alig says). Leaves the impression that Daniel was the "Linda Kasabian'" of the crime - the least guilty and hence a good witness against the other two. It worked - alig and freeze changed their not guilty by reason of self defense pleas to guilty/manslaughter pleas. Daniel is still around, living in Brooklyn. Would love to hear his story some day (his stepmother has written a novel that is a thinly disguised roman a clef and does not spare her stepson at all. It's called "What I Loved" by Siri Hustvedt. She's the wife of novelist Paul Auster, Daniel's dad). The mysteries of this case will never be answered until we get the full story of Daniel's involvement that night, or at least what he witnessed, because the entire question of premeditation can only be answered by him.
Alig said Culkin absolutely had his mannerisms down, but Culkin told Alig that when Culkin would do a scene, the directors would tell him, "More! Be more over the top!"
I thought Culkin did a good job, considering. And st John's character.
I lived with Michael and keoki in Denver while Michael was hiding out, I was brought out from Los Angeles to work on music with keoki and had no idea what had just happened. Michael and I wrote a track with keoki that was recently found and we will release soon
Van, I'd love to hear your stories - such a wild time to be alive for sure! ❤️ Yergy
Can’t wait to hear it
How do I listen to it?
David Dinkins was mayor of NYC in the mid to late 90's not during the 80's. Mayor Ed Koch was mayor at that time in the 80's.
Till this day I can't understand why this story gets glorified so much. Especially when the person who was murdered is forgotten about. A person who lost his life in a senseless way. Someone who could have been your brother or son or friend. Angel Melendez.
I met Michael Alig back in 1984 or 85 in Danceateria at a photo shoot they were doing for a flyer. We were on friendly terms but we never hung out together. I always felt his crowd just took partying to another level. A level that felt very dark and not safe. By the time of Angels death in 1996 I had left the club scene alone and started getting my life together. So when Angel died and Michael & Freeze went to jail I was not shocked. That crowd did drugs that took your mind to places that were really dark. Special K alone was a severe drug which I tried once and never did it again. It was to much of a dark scary head and much of these kids did much Special K. I did my share of drugs also but kept it at a level I could control or I thought I could.
It's horrible to think as many people Michael told the story to of him killing Angel, none of them went to the Police. That is really horrible and most of them either knew Angel or bought drugs off of him and not one had the heart to call the cops.
I honestly felt Michael never had any remorse or felt truly bad for killing Angel cause he would laugh about it before & after his jail sentence and worst of all he would laugh and joke about killing Angel in front of a camera while it was recording him. Who in the right mind set does that.
I once ran into Michael on St Marks place in Greenwich village after he came home from prison but he didn't recognize me which I was grateful for cause I didn't want to start conversing with him. Maybe if I truly felt he was sorry for killing Angel I would have said hello but Michael never truly expressed any emotions of how truly sorry he was. It always felt to me he felt more sorry & sad the party was over and he got caught and reality kicked him in the ass which made him really take a good look at himself. And we all know how it ended! The Michael I met at 14 was really not that different from the Michael who died at 52. That's how I honestly feel.
RIP Angel, you really have your wings now. May God continue to bless your soul.🙏❤️👍
84-85?????????? how is this possible?
@@skyjuiceification how is it not possible? Danceteria was around for along time and alig was born in 66...
It's refreshing to hear from someone who was a part of that scene to be decent and full of humanity.
I’m confused because I do see him glorified and I see some articles making it sound like he was trying to get at minors in an inappropriate way when he was an adult?
@@skyjuiceificationhow is what possible? I’m confused.
I went to middle and high school with Angel. He was always cool, but reserved. I was already in the scene (Pandora) and was shocked the first time I saw him at Limelight. That scene didn't fit the Angel that Ive known since 7th grade. Limelight started out fun, but after while, it became very dark, almost demonic. I left the club kid scene for the soulful house Shelter before all of this went down. I'll never forget the day I was on my way to work at a salon in the village when I ran into Angels brother who almost looked like his twin. He was putting up missing flyers. I knew Angel sold drugs, he never did drugs. I would've never in a million years imagined that a scene that he seemed to love and fit in, would be his demise. RIP
How old would he be now? in his 50s. I hope your doing well man. Do you live in NYC?
@@MrJames-tw3so Angel should be about 51,52
About my age and i didn't know the end of limelight turned demonic😮 but i could see that upon further investigation...
I almost feel like the ballroom scene would have been better for angel.
@@witchingbrew3 I could've seen him as an Xtravaganza
If you go through videos here on TH-cam there was a videographer named Nelson Sullivan whom died in 1989 that knew and videod all the club kids practically from the beginning. It gives the story of Micheal Alig context and provides the background of the club scene. Ru Paul and Micheal Musto were a part of the scene but also on the periphery in a sense. They were kind of their own established clique that brought the younger club kids like Micheal Alig into the fold.
I totally found his videos after we recorded and binged them. So much interesting footage and just a wonderful time capsule of film ♡
Der
Yeah I started watching Nelson's videos before all of these and it's weird to think Michael's in a few of his videos like the McDonald's party I don't know what else to say
Retro Room is another channel if you wanna know what happened to the popular club kids mentioned here. Their short but well researched
They did not bring the club kids into the fold I worked the door at the tunnel where they promoted parties they were rich trust fund kids who were mostly snorting heroin and we're supposed to attend fit college but partied instead Rudolph Piper was the club empessario that Lowe's them to promote at th club vin Diesel was a security guard there at the time
I fell down a Michael Alig rabbit hole earlier this year. The club kids are fascinating and Party Monster was a movie I saw the year it came out. I didn't realize Michael had died!... Excellent coverage of this topic!
Read James ST James novell that the film is, based on. Big difference betwen the two.It's a novell not hard facts. Very funny and entertaining and you GET to know about the clubkids and ST James, Alig and a lot of people who's "left out" in the movie. Titled "Disco Bloodbath" when it first came out and "Party monster" after the movie was released. It's " a sure thing". You Will not be disapointed.
@@perjonsson8033 Thanks I'll do that! Adding it to my Audible list now!
Same
The peewe with alig and Bernie glam project was good ...Alig was trying to get his artistic talent out in the public but he was getting high again. ERNIE glam wasn't digging that at all...Alig was crumbling before our very eyes you could see on the peew...
Fell asleep watching Club Kids on Geraldo and this morning continued the rabbit hole to this and I'm appreciative you put this up. Very well put together and with passion.
I loved party monster! I loved the acting and I thought the actors did their best to get us to invest in the story, and even if it is not a huge production I thought the narrations and fourth wall breaks were an interesting way to share some more of the thoughts and personalities of the main characters. Also getting the perspective of the rat was creative macabre levity! I am sad people don’t appreciate how much thought and work people put into the movie.
I thought Macaulay Culkin did a great job.
Loads of people love it, it’s become a cult movie, it’ll be forever loved
The saddest death was definitely angel’s, all the people that made him feel like an outcast and alienated him, then used him for easy access to “free drugs” and used him after death as the butt of a joke still 😒
So true. But these two plonkers in the video are more worried about Michael Alig and how to apologise his disgusting crime.
@@pamcam4385 exactly!
Well said and completely agree!
True! And this podcast trying to make Michael a sympathetic character is gross.
Yes! I understand that Michael’s death was sort of an official halt to the 90s club kid scene (as it was then) but it sort of all came crashing down as soon as Michael was revealed to be a murderer! I was shocked by them saying how sad michael’s death is. Like what about the death of Angel? He’s the one who’s life was tragically stolen away from him.
If you guys like the club kids and Michael Alig you'll love Nelson Sullivan's videos they're on a TH-cam channel called 5th avenue project
The channel is actually called 5ninthavenueproject. Just for the record
What's so sad about it? He killed and DISMEMBERED Angel, who was no angel either but didn't deserve that horrible death. Michael got a second chance at life and still screwed it up.
I'm assuming you're asking what is sad about Michael dying. It isn't sad that Michael himself died, though I feel bad for his friends and family as it seems like they were struggling a long time with trying to get him help, both before and after prison. He took a lot of people down with him if you get my drift, and that screwed up his second chance when it seemed like so many people were trying to help him. What is sad is this culture of suicide and overdoses that tends to take place around the holidays, especially Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. What's supposed to be a joyous time of year is that of suffering for so many people - Drewby + Yergy
@@TheMiseryMachine I feel sad for his family too, sorry to be so hateful about it. I really didn't wish death on him, I just thought he should spend the rest of his life in prison.
No, I agree. I think in 99% of situations like this, he would have gotten a murder charge and life in prison. I personally don't think he ever should have been released from prison. Robert Riggs was someone who appears to have turned himself around, but I don't think Alig ever was going to.
You're all good! I can understand the sentiment and just wanted to offer clarification. We are totally not folks that glorify murderers and/or victim shame. Much love ♡ Yergy
@@TheMiseryMachine thank you, I never thought you all glorify murderers. I am becoming very bitchy in my old age. 🙄
Excellent job guys. I appreciate how you two share the story telling & how fluid the conversation flows. Makes for easy enjoyable listening.
Tysm, Mandy!!!! ♡♡♡
I used to watch them on the daytime talk shows and I absolutely wanted to run away and join them.
Just came across this today omg all the places I hung out at when I was 15 to 17.
All those clubs you guys mentioned. Yes the drugs were so easy to access I was scared to try any of it watching how those people would act. Yes knew alot of these people you are talking about. Born and raised in NYC.
Excellent documentary guys! I have been fascinated by club kids since the 90s and the infamy of Alig. I just learned that he had died and found this upon searching for more details. After seeing all the other episodes, i will DEFINITELY be binging tonight!
Great video 👍🏼 I’ve been invested in the club kid scene for years and this video is well made!
I literally wanted to be a club kid!! Living in CA ,NY was the place you wanted to be in the 80's, early 90's. I didn't really get a full sense of the rampant drug use verse the party. The 80's really was the best era overall. NY seemed so cool, all the artist, breakdancing, hip hop, graffiti, no cell phones 📵 and you had to be in the moment in front of you. Something i can't explain to you kids of today, sorry guys. But i really enjoyed your video
R.I.P. ANGEL. I really liked the documentary you made. All of the clubs and spots that you mentioned were my every day hangouts since I was 14 in 1986 except Studio 54.
The squat you mean is called C-squat.
Was a fly on the wall during this time of "Mister Mess" Michael Alig. I remember this happening: the before, during and after. You really brought me back to the best years of my life that also includes non - club kid NYC venues like CBGB, Arlenes, Coney Island High and ABC No Rio (I wrote my college entrance essay on one day when i worked with Food not Bombs).
I went to his outlaw parties, frequented the limelight and saw a couple of hardcore (punk) shows at the limelight.
Other notorious locations in the Limelight ....shampoo room/ Michael Todd room and the bathrooms in every club you mentioned which were almost always de facto unisex.
LISTENED TO THIS TWICE :) I've watched multiple movies and docs on Michael's "reign" at limelight and thought yours really went deep in the research.
Thank you SO much for your kind words! We really tried to watch as much as we could in order to paint the best picture possible without actually being there ♡
Thank you for sharing,,,,FUN,,,,,🥳 🙂 🙃
Michael Todd room was at Palladium
Great video guys. Keep up the great work! Love you guys!
Y’all are amazing. Michael seemed disturbed before the drugs so if drugs make someone do awful things (it does) then he must’ve been sad or fucked up before. I was addicted as a teen and manipulated and lied. Stole medication, but that was about as bad as it got, thank the Lord above.
Just breaks my heart he was alone on Christmas
He was not alone.
@@technotaxi5002 how do you know?
Yeah, well, Angel was by himself rotting in a bathtub for a week, so forgive me if my sympathy for Michael is minimal.
I am crying my eyes out, too. A murderer and unrepentant sociopath + a pedophile by the looks of it. OD-ed. So sad. NOT
The reason that the majority of young adults don't know what it takes to really put in hard work to make something successful is because social media has made everything so easy ....not saying it's a bad thing necessarily just its a very different world for those of us that grew up without social media some are good some are bad
No. It’s because the parents are letting the internet and schools raise their kids.
This is the first time checking yall out. I have high hopes and will hopefully be a subscriber by the end of this. RIP Michael Alig, Angel, Gitzie, Nelson Sullivan, Christina.
We really hope you like it. We spent days watching videos and making notes and put a lot of heart into making it ♡ Yergy
Glad to hear others have the same take I have on James St. James. He and Michael Musto have disgusting attitudes, but at least Musto is a talented writer and made a solid name for himself before the club kids era.
Musto is an acclaimed journalist, not a writer, and a downtown icon from a time gone-by. He's as much of a Village fixture as any other landmark - and now, equally as old (no T no Shade, just sayin). James is the talented writer who I think should expand his activities beyond the "WoW Presents" and try some indie screenwriting. OR sitcom - he nails one-liners with perfect sync. I still believe Musto's "piece" did baffle rather than clear the smoke. Mr. Mess #1 and Mr. Mess#2 were not the only..messes in the apartment. And frankly, anyone who was privvy to any info at the time and did NOT go to the police is hardly qualified to point the finger and pass judgement. Anyway noone's perfect and Musto, who by the way was more high-brow in his "Warhol" days than later on (as per Old Guard protocol), had in the mid-late 80s a groovy "Jesus and Mary Chain" hair-do, and shades to match. PsychoCandy times, indeed.
@Denise Formato It's never right to kill someone, it was an unfortunate tragedy that ruined all their lives to a large extent. However, Michael, was the softest person I ever knew. Angel, was reportedly a hotheaded dealer, that had smashed the front window to M and Ernie's apartment, not too long before!
@@mjreikiriot3302 what? You're saying Angel was a "hot headed dealer" hmmmmm he never killed another person yet Michael did. Michael owed a huge drug debt and how convenient that after he killed Angel the drug debt went away and he stole over 18 grand that was in Angel's closet. Amazing how the story told is only one sided
@@mjreikiriot3302 yeah he was a real prince.😒
James was so envious of Michael's success that he actually left New York City for Miami in 1991. He did not return until things really began falling apart in 1995 to revel in Michael's demise. Disco Bloodbath is written from that perspective. These individuals who created this doc however have zero knowledge and or can not even recreate the essence of this time period let alone the murder.
Michael was out of control his final days with heroin,he kept moving around from apartment to apartment from Patterson NJ to NY.
He kept trying to sell his art to everyone I told him to have a show and sell it there..
He was always calling looking for $300-$500 all the time,he just never grew up especially after he was released.
Kaoki was no help either he enabled him,one of his last days we moved him out of kaokis studio and he Michael was running around sniffing bags of dope and than a neighbor called the cops because Michael was walking around with a box cutter in his hand and the neighbor told the police that he was walking around with a knife so about 10 cops showed up but my 1 buddy took care of everything with the cops..
That was 1 of his last days alive he was a mess and he said he had HIV not sure if it was true...
My brother was a DJ at limelight so we got to know all these wack jobs..
I just love you all podcast keep up the good work .
Thank you! Will do!
I read in the peeew comments ms elke, his mom, said it was absolutely accidental. But any mom would want to thank that. If he hadn’t been alone I think he could’ve survived. There was no one there to give him narcan :(((
That's the saddest part... he actually WASN'T alone. He died in bed while right next to his bf. Sooo awful.
Fantastic presentation guys. No rambling, organized, erudite, edited well, high paced and HONEST.
Really great work.
Wow! Can't belive it! They are just what you say they are not. Taken all that they heard and read and says "it must have been the Drano that killed him" . Nobody knows, probaly not even Riggs.
They just rehashed the Glory Daze documentary
This is such a well done video 10/10
This was an awesome video ❤️
Novel graphics is 100% correct about the Daniel situation. I know this because I am 45 and have been working with the drag community for over 25 years, and I know many of the people involved in this situation (Ie) People who were friends with them, or club kids themselves. The person that you didn't know who had their feet kicked up on the box with Angels body was a club Kid named Astro Earl who is in a few of the early Peww shows. Also many of the famous club kids that were with Rupaul were Lady Bunny, and the one who hosted the shows at Limelight is Lahoma Vansant. Just thought you should know. You guys did a good job for not being around during this era. It was a wild time, and part of some of my favorite memories. I hate that Michael went down the wrong road, and poor Angel did not deserve what he went through either. it is very tragic on all ends. You really should try to watch Limelight as it is very informative, it goes in depth with Gaitan and how he was forced to be extradited to Canada for life. I wish you the best with your channel.
Thank you so much Jenna for this comment and for your kind words. This was such an interesting case to cover, and I wish I would have just been a few years older so I could have seen it for myself. I know I would have felt such a sense of belonging, at least in the beginning. Much love ♡ Yergy
Seriously appreciate all the kind words. Our goal was to get this as accurate as possible without having been there ourselves. It was tough, but comments like this make it worth it. Thank you! - Drewby
Angel was heroin-dealing/pushing and a bully of people at clubs. "White souls" do not deal in "brown sugar". And if you want peace and calm in your life, choose another line of work other than pushing H. Thankyew.
It's all so very sad. The whole situation is always going to be a mess. I can't help but feel sorry for Michael, he was extremely interesting and creative. Unfortunately he had many demons and some can't shake off their demons. It's hard life ... Angel's family of course must feel relief now.
Michael's guerilla parties were always close to a club they were going to attend later that night. It was a means of Michael bringing lots more people into the clubs he was also promoting at the same time.
You guys should put a flash warning on this one my cousin would have fallen over lmao or thrown the phone so she didn't have an epileptic episode but other very interesting story
“Criminally Polluted” 🤣🤣 as a New Yorker I couldn’t help but laugh
The info about the Daniel Auster has been floating around for a long time. If i'm not mistaken, either James St. James could have written about this in his book Disco Bloodbath (later retitled as "Party Monster"). Frank Owen may have also covered it in his wonderfully detailed book, Clubland. By the way, if you haven't read Clubland, please do. It not only chronicles the NYC club scene at the time, it also reads like a spiderweb connecting quite a few notable night life personalities, local gangs who were mafia adjacent, celebrities, the murder of Angel Melendez and trial(in a very linear and seemingly more sober recollection than a few accounts), the explosion of the club scene in miami in the 90's, various people of interest connected to various scenes, and so on. Clubland is definitely an eye opening read.
Can you believe I found this hardcover and in pristine condition??!!!- for $1!!!--So grateful!!!!🤸♀️
@@susanscharch5562 That’s so awesome! I could not put Clubland down when I first got it. I stumbled upon it in a book store in Toronto. $1 is a steal! Happy reading!
a great podcast guys! keep it up :)
Thanks so much!
I just recently discovered you guys. Ive been binge watching for days (Im bedridden from health issues)
Ty for this episode! I was raised in south bend and had no idea he was from there as well till your report. Turns out he went to the same schools as several of my friends and exes ha
Thank you for the comment! Yeah I had no clue until we did our research that he was from there originally.
As club kid in a smaller city in the 90s, I can completely understand why there are so many different accounts. I can think of at least 2 murders in our scene they have soooo many different accounts. One guy was killed over a bad drug deal and everyone was talking about in detail for 2 years before the guys who killed him were arrested. The accounts about all the parties involved and what happened varied wildly. And this was from a much smaller scene over only about 5 clubs. I can only imagine how it would be on a scale as large as nyc.
Thanks for doing the cases we value as human beings even tho the algorithms of YT doesn’t value them
Thank you, Mona! ♡
I know this video is an ollder one, but I needed to alert you. Please put a photosensitive seizure warning on this video. Love your guys' work. Watching the eps in reverse really shows how much this channel has matured.
Also, read Gatien's book, "The Club King."
Now that is what I would call a BULLSHIT story.
Don't help Gatien. He has ruined MANY lives. Don't buy his book.
I was a raver back in 95 to 98.. that club scene was crazy.. I'm from New Jersey,the scenes here were very Similar and we hopped on a train or bus 40 mins.. we would buy our underground rave tickets at record stores in nyc. The 90s were the best,class of 1997 here.. the limelight was a good time. We went to a club in newark called Tequila Joes that was a really good time, separate rooms and music
Riggs didn't find the box in the basement. In the Shockumentary Alig talks about Freeze buying a huge TV for the box at the same time he bought the knives. Brooke also talks about the TV and getting it later.
U guys are awesome!!! More more more pls!
Thank you so much!!!
I'm definitely more a fan of Michael when compared to James but you can't blame James for michael relapsing. Michael was around a ton of other people who were still using in the party scene and in the end people are responsible for their own actions. Speaking from 20+ years of experience here.
That part was gross.
I knew Michael for a short time. Played some gigs he was sponsoring(in early 91-ish).
Great video, guys, you guys did it justice
Actually, this took place in the '90s. Andy Warhol and the scene that began in the '60s effectively ended when he was shot. The scene that took over somewhat later was Studio 54 in the late '70s. Warhol became part of that scene too which was almost as decadent as the one presented here, sans club kids and a lot of the harder drugs. The '80s did a number on the LGBT community in New York because of AIDS and the country as a whole became more conservative. However, there was a surge of creativity in the arts and music. Warhol likened it to the '60s and his Factory by exploring new forms of artistic expression. He died in 1986. Think Basquiat, Blondie, MTV (when it really WAS about music) and Warhol was all up in it until his death. It was in the '90s that club culture took off again. A lot of different kinds of drugs were being used - not just the usual coke, Quaalude, (heroin was always around) , weed kind. It was Special K, LSD, Ecstasy, MDMA, GHB, crystal meth (which in the late '90s and early 2000s did a number on the LGBT community too... heck, they had there own scenes too like White Parties, and such where venues would be booked for like a week and all the guys did was use drugs and ***** for days) etc. The colorful lights/light shows, DJs spinning records till early in the morning were perfect for all of the hallucinogenics. Rave s or rave parties were real popular at that time too which was pretty much for the live music the DJs played and for dancing while tripping on acid. Goth became a thing during that time too with its own underground culture - clothes, music and such like Marilyn Manson and industrial music like Nine Inc Nails. I think the drug and music culture of the '90s was like the hippy scene in the '60s, IMO. I even remember people referring to the some of that youth culture during all of that as "techno hippies" because technology was beginning to shape things - internet (infancy with dial-up and chat rooms, message boards, early music streaming/downloads and file sharing like Rhapsody, Napster, Limewire) better computers and lap tops with powerful programs (apps) for the time... and of course techno music and all the various forms of electronic music.
The club kids were around in the early mid 80s filling up places like the world, Danceteria, red zone, pyramid, tunnel, club 57, and even Copacabana.
Michael Alig wrangled up his group in the later 80s with his theme parties, and outlaw parties and eventual parties at Limelight creeping into the early 90s.
Blood feast and disco 2000 were the big draw mostly at Limelight And then the drugs happened.
Yes, Andy Warhol did blend in with some of the clubs like studio 54 in the late 70s and very early 80s and CBGB‘s, and Pyramid, etc.
when Warhol died in 87, not 86, some of the Warhol followers had no more Pied Piper and this is about where the crossover took place when Michael Alig started to rise
Man, I remember finding Ernie and Michaels TH-cam channel, Peeew!, years ago when Michael got out of prison. You could see the decline and struggle Michael was going through throughout the years via their TH-cam channel.
His boyfriend at the time saw my art and asked if I wanted to promote with him..I worked with alig hell no.
@@ericrivera8410 As flattering as it is for someone to like your art, you gotta have boundaries honey, lol.
@@harmony7967 regardless the party scene changed to promote a party you needed a nightu. To pay your expenses to decorated the club pAy for your here etc ...it's noo get done like that time no ex on without him ..
Losing Michael alig isn’t sad
Hey, I was one of the club kids and it was fun in the beginning but it soon fell deathly bad fast. It went really bad doing the time of " death of a Club kid".
Things went downhill after '94 and spiralled out of control after the first shut-down of Limelight
@@SovietModernism
You're absolutely right. I'm not ashamed saying, it was the best time in my life before 93😄
@@christopherrogers8881 I bet all the glitter in the world that it was ;)
I'm part of the late 2000s early 2010s NYC rave wave. K use was a HUGE thing among people who worked parties bc dealing w the patrons is annoying, music is loud, and promoters want to just go sleep in the back half the time once things are in motion lol.
Wow-you could Not be more wrong about peter gatien "just being a biz man who used casually" is insane. I was at the party w/the sheet fort, where Angel was last seen in public. PG crawled out the window and spent several paranoid hours on the roof of the Manhatten 5 star hotel while the roomful of his barely adolescent guests (read:victims) lounged about doing drugs and sucking on Jolly Ranchers while trading pokemon cards.
Did we say that definitively? I'd have to relisten but at this point in time I'm not sure what to believe at all about Gatien. There's many people that said he was great to him and others that characterized him as slimy as fuck. In that world, I can't imagine many people being totally innocent. I never heard about him abusing kids though, is there anything you can link me that I can read more about that?
@@TheMiseryMachine
No, just me, as I was there. I did look into it and it turns out that was not the last party Angel was seen at, although it may have been the tent fort that Alig OD'd in after we left. I did what I could to effect change and literally washed my hands of the entire scene and did not continue to spend any time in that world at all . I am the same age as Alig would be and was only even there as a paid guest in costume and was pretty far past my club kid days, but I can tell you personally, all the dirt that I had been hearing on Alig for a few years. I only got details on Hatien after meeting him, but it all correlated with what I saw with my own eyes. They are both incredibly disturbed people, the drugs just dropped their inhibitions. Freeze was a trip, hung out w/him through others, on multiple occasions and as horrifying as I found him, we were always drawn into fascinating conversations in our own little corners of a party. He is brilliant and was an obvious sociopath back then, yet there was something almost more compelling than charm perhaps simply the brilliance and complexity that can be so difficult to come by. But make no mistake about t, he was absolutely terrifying to be around. The fact that he was deadly just oozed from his poots and he was one of the most intense and self aware misogynists I have ever met-a subject which we discussed at length. Him turning out an academic doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
Oh yeah, and the below report regarding Daniel and the money that was stolen, that was what I had heard about the murder-and that That was the Real motive. Spoiled rich fucks wanted that poor bonx kid's drugs and money. It was so far beyond toxic it can only be called evil.
The stories about Alig and others going to pick up runaways from the Port Authority are bone chilling, and these were circulating widely amongst the community, long before any of this went down. My GF lived w/Keioki down off of Bleeker st. That was what got me in w/the serious scene kids in the end, and why I had so much of this info before the Angel incident even happened.
Remember, just because someone is a big tipper doesn't mean they're not a blood thirsty psychopath who could have just as easily chopped off your head. Most people can be nice when it serves their purposes. An old Sufi saying goes Alcohol make a man, more so. As in, more himself once the mask of pretense falls away when intoxication takes over. All I'm saying is that a lot of people become drug addicts and don't go on to commit heinous violent crimes.
Sorry I was so rabid on the subject, as you can imagine, the Gatien experience really impacted me. I was frankly, near hysterics when I got home that night and couldn't completely calm down for several days. That man was the embodiment of evil, and this was with Freeze in the room!
@@bobbybatara3718 fascinating read, thank you for sharing.
This dude is talking shit, the Pokémon trading card game wasn’t even out till 1997….. lies all lies!!!
I remember watching the Club Kids on Donahue and Geraldo I found them highly interesting.
I worked with Michael Alig doing guest lists for Peter Gatien at Club USA around 1991(ish.) Michael and I would always get paid first during the cattle-call payday fiasco because we would show up in business attire rather than club gear. I never really went to Club USA. I preferred Limelight or Webster Hall, where I ended up working for a minute. But I knew/saw all of the Club Kids regularly, even doing ecstasy for the first time with Amanda LePore and a few of Michael's crew at Limelight. I ended up losing interest in the scene after I befriended a less outwardly self-destructive group of writers, artists, musicians, and filmmakers like Todd Phillips, Cherel Ito, and Laurie Anderson. They essentially saved me from a life of druggies and lies. RIP Cherel & Laurie.
Their behavior was narcissist high school clique squared.... How can anyone admire these people? The whole club scene where desperate people were picked to get in and hang in the VIP areas was sad..
So true. Plus this guy Alig was just simply evil.
Really so freaking sick
No matter how we came about, we were given a special gift that no other creature on the planet was given, these people have refused that gift
Great video guys.
Thank you!!
Thank you for such an interesting, insightful and well done documentary on one of my favorite eras in cultural history!
The squat you’re talking about that Leftover Crack was based out of is called C-Squat. I used to live there when I was 19 years old! Yes I lived with Sturgeon’s weirdo ass for a while before I moved into the Batcave in Brooklyn for a few years, which I’m sure has carved a place in punk squatter culture by now haha… I miss ABC No Rio, I used to to cook with Food Not Bombs and serve in our stomping grounds at Tomkins Square Park. Def some of the best memories of my life... 𖤐𖤐𖤐
You guys did an incredible job with this documentary! As a career DJ and artist I would say like 75% of my style snd aesthetic/message is inspired by Club Kids and the 1980s nyc universe so I love learning new stuff form that era. You guys got a new fan!! Put me on the guest list for the MM convention!
was part of this scene in the 90.s. Was one of the DJs at all of the Brooke H Dallas parties and often went to NYC. On one visit to Brooke and Michael when she lived at Chelsea Hotel we went up and visited for a bit. I remember the room was a tiny one room and a bathroom with Brooke and about ten or twelve other clubkids getting ready with outfits and makeup. Was crazy in there. Then we were going to leave and all meet for dinner. My bf Kris and I left before everyone else and as we exit the doors of the Chelsea I overheard a guy in a black suit w a small phone say, "they are coming out now." I got so freaked out that we skipped dinner and went back to our hotel. It was shortly after that when Michael got arrested.
Keep up the great work. I love your videos.
the beginning if this video had me so lost 😂😂😂
Funny thing for me I'm from nowhere USA, farmlands and forestry. I hated it, HATED it by around age 14, 15, left at 18 to find my legacy in Louisville KY and Chicago...
Well, suffice to say I eventually went back to the sticks and found happiness. The City? Um, I can't keep up and at the end of the day within Chicago, I can't be in a place I can't legally carry a pistol with that much daily violent crime everything from a Mugging to Chicago Outfit Mafia dishing loans and gambling backdoor casinos. I went back to Louisville and even there I got fed up with a lot about it. I'm not in my 20s anymore so I went back to my birthing place and I've grown happy. To all in the cities I've but one thing to say: take care and good luck.
I was a goth kid, a rude girl, than a candy kid. Great childhood
I watched this movie a few months ago it was going down 80’s 90’s memory lane
Netflix needs to make a documentary about this. Also, the ecstasy was so good back then. Remember old school wafers? Great times!
Friggin loved Michael!!
I loved watching Michael and Ernie's channel. Thank you for doing this video on such a UNIQUE and creative individual.🖤
Thank you for the kind words! ❤️🖤
He was a murderer. That surpasses anything else. He put draino in someone’s mouth and then dismembered the victim. He was also a thief. He stole from his drug dealer, so that makes him dumb too.
Speaking of successful Club Kids, Lisa E made a name for herself on the silver screen. I'd count her as being a successful Club Kid. Beautiful woman.
And she was great on House M.D.
Just to make a distinction between “Club Kids” and “club kids”. The Club Kids were Michael’s crew who dressed up and were like the mini-celebrities of nightlife. A club kid would be someone who frequently attended parties in the clubs, like Moby or a Chloe Sevingy. They were not Club Kids in the proper sense
You're mentally farting .....go through this in your own mind. Work out your own thoughts in privacy ,thanks
Lol
I get what you’re trying to say, there were many kids that went to the clubs and they were all club kids. However, there was a population of those kids that hung out in the same group as Michael Alig and they became known as The club kids.
This is only pertinent to the people who do not want to be associated with the Michael Alig clubkid scene.
But if you were a kid in the clubs, and you went clubbing it from Club to Club, at the same time, and all of the same people were in all of the clubs, you were a clubkid
I believe it is so hard to understand how Angel was viewed because there were SOOooo many people,,,,we’re not talking about a small clique . Some people liked him some sucked up to him for drugs some looked up to him and some called him a poser,,,,,,all these things were going on at the same time . Unholy crap or what ! I despise the word poser and I despise cliques , for sure there would be cliques within the whole huge crowd. rip Angel,,,,I wish you had survived ,,, 🌬💨💨🤍🙏🏼🤍🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊
Jim Belushi is still alive. John is the one that died.
Ty! I couldn't remember who was who in the moment ♡
I’m about half way through this video and, I have to say, you did an amazing job telling this story.
Listened to the whole podcast..He was A person conflicted in his own eyes..Rip ..His own demons were the death of him..And I believe he was very smart and talented and he went down a path that effected him mentally and was already unstable in self
This is long, so I am pausing the video to make comments on the first 20 minutes, because I was there for that period. My ex was a friend of Alig from Fordham 87,a fellow studio mate of mine in college art school was friends with Alig when he was a busboy at Pyramid. I went to the earliest parties, one very important name to check is Nelson Sullivan. Nelson was keeping a video log of the scene late Warhol/ Disco through celebutante( James St James, Diane Brill, Bartsch, Arias, Grace Jones, Keith Haring, Lady Bunny, John Sex, and Mike Musto were from this early micro period). The clubs like Area and Nells had a strict and condescending door policy. This was the image of cool the club kids including Alig would have found their superiority and love sarcasm through. This cliquesh attitude is what Angel was on the receiving end of. My closest people did not like Angle, caveats: Angle was seen as having no interest in fashion and art, but as a third world immigrant street drug dealer he held appeal to many men in the scene who as rough trade. People thought he good looking- but his awkward social stance struck some as sweet and endearing, and others as creepy (sociopathic) most importantly Alig had offended dozens of people over the years ( to give examples Sister Face, the twins, Rupaul. )Whether they liked Angel or not they would champion him to pt Alig. . The other small point is the Outlaw parties were very early- Musto came dressed in “looks, completely qualifieing as a club kid- except Must was from the earlier Nelson / Nells crowd and would not stoop to being a mere club kid for reasons of pride. Musto was also a gossip reporter who included the club scene on his beat
You guys did a GREAT job covering this story ( 10 stars out of 10)
I listen to you guys while I work and I cant get enough
I wish someone would do a video like this on Ernie Glam. He was so heavily involved in that scene.. but stuck so under the radar so often.
Edit 2:30 Point made. Within 2:30 within this video being started, we see the chicken character Ernie Glam was known for being, with Michael. They were always together and would later even start a TH-cam channel together. But he’s like a shadow in the club kids world. Always there, aware, everyone knew him.. but he slips under the radar.
How can u be sad he is head? He was a fucking monster.
Y'all are so biased towards Alig. He's literally a monster.
I really don't know you found us biased towards Michael Alig when we spent a good chunk of this episode condemning him, his actions, and expressing hope that his death brought Angel's family some comfort. We can condemn a person and still feel bad for his loved ones or people like Ernie Glam that tried their hardest to turn him around.
@@TheMiseryMachine not just about his death. The use of language around he obsession with gore (read: legs cut off being an "unfortunate coincidence"), talking shit about James St James and his attitudes towards alig. James always had more about him than Alig, and of course he continued to work with WoW, they're all club kids. Fenton Bailey made both the shockumentary and the movie. They're friends.
Just not as impartial or as well researched as it could have been.
@@15dollardietcokewhy so mad tho? A lot of work was out in to this. It's not perfect, but it's not horrible either. ❤
I learned about alig and the club kids well before the movie came out, it stood out to me because of the drugs,stunts and the sheer brutality of the murder and the parties that seemed to be themed around it afterwards.
I grew up in So. Cali in the 70s n snuck out at night many many many times to hit the clubs in West Hollywood..yes..at 16.. from midnight to 4am, breakfast then hour ride home to shower n go to school for three whole hours..we had our own club kids but I def remember the stories on these kids years later
OMG I remember MySpace ahhhhh those were the days!!!
Why is it so sad Alig died?! He was a murderer PERIOD.! Ask Angel's family if they're sad?
Did you to listen to the episode? We made it pretty clear as to what we are referring to. We literally said Alig's death is closure for Angel's family.
I knew Michael. I spoke to many of the Club Kids but didn't have a ride to Dallas to meet James St. James or Richie Rich back in the ''00s. You guys did a great job covering the story. There's still a lot to tell. I even spoke with Elke, Michael's mom on the phone.
His mom is sweet
Not you scaring the kitty at the beginning 😂🤣
I think you two are the best
I've read that the official cause of death for angel was asphyxiation from the pillow or sweatshirt
Was around at the start(88) my signifigant other was a friend from Fordam. Alig generally promoted with flyers ( invites was how he refered to them) but for the Outlaw Parties he also dialed up people on the list on a rotary phone saying when and where
Ps- he sufficated ( angle) the draino was not used until after he died by days to cover the smell
folks , great job.....from a former history teacher this was well researched and put across. excellent historical perspective of how this group started...well done
Thank you!!! ♡♡♡
Coney Island High was a club in Manhattan, on eighth St. Not actual high school in Brooklyn. However, it was awesome.
I only know of Peter Gatien from the Fun Lovin Criminals referencing him in the lyrics of their song The Fun Lovin' Criminal.
"We`re always optimistic about human relations
/We`ve got more friends than my man Peter Gatien"
It's a great song.
My Uncle worked for Peter. He's very charismatic but def wasn't a decent person (although u r right comparatively he looks it).
JOHN Belushi. Oh my God, seriously? How do you not know this?
I’m 37. Never, not once in all my years since 2007 on TH-cam have I heard a TH-camr mention “Leftover Crack.” I just wanted to mention that.
As an ex crack head I never heard that either 😂😂😂
I flew in from Chicago and will never forget my night at the limelight
I'm confused as to why you guys would refer to his death as a "sad loss." He did horrific things.
Hey Valerie - we noted this in the episode. What makes it sad is that Michael was given a second chance to turn it around. And he didn't. Very few people get that chance in circumstances like this. Yes he did horrible things. Yes, he was a creative genius that could have done crazy things in the social media age. All of these things can be true. But instead, he let the demons take him. That's why it's sad.
@@TheMiseryMachine Hey guys, thanks for replying! I am a huge fan of your videos and really appreciate all the time and hard work you guys put into making them. I also love how you guys reference and reminisce about the music scenes from your past. Being someone who was involved in many different music scenes in my area I feel like it makes you guys very relatable. I see what you mean about M.A. and I honestly learned a lot from your video as I was only familiar with the movie Party Monster. Keep up the great work!
Totally agree
Straight guy here obsessed with alig and club kids lately. Something nostalgic
All club owners have house dealers, unless I’ve worked at a club u don’t understand what to look for
15:23 youth gives you no protection against ODing on anything!