re: #201 Dr Lizardo

Yeah, I’d say the halcyon days of Studio 54 was when Trump was probably first noticed by the national media - Studio 54 was briefly the talk of the nation, usually for salacious reasons. I dimly remember it being talked about on ABC News one evening, and that was before the place got shut down. I also rather dimly remember a brief segment on the Sex Pistols and their hapless US tour.

In the Summer of ‘77 I’d just moved to NYC, and my band did a lot of recording at a studio on 54th called the Sound Palace (it was later bought by the Hit Factory). We used to go in on open night time sessions - hit the studio at 8 and work until 3 or 4 in the morning, or whenever we wrapped on the tracks we were working on at the time.

We’d usually break around midnight to head to a pub called Connolly’s down the block (still there, actually), right across the street from 54. We’d grab the booth in the front window, order beers and burgers and watch the crowd outside groveling to get into the club. The level of humiliation those dopes would go through to get into a stupid club was pretty sad, but it was a sight to see.

I saw Trump arrive a few times. Steve Rubell (54’s owner, who later went to prison IIRC) would always come out and usher Trump in personally.

I also saw Linda Ronstadt face plant on the sidewalk getting out of her limo one night, but she never ran for president so I’ll leave that alone. :)