Club Kids

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The Club Kids were a group of young clubgoers led by Michael Alig and James St. James in the late 1980s and early 1990s. James St. James is the author of Disco Bloodbath, which is his depiction of the events surrounding the Club Kids and Michael Alig's murder of Angel Melendez. 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. The famous female impersonator RuPaul was discovered on one of these "Club Kids" episodes.

Other Club Kids include DJ Keoki (Alig's former boyfriend), Angel Melendez (Alig's drug dealer, whom he murdered), Amanda Lepore, Sophia Lamar, Robert "Freeze" Riggs, Astro Erle, Jenny Talia, Kabuki, Lahoma, Desi Monster, Heatherette (Traver Rains and Richie Rich), 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, Richie Rich, and Astro Erle.

The 1998 documentary and the 2003 feature film, both called Party Monster, 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.

[edit] External links

• Michael Alig Club Kids (includes many photos of club kids)
• Heatherette
• Collection of all things involving club kids
• YouTube.com Watch the original Club kids at Jane Whitney's talkshow

[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.

[edit] See also

• Zippies