James St James

I have been hither and thither, this way and that, down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass and then back again. I went to Los Angeles to tape a few segments of the Jack E Jett Show on Q Television--is anyone watching this show? Did anyone see it? He's an odd one, that Jack. I love him. The last segment we filmed, which ended up being shown live on Tuesday, featured James St James; he is the author of Disco Bloodbath (which later became the movie Party Monster). You must all get this book if you have not read it yet.

Disco Bloodbath tells the story of James' friendship with Michael Alig, the nightclub promoter for a party called Disco 2000, which was held at The Limelight in New York City. Through a twisted web of drugs and manipulations and all-around shicannery, their lives fall apart and meet with a tragic end. Although it obviously wasn't that tragic for James, as he is alive and well and was able to come on the show. ANYWAY--please read it if you haven't yet. The movie is pretty good too, although Maculay Culkin's performance as Michael Alig is tired.

When I was in college, I used to take the train into NYC on Wednesday nights to go to the famed Disco 2000 and hang out with all the club kid freaks. John Norris from MTV News offered me drugs, I danced with Madonna's dancers, I wore silly outfits and acted crazy just so the guys at the door would let me in for free. I thought it was fabulous. In the basement they played 80's music, and everyone danced and laughed and had fun. I always stayed down there. I was going right at the end of New York's nightlife era, right before all the big clubs were closed for dealing drugs and everyone was sent to jail. It's still fun to go out in the city, but I'm afraid I'll never find another reason to dress up like Elroy from the Jetsons. Halloween, maybe; but back then, it was just another outfit I wore to get me in the door on a random night.

My friends and I would wander around and speak with weird accents and tell the tourists--or worse, the people from Jersey (never mind the fact that we were students in Jersey; we thought we were cool enough that it didn't count)--that we were from random European countries, just so they would buy us drinks or drugs or whatever. I never did the drugs, and I rarely drank; but everyone else did everything. When The Limelight closed at 4 AM, we'd wander off to some after-hours bar somewhere and frolic with whomever was around, until we noticed the sun was coming up. Then I'd drag all my drugged-up friends to the train station so we could catch the 5:30 AM train back to school. I would stay awake to make sure we didn't miss our stop, and we'd stumble off the train in our platform shoes, dragging whatever parts of our costumes we could no longer handle wearing. A quick stop at the dining hall for a bagel, and we'd be off to class, often with glitter in our hair and smudged eye make-up oozing down our cheeks, which we flaunted like badges of honor. And I did it all sober, so I thought I was REALLY cool. I could run with the rest of them without cocaine or anything. Take THAT.

That first semester, I got all C's. My other friends failed everything. Oh well. I thought it was worth it.

Comments

[Patrick]

My ex said that John Norris would offer him coke at the Roxy all the time! Limelight was fun, I loved Sound Factory, USA. Oh the mamories.

[blackbird]

I was right there with you...the Limelight, the late late train, the diner for fries and a shake -- in incredible outfits from Fiorucci.
I saw Brooke pee in the sink at the Danceteria, I sat with luminaries in the VIP lounge at the Limelight (my pal was a promoter there) and I too was sober the whole time -- and skinny, and happy.

[Debi]

Hey - my dad (aka the smartest man alive) insists that the world is ruled by 'C' students - and he doesn't mean that in a bad way!!!! However, I couldn't even dare to guess what he might have to say about the Elroy costume... (but I love it!)

[mk]

Party Monster was just on television recently - Tivo suggested it. Macaulay Culkin was rather frightening, I thought.

[Liz]

I'm with ya Dan. I did it all sober as well and no one believes me now. They think every person alive back then was on something and its simply not true.

I love James St James. I'm a huge fan of his since his days in DETAILS magazine. MIchael Alig still has a cult following and many look forward to his release. He is up for parole in 2006.

Personally, I thought Macauley did a fine job, but I have heard mixed reviews.

[Liz]

Ps. I just finished watching SHAMPOO HORNS that stars all of the club kids including Michael Alig and James St James. I wondered what John Norris was doing in this film, thanks for clearing that up. HAHA!

[The Malcontent]

Seth Green was MUCH better as James than Macauley was as Michael.

[maggie]

did you see james st. james on america's next top model last week? he judged a challenge on personal style (that is, the girls' personal styles as dictated by jay manuel) and was a guest judge. not bad!

[Sarah]

I saw Party Monster a few weeks back, and surprisingly I liked it. I did think that Culkin was a bit stale after a while, but the story itself, I enjoyed. I'll definitely check the book out, as we all know, nearly every book is better than its video version.

[Aitch]

Party Monster scared me. I don't like thinking about people living like that. It's weird to hear you were one of t"those" kids though.....At least you remained a "good boy" through it all. Now you're just a bit tainted in my eyes.

Heh, I'm totally kidding...about the tainted part.

[Gregg]

Ok - there has to be photo evidence of these outfits - please get them scanned and please share.

[Jennifer]

Did you ever get the Glamour Shots taken?

[Ed]

I knew John Norris was a total queen and a druggie. I was always wondering why is this old dude still on MTV? Now i know that it's because he still has "connects" and has friends in the business. BTW i too recommend party monster the movie (I actually heard that Culkin did a good job with the acting because he imitated Michael's mannerisms and lisp perfectly) but i still need to read the book. I also saw James St. James on Top Model and he looked so desperate and bloated. He was wearing this yellow dress with orange polka dots... excuse me but that's not a fashion risk but a disaster. That's my ten cents bitch.

[mary]

I agree with the malcontent. But I love seth green anyway.

[Glenn C]

Dan:

I am a bit confued aboyut the last part of the post where you say that you went to college in NJ. I thought you lived in the Midwest. Or is that part an excerpt from James St James' book?

Did somebody say the Limelight. God, those were the days!!! I don't know when Mr. St. James' book takes place but the golden era of the Limelight was back in the 80s and early 90s. I saw people taking drugs but I never did any either. My drug of choice was SEX!!! Limelight was such an easy place to cruise guys and have sex. They had this one room in the back of the "gay section"(if you are totally out of the gay scene then I will have to explain to you that the better clubs in big cities have a special section just for gays and that's where all of the fun happens. You can't enter the gay section if you are straight either). Anyway, this one room was called "The Lick It Lounge" and guys would go there just to hook up. I met so many guys there. It would not be uncommon to have three tricks in one night. I would often take guys to the women's bathroom in the straight section and have sex. They woudl have this one room with just a guy in bed pretending to have sex with himself and his little sex area woudl be roped off like the way they rope off exhibits in museums. I really miss those days. Friday was always the night to go to the Limelight then Roxy on Saturdays and the Palladium on Sundays for the foam party.

[B W]

I was reminded of those days by the appearance of James St. James on ANTM last week and now once again by this entry. I didn't live in New York then but went there for my job about every other or every third month. We had a showroom on Fifth Ave and I would go there to set up the new lines and basically redecorate the place. The company would put me up in a suite in a residential hotel on Lexington for two or three weeks each time. I went out every night and would drag my ass into work at the last moment possible. Once I went straight from J's into work at 9 am and started working on our biggest display window which faced the street. I was doing the window for Christmas. Almost as soon as I got in the window I passed out the floor with a Christmas garland drapped across my lap. My boss let me sleep there for about two hours. She and my other coworkers went out on the street and took pictures of me and encouraged people passing by to point and look at me. Boy, those were the days.

[kymmie]

I have always been mildly attracted to John Norris.

[Carrie]

If you all liked party monster so much, check out the Party Monster Shockumentary, with the real Alig, Elka (Alig's mom) James, Brooke, Gitsy, Freeze, Angel, Gatien, Richie Rich, Amanda Lepore, Bowery, & all of the other "club kids." Even Michelle Musto!!!! It's awesome!!!!

[Carrie]

If you all liked party monster so much, check out the Party Monster shockumentary. with the real Alig, Elka (alig's mom) James, Gitsy, Brooke, Gatien,Freeze, Angel, Richie Rich, Amanda Lepore, Bowery, & all the other "club kids". even michael musto!!!!! it's awesome.

[L1]

So, Dan...back to your first paragraph..did you get to meet James, if he appeared on the show you did?

It's hard for me to believe someone could dress up like Elroy Jetson, go to the Limelight until dawn, and make sure all of your friends get to class, without being high on something.

We didn't even have energy drinks or Starbucks back then. Don't start lying now Dan.