A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs, club DJs, mobile DJs, and turntablists. Originally, the "disc" in "disc jockey" referred to shellac and later vinyl records, but nowadays DJ is used as an all-encompassing term to also describe persons who mix music from other recording media such as cassettes, CDs or digital audio files on a CDJ, controller, or even a laptop. DJs may adopt the title "DJ" in front of their real names, adopted pseudonyms, or stage names.
Party Monster is a 2003 American biographical crime drama film written and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, who are also producers along with Jon Marcus and Christine Vachon. It stars Macaulay Culkin as the drug-addled "king of the Club Kids". The film tells the story of the rise and fall of the infamous New York City party promoter Michael Alig. This was Macaulay Culkin's first film in nearly nine years since his starring role in the 1994 film Richie Rich.
Michael Alig was an American club promoter and artist who was convicted of felony manslaughter. He was one of the ringleaders of the Club Kids, a group of young New York City clubgoers who became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In March 1996, Alig and his roommate, Robert D. "Freeze" Riggs, killed fellow Club Kid Andre "Angel" Melendez in a confrontation over a drug debt. In October 1997, Alig pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Both men were sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. Riggs was released on parole in 2010. Alig was released on May 5, 2014.
The Club Kids were a group of young New York City dance club personalities popularized by Michael Alig, James St. James, Julie Jewels, Astro Erle, Michael Tronn, DJ Keoki, and Ernie Glam in the late 1980s, and, throughout the 1990s, grew to include Amanda Lepore, Waltpaper, Christopher Comp, It Twins, Jennytalia, Desi Monster, Keda, Kabuki Starshine, and Richie Rich. The group was notable for its members' flamboyant behavior and outrageous costumes. In 1988, writer Michael Musto wrote about the Club Kids' "cult of crazy fashion and petulance": "They ... are terminally superficial, have dubious aesthetic values, and are master manipulators, exploiters, and, thank God, partiers."
Larry Tee is a Berlin-based DJ, club promoter, and music producer who curated the electroclash scene in New York in the early 2000s, and helped launch the careers of such artists as RuPaul, Scissor Sisters, Fischerspooner, Peaches, W.I.T., and Avenue D. He has written songs for and collaborated with Afrojack, Shontelle, Princess Superstar, Santigold, RuPaul, Sean Garrett, Steve Aoki, and Amanda Lepore.
Francis Grasso was an American disco music disc jockey from New York City, best known for being one of the first people to beatmatch.
Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous but True Tale of Murder in Clubland is a 1999 memoir written by James St. James about his life as a Manhattan celebutante and Club Kid. The book specifically chronicles his friend Michael Alig's rise to fame, and Alig and his roommate's subsequent murder of fellow club kid and drug dealer Andre "Angel" Melendez. St. James was Alig's mentor, rival, and collaborator in the Manhattan party scene and was familiar with many of its key figures. The memoir was later retitled Party Monster after the 2003 motion picture of that name starring Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Chloë Sevigny, and Marilyn Manson.
Andre Melendez was a member of the Club Kids and purported drug dealer who lived and worked in New York City. He was killed by Michael Alig and Robert "Freeze" Riggs on March 17, 1996. His life and death have inspired several pieces of media, including books, films, music, and television.
James St. James is a television personality, author, celebutante, frequent collaborator with Mathu Andersen, and former "Club Kid", a member of the New York City club scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Tunnel was a nightclub located at 220 Twelfth Avenue, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It operated from 1986 to 2001.
A subway party is a celebration that occurs on a mass transit system. Generally, people meet at a predetermined station in their city's mass transit system, wait until their numbers have achieved critical mass, and board the train. From there, revelers may engage in many different activities, from playing music and dancing to exchanging gifts.
Peter Gatien is a Canadian club owner and party promoter. He is best known as the former owner of several prominent New York City nightclubs, including Club USA, The Limelight, Palladium, and Tunnel.
Party Monster: The Shockumentary is a 1998 documentary film detailing the rise of the club kid phenomenon in New York City, the life of club kid and party promoter Michael Alig, and Alig's murder of fellow club kid and drug dealer Andre "Angel" Melendez. It was directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
David Aaron Shayman, better known by his stage name Disco D, was an American record producer and composer. He started as a teenage DJ in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he helped DJ Godfather popularize the Detroit electronic music called "Ghettotech".
Nicky Siano is a former resident DJ at Studio 54.
Clive Campbell, better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican American DJ who is credited with being one of the founders of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in 1973. Nicknamed the Father of Hip-Hop, Campbell began playing hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown.
The World was a large nightclub in New York City, which operated from the early 1980's until 1991 at 254 East 2nd Street, in Manhattan's East Village neighborhood. The venue, which included a secondary establishment called "The It Club," was housed in a former catering hall and theater. The World attracted a clientele that was economically, racially, and sexually diverse, and included artists, celebrities, and fashion designers, such as Keith Haring, Afrika Bambaataa, Madonna, Brooke Shields, Prince, Stephen Sprouse, RuPaul, and Carolina Herrera, together with banjee boys and members of voguing houses
Screamin' Rachael, born Rachael Cain, is an American musician and Chicago native dubbed the "Queen of House Music" by Billboard magazine,. Rachael has been connected to the evolution of the House music genre. She has worked with performers such as Grandmaster Melle Mel, Marshall Jefferson, Colonel Abrams, Afrika Bambaataa, and many others.
DJing is the act of playing existing recorded music for a live audience.
Dianne Brill is a fashion designer, model, author, and former club kid. Brill was a fixture in the 1980s downtown club scene in New York City. Andy Warhol deemed her the "Queen of the Night".
