Season 1 · Episode 2
Village Voice nightlife columnist · La Dolce Musto
Released 6 Sep 2021 · 1:04:35
Every name, club, book, song, night and look from the interview - 268 references and 607 mentions in this episode. So exciting!
Pale lavender-white button-down shirt; round dark tortoiseshell glasses; grey curly hair
In front of bookshelves and a framed print of giant black false eyelashes, with a red cushion
Anne Frank, Lt. Uhura, Jane Jetson, Marie Antoinette and Nikki Haskell, several per Area theme
Host; calls Musto his 'gay mother' and mentor when he arrived in New York. Links to his own Night Fever episode
FashionClub Kid with flamboyant looks
Heard as “James / James St / Jim James”
Two-time Oscar-nominated actress and party fixture; an early mentor who taught Musto the social game
FashionFamous for always being out, dressed up, at every party
Heard as “Sylvia”
Centre of the scene; his name is printed bigger than Musto's on the cover of Downtown, and his death marked the 'death of downtown'
FashionStarted as a fashion illustrator; championed downtown style
Heard as “Andy / Andy Warhol / Warhol”
The scene that rose after Warhol's death
FashionScene defined by costumes and looks
Heard as “Club Kid / Club Kids / Club kids / club kid”
The city itself: Musto's beat for decades; he expects dancing to come roaring back after lockdown
Where Musto's vodka cranberry was waiting at the library; later Disco 2000
Heard as “Lightlife / Limelight / limelight”
Arrived at the Williamsburg Bridge party with Warhol; star of the 'Breakfast in Bed' party at Area and Palladium
FashionGender-bending 1980s style icon
Heard as “Boy George / George”
Musto's home for decades; relaunched as a quarterly and he wrote for its first issue
Heard as “The Voice / Village Voice / the voice”
Where Musto interviewed Steve Rubell on his first assignment
FashionDisco-era fashion crowd
Heard as “Studio / studio”
Downtown 'queen of the night'; the only one rescued from the sinking barge party. Links to her Night Fever episode
FashionFashion designer, model and 1980s style icon
Heard as “Diane / Diane Brill”
Musto's favourite club of the era, redone every few weeks by theme
FashionArt-directed themed club; fashion crowd
Heard as “area”
The guest: Village Voice nightlife and gossip columnist ('La Dolce Musto'), author and self-styled oldest club kid. Links to his Night Fever episode on WOW
FashionChronicler of downtown looks; his own early nerd look is in the Mood tab
Heard as “Musta / Muster / Musto”
Legendary DJ and writer who never played Top 40; Musto remembers her death in 2015
Heard as “Anita / Anita Sarco / Anita Sarko”
SoHo Weekly News features editor and secret author of 'Ms. Lonely Hearts', who gave Musto his first assignments
Heard as “Cynthia / Cynthia Heimal / Cynthia Heimel”
Downtown columnist at the SoHo News and Details; Musto calls him a mentor who put the downtown crowd on equal footing
FashionDetails magazine nightlife columnist
Heard as “Saban / Sabin”
The dingy, new-wave anti-Studio 54 in Tribeca
FashionPosey new-wave style
Heard as “Mud Club / mud club”
Co-host; co-founder of World of Wonder. No Wikipedia page of his own; links to WOW
Heard as “Fenton”
Shared equal billing with Musto's band at Chase Park before she was famous; Musto says she hogged the sound check
FashionPop style icon
Club Kids leader who filled the vacuum after Warhol died; Musto broke the story of the Angel Melendez killing
FashionClub Kid known for outrageous costumes
Heard as “Ahling / Alig / Michael Alec / Michael Alex”
Boy George's unofficial manager with, as told on the show, a fake British accent
Heard as “Masters”
He and Ivana were the uptown version of Dianne and Rudolf; Musto says Trump tried to kill him with kindness
Heard as “Donald / Donald Trump”
Came to Musto's book party; James still has a soft spot for her
FashionUptown glamour icon
Heard as “Ivana”
Videographer who documented the 1980s scene; Musto has unseen tapes of him
Heard as “Nelson”
Kitschy East Village venue where Musto played three roles in A Sound of Muzak
Every few weeks a new theme (solitude, natural history, science fiction, circus, disco); invitations in capsules and quail eggs
FashionArt-directed themes and costumes
Heard as “invitation”
Remembered as the kid with a Mohawk at the New Music Seminar who said he'd be a big star; later lived with Nelson Sullivan. Musto jokes he once predicted 'RuPaul's over'
FashionDrag icon
Musto's early pen name was 'the Brooklyn Kid'; he says dancing had moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn
Founder of Details; her birthday outlaw party on a sanitation pier is one of the stories
FashionFounded Details, a downtown fashion and style magazine
Heard as “Annie / Annie Flanders / Flanders”
Musto's campy Motown cover band; debuted at Hurrah the night Lennon died
Heard as “must vocalist / the Must / the must”
Limelight party guest of honour; also named in Dean Johnson's song
FashionModel and Stephen Sprouse muse
Heard as “Terry Toy”
Promoter who pioneered outlaw parties (sanitation pier, Williamsburg Bridge)
Heard as “Vito / Yavito”
Secret parties in public places that were bound to get busted
Heard as “outlaw part”
Rudolf Piper's club; the great one was on 21st Street
Heard as “Dan Siteria / Danceteria”
Fellow nightlife columnist and ACT UP activist who mentored Musto's political turn; co-founded OutWeek. Links to his Night Fever episode
Heard as “Michelangelo / Michelangelo Signorelli”
Musto kept writing that she was gay; she later spoke first at his roast
Heard as “Rosie”
Club Kid and dealer killed by Alig and Freeze; Musto's blind items helped break the story
Heard as “Angel / Angel Melendez”
Drag queen who lived with Nelson Sullivan and later hung up the wig for publishing
FashionDrag looks
Heard as “Lahoma / Oklahoma / Witherspoon”
Handsome friend everyone loved; with Nelson on his last day
Always-shiny clubgoer who adopted the nickname Musto's crowd gave him
FashionPermanent shine
Heard as “Kramer / Mop and Glow”
Anne Frank, Lt. Uhura, Jane Jetson, Marie Antoinette and Nikki Haskell, several per Area theme
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “Anne Frank / Jetson / Marie Antoinette / Ohura”
As Musto tells it, Tom the manager radioed ahead so his drink was waiting; the story later made a reporter call him pathetic
Heard as “cranberry”
Co-host; co-founder of World of Wonder. No Wikipedia page of his own; links to WOW
Heard as “Randy”
Mohawk, rubber waders and Mylar streamers at the New Music Seminar
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “Mohawk / Mylar / Rubber Waiters”
Studio 54 co-owner; Musto's first big assignment, after which Rubell always pulled him in at the door
Heard as “Rubel / Rubell”
Unspooled-wire-hanger frame, Brillo hair and a zippered Sears turtleneck from his mother
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “Brillo / turtleneck / wire hanger”
Annie Flanders's birthday outlaw party; the boat took on water and only Dianne was ferried off
FashionDianne's rubber dress (see Mood)
Heard as “barge / sanitation pier”
Annie Flanders's magazine; Musto worked there from 1982
FashionDowntown fashion and style magazine
Heard as “details”
Club Kid DJ and Michael Alig's boyfriend; as told on the show, James fell for him and Keoki held an outlaw party on a subway
FashionClub Kid looks
Heard as “Kaoke / Keoki / Kiyoki”
Uptown 'debutante of the decade' who came downtown; ran through Area looking for Boy George
FashionDebutante style figure
Heard as “Cornelia”
Daily News columnist who covered downtown and wrote up Musto's balloon hat
FashionNightlife and style column
Heard as “Dinah”
Daily News uptown society columnist (downtown was Dinah's beat). Links to his Night Fever episode
FashionLater a Vogue editor and fashion writer
Heard as “Norwich”
Where, as told on the show, James and Musto each got thrown out of parties
Heard as “Hamptons”
The outfit that, as told on the show, got him escorted out of a Hamptons party
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “lunchbox / party hat / pinafore”
Club personality from Maryland Musto insists on remembering
FashionClub Kid look
One of the scenes Musto listed when he joined the Voice; home of the 80s art explosion and Patti Astor's Fun Gallery
Showed up hand in hand with Anne Heche while the press called them 'good friends'
Heard as “Ellen / Ellen DeGeneres”
Musto's 2007 cover story on Jodie Foster and Anderson Cooper
Heard as “Glass Closet / Out Magazine”
Musto's favourite subject change: Cabaret was her best film, Rent-a-Cop a step backward
FashionHalston muse and style icon
Heard as “Liza”
Amy Virshup's story that named the Club Kids; later interviewed Alig
FashionClub Kid looks
Heard as “New York Magazine”
Mayor whose nightlife crackdown, according to the episode, fed on Angel's death; Musto rails at his later scandals
Heard as “Giuliani”
Danceteria majordomo; with Dianne Brill the ruling couple of the scene. Links to his Night Fever episode
FashionComic-book glamour couple with Dianne Brill
Heard as “Rudolph”
At Musto's book party with Ivana; danced with Musto's father at Limelight. Links to her Night Fever episode
FashionNightlife and fashion icon
Heard as “Amanda / Amanda Lepore / mandalapore”
James thinks Sex and the City owes more to Cynthia Heimel's columns
Heard as “Candace / Candace Bushnell”
Club regular out every night into her 90s, taking the bus; the story goes her 'niece' was her granddaughter
FashionGot all gussied up every night
Heard as “Sherry”
Patti Astor's East Village gallery bringing money and graffiti artists together
Heard as “fun gallery”
Area's house drag queen with several characters per theme
FashionTheme drag characters (see Mood)
Heard as “Bernadette / Bernard Zett”
Musto's guide to the downtown scene, with Warhol's name bigger than his
FashionDowntown style guide
Heard as “book, Downtown / have downtown right here”
Musto's Village Voice column (from 1984) and the collection of it
FashionNightlife and celebrity style coverage
Heard as “Dolce Masto / Dolce Musto”
In The Mirror Crack'd; Musto saw her photographed with Richard Burton
FashionScreen glamour icon
Heard as “Elizabeth Taylor / Liz Taylor”
Young RuPaul was like the new Eve Harrington
Heard as “All About Eve / Eve Harrington”
Heimel's unsigned advice column; Musto wrote in as 'the Brooklyn Kid'
Heard as “Lonely Hearts”
Musto's birthday party was one of its first; its regulars were the 'tunnel kids'
Heard as “tunnel”
Sent a 10-speed bicycle to Musto's birthday at the Tunnel
Six-foot-six bald drag performer who sang a song about James at Musto's birthday
FashionBald drag look (see Mood)
Heard as “Dean / Dean Johnson”
Mixed real money people with hip-hop kids; one of the overnight East Village art stars
FashionDesigned clothing for his Pop Shop
Heard as “Haring / Keith Herring”
As told on the show, James's little-girl outfit got him escorted out, making the Daily News; the host's name is unclear
FashionOutfit in the Mood tab
Heard as “Kleinman / escorted out”
Director who, as Musto tells it, had Musto thrown out of his Hamptons estate (maybe over Musto's review of The Wiz)
Heard as “Lumet”
Lumet's other daughter, part of the same uptown-downtown crowd
Heard as “Amy”
Rosie's backstage joke as host; Liza's Tony for Flora the Red Menace
Heard as “Tony Award”
Musto's piece on the scene after Warhol died, ending with a prediction of a comeback
Heard as “Death of Downtown / death of downtown”
Musto says Warhol was the centrepiece of the scene and his death left a vacuum in the clubs
Heard as “after Andy Warhol died / after Warhol died”
Warhol's assistant, who passed on the go-ahead for Warhol's blurb on Downtown
Heard as “Benjamin”
Musto says Warhol brought Hollywood, Broadway, uptown and downtown together in one room
Page Six's April 1996 'Mystery of the Missing Club Kid' built on Musto's items
Heard as “Missing Club Kid / missing person”
Ran 'Mystery of the Missing Club Kid'
Heard as “Page Six / page 6”
According to the episode, it used the killing to paint nightlife as criminal
Heard as “crackdown / cracking down”
Regular at Musto's birthday parties who, as told on the show, testified against her own mother; name unclear
Heard as “Sucrete”
Nelson Sullivan videos Musto has that were never uploaded there
Musto names 'James and Lisa' as celebutantes before the Club Kids; she went to Musto's family Thanksgiving with James. Links to her Night Fever episode
Fashion1980s nightlife personality
Heard as “Lisa”
Musto predicts he'll be the most famous artist ever
FashionWalked for Comme des Garçons
Heard as “Basquiat”
Jayne Mansfield and Mitzi Gaynor meets a German spy; 'pure glamour'
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “German spy / comic book”
Played at both Mudd Club and Studio; later held court in the Limelight library with Dolph Lundgren
FashionAndrogynous fashion icon
Club 57 star; posed with the 'unicorn' at Area
FashionTowering unicorn pompadour
A nun (Sister Morphine), a Von Trapp and 'Diana Von Ross' at Club 57
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “Sister Morphine / Von Ross”
Area co-owner who later made Tiger King; ran Area as art, not business. Links to his Night Fever episode
Heard as “Goode”
Its 'unicorn', a goat with a glued-on horn, posed with John Sex at Area
Heard as “Barnum”
The photo of the century at Area
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “unicorn hairdo”
Bakkers' Christian theme park the WOW founders and Musto visited
Heard as “Heritage / PTL”
Society restaurant James got kicked out of, the story goes
FashionSociety crowd
Heard as “Mortimer”
Musto's novel; James is the 'thinly veiled' Flavio Laurent
Second collection of Musto's columns
Heard as “Forks on the Left”
'Mr. Mickey' took Musto to dinner at Veronica; assumed to be the Paper magazine editor. Links to his Night Fever episode
FashionPaper magazine style editor
Heard as “Mickey”
Restaurant in a photography museum where Musto's post-lockdown dinner felt unchanged
Heard as “Veronica”
Musto didn't recognise her with blonde hair at a dinner
FashionSupermodel
Heard as “Paulina Poraskova”
Why Musto didn't recognise her
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “blonde hair”
Musto asks Paulina about 'Aaron's' work; assumed to be her then-partner
Heard as “Aaron”
James calls Musto an 'Auntie Mame' figure
FashionRosalind Russell's legendary wardrobe
Heard as “anti-mame”
Musto asked James to be the friend in an Inquirer interview
Heard as “Inquirer”
Where young RuPaul introduced himself to Musto and James
Heard as “music seminar”
Where Musto grew up
Where Musto's mother bought his zippered turtleneck
FashionDepartment-store clothing
James guessed it was where Musto interviewed Sylvia
Where Musto's friend Tiny later worked
Studio 54's regular doorman who, as Musto tells it, looked down on young Musto. No page of his own; links to Studio 54
Heard as “Mark Ben”
Courteney Cox pulled from the crowd
Heard as “Springsteen”
Musto wrote for it after meeting Colacello
FashionWarhol's fashion and celebrity magazine
Heard as “writing for interview”
Musto as William Holden to Sylvia's Norma Desmond
Heard as “Sunset Boulevard”
A former Chase bank turned nightclub where Musto's band shared a bill with Madonna
Madonna's early manager, who, Musto says, tried to clear the shared dressing room
Heard as “Camille”
Presented Pia Zadora's gift
Towering bald drag queen at Musto's birthday
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “ball drag queen”
Opening line of Dean Johnson's song about James, as Musto recalls it
Heard as “Congo Bill”
Named in Dean Johnson's song about James, as Musto recalls it
Waving from the rescue boat like a Titanic survivor
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “rubber dress”
Vito Bruno's 1985 party; the news aired it late, buying 25 minutes before the police came
FashionDowntown's best-dressed all arrived together
Heard as “Williamsburg Bridge”
Sang 'The Glamorous Life' as the police shut down the Williamsburg Bridge party
Heard as “Sheila E”
The last song as police closed the bridge party
Heard as “Glamorous Life”
Downtown designer who arrived at the Williamsburg Bridge party. Links to his Night Fever episode
FashionDesigner known for chain-mail and metal fashion
Heard as “Schmidt”
Named among the arrivals at the Williamsburg Bridge party. Links to her Night Fever episode
Musto strapped it on with a rubber band; it 'represented the crashing of the bourgeoisie' and made the Daily News
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “balloon”
Downtown meant wearing what wasn't in its pages
FashionFashion trade paper
Heard as “women's wear”
Downtown was about wearing something not in the pages of Women's Wear Daily
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “women's wear”
Society columnist Musto credits with bringing uptown and downtown together
Heard as “Corey Hay”
James guesses it was her Hamptons estate he was thrown out of
FashionSocialite and haute-couture collector
Uptown girl who came downtown (heard as 'Angela Jenklo'); identity inferred
FashionSocialite
Heard as “Jenklo”
Gay gossip columnist and Musto's predecessor at the Village Voice
Village Voice publisher who hired Musto after he rattled off the clubs
Heard as “Schneiderman”
Socialite Signorile railed against for, as told on the show, siding with her husband against people with AIDS
FashionBest-dressed-list socialite and fashion patron
Syndicated gossip columnist who, as told on the show, kept celebrities in the closet
Musto says his more righteous columns came before Twitter, where everyone now shouts
Heard as “Twitter”
Rosie's Tony Awards joke about her Victor/Victoria costume
FashionGlamour icon; the costume is in the Mood tab
Heard as “Raquel”
Danced shirtless at the Roxy but wouldn't come out on the record
FashionShowman known for flashy stage outfits
Where Peter Allen danced shirtless
Dancing with his shirt off
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “shirt off”
Where, Musto says, his one ecstasy hug started a six-month relationship; venue unclear
Heard as “love machine”
Musto: 'I'm not Nancy Reagan' about preaching against drugs
FashionFirst Lady famous for her red wardrobe
Wrote the New York magazine story that named the Club Kids (heard as 'Vershup')
Heard as “Vershup”
Journalist whose pieces on the case Fenton recalls
Limelight owner; according to the episode, police wanted Alig as a witness against him (heard as just 'Peter'). Links to his Night Fever episode
Heard as “Peter”
Musto went on his show to trash Trump (heard as 'Keith Oakman')
Heard as “Keith Oakman”
The Village People's cowboy, in the 'Mount Rushmore of weird' photo
FashionCowboy costume
One of the 'self-made creatures' Musto loves
FashionSocialite style
Heard as “Wildenstein”
Part of the crew living with Nelson Sullivan
FashionDrag queen
Mentioned as Amanda Lepore's home state
Example of the famous names hired to DJ instead of Anita
FashionFashion and celebrity icon
Party photographer and Musto's friend; Anita Sarko archived his photos
FashionFashion and society photographer
Heard as “McMullen”
Knew when to quit drag and the party life
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “hang up the wig”
Dressed up every night in her 90s and took the bus to the clubs
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “gussied”
Sherry driving Sylvia was like Driving Miss Daisy
PR man who, as told on the show, heard Sylvia's last regrets; spelling unclear
Heard as “Padilla”
Musto jokes that one star's birthday gift was a signed playbill of herself from a London play
Critic Sylvia Miles dumped a plate of pasta on for calling her a gatecrasher
Gallery on the 1980s evening circuit
Ran the Fun Gallery in the East Village
Musto says dancing had stopped in Manhattan and moved to Brooklyn
Musto would happily be wheeled into clubs like him
FashionFlamboyant dandy style icon
Club character with a grapefruit on his head who lobbied for Musto's worst-nightmares column
FashionGrapefruit headpiece
Another lobbyist for that column
A grapefruit on his head
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “grapefruit”
A clubgoer so shiny he was nicknamed after a floor polish
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “so shiny”
Ran a later Danceteria that, as told on the show, 'didn't quite make it'
Heard as “Argento”
Another crossover act
FashionFashion and gender-bending style icon
Heard as “Bowie”
Club 57 star. Links to her Night Fever episode
FashionPerformance and vintage style
Heard as “Magnuson”
Club 57 star. Links to his Night Fever episode
FashionDrag and cabaret style icon
Shaiman and Wittman's Club 57 parody; Musto played three roles
FashionCostumes (see Mood)
Heard as “Sound of Musak”
Played Maria von Trapp in A Sound of Muzak (heard as 'Holly Woodland'); identity inferred
FashionWarhol superstar
Heard as “Holly Woodland”
MoMA's 2017–18 show on Club 57; links to the club's Wikipedia page, which covers it
Heard as “MoMA”
Eric Goode's later docuseries
Musto likens an Area invitation - a capsule that opened in water - to Alice in Wonderland
Heard as “Alice in Wonderland”
One of Bernard Zette's characters. Links to her Night Fever episode
FashionSociety and talk-show figure
Heard as “Haskell”
His Fans party at Area is James's favourite ever
FashionCo-created punk fashion with Vivienne Westwood
Heard as “McLaren”
Party for McLaren's 1984 album Fans; James's favourite party ever
Heard as “fans party”
Boy George's friend whose launch party sound failed
FashionAndrogynous New Romantic look
Heard as “launch of Marilyn”
John Sex is described as a Las Vegas lounge-singer parodist
Co-host of the Breakfast in Bed with Boy George party
All-night party at Area and Palladium with a giant bed
Heard as “breakfast in bed”
The PTL trip became 'pivotal' for Randy and Fenton, who made this documentary; the title isn't said
Heard as “pivotal thing”
Heritage USA was her and Jim Bakker's park; WOW later made The Eyes of Tammy Faye
FashionFamous lashes and make-up
Heard as “Tammy”
They dressed boringly so as not to stand out, and still drew stares
FashionWorn or shown in the episode
Heard as “button down”
Uptown club James and Musto were kicked out of, the story goes (heard as 'regimes')
FashionUptown dress-code club
Heard as “regimes”
At Mortimer's when, the story goes, James was thrown out; his idol
FashionSociety style icon
Took over the Limelight's upstairs library
Heard as “Rothbell”
The hosts ask if Musto would ever spend half the year there
Heard as “LA”
In front of bookshelves and a framed print of giant black false eyelashes, with a red cushion
FashionPale lavender-white button-down shirt; round dark tortoiseshell glasses; grey curly hair
In his home library with an Edgar Allan Poe lunchbox, a white studio microphone and a vintage cowboy portrait
FashionBlack top with a big white collar and white shirt front; long multi-strand pearl necklace; black-and-tortoiseshell rectangular glasses; shaved head
Home office with the poster for Bob Colacello's Warhol memoir Holy Terror and shelves of pink boxed collectibles
FashionBlack fleece cardigan over a red check shirt and a grey striped T-shirt; black-and-tortoiseshell rectangular glasses; grey stubble
In front of 1970s-style striped curtains in brown and cream with orange-and-gold floral panels
FashionNavy-and-white Breton-striped top; pale translucent rectangular glasses; shaved head
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