Kids, here’s another 80s club history lesson. It’s Danceteria.

The first Danceteria was opened on West 37th Street and closed not long after by the NYPD and fire departments in 1980 as it was an illegal unlicensed facility. In 1982 a new six-floor facility became THE noted 21st Street Danceteria that everyone talk about. The club became known as one of the country’s centers of new art (Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring) performance, fashion and music and many musicians played there like; Madonna, RuPaul, New Order, Duran Duran, Billy Idol, Sade, The Smiths, Squeeze, Cyndi Lauper, Run-DMC, Depeche Mode, The B-52’s, Bauhaus, Sonic Youth, Swans, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Soft Cell, The Jesus and Mary Chain and the Beastie Boys. The third incarnation of Danceteria operated from 1990 to 1993 in the run-down Martha Washington Hotel at 30 East 30th Street and the 21st Street location was eventually sold and converted to luxury condos.

In two weeks there’s a NYC reunion for Danceteria hosted by Joe Stanich, for all of the nightclub dinosaurs that haven’t left us yet, like the recent unexpected departure from the planet of club legend, Edwige. Here’s the Facebook pitch to make the scene…

D A N C E T E R I A …
Don’t call it a come back, we’ve been here before.
As we turn the corner racing towards the end of this year, it seems only proper and certainly fitting, that the ALUMNI and friends gather to remember.
It has been a tumultuous year for us all. Respect for All the family that has gone before us, to set up the greatest event in the sky ever !
The list of names is growing far too fast. Who have I missed, all of them ! Give me the names…
Haoui, Elizabeth, Martha, Mark, Alice, Sally Be, Savoia, Edwige
We’ll laugh and cry, sing and dance, hug and pose.
And we will remember and share all those FABULOUS stories that must never be forgotten.
Please,… pass the word, near and far…
DANCETERIA will revive this night.
DJ’s: Bill Bahlman, Nancy Rapchak, Freddy Bastone (and Johnny Dynell?)

Below is my ex-bf, the legendary doorman, Haoui Montaug, introducing Madonna first performance of Everybody. On the far right is the late Martin Burgoyne, Madonna’s BFF and her first manager… art director and dancer. He wore a lot of hats. There's also an episode of New York Dance Stand from 1983 with loads of folks. Look for Dianne Brill as well as Eva Byron performing at about 23 minutes in. Watch.

The party is October 23, 7PM at the Rumpus Room, 249 Eldridge St, NYC. For more info, go here. (Share this post and spread the word. See you there!?)

This benefit was for Michael Stewart who was a graffiti artist that died after being beaten by police over 30 years ago.

Madonna’s getting ready for her first-ever performance at Danceteria, in 1982. Photo, Josh Cheuse

Madonna with brother Christopher (left) on the roof at Danceteria in ’83. Photo, Bob Gruen

DJ “Jellybean” Benitez, left, produced some of Madonna’s biggest hits in the ’80s. Photo, Corbis

Before Everybody, Madonna Ciccone struggled in NYC. She landed her big break with Sire Records through a series of lucky (or well-planned) romances. One was with the late Mark Kamins who DJ’d at Danceteria, the four-story center of the NY nightlife and music scene in 1982. This was the club’s second incarnation, at the first, I met (and hooked up with) artist Keith Haring who was a bus boy there –but not for long. One night, Madonna convinced Kamins to play Everybody and in his own words;

“It worked.”

Kamins knew people at Sire, and soon Madonna had signed a $15,000 two-single deal. Everybody really took off after Sire executives saw Madonna performing this song at Danceteria at Haoui Montaug‘s cabaret No Entiendes. (Btw, Haoui was my boyfriend at the time but I missed this show…) In this first-ever performance at Danceteria, you get to see Madge’s dance moves and supreme confidence. It might seem a bit amateurish, compared to today, but this was a slick show for the time. No singers or bands had real choreography in a nightclub. Watch. The rest is herstory.

WONDER IF MADONNA WILL SHOW UP TO THE DANCETERIA REUNION?

#FLASHBACK82: BABY MADONNA SINGING "EVERYBODY" FOR THE FIRST TIME AT DANCETERIA