From the forthcoming autobiography of DJ WishFM This condensed volume is featured in the December 2005 issue of Club Systems International VIP Section Starck vs. Studio The Devil in the Details “Attitude is a funny thing. You can dress it. You can dance it. You can learn it and live by it. You can even adjust it. But, you can’t put your finger on it. Because it’s more than fashion and less than affection. It’s casual but studied. Natural, yet self-conscious. It’s one slippery son of a gun. And, it can get you into the Starck Club.” - The Dallas Morning News, 1985 If you ask people to describe Dallas’ infamous Starck Club, you might think they were talking about Studio 54, a few years prior. But in reality, it wasn’t as decadent as the legendary New York disco. It was better. Clearly, a club design by French mastermind, Philippe Starck, has obvious advantages over a venue designed by a couple of American restauranteurs. Studio’s style was that of colorful airbrushed 70’s shadows, while Starck worked in the ultra-sleek black and white of the 80’s. Studio 54 featured wooden parquet floors, and the Starck unleashed refined marble and terrazzo. Gilbert Lesser’s logo for 54 was certainly appropriate, but a simple reproduction of Starck’s clean industrial trademark was so in-demand, that guests would steal the ‘reserved’ signs off tables and cardboard placards from the bathroom walls. A basic staff T-shirt from the Starck would garner $100 or maybe 20 hits of ecstasy, in trade. Since this was Philippe’s first work in the U.S., we had no idea how profound the effects of his futurist vision would become. Currently, his portfolio represents the most prolific modern collection on the planet. Miami’s Delano and L.A.’s Mondrian hotels are just a glimpse of his keen eye for the unusual. The balance of beautiful form and clever function, unequalled. Depending on how you wish to measure their ‘glory days’, the Studio and Starck have alarmingly similar lifespan. Both ended much the same… with sensational police raids. Studio lasted 33 months before its ringleaders were carted off to jail for financial and drug indiscretions. Starck made it just over two years before the manager and 15 others were booked for drugs in a bust that left dope dogs mystified. The floor was so littered with discarded ecstasy that it was difficult to walk. Neither club ever returned to its original form. At times, the line of cars at Starck’s valet stretched four city blocks. The anticipation was overwhelming, as we frantically adjusted our eyeliner while sucking down vapors from a brown bottle of amyl-nitrate. A block away from the door, the rumble of the Starcks’ subwoofers would begin to penetrate the glass of the car. The photos of Studio 54’s Steve Rubell, show him awkwardly standing on a chair at the door to see over the crowd. Conversely, the door at the Starck sat atop huge steps, 20 feet wide under the arch of an awning which spilled down to the valet lane, intensifying the moon landing. Emotions climaxed as our gang of teenage new wavers piled out of an overheated BMW. Our almost cosmic access to the revered guest list, a priceless asset. Indeed, this brave new world of pomp and circumstance was ours for the taking. And oh boy, did we take plenty. To further frame this juxtaposition, one has to also recognize that Studio 54 is widely considered the beginning of the end of disco. In turn, the Starck was the beginning of the beginning, drafting the blueprint for an ecstasy generation that has consistently grown larger over two decades. MDMA was sold at the bar where we could charge it on mom’s borrowed American Express. No stigma here either, because your next door neighbors were waiting in line to buy some too. So, Studio hacks will say… “But, what about the starpower? We had Bianca Jagger and Halston.” Starcky’s will quickly respond with their own heavy-hitters Prince and heartthrob, Rob Lowe. 54 fans will bicker, “Stevie Nicks and Grace Jones were regulars!” The Starck was co-owned by Stevie Nicks and Grace Jones. So, now you ask... why this club? And for most celebrity ecstasy freaks, that was quite simple. By the 80’s, pop stars with bad habits needed a safe place to hide from the paparazzi to engage in a reckless weekender. New York and L.A. were too visible. So, they came to Dallas in throngs. As for the most important music at the Starck, the popular debate will involve the aforementioned Grace Jones, New Order or the Pet Shop Boys. I’d vote for Section 25’s trance prototype, ‘Looking from a Hilltop’ or the homegrown phenom, ‘I’m Losing You’ by the Uptown Girls. Much like Nicky Siano was 54’s legend, Starck’s major DJ force, the late Rick Squillante, broke new ground – night after night. His flawless mixing and uncanny ability to merge disparate parts into a magnificent sum will forever be the standard for Starck disciples. To this day, as my nerves rattle before going on for 10,000 people at festivals, I remember Rick’s advice when I was only an aspiring teen jockey, “Follow your heart and imagine that you’re ON the dancefloor. But, don’t take yourself too seriously because, at the end of the day, you’re still just playing other peoples records… in the dark… for money.” (a supremely wise observation). He added, “Most important though, Wade - do it as we have here at the Starck. In fact… do it twice.” Admittedly, his mantra of excess, the do-it-twice theory, almost killed me in the early 90’s. But creatively, I’ve never stopped believing it. Most people remember Squillante’s handlebar moustache, but my visual will always be the Starck pendant on his necklace, which he was still wearing a decade later at WMC. I miss you, Rick. Dallas Morning News writer, the oh-so eloquent Russell Smith, on the closing of the Starck… “As the distance now grows, the Starck will be fondly remembered - for its beauty, its style, its moment. Its image is frozen, like a photo snapped from the scary pinnacle of a rollercoaster. The fall was breathtaking... but just for a moment, so was the view.” Copyright 2005 – Wade Randolph Hampton