Back in the late 1970s, New York City was still an affordable, gritty, and edgy place to live — very different from the shopping mall New York has morphed into. Influenced by the prevailing Warholian concept of High Art meets Low Trash, The Mudd Club was the happening place to dance and hang out. Artists, writers, musicians, actors, performance artists, and scensters of all persuasions created a mix that has been emulated by downtown denizens to this day. It was the anti-Studio 54, but had an even stricter door policy.
Now, former Mudd Club doorman Richard Boch has written a stellar tell-all memoir — called The Mudd Club — about his tenure as a doorman at this quintessential meeting ground of the coolest of the cool. It’s a real page-turner from beginning to end. Check out some of the photos from the book here, and New Yorkers, you can attend the the book launch on September 19 at Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn
Richard Boch and Richard Ottens at the Howl! Happening party, photo by Jolene Siana
Fab 5 Freddy and Debbie Harry, photo by Bobby Grossman
David Bowie and DeeDee Ramone in ’79, photo by Bobby Grossman
Klaus Nomi, photo by Alan Kelinberg
Nico in ’79, photo by Ebet Roberts
Lydia Lunch in ’80, photo by Lisa Genet
Pat Place and Cynthia Sley of Bush Tetras, photo by Lisa Genet
Richard Sohl and Teri Toye Mudd in ’80, photo by Marcia Resnick
X in summer 1980, photo by Eugene Merinov
Miguel, Klaus Nomi, Joey Arias (far right) in ’79
Top photo: Marianne Faithfull, February ’80, photo by Bob Gruen
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