E11: The Gallery

Listen to the full episode here:

In this episode Jeremy and Tim are checking in to Nicky Siano’s downtown spot The Gallery, a legendary party space often uttered in the same breath as the Loft, the Paradise Garage and the Warehouse. Nicky was a highly influential and original DJ who had as much as influence on Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles as David Mancuso. We hear a history of the Gallery, setting it within the complex web of 70s Soho, including the temporary closure of the space and its triumphant reopening. The show covers how party spaces were regulated, the regulatory regimes of dancing more generally across time, and the tension that the requirement to promote oneself as a freelancer DJ put on the emergent ethos of the scene.

Tim and Jeremy also talk about Studio 54, drugs, the role of lighting in a party setting, and the place of women - and especially women DJs - in downtown party culture. Finally, all this is contrasted repeatedly with what David Mancuso was doing simultaneously as his Loft night moved venues.

Tracklist:

MFSB - Love is the Message
LaBelle - What Can I Do For You
Grace Jones - That’s the Trouble
Diana Ross - Love Hangover
Silver Convention - Fly Robin Fly
Vicki Sue Robinson - Turn the Beat Around

Books:
Barbara Ehrenreich - Dancing in the Streets
Tim Lawrence - Love Saves the Day