The Mudd Club Reunion happened on October 28th 2010. I was there. It was only last year. It already seems a long time ago, but then again the actual Mudd Club happened a very long time ago. It first opened in1978 and for me that feels like another life. I was filming the Mudd Club Reunion with Dee Bache. We put together a team of professionals that included Jill Wisoff, Karen Lesley-Lloyd, and Dino Sorbello and we also worked in collaboration with Eric Marciano, Frank Holliday and Meredith Jacobson Marciano. Frank and Eric have been making a film with Barry Shils about Club 57 for the past ten years. They were interviewing people for their film. Meredith was kind enough to do a great job of filming the bands in the dark basement of the club. It was held at The Delancey club with three floors. In the basement the following bands played: The Sick F*cks, Walter Steding, The Comateens, The Bush Tetras, Three Teens Kill Four, Tina Peel and Richard Lloyd. The emcees were Dave Street and Ann Magnuson and with a fashion show by Natasha NYC. All of the bands of course played at the original Mudd Club.
On the Second floor there were performances and films/videos. Not all the performers performed to my knowledge, but the ones who did perform were the fashion designer/music performer Animal X with Alexa Hunter and Lisa Lost, Lisa Lost did a set of her own, Mudd Club icon Marilyn performed and I heard that Phoebe Legere and Joey Arias were supposed to perform. I do not know if they did. The third floor was on the rooftop and was a social talking area. We did all of our film interviews there. I was running from floor to floor filming, taking what photos I could and doing my best to be social and talk to people that I did not see for ages. We were there from 6pm to 6am doing this. I do not remember all, but we did capture what we could on film. This film is presently being edited by Dee Bache. She is seeking archive footage of the Mudd Club, Club 57 and of the performers/musicians who played that night and also the people who were interviewed. If anyone out there has something of interest please contact me here. The film will be a document of that night, but it will also compare the present day with the former days of the Mudd Club and why clubs at that time were the creative laboratories with the exchange of ideas and inspiration.
Finally I would like to add: The Mudd Club Reunion was organized by Tessie Chua, who was frazzled beyond belief and did the best job that she possibly could with the invaluable assistance of Jim Coffman. Some people criticized the event as a sad nostalgic trip to a past that does not exist anymore. Others said people were trying to make money from it. To my knowledge, the money made was used to pay for lots of expenses and as far as nostalgia is concerned: My take on this is, it enabled people to get together who have not seen each other in a very long time and they had a good time together. That is a good thing I think, but I was told as a result of some people meeting, they are now putting together new creative projects. Also the music was damn good, all of the bands were amazing. We will do our best to make a film that is good and addresses all of these issues. Last, but not least I think one person should be mentioned who did not attend, but he was certainly present in the mind of lots of people who attended: Steve Mass. He was the mad doctor who gave birth to the creature called the Mudd Club. This photo is a photograph of the plaque next to the former door of the Mudd Club at 77 White Street. Read it.
I have my own memories of the place. I went there often and I also worked there. I worked as a bartender, a DJ (when other DJ's did not show up) and a doorman (a short lived career when I got a good punch and ended up in the hospital. I was certainly not doorman material) I produced some shows there and I also performed. I went to the first unofficial opening of the Mudd Club on Halloween night. The B52's were playing, I danced all night and I met a woman named M. She had a shaved head (pre-Sinead O'Connor) and dressed all in leather. I was mesmerized and we ended up back in her room at the Chelsea Hotel where we did not sleep. I left sometime the next afternoon and I was in a daze. I recovered several days later and went back to the Chelsea to find out that she had moved out because of owing back rent. I searched high and low for her in New York City, but could never find her. Several years later I got on a subway train, the doors closed and I looked through the glass. I saw M there and she saw me. Our eyes locked, she moved closer to the door and the train moved away. That was the last time I saw her. Am I still looking for her? It would be nice to see her for sure, but it would not be the same. The past is the past. Go to the Mudd Club Reunion category and see the portrait photos and writing that goes with it all.