TRUTH OR FANTASY: How Dare You TIM!

Once again I was sent a copy of the RED BULL excerpt from Tim Lawrence's book "Life and Death on the NY Dance Floor":.I was surprised to see it again, I had asked Tim to have it remove it because of its inaccuracies. So I again wrote a private note to Tim that I want to share publicly. In this age of ill-informed "curators" and archive acquisitions, it is important while alive to demand factual and not subjective fantasy.... my cultural legacy is important to me. It is a part of my life work and legacy,

here is what I wrote to Tim:

art : David King  (cc) 

Tim: I asked you to remove the dishonest and inaccurate account of Danceteria from the Red Bull site and to stop exploiting it for monetary gain.  I explained in length to you my objections.Yet you continu

e to ignore my request.  The dishonest scholarship ma

y

be ok in you post-modern academic world, but it is not in mine. Personally, it negated my work in constructing a template that co
mbined high and low art and recognizes pop culture as a legitimate political landscape, I am disappointed in you.  You're now in seemingly dismissive and arrogant contempt of accuracy ignore my personal feelings and request. This appalls me.

I have not made public my feelings about your book .. some of which is shared by others who were actually a part of making a scene that you were not. Your lack of respect leaves me with no recourse now but to go public.

I have asked myself: why have you behaved this way towards me?  Yes,  it feels personal. It would be one thing if I were dead., but I'm not.

I received today the 256 forwarded copy of the Red Bull site excerpt from your book.  It was forwarded to me by someone who was a consumer of the Danceteria culture.

Please go write the book you first proposed on DJ's and their impact on nightlife culture  ..it is to me of historical importance. If I can be a resource, I am willing,

I repeat the Danceteria template was nurtured at my first successful nightclub, Hurrah.  That experience informed how Danceteria would be conceived.  It was fixed before I invited Rudolf Pieper, German scenester expelled from Berlin, to join me in opening the first Danceteria. One of his principal roles was to be the intermediary between our company Average Normal and "the backroom boys." (Note he did it so well that he eventually betraying his fiduciary responsibility to me and our company... stole money from me and committed financial crimes ). I brought him in to make sure that Danceteria was a space that welcomed a mixture of people and was not seen as an old school  "gay bar" as Andy Schwartz (NY Rocker) describes it.  That template was in place before my invitation to Rudolf. Both in your book and in the Red Bull article,, you seem, to me,  to have privileged Rudolf over me. Straight Bro love?

As to my choice for DJ at  Hurrah, Mark Kamins,  (along with Sean Cassette).   He simply, was,  after Larry Levant,  the most creative DJ I had ever heard. Note:  I had heard quite a few.  His sensibility to a music mix was in sync with the cultural/political/mesh that I believe made Danceteria unique.  Mark was loyal and moved with me to each club I opened, He did not know the details of Average Normal’s  relationship with the "back room boys."  I am sorry that you continue to cite him on what that relationship was and never asked me, that I can remember,  how it worked. Most people who actually knew and loved Mark were aware of when his substance abuse problem colored his memory. It is a part of his story and does not take away from his historical role as master D.J. But to use him to describe something he was not privy too is dishonest.

jim

Debbie Mazer at 16 and friend Jean Caffine

 

 

Michael Stewart was a black graffiti artist murdered by an NYC cop who caught him making graffiti at an NYC subway stop downtown. He was drawing on a blank black poster just like Keith Haring had done. He was a regular at Danceteria  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Michael_Stewart

Rolling Stone Record Release party  EMOTIONAL RESCUE

David Ball, Mark  and Jim Fouratt at Sire Record Release part at Danceteria titled  Non-Stop Erotic Cabere

Cindy Bullens played both HURRAH and DANCETERIA before v transition now Cyd Bullens