Disco fever

The club originally opened as a local bar. ^[1] Albert "Ellie" Abbatiello, an Italian American, already owned two nightclubs in the Bronx, serving mainly African Americans: The Golden Hour (from the English - "Golden Hour") and Pepper-n-Salt (from the English . - “Pepper and Salt”). He remade the old bar so that his third nightclub would initially target a more adult crowd. ^{[2] [3]} According to his son, Sala, “We searched for a name for the establishment for about three months, and we sat and watched TV and my mother saw an advertisement for the film“ Saturday Night Fever Disco “[as in the original], and she says, 'why don't you call the club' Disco Fever '?' - we said: "No, get out of here." The next day, we came up with the idea that 'Disco Fever' sounds pretty hot. So we took this name from my mom, she called it that. " ^[four]

It opened in 1976, but did not immediately become popular. ^{[2] [3]} It could accommodate about 350 people, but usually about 200 came. ^[5] Sal Abbatiello (son of the club owner) worked as a bartender; One night after closing, he saw how night manager George Godfrey was playing some recordings and calling a crowd through a microphone to start the party. Abbatiello thought that this unusual practice of “speaking against the background of music”, encouraging the crowd to participate, was very good for business, as it made people who were sitting in the bar and not dancing to get up. ^[3] Abbatiello asked Godfrey, who performed under the pseudonym Sweet G, who he would recommend as an artist for the club, and after Godfrey showed him a performance by Grandmaster Flash in a local park with two other artists (Glover Brothers: Melvin “Melvin Melle Mel” Glover and Nathaniel "Kidd Creole" Glover); the band called themselves Grandmaster Flash & The 3 MCs, the predecessor of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five . Abbatiello asked and received permission from his father to book musicians perform on Tuesday night. ^[five]

In 1977, the first nightly show on Tuesday was held with the participation of Grandmaster Flash ; he was paid $ 50, and two other MCs $ 25 each. Abbatiello set an admission fee of $ 1 per person and the minimum requirement is to order one drink worth $ 1. This low entry price, combined with an advertising campaign, spread with local flyers and led to a long line at the front door. Seeing a large crowd, Abbatiello called for additional help from his father’s neighboring club Pepper-n-Salt (from the English - “Pepper and Salt”). Club Disco Fever raised $ 1,000 to establish the success of the experiment. ^[five]

Abbatiello continued to invite exclusively rappers and DJs to the club, and the club began to flourish. He expanded the hip hop party from Tuesday night to all nights, and soon Disco Fever became New York's most famous hip hop club. ^[1] The club was mentioned in Grandmaster Flash's song “ The Message ” in 1982, and in 1983, Bill Adler wrote in People magazine that the club was “the rap capital of the Solar System”. ^[2] Rapper Kurtis Blow said he went to the club to get ideas, "to see what the street loves." ^[2] Abbatiello founded the record label Fever Records to discover new hip-hop artists; Curtis Blow signed his first contract with this label. ^[6] Producer Russell Simmons rated the club as an effective test market for new music. He said: “If a rap record isn’t put in the 'Fever' club, then this is a fake.” ( If a rap record doesn't go around in the Fever, it's fake ). Russell Simmons convinced Abbatiello to give his younger brother Joseph , " Run " from Run-DMC , a chance to perform on stage. As a result, they received their first Run-DMC concert fee at Disco Fever. ^{[7] [8]}

Grandmaster Flash said that Abbatiello sometimes rewarded hip-hop artists who performed by offering them champagne and personal space in an exclusive room called The Ice Room . ^[9] This type of star treatment attracted women interested in joining DJs and MCs in celebration after the performance: Grandmaster Flash said that “crazy things happened before” in a private shelter. ^[9]

Sal Abbatiello encouraged a sense of family among his employees and clients, which saved him from violent incidents typical of other hip-hop places. ^[10] He also encouraged a spirit of unity, using the club as a center of social activity. In 1982, a night marathon was held at the nightclub in favor of the “Fund for Assistance to African Students” ( English United Negro Fund ), earning $ 8 thousand. ^[2] Collaborating with two hip-hop artists, Abbatiello founded an amateur basketball league in the area. ^[3] In early 1983, an Easter party with gifts and food was hosted at Disco Fever Club for about 250 neighborhood children, with free admission. The nightclub arranged transportation to local prisons, so that people in the community could visit prisoners who were family members. Abbatiello said the club’s role is to help the public, such as the Young Men's Christian Association in the Bronx. ^[2]

The 1985 film Crash Groove was filmed at Disco Fever, and unwittingly served as the final head of the nightclub. Featuring the likes of Sheila E. , Beastie Boys , Run-DMC , New Edition , The Fat Boys and LL Cool J , the film was a celebration of hip-hop club life. Sal Abbatiello played himself in the film. However, in the process of obtaining proper film permissions, film producers discovered that Disco Fever had been working without the necessary cabaret license from the very beginning. The public council in charge of approving such permission removed Abbatiello from work. He said, “They used formality to close me after I repaired the park, after what I did for the 'African Student Assistance Fund,” I founded a youth association, I opened an ice rink so that all the children had the opportunity somewhere to go skating and do your homework. ” After an unsuccessful attempt to obtain permission, Abbatiello simply closed the door and left. ^[eleven]

• Fever records
• When the Fever was the Mecca