A Night at Studio 54

A Night at Studio 54 is a compilation album released by Casablanca Records in June 1979, featuring disco music played frequently at New York City's famous nightclub Studio 54. Conceived by the record label and direct response television company I&M Marketing with the co-operation from Studio 54 founders Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, A Night at Studio 54 was also a double album, with its music segued between tracks by disc jockeys Marc Paul Simon and Roy Thode for continuous playing, reminiscent of the nightclub itself. The album was originally going to contain crowd noise recorded at the club too, but the idea was dropped before release as it brought a decrease in sound quality.

Believing the album wouldn't sell with traditional promotion based on the album's content being readily available elsewhere, I&M Marketing's innovative campaign for the album saw them spend $100,000 on advertising on radio and television, tagging local retailers in different regions on the spot. The campaign was a success and the album peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album was also a critical success and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies, although the album went on to sell almost a million copies. Despite the album's success, it has been out of print since its original release and has not been re-released on CD.

Background, content and marketing

Since the album contained previously released hits, Pittleman and Levy, credited as the album's associate producers,[6] decided that A Night at Studio 54 "wasn't going to get any airplay time–and people wouldn't be looking for it in the bins," as Pittleman later recalled, so in order to promote the album, they "spent hundred of thousands of dollars in TV and radio advertising and co-ordinated region by region with local retailers by tagging them in the spot."^[7] The album was advertised on the front of Billboard magazine as an "electrifying 2-record set" which includes the "hottest hits" from the artists featured.^[11]

Release and reception

Casablanca Records released A Night at Studio 54 in June 1979; according to Casablanca's executive vice president Larry Harris, copies of the album were shipped out on June 27, 1979 with an excess of almost 500,000 orders.^[5] The cover art of the gatefold sleeve features Studio 54's "54" logotype in silver and gold, while inside the sleeve are four photographs that depict the club, while the discs themselves are housed in their own inner sleeves.^[5] Bob Carrol was credited for the album packaging's art and design and Gilbert Lesser for the logo design.^[13] In the liner notes, Schrager and Rubell thanked the club's followers: "To all our guests at Studio 54, whose energy made this record possible... Our sincere thanks!"^[10]

With its huge advertising backing, the album ultimately reached number 21 on the Billboard 200 album chart and sold close to a million copies.^[7][8] A Night at Studio 54 was I&M Teleproducts' biggest success, and according to Billboard magazine, "paved the way for the innovative marketing strategies that [Pittleman] would later define," since he would later promote the compilations released by companies such as Heartland Music in a similar fashion.^[7] The album also debuted at number 70 on the Billboard Soul LPs chart on the week ending August 4, 1979,^[14] and peaked at number 37 on the week ending September 1, 1979.^[15] On August 21, 1979, the album was certified "Gold" by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies.^[16]

Critical reception to the compilation was also favourable.