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<\/p>\nYou\u2019re about to witness a future star in the making – a young Bette Midler is performing at the club you\u2019re at, alongside Barry Manilow clad in a towel. There are flashing lights and pulsating disco records in another room; it\u2019s the party of a lifetime. Are you at Studio 54? Perhaps you\u2019ve stopped at the Hollywood Bowl. No, you\u2019re in the basement of the Ansonia Hotel at the Continental Baths, one of the most iconic gay bathhouses in history and the unlikely spot where two future electronic music legends, the late and great Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles, cut their teeth. In honor of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, we\u2019ll be exploring the renowned venues and clubs where electronic music was born.<\/p>\n
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Until the landmark case of The People v. Onofre in 1980,<\/a> sexual intercourse in New York state was defined as vaginal sex – criminalizing anal and oral intercourse, even in private. From the 1950s through to the 1970s, homosexual men were subject to consistent arrest and public humiliation, be it from neighbors, landlords, or others reporting them and their partners to police. Public facilities like those at the YMCA became a safe place for anonymous, consensual partners to meet. The Stonewall Riots of 1969, wherein gay and trans New Yorkers stood up to abusive police officers who regularly raided their premises, sparked the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement and increased visibility for gays and lesbians in New York. As a result, gay owned and operated community centers increased in popularity and bathhouses became beloved places to socialize. Many extended far beyond hangout spots, with several including film screenings, voter registration, and live entertainment – offerings the Continental Baths was renowned for.<\/p>\n Hidden far below a once-dilapidated building called the Ansonia Hotel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan was an abandoned swimming pool and set of Turkish baths. Landlord Jake Starr decided to rent out the basement to an opera singer named Steve Ostrow in 1968. Ostrow saw the potential for a luxury bathhouse for the homosexual community. He (alongside his wife Joanne) wanted to create a club that was welcoming, safe, and above all – clean. They built palm fronds, opulent lighting, 400 private rooms, a waterfall pouring in the pool, and most famously, a discotheque and live entertainment room. \u201cI built a disco room, a DJ booth, and these special things where you put the records – turntables!\u201d Ostrow recalled to the Guardian in 2018.<\/a> \u201cIt was spectacular – people would dance in their towels, bathing suits, nude, or anything.<\/p>\n The offerings – cabaret, disco parties, and concerts – transformed the social club into a full-on entertainment nightspot. On Saturdays, there were live performances. Iconic celebrities were invited, with standup sets by Andy Kaufman to shows by Lesley Gore and Patti LaBelle. Alfred Hitchock was a regular attendee of the shows, as was Mick Jagger.<\/p>\n Most famously, a young Bette Midler performed alongside Barry Manilow. The singer, nicknamed \u201cBathhouse Betty\u201d by the crowd, convinced Manilow to accompany her on piano, clad only in a towel. \u201cShe\u2019s performing in front of guys with towels on,\u201d Manilow recalled in 2017<\/a>. \u201cShe would sing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ and they would all get up and the towels would drop.\u201d<\/p>\nThe opening of the Continental Baths<\/h2>\n