Michael Alig
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Michael Alig was a party promoter in the Manhattan club scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Alig generated an underground popularity storm with his Disco 2000 parties, known for their elaborate costumes, breakthrough dance music, and extensive drug use. He and his cast of party regulars became known as "The Club Kids", and became infamous for their flamboyant, extravagant and selfish antics. Alig aggressively promoted his own notoriety, occasionally performing public stunts. These included moving a party in toto to a late night donut shop, and holding a travelling dance party in a locked shipping container that crossed Manhattan on the back of a truck.
Alig learned from mentors, including James St. James, while rising in popularity and prominence in the national underground club scene. Alig was also influential in the early promotion of DJ Keoki, Jennytalia, Freeze, Richie Rich, and many other Club Kid personalities. The Club Kids' outrageousness resulted in them appearing on the news and the television talk show circuit.
Increasingly affected by substance abuse, Alig and his friend Robert Riggs murdered drug dealer and Club Kid Angel Melendez over a drug debt. In December, 1996, Alig was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison for Melendez's murder. He will be eligible for parole in 2006. He is currently at work on an autobiography entitled Alig-ula.
The events of Alig's years as a club promoter up to his arrest were examined in the 1998 documentary Party Monster, and recreated in a 2003 movie of the same name starring Macaulay Culkin as Alig and Seth Green as St. James. The events are also covered in St. James' novel Disco Bloodbath.
External links
- Michael Alig Club Kids (http://www.michaelaligclubkids.com/)
- Papermag article Prison Life Boredom behind bars (http://www.papermag.com/magazine/mag_97/mag_aug97/alig/alig.html) by Michael Alig
- Review of Disco Bloodbath (http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sfmetro/08.16.99/discobloodbath-9931.html)