When disco tunes were dominating the airwaves, the epicentre of the party was in New York on West 54th Street.

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In 1977 Studio 54 opened its doors, and became one of the most famous nightclubs of all time, people wrote songs about it, movies were made about it, and the parties were legendary.

The club occupied a building which was originally a theatre, and throughout most of the 1950’s it was a television studio. The space already had fly wires and lighting grids, allowing the owners to stage elaborate and ever changing set ups.

They didn’t do things by halves at Studio 54, for one New Year’s party they brought in four tons of glitter to cover the dancefloor, another time Bianca Jagger ride a white horse around the club, while down in the basement people cavorted in dark corners.

In his diaries artist Andy Warhol documents nights at the club with Truman Capote, Diana Ross and fashion designer Halston.

The club was packed with celebrities, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Vreeland, Grace Jones, Divine, Debbie Harry and more than one of Charlie’s Angels hung out at Studio 54.

The biggest names in disco appeared at the venue including Donna Summer, The Weather Girls, Linda Clifford, The Ritchie Family and Anita Ward.

The club was also famous for its eccentric clientele. Sally Lipmann was in her 70’s when she became a fixture of New York’s disco nightlife. Having retired from a successful career, the recently widowed lawyer found fame as Disco Sally – spending her nights showing that she could get down and boogie better than any of the twenty years olds frequenting the club.

The club was famous for being a place where the rich, the famous, and everyday New Yorkers mingled – that was if you could get past the rope line.

When Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards from disco group Chic went to meet Grace Jones at the club, with a view to producing her next album, they couldn’t get in. Jones had forgotten to put their names on the door.

After waiting outside for hours in the freezing cold, the frustrated that the bouncers wouldn’t let them in, the pair headed back to Rodgers apartment, and started jamming, yelling profanities while they played, chanting “fuck ’em, fuck those scumbags, fuck off.”

They soon turned their “fuck off” lyric into “ahhh freak-out” and Chic’s Le Freak, one of the defining songs of the disco era, was born.

While the club became a shadow of it’s former self in its later years, and eventually returned to being a theatre, it’s spirit will be revived for a Studio 54 River Cruise Soiree on Saturday 11 November.

The extravagant event is being held aboard the Crystal Swan and the ticket price includes a drinks package, alongside canapes at a grazing station. Plus there’ll be a Moët Champagne & Belvedere Vodka cash bar

Feminem the Future and Veronica Jean Jones will be performing and DJ Roski will be playing all the best disco tunes.

For tickets head to Try Booking