Benefit Concert for Legendary Details Columnist Stephen Saban

For you longtime New York City obsessives, who remember the pre-Conde Nast Details of the 1980s, a benefit concert is planned to raise money for the mag's former columnist Stephen Saban, who is recovering from major surgery to fight pancreatic cancer.

A benefit concert of the legendary Heartbreakers rock album "L.A.M.F." will take place Tuesday, November 15, at The Marlin Room at Webster Hall (125 East 11 Street, New York). "L.A.M.F." will be performed live by members of four legendary rock bands: Clem Burke (Blondie), Walter Lure (The Heartbreakers), Tommy Stinson (The Replacements), and Wayne Kramer (MC5). There will also be special appearances by Bush Tetras, Lenny Kaye, Mudd Club legend Marilyn, and surprise guests.  

Proceeds benefit the writer Stephen Saban, who is battling cancer. Tickets are $50, and may be purchased HERE or by phone at 866-468-3399. This is an 18-and-over event. L.A.M.F. is the only studio album by the band The Heartbreakers, which included Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Walter Lure, and Billy Rath. "L.A.M.F." (which stands for “Like a Mother F******r”) was a legendary 1977 album, recorded after the Heartbreakers appeared on the Sex Pistols’ "Anarchy in the U.K." tour alongside the Pistols, the Clash, and the Buzzcocks. 

The New York Times wrote about Stephen Saban's plight HERE.

Stephen Saban rose to prominence as a columnist at Details magazine during the 1980s, and was one of the most influential arbiters of the burgeoning downtown cultural scene, with his support credited by many artists, designers, musicians, and scenesters as being instrumental to their success. During a period that saw the arrival of such diverse cultura; influencers as Madonna, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Karen Finley, Saban’s columns took readers behind the scenes and introduced them to rising stars of the era. Mr. Saban later moved to Los Angeles to work with World of Wonder (producers of "RuPaul’s Drag Race" and other television programs). Now 70, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year.

Stephen Saban with Debbie Harry and Stephen Sprouse

A cover story by Stephen Saban about Emo Philips for the original Details.

Andy's Velvet-Rope Goodbye

Photographer Christophe von Hohenberg revisited a seminal moment of the late '80s on Thursday during a signing and Q&A at Clic Gallery for his 2006 book, "Andy Warhol: The Day the Factory Died," that chronicled the artist's memorial back in 1987. Von Hohenberg says he was actually hired by Vanity Fair to "photograph who was wearing miniskirts at Andy's memorial." As it happened, no one was. So instead he decided to cover the entire event -- a veritable who's who of the New York society, fashion, music and art scenes. The story never ran, but nearly 20 years later, von Hohenberg's photos along with letters by Warhol friends written about the artist were put together for "Andy Warhol: The Day the Factory Died." That it's been nearly 22 years amazes me. I can still remember where I was when I got the news like it was yesterday -- dancing with friends at Graffiti's nightclub in Tempe, Arizona. I remember the distinct feeling that part of my New York dream had died, knowing I would never get the chance to cross paths with him when I finally made it to the city. (I felt the exact same way when Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died.)

Warhol's Memorial Service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on April 1, 1987, was just the kind of star-studded event Andy would not have missed for the world. In addition to speakers Yoko Ono and Picasso biographer John Richardson, attendants included David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Francesco Clemente, Julian Schnabel, Debbie Harry, Diane von Furstenberg, Bianca Jagger, Halston, Liza Minnelli, Paloma Picasso, George Plimpton, Ahmet Ertegun, Dominick Dunne, Henry Geldzahler, Claus von Bulow, Leo Castelli, Holly Solomon, Steven Sprouse and many others. Some of my favorite photos from the book follow:

Stephen Sprouse and Debbie Harry

Diane von Furstenberg; Halston and Liza Minnelli; Calvin and Kelly Klein

Claus von Bulow

Bianca Jagger

Sarah Giles, Susie Hayes and Dominick Dunne; Ian and Rita Schrager; Steve Rubell and Robert Isabell

Robert Mapplethorpe

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein at a lunch party that was held later at Steve Rubell's new club, 15 West 46th Street.

About Last Night ...

Last night was the big launch party for "The Stephen Sprouse Book" at Atelier. I had a chance to look at a copy of Roger and Mauricio Padilha's love letter to the late artist and fashion innovator last week at the Deitch Projects exhibit and thought it looked really fantastic. (Somebody's got a birthday come up ...)

Here are some photo highlights from the gala event, which I'm thinking Stephen would have enjoyed greatly:

Terry Toye, Marc Jacobs, Debbie Harry, Terry Toye, Johnny Dynell and Page Powell

Sylvia Miles (LOVE her!), Cindy McCain Kenny Kenny and Miss Guy

Roger Padilha, Tama Janowitz and Mauricio Padilha (Tama wrote the foreword)

Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone; Debbie, just back from the "Island of Lost Souls" hair salon

"The Stephen Sprouse Book" came out on Tuesday and is available in four colors ...

(Photos courtesy of WireImage and Steven Perfidia Kirkham)

Even Stephen

Visited the Stephen Sprouse "Rock on Mars" exhibition at Deitch Projects on Friday with my pal Marc Lallanilla. The second I walked in I immediately recognized Debbie Harry's dress from Blondie's "Heart of Glass" video. (Stephen began dressing Deb during the early days on the Bowery, long before she hit the big time.) From there we checked out dozens of his designer outfits -- several Day-Glo numbers similar to what Debbie wore on "Andy Warhol's 15 Minutes" on MTV to a safety-pin jacket. Downstairs housed a bunch of Sprouse's paintings (the Warholish Patty Hearst painting is my fave). Finally, the upstairs featured a bunch of the Louis Vuitton bags Sprouse designed (in bondage!). The best part of the show, however, was the wall covered in test Polaroids from over the years. There are a bunch of famous faces, but none more glamorous than Stephen's muse herself, Debbie Harry.

Marc's imitation of Christ?

To celebrate this Sprouse trifecta -- the exhibition, Louis Vuitton's re-release of its Sprouse line of bags and the release of "The Stephen Sprouse Book," which I paged through and loved, especially the "Rockbird" parts -- three parties were held on Thursday night. The one to be at was the Bowery Ballroom, where Debbie performed "One Way or Another," "Heart of Glass," Rip Her to Shreds" and "Call Me" to an ecstatic crowd. Those who caught Blondie's "Tracks Across America" tour back might even recognize the purple and black Sprouse outfit she wore onstage, which the now-63-year-old proved she could still slip into nearly 27 years later.

Previously: The Legacy of Stephen Sprouse

UPDATE: Check out this fun AP report:

The Legacy of Stephen Sprouse

I was wondering why Stephen Sprouse's name kept popping up everywhere I turned lately. It seems we're in the midst of a full-on Sprouse revival and love fest (and you thought I was the person most lost in the '80s!), which includes Marc Jacobs' new line of Sprouse-inspired Louis Vuitton bags, a new book, Web site and an exhibition celebrating the work of the late fashion designer and artist, which my pal Marc was kind enough to invite me to:

Via Flavorpill: Giving a proper showcase to the late Stephen Sprouse's full range of artistic influence, Rock on Mars is both a retrospective and a time-capsule of the '80s downtown scene. Early sketches, personal Polaroids, outfits, and canvases pulled from the Sprouse family archives shed light on the artist's punk-rock-meets-Wild Style roots. A portrait of a crucified Iggy Pop holds court with images of custom-made outfits for Debbie Harry, and 50 of Sprouse's most influential designs hang at attention while a selection of video installations from runway shows plays. Sprouse's famous collaboration with fashion powerhouse Louis Vuitton has also been resurrected this season, in honor of his undeniable art-star influence.

Rizzoli releases "The Stephen Sprouse Book" on Tuesday and includes a foreword by Tama Janowitz. The book is available in four colors, a la Debbie Harry's "Rockbird," the album cover he designed for his longtime friend back in '86.

If you can't make it to the exhibit, be sure to visit WE LOVE STEPHEN SPROUSE, a site set up by Louis Vuitton to honor the fashion innovator, who helped spruce up the luxury brand's image in the late '90s and early '00s. On the site you can watch videos from Stephen and his friends and colleagues (including Marc Jacobs and Debbie Harry, above), listen to music or "Scrawl on the Wall" a message of your own about the designer whose influence is still very much alive today.

Steven Meisel and Stephen Sprouse gave Miss Harry the full Factory treatment in this 1989 video for her dance smash, "Sweet and Low."