I love VH1's Behind The Music series, but sometimes I miss the early days of Behind The Music. If you are an addict like me, you know what I am talking about. VH1 ran Behind The Music all the time, but they only had about four episodes. You had your choice of Andy Gibb, Boy George, Milli Vanilli, or Tony Orlando. The question Behind The Music fans had for one another was not, "Have you seen the Andy Gibb Behind The Music?" but "How many times have you seen the Andy Gibb Behind The Music?"
And then the special day happened. VH1 found a subject that deserved an hour and a half instead of the normal hour. What was that subject? Studio 54. And I fell in love with Marc Beneke. He is a living legend, as far as I'm concerned. You are now saying to me, "I don't know who that is! Some of us have lives other than watching VH1!" I don't comprehend that, but I will still tell you who Marc Beneke is. He was the door guy at Studio 54 during the heyday. The one who had the power to turn away Cher.
On some lucky Sunday afternoons, when the Studio 54 Behind The Music was fairly new, or maybe on a special Wednesday evening, VH1 would run the Studio 54 episode back to back. That's right, twice in a row! And I would be glued to the television. These are the days when I had a spouse, and as I lay happily on the living room floor, he would say, "You just watched this!" and he would step over me on his way to do something more important than watch Behind The Music.
As if anything could tear me away from watching washed up celebrities discuss their exciting lives at Studio 54! As if anything could tear me away from my hero Marc Beneke! He claimed that he was just a part of the show. That what went on outside Studio 54 was supposed to be as entertaining as what went on inside Studio 54. That he was taking an absurd situation to the highest level. He's just being modest! He was the original commander of the velvet ropes! His impact on American culture cannot be measured. Marc Beneke did more for the image of the 1970s than the Love Boat and Fantasy Island combined. He is the first person to become a celebrity by being the doorman at a nightclub. And that is why I love Marc Beneke.