Meet the man who woke
Nairobi up to life at night
By DOUGLAS KIEREINI
Revellers enjoying a night out. Nairobi’s first hottest nightspot was situated at the confluence of Valley Road and Milimani Road on a site which was previously a church. It is now occupied by the Integrity Centre.
By
1960, a new African middle class had begun to assert itself in Kenya. Armed
with a good education, salaried income and the growing inevitability of an
independent Kenya, a number of senior civil servants and middle management
cadres in the corporate world started to move into residential areas formerly
reserved for whites only such as Upper Hill, Woodley and Kileleshwa. Their
children were enrolled in schools previously admitting white pupils only.
Thanks
to the efforts of Peter Colmore and his friend Ally Sykes this middle class had
become exposed to Western and Congolese music and the attendant culture of
upmarket nightclub life.It was in the same year that a young man, Robert
William Fisher Armstrong came to Kenya to work as an electronics engineer with
the British Army.
Robert
was born in 1940 in the seaside town of Whitley Bay on the north coast of
England into a working-class family with deep English traditions. Popularly known
as Robbie Armstrong, his heart was smitten twice by a girl named Jean who soon
became his wife and they decided to make Kenya their home.
Robbie’s
first venture into business was the famous bar in Nairobi West, which he aptly
named Jean’s Bar, after his wife. Opened in 1963, Jean’s Bar was immediately a
hit with revellers from the nearby Industrial Area and Wilson Airport. Jean’s
Bar was later purchased by Kimani Rugendo. It is still a popular night spot
even today.
While
Jean’s Bar kept Robbie busy the idea of a low-cost, well-run nightclub such as
he had known in England kept going through his mind. His dream came to fruition
on May 15, 1965, when he established the Starlight Club in a grand opening
ceremony attended by Nairobi’s now savvy party crowd which included Finance
minister James Gichuru, other government dignitaries and socialites. The club
was situated at the confluence of Valley Road and Milimani Road on a site which
was previously a church.
How
to get past the nasty gatekeepers
It
soon became the hottest venue for nightlife with 12,000 patrons passing through
its doors every month according to Robbie. Robbie recruited some of the biggest
African bands at the time including The Ashantis, Air Fiesta Matata, Orchestre
Virunga and The Cavaliers to perform at the club. This was an era in which
Kenyan musicians played their version of popular Western music with great style
and finesse.
There
was a wide selection of classy ladies in the shadows at the club for those who
desired company. Starlight Club attracted international guests such as
Hollywood stars William Holden and James Stewart, legendary singer Bing Crosby
and jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
The
late JM Kariuki was a regular patron and it is said he was also a director and
investor in the club. It is also claimed that he was the target of a bomb
explosion at the club in 1975. During my days at the University of Nairobi from
1974, I was a regular visitor at Starlight Club, courtesy of my well-heeled
friend Gideon Soiyantet whose cousin Joyce I was dating at the time and would,
four years later, become my wife.
I
remember the burly Rwandese manager, Gerald, who would always welcome us with a
free first drink.As more Africans gravitated to members clubs in golf and other
sports, Starlight Club began to lose its shine in the 1970s.
Robbie
sold the club in 1980 and started a private members club known as Bacchus on
the ground floor of the New Stanley Hotel. This was an exclusive, high-cost,
men-only club that targeted top managers in the corporate world where members
ran credit accounts.
After
closing Bacchus Club at the New Stanley Hotel in 1988, Robbie changed the name
to Luke’s Club and moved to first-floor premises on Kimathi Street. Starlight
Club closed its doors in 1994 when the government purchased the property to
build Integrity Centre. One might say the property got its integrity back!
Robbie
was also a great lover of cricket and his contribution in promoting the game
amongst Kenyans was immense. He served on the Kenya Cricket Association for
many years and at the time of his death in 2005, he was a national selector. In
1976, together with Bob Bresson, Robbie formed the Wanderer’s Club, the first
multi-racial cricket club in Kenya.
In
1994, when Kenya successfully hosted the ICC trophy, Robbie was running the
secretariat and later in 1998, managed the Kenya team tour of India. He was
largely responsible for Kenya’s elevation to one-day international status
through campaigns at the ICC meetings. Robbie was an umpire respected by all
players and went on to become the chairman of the Kenya Cricket Umpires
Association.
I
met Robbie at Luke’s Club regularly in the 1990s and he struck me as a man of
integrity and great humility. He was well respected in all the institutions
that he was linked with.
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