29/10/2024
In late 78, the local paper headline put it thus: “Saturday Night Fever Comes To Dartford!”. Flicks disco opened on 22 December 1978. By the early 80s it was one of the most popular clubs in the country. The queues to get in were always a mile long. A pretty swanky looking place in comparison to most venues outside the West End, Colin Hudd and Robbie Vincent both had long running residencies there during it’s late 70s/early 80s heyday; and many big name artists appeared there such as Syreeta, Tom Browne (blowing his trumpet in the DJ booth), Patrice Rushen, Teena Marie, Odyssey and loads more such as Maze who, at the time, were the No.1 act as far as UK soul fans were concerned. When Maze appeared at Flicks, signing copies of their LPs and stuff, there were no airs and graces (or giant minders) like you’d find today. Robbie Vincent and Jeff Young had a Thursday night residency there from early 79 which was massively successful. It wasn’t all jazz-funk as some would think, but a mixture of all things soulful, including plenty of classic disco tunes. Apart from all the many guest DJs (e.g Greg Edwards, Rusty Egan, Tom Holland etc), the resident was Colin Hudd, who very much leaned towards the disco side of things.
A big highlight of Flicks was the pretty huge and spectacular motorised lighting raft which, apart from giving the illusion that the lights were just floating in space, could be moved (by way of a switch in the DJ booth I presumed) from 25 ft above the dancefloor down to just 10 feet. So, seemingly only just above the heads of the taller people on the dancefloor. The first time that raft was lowered, it was to the Salsoul Orchestra's "Salsoul 3001".
A fire closed the club in summer 82 for about 3 months. The refurb and re-opening were worth waiting for as the first Friday saw Chris Hill start his residency.
A Blues & Soul scribe visited in 1982 and wrote: "Flicks now looks like a high-tech version of Nathan Detroit's floating crap game from Guys and Dolls. Hill's Friday residency is the best night in town. Slick geezers mimic Rose Royce's 'gi**lo' dance (though better) as he kicks off with newies from George Clinton and Billy Griffin. Some new J*p jazz**, and everything from Coltrane to Seawind follows, before the night is rounded off with classics from Luther, Marvin and Stevie. It never ceases to amaze how Hill can keep on delivering the goods at each and every gig."
Thursday nights at Flicks also became a showcase for all the emerging brit-funk bands of the time. Level 42 played one of their first gigs there. Light of the World, Second Image and a host of others all played great live sets at Flicks during that late 70s/early 80s period. Sunday nights saw Jeff Young with his own wind-down session, mostly playing jazzy stuff.
