Meet the man who woke Nairobi up to life at night

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 revelers 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.

It soon became the hottest venue for night life 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.