The opening of the St Albans City Hall at the Civic centre in 1967 revolutionised nightlife in St Albans! By 1970 going ‘up the Civic’ for the Monday and Saturday night Discos had become a way of life for the City’s teens, one of whom was the young Graham Kentsley.
Inspired by the flamboyant London DJ and band manager “Rocky Rivers” one of the very early Civic DJ’s, Graham saw an opportunity to start his own mobile roadshow and teamed up with Mike Wilson to create the ”RoadRunner” Disco. Within just a couple of years Graham was himself strutting the stage at the Civic and playing all the latest sounds.
These days, when everyone is a DJ, it’s surprising to recall
just how new the concept of the mobile disco was, and how basic was the associated technology. Discotheques as such just did not exist outside the big cities and the “RoadRunner” was the first of its’ kind in the area. In fact, I often tell the story about how sitting in front of GK on the stage at St Peter’s Hall (Hatfield Rd) switching the lights on and off in time to the music, started off my own Disc Jockey career!
Through the early 1970’s the Roadrunner and its later incarnation, the hugely popular “Hello Sailor” Discotheque extended its influence over the local entertainment scene,
providing the sound track for the youth of St Albans playing at schools, social clubs, community centres and many other local events such as the St. Albans College Rag Balls. In addition, the growing demand for music in pubs resulted in many local residencies, initially at the Kings Head and Watersplash in London Colney and later at the Bell Inn, The Chequers, Horn of Plenty and Batchwood in St. Albans to name but a few.
Not satisfied with simply performing himself, Graham applied
to become a Licensed Entertainment Agent and in 1973 and was accepted, as the youngest person in the UK at that time to gain a licence. Throughout 1974 and ’75 with regular weekly appearances expanding through Scamps in Hemel Hempstead and the infamous Stone house in Hatfield, stretching to clubs in WGC, Watford, Harpenden and Luton ...Graham was catering to a largely underground dance scene on a regular basis, while simultaneously playing the hits of the day at society private functions throughout the Home Counties at the weekends.
It was during this period that Graham’s longest residency at the fondly remembered Haven Hotel in St. Albans started. Running from late 1974 through to 1981 (Graham took Summer sabbaticals in the long hot Summer of 1976 and again in 1977 to play Summer seasons in Jersey {where he now lives} and on cruise ships in the Mediterranean). The Haven was the place to be on a Sunday night, and you had to be there early to grab your place in the inevitable queue.
afield for ways to expand and innovate. Even before Sky and BSB existed he had a satellite TV business beaming in the forerunner to MTV - MusicBox into clubs and bars across the country – and it was at this time that Graham started one of Europe’s first Satellite Radio Stations with his brother Steven – “SuperGold”
New opportunities presented themselves and when Russia and the former Soviet Union opened its doors for business at the end of the decade, the adventurous Mr. Kentsley took his first tentative steps in chartering aircraft to take Russians, keen to explore the world now open to them, on holiday. Soon after, RedSquare International was born, and has spawned a number of associated ventures over the subsequent two decades.
Throughout this time Graham has never lost his keen interest in the broad world of music and entertainment, having been involved with the promotion of entertainers, and theatre productions in the UK and Russia. Recently Graham as Executive Producer hosted the Russian premiere in Volgograd of his most recent project the award winning feature film “The Paddy Lincoln Gang” .
Recent exploits have also seen him returning to playing music to the public, albeit (for the time being on a digital format) as DJ Premier Cru! With his Vintage Vinyl “Back from the USSR” set in several Moscow clubs (yes djing in both English and Russian!)
With the release of “You Should Be Dancing” in 1976, disco was making its way through to the mainstream, and GK
was riding the crest of this wave when in November 1977
he opened Number 1 Records in Waddington Rd just after
the premiere of Saturday Night Fever. This family run shop catered for followers of the disco trend, stocking 7-inch singles imported from the USA and also the new 12-inch format, together with a selection of turntables and lighting equipment for budding DJ’s, of which there were many. The premises
also served as the office for the booming Graham Kentsley Entertainments Agency, placing DJs and artists across the nation and on cruise ships travelling around the world.
During the mid-1980’s Graham turned towards club ownership and ran the Adelaide Wine Bar and Club the only sizeable late night venue in St Albans Town centre. Always looking for new concepts, and ways to make use of the sizeable pool of talent available at the agency, the concept of the Dirty Dozen DJ team was born. The Dirty Dozen were contracted in to a range of local night spots to provide variety, and were also responsible for serious levels of mayhem at the Dirty Dozen Party Nights in the era when the Wet Tee-Shirt Competition was an acceptable (make that essential!) part of the evening’s entertainment.
Through the mid ‘80’s almost every venue within reach had hosted a Dirty Dozen DJ; from Bedford to Tiffany’s Dunstable, Pink Elephants in both Luton and Southgate, to Harpenden Watford and Berkhamsted the golden era of disco was brought to life. By this time, having achieved a great deal in the local entertainment industry, Graham was looking farther afield to Russia!
GK’s “Civic Disco” all time top 10!
Arthur Conley – Sweet Soul Music Wilson Pickett – Land Of 1000 Dances
Je T’Aime....Moi Non Plus -- Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg
Tommy Roe – Dizzy
Judy Clay & William Bell – Private Number
Crazy Elephant - ( Gimme Gimme Good Lovin)
The Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup
Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon - Breakin’ Down The Walls Of Heartache
Otis Redding - (Sitting On) The Dock Of The Bay
Carlos Malcolm--bonanza ska
For all “Civic Disco” music visit my FB page: Facebook.com/RedSq2
Twitter: @GrahamKentsley
