Dallas' Most Legendary Disco, Starck Club, Returns for One Night

For those who weren't lucky enough (or old enough) to experience what Starck Club was like, we'll try to describe it: You'd drive over a set of railroad tracks on McKinney Avenue to glimpse a Brutalist building anchored by massive quarter-circle doors. Outside, the dressed-to-the-nines door staff would examine a clamoring crowd on the red carpet, choosing who possessed enough “je ne sais quoi” to enter. It could be a perky teen wearing pajamas who charmed Parisian punk doorgirl Edwige Belmore, a cowboy in dusty boots or a socialite dripping in diamonds. Or it could be a celebrity such as Annie Lennox, Andy Warhol, Prince or Rob Lowe.

Inside the velvet ropes, the heavy curtains parted to reveal a massive concrete space bisected by columns. Stairs led to a sunken dance floor. As Section 25’s “Looking From a Hilltop” played, gossamer white curtains would billow and blow, unveiling private seating areas where anyone could be sitting and anything could be happening. For a clubgoer in the 1980s, it was nothing less than mind-blowing.

Compared to everything from Studio 54 to Manchester’s Haçienda Club, the Starck had an otherworldly vibe, one decidedly enhanced by the widespread consumption of the then-legal drug Ecstasy (MDMA). No wonder the Dallas cognoscenti can’t quite get over an experience that lasted only six years — there have been multiple reboots and reunions over the years. For the 40th anniversary of the club’s opening on May 12, The Kessler is planning to bring back the vibe and the patrons, if not the Philippe Starck-designed interior.

"Here at the Kessler, we love revitalizing stuff, we love bringing stuff back that was influential and important to the Dallas pop culture scene, like the Longhorn Ballroom and the Kessler," says Jeff Liles of Kessler Presents, which works with both venues. "The Longhorn Ballroom is a long-term commitment forever; this is a one-time thing."

Liles sees the Starck experience as one more in a series of pop-ups of classic Dallas nightlife spots, like last year’s Video Bar party, also held at the Kessler. But what made the Starck stand out from other clubs wasn’t just its chic furnishings or celebrated patrons — it was the music.

From the beginning, with DJ Philippe Krootchey’s Frenchified pop through the hit-making set list of Rick Squillante, what you heard at Starck was decidedly unique.

For the reunion, original Starck DJs Mark Ridlen and Kerry Jaggers will spin an effervescent mix of disco, house, funk and Euro post-punk. Ridlen’s band Lithium X-Mas (a psychedelic rock trio that began at Starck) will play, along with other TBD musical surprises, including a third “mystery” DJ.

Glittersweet Memories

"We're bringing back people you knew and loved back then who are still with us," says Ridlen. "One of the things about Starck that always got my goat in the stories you read about it is the drug bust and the big shoulder pads, and no one ever reports about the live music, and that was what I was all about. I was one of the first DJs there, but I was also more into all the live bands.

"I can't think of one place in my life, especially in Dallas, of any decade where you can see the Nelson Riddle freaking Orchestra play and then the next day SPK, an industrial band. It's infinite."

In addition, visual artist David Hynds, who created the videos that ran on an endless loop in the club's unisex bathroom and underground Cold Bar space, will return to give an artistic edge to the Kessler. Monitors to be installed around the club will screen the digital transfers of his carefully preserved clips. Hynds will also display the flyers and invitations he has created over the years in a complementary art exhibition at Ephemeral Space gallery (203 S. Haskell Ave.), opening on May 4.

Starck parties often ran into the wee hours of the morning, but Kessler's event will begin at 6 p.m. and run until 11 p.m. The Kessler is, after all, surrounded by residents, and May 12 is a Sunday night. But as the event is 18 and up, it's both a reasonable time for old-school celebrants to get out of the house and an opportunity to introduce Gen Z to the best music of the time.

A Starck Party VIP ticket that allows patrons to hang out in the Kessler's balcony goes for $50; a general admission ticket costs $25. Although many of the former door staff, including George Baum, will be on hand, there will be no dress code or stringent door policy.

“The Starck was always such an exquisite anomaly with a big designer bow on top, but we want this 40th celebration to be for everyone,” Ridlen says.