Disco Sensation have perked up many a night out in Jersey

DISCO Sensation puts the “unk” in your funk, and the “oogie” in your boogie, according to Percy Pelvis, the man who thinks he’s Elvis.

The longevity of the Studio 54-inspired 70s act is proof that still, you can’t go wrong with a pair of platforms, a silly dance routine and a bag of motown tunes.
The dance troupe might be amateur, but they’ve perked up many a Sunday night in Jersey, and made starring roles in Ibiza, Aspen and Meribel. Most recently, they’ve taken on Saturday nights at the reincarnated Club 72, where the upstairs has become known as Studio 72.

Alongside Percy – aka Roly Topf – there’s Hombre Solaire, ‘the man who just don’t care’, DJ Sven Tease, ‘the man who aims to please,’ plus Beverley Hills, Foxy Roxy, Hussie Golddigger and DJ Lionel Vinyl.

Roly has been keen to bring the act out of retirement since the infamous Havana sessions, and with the new set-up at Club 72 the troupe are now firmly strapped in for another summer season of wacky shades and ’fros.

‘Club 72 asked us to revive the show so we decided to come out of retirement. But doing it every week of the year is hard work, as we vary it each week, so it takes a lot of preparation and rehearsals,’ he says.

‘We really want to give the audience the feeling of being in a disco, so we’re calling the upstairs Studio 72, which is based on Studio 54 in New York. Each week they’ve invested more money into the place to give it a disco feel. The management have been great with it. People can go for dinner downstairs and then at 11 pm they close the downstairs and everybody comes upstairs for the show. It’s so much fun, everyone always has a great night!’

Roly is the only remaining member of the original line-up, which was thrown together in 1996 as an effort to shake up Sunday nights at the former O Bar.

‘We had wanted to create a night with the managers at the Buzz Bar, and I’d seen a few 70s shows before that gave me the idea. We were actually in Guernsey on a staff night out and after a few drinks I suggested we get our own show together, create characters for ourselves, make up some funny acts and have a whole lot of fun doing it.

It took a bit of persuasion, but in a tipsy state the rest of the crew agreed. We got the company to buy us some costumes, and some flares and platform boots, and the DJ at the time learnt how to speak in an American accent, and we got him to use lines like: “Put your hands in the air like you just don’t care!”

‘It was so successful that all the bar staff wanted to be a part of it as well. None of us were professional dancers, some were dance teachers, but for the most part it was a bunch of people who wanted to have a lot of fun. We don’t do complex routines and actually a lot of the fun is that we often we forget the routines!’ he says.

It’s always been a 70s show, but Percy and his pals are happy enough to move with the times.

‘Now we include some 80s music as well, like Wham and Status Quo, and sometimes we’ll play more up-to-date music. We’ve also brought guest performers over in the past, like Gwen Dickie, who sang Carwash and Wishing on a Star. We might have her back this summer.

‘We do different sets when we’re on stage, some sets are back-to-back four or five songs and dance routines, and other times we just sort of make it up as we go along. We’re not here to be taken seriously, we’re here to give people entertainment!’ says Roly.

And, as you’d probably expect, there is plenty of audience participation.
‘Every week we host a disco dancing competition where someone wins a bottle of champagne, and it’s amazing how many people love to sit down and do Oops Upside Your Head! There used to be lots of entertainment on in the hotels over here, but there isn’t so much like it these days, so we hope people will come down and enjoy it,’ he says.

• Club 72 hosts Disco Sensation on Saturday nights, and the group are also available for private hire. Call 727100 for more information