The Zap, Brighton's seminal club which changed the face of the city forever, celebrates its 18th anniversary next month. Krista beighton meets its founders.

WHEN The Zap Club opened its doors, even Brighton had never seen anything like it.

Its fresh approach proved contagious, spurring a boom in the town's clubbing scene and helping make it the vibrant city it is today.

The venue has grown into one of the most successful nightclubs in the country, regularly attracting big-name DJs such as Pete Tong, Boy George and Tim Deluxe.

The Zap's reputation is such that clubbers travel from all over the country to spend a few hedonistic hours on its dance floor.

The venue had a humble beginning but, much like its founders, it went on to great things.

It took shape in 1984, when Dave Reeves, Angie Goodchild, Neil Butler and Pat Butler joined forces to rent two arches along Brighton beach. The venture was the first major development along the seafront.

The team's vision was to create a venue where up-and-coming artists could perform and experiment in front of a live audience.

It was, as Angie recalled, a place for people who wanted an "alternative life".

She said: "Zap didn't start as a trendy, nightclub.

"I suppose the sort of people we attracted were more the arty types."

Dave wanted to create a venue at the cutting edge of performance arts.

He said: "At that time there was no clubbing scene in Brighton at all. What we wanted to do was create an innovative venue that combined the wild art of cabaret with clubbing."

In the early years Angie ran the bar, Dave compered, Neil was the doorman and Pat sat at the till.

After the performers had finished entertaining the crowds, the chairs would be pushed to the sides of the room to make way for the dance floor. There was no big money in the club.

All of that changed however, when Danny Rampling brought his Shoom club night to The Zap in 1988.

It was the beginning of a revolution in Brighton. Acid house music had arrived.

Angie said: "The crowd Shoom bought with it gave us something to aspire to. We were experiencing something completely new."

Soon the dingy-looking Zap became the heart of Brighton's thriving house music culture and the money rolled in. The rest is history.

Zap became one of the most talked-about clubs in the country, attracting clubbers from across the world.

The queues to get in were notoriously long and a tough door policy evolved out of a need to find the true house fans from the fakes.

Angie said: "It was the people who made Zap what it was, not the music. Sometimes I would walk along the queue and hand out playing cards to people in the queue who I thought were right for Zap.

"It wasn't that we were being snobby, it's just we knew some people had travelled for miles to come to Zap because they understood what it was about."

By the mid 1990s, the artists that helped establish Zap had moved out into the streets and it was the DJs who became the performers.

DJs such as Carl Cox and Paul Oakenfold have both been residents at the venue and celebrities including Kylie Minogue, Sara Cox, Richard E Grant and Robbie Williams are counted among its guests.

Folklore has it Jamie Theakston's first job was as a glass collector there.

Among the DJs approached by Angie to be part of Zap was Paul Kemp, who now runs the Wild Fruit nights at Creation in West Street.

He said: "Brighton was in dire need of a new dance club when Zap opened. I was asked by Angela to start a gay night, which was ironically called Club Shame. In fact Club Shame was outrageously unashamed of being out, proud and loud."

By 1997, Angie, Dave, Neil and Pat felt they had outgrown Zap.

It was time to move on. They sold the venue for £1 million to developers Webb-Kirby, later to become C-Side.

Dave, Neil and Pat run Brighton event organiser Zap Productions, while Angie has opted for a complete career change.

After helping New Labour come to power in 1997, she now works in the party's political office.

But she is proud of all she achieved at The Zap.

She said: "The club was one of the driving forces that changed Brighton and put it on the map culturally. I miss it terribly but I'm glad I was able to be part of it."

Zap remains in the ownership of C-Side, which Webb-Kirby sold on a few years after the Zap sale.

It remains at the forefront of Brighton's night life.

Former Zap owners will come together to celebrate its birthday at a party at the club on December 7.