Ten things you'll only know if you went clubbing at Progress in Derby – Derbyshire Live

Glow sticks at the ready
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The wonky red house logo is likely to bring back memories for thousands of people who flocked to what was the Derby's coolest club night.
During the 90s, Progress helped Derby become a Mecca for house music and people would come from from miles around to dance the night away.
Well, until about 2am, anyway. It was a bit harder to get a later licence back then.
Founded by music-mad social worker Russell Davison in 1992, it started out at the Wherehouse, in Friar Gate, now home to Mosh. Growing in popularity, it moved house to The Conservatory, in Willow Row, a year or so later.
It then took over the much bigger Eclipse venue, in Babington Lane, before moving to Time, in Mansfield Road, in the early noughties, where the party carried on for another couple of years.
At some point there was free fruit and veg for revellers. This wasn't a dream. It was real. Not a dream. Someone back me up on this. Anyway, I digress.
It's time to dust off your glow sticks and don your neon bralet and hotpants because we're going to dance down memory lane.
Assuming your knees, hips and pelvic floor will still take it…
Back in the day, Progress attracted the biggest DJs although, in fairness, the night was never really about big-name DJs. Still, if you've lost your mix tapes or no longer have anything to play them on, you can relive the sounds here.
Does anyone take glow sticks to nightclubs anymore. What about whistles? What is the world coming too? These are dark days indeed.
Like the fruit and veg, this was a thing too. Stiltwalkers gave out Flump sweets to people on Babington Lane when Progress moved from The Conservatory, in Willow Row, to Eclipse, still known to many as Ritzy. Ok, so this woman pictured above isn't on stilts and has no Flumps but the picture was taken at Progress. There were also searchlights in the sky too.
Tell people you went to a club where they gave out free fruit and veg and they'd look like you were a nutcase. It was true though. There was a barrow. Radishes, carrots, all sorts. Can't find any photographic evidence for this though because there were no smartphones back then. I can't be the only one who remembers the veg stall.
Everybody by Progress presents The Boy Wunda reached number seven in the UK singles chart back in December 1999. Here's a picture of DJs Russell Davison, Pete Wye, Rob Webster and Jools. The record slugged it out in the top ten with the likes of Vengaboys and Westlife. They were apparently on Top of the Pops. You can have a listen here:
Everybody by Progress presents The Boy Wunda
They were an entrepreneurial bunch, launching a clothing range which included man bags. Few have survived. You can still get Progress flyers on ebay if you have a £1.50 to spare.
Progress was unusual in that there were live musicians playing in the club as the DJs did their stuff on the wheels of steel. It added another sonic element to the evening. There was a guitarist, a saxophonist and a guy on the bongos whose name, Derbyshire Live understands, might have been Steve. Can anyone confirm this?
Here's sort of proof that Derby's Progress club night was the best of the best. It's a picture of DJs and promoters Pete Wye and Russell Davison with who we think is Eclipse general manager Sean Lea. They're proudly holding the Club Night of the Year Award from the grandly titled British Entertainers Disco Association.
The flyer was pig shaped and it took place at Venue 44 in Mansfield, incidentally, the birthplace of Renaissance club nights which went on to international fame. Apparently, a giant pig was manufactured to decorate the club but it was stolen. Someone out there knows where that pig is.
…you'd probably get in free during the Eclipse era. It's a shame we met her two decades too late but this dance down memory lane wouldn't have been possible without her. The picture above isn't her but it was taken at Progress.
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