100 Club - Punk Rock Years

Punk Rock Years

Following involvement in the Trad boom, and the UK beat scene (Karakorum played there 1971 with drummer Martin Chambers, who later played with the Pretenders), and rhythm and blues, the club became famous during the punk years.

20 and 21 September 1976 saw the 100 Club play host to the first 'International punk festival', an event which helped to push the then new punk rock movement from the underground into the cultural and musical mainstream. Bands which played at this event included the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, Buzzcocks, The Stranglers and The Damned.

Under the promotion of Ron Watts, the venue then became a regular venue for original punk bands like Angelic Upstarts, U.K. Subs and The Adicts, as well as, from 1981 onwards, hardcore punk bands such as The Varukers, Black Flag, Discharge, Charged GBH, Crass, Picture Frame Seduction, English Dogs, etc. Several live albums were recorded at the club, including one by the Sex Pistols.

The Rolling Stones played a secret show there on 31 May 1982 as a warm-up for their European tour, and returned again on 23 February 1986 to play a tribute show for their recently deceased pianist Ian Stewart, a concert that was their only performance between 1982 and 1989.

Other nights would see a range of old-school jazz, rhythm-and-blues and soul groups on the famous stage, including a memorable "duel" between tenor sax greats Teddy Edwards and Dick Morrissey in the 1980s. Other giants of jazz, including Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz and Archie Shepp have also appeared at the club.