The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner took over in 1964.

Feldman Swing Club

In 1942, the venue was a restaurant called Macks, which was hired out beginning 24 October every Sunday evening by Robert Feldman at £4 per night to host a jazz club featuring swing music. The initial line-up of the Feldman Swing Club advertised in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' included

Frank Weir Frank Weir (30 January 1911 – 12 May 1981) was a British orchestra leader and jazz musician. He reached number 1 one on the UK Singles Chart in 1954 with Vera Lynn on a recording of the song "My Son, My Son", receiving positive reviews in '' ...

, Kenny Baker and

Jimmy Skidmore James Richard Skidmore (8 February 1916 – 22 August 1998) was an English jazz tenor saxophonist. He was born in Manor Park, London and was the father of tenor and soprano saxophonist Alan Skidmore. Perhaps best known for his work with G ...

, with guest artists the Feldman Trio, composed of Feldman's children, including then eight-year-old

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

drummer Victor Feldman. The club's clientele included American GIs, who introduced jitterbug to the club, banned at most other music venues. Patrons included Glenn Miller, who auditioned young Victor Feldman, and the club hosted many top American jazz acts, including Mel Powell, Ray McKinley, Art Pepper, and

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conc ...

. Bebop as well as swing was featured. British musicians such as Ronnie Scott and

Johnny Dankworth Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...

performed there. The club became a mecca for black musicians from the British Empire, such as Frank Holder, Coleridge Goode and Ray Ellington. The club was eventually taken over by Humphrey Lyttelton's manager and, during that period, Louis Armstrong appeared at the venue.

1970s onward

Following the Trad boom and UK beat scene the club became associated with Punk rock. In September 1976, the 100 Club played host to the first international punk festival, an event which helped to push the then new punk rock movement from the underground into the mainstream. Bands which played at this event included the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees,

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

, Buzzcocks, The Jam, The Stranglers and The Damned. Under the promotion of

Ron Watts Ronny Watts (May 21, 1943 – November 2, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'6" forward from Wake Forest University, Watts played in the NBA for two seasons (1965–67) as a member of the Boston Celtics The Boston Cel ...

, the venue then booked punk bands like Angelic Upstarts,

U.K. Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...

and The Adicts, as well as, from 1981 onwards,

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

bands such as The Varukers, Black Flag,

Discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from ser ...

, Charged GBH,

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestylism, way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the ...

Picture Frame Seduction Picture Frame Seduction (PFS) is a hardcore punk band originally from Haverfordwest, Wales, but later jointly based in Cadiz and Málaga in Spain and London and Bristol in the UK. In their formative years in Wales the band was considered too ag ...

Skrewdriver Skrewdriver were an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, in 1976. Originally a punk band, Skrewdriver changed into a white supremacist rock band after reuniting in the 1980s. Their original ...

, English Dogs, etc. Several live albums were recorded at the club, including one by the Sex Pistols. On 31 May 1982,

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

played an unannounced show there 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 live performance between 1982 and 1989. Other nights would see a range of jazz, rhythm-and-blues and soul groups on the stage, including a "duel" between tenor saxophonists Teddy Edwards and Dick Morrissey in the 1980s. Other notable jazz musicians, including Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz and Archie Shepp, have also appeared at the club.

Northern soul

The 100 Club has been the home to the world longest running Northern soul all-nighters, the 6t's Rhythm 'n' Soul Club, started by Randy Cozens and Ady Croasdell of Kent Records UK. The 6t's had their 31st anniversary event on 18 September 2010.

Today

The Dodge Brothers at the 100 Club (9711360299)

The decor remains unchanged since the 1970s, although punk bands no longer appear there regularly. Instead there is a busy programme often booked up many months in advance. Occasionally, big-name touring bands will play "secret" or low-key unadvertised gigs there, relying on word of mouth to fill the 350-capacity space. The "Coda Club", a monthly social gathering of jazz musicians from the Feldman Swing Club era, continues to be held. Limelight changed the venue's musical genre once again, providing "classical music in a rock'n'roll setting", hosting new or well-established classical artists once a month, Since 1988, the London Swing Dance Society have held "Stompin" on Monday nights, a

swing dancing Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular " swing era". Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed; those that ha ...

evening with classes and regular live bands. In 2009 Feldman's Swing Club was named by the Brecon Jazz Festival as one of 12 venues which had made the most important contributions to jazz music in the United Kingdom, for its contributions in the 1942–1954 period. In September 2010, it was announced that the 100 Club would close at the end of 2010 owing to continuing losses. A campaign was launched, the Save The 100 Club, to keep the venue open, supported by musicians including

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, and in February 2011 a partnership with Nike subsidiary Converse was arranged, enabling the 100 Club to remain open. DEF Digby were the first band to play at the venue in 2012. Recent acts to headline The 100 Club include

Shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

Fat White Family Fat White Family are an English rock band, formed in 2011 in Peckham, South London. History The band, fronted by Southampton-born and Cookstown-raised Lias Kaci Saoudi, formed in 2011. Lead guitarist Saul Adamczewski was previously the frontman ...

, Black Midi,

The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynv ...

Sisteray Sisteray are a British four-piece rock band from London, UK. Formed in 2015, the band consists of Niall Rowan (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Michael Hanrahan (bass/vocals), Daniel Connolly (lead guitar/vocals) and George Greenhalgh (drums). Hist ...

, Babyshambles, Idles, Dr. Feelgood and

Sleaford Mods Sleaford Mods are an English post-punk music duo, formed in 2007 in Nottingham. The band features vocalist Jason Williamson and, since 2012, musician Andrew Fearn. They are known for their abrasive, minimalist musical style and embittered explo ...

References

External links