The Metropolis

Own the 100 Club: Legendary club needs £500,000. Do you have it?

Darryl Chamberlain | Tuesday 2 November, 2010 20:34

Simon Quinton photo

It’s been a haven for jazz, R&B, punk and indie for decades. It’s the heartbeat of London’s Northern Soul scene. Now fans of the 100 Club are in a race against time to save the Oxford Street venue as it battles against crippling running costs.

Rent and business rate increases, plus the new government’s VAT increase have convinced Jeff Horton, whose family have run the basement club since the 1960s, that the business can’t go on without new investment.

After the loss of the Marquee, the Wag, Metro and the Astoria, the 100 Club is now one of just a handful of venues left in the West End. But 21st century economics could well end up doing to the club what Adolf Hitler failed to do.

In 1942, jazz drummer Marty Feldman’s father hired what was then Mack’s restaurant as a venue for his son to showcase his talents.

“Forget the doodlebug – come and jitterbug at the Feldman Club,” boasted its ads, with bands playing on as flying bombs targeted the capital above. American GIs joined jazz-loving Londoners, with Glenn Miller among the star attractions in those early days.

After adopting the 100 Club moniker in 1964, it took on a broader range of musical styles—with blues and soul legends Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Jackie Wilson taking to the stage, while BB King walked in off the street one night to join the bill. Rod Stewart, The Who and The Kinks were among British beat stars to cut their teeth there.

But it was a punk festival in September 1976 that transformed the club’s fortunes, with 600-strong queues snaking around the block for early performances by The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, Siouxsie & The Banshees and The Buzzcocks.
The 6T’s Northern Soul night made its debut in 1980 and still runs to this day, while in the 1990s the 100 Club became an indie favourite too, with Oasis and Suede playing early shows there. But on any night of the week, the club could be playing host to just about any style of music, under the watchful eyes of the jazz legends immortalised in portraits on the walls.

Will the club reach its 70th birthday? If musician Tony Morrison has his way, it will—providing he can raise £500,000. Quickly.
He wants to see the club bought and run as a non-profit organisation, with anyone who donates towards that £500,000 being able to elect trustees to run it on their behalf.

“The long term aim would be to raise further finance, not just from donors, but from sponsorship, merchandising sales and hopefully funding from bodies like the Arts Council, the Mayor of London and the National Lottery,” Morrison says.

But the cash needs to be found by 15 November—and half a million pounds is a tall order. If a big enough sum is raised by then, Morrison hopes to use it to pay the club’s £42,000 quarterly rent to keep it going while a solution can be found.

“This venue can be saved,” he adds. “Yes, it’s a tall order but do we really need another Starbucks or Burger King in Oxford Street?”

For more information or to pledge money: www.savethe100club.co.uk

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