View source for 100 Club Punk Special

{{Short description|1976 music event in London, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox music festival
| location            = [[100 Club]], [[Oxford Street, London]]
| dates               = 20–21 September 1976
| genre               = [[Punk rock]]
| attendance          = About 600
| website             = [http://www.the100club.co.uk/history.asp#punk Official]
| organiser           = Ron Watts<br />[[Malcolm McLaren]]
| music_festival_name = 100 Club Punk Special
}}
The '''100 Club Punk Special''' (sometimes referred to as the '''100 Club Punk Festival''') was a two-day event held at the [[100 Club]] venue in [[Oxford Street, London]], England, on 20 and 21 September 1976.<ref name="the 100 club">{{cite web
 |title      = History
 |website= The 100 Club
 |url        = http://www.the100club.co.uk/history.asp#punk
 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20070626210507/http://www.the100club.co.uk/history.asp#punk|archive-date=26 June 2007
 |access-date = 4 September 2007
}}</ref> The gig showcased eight [[punk rock]] bands, most of which were [[Unsigned artist|unsigned]]. The bands in attendance were each associated with the then evolving punk rock music scene of the United Kingdom. Historically, the event has become seen as marking a watershed moment for punk rock, as it began to move from the [[Underground music|underground]] and emerge into the [[wikt:mainstream|mainstream]] music scene.

== Promotion ==
In early September 1976, concert promoter Ron Watts approached [[Malcolm McLaren]], manager of the [[Sex Pistols]], the leaders of the new British punk rock scene, and proposed that they headline the event. After that, they presented the idea to [[The Damned (band)|the Damned]] and [[the Clash]], both of which quickly agreed to participate. [[Siouxsie Sioux]] directly approached Watts and requested to join the line-up as well. McLaren then volunteered the French band [[Stinky Toys]] and a handful of other bands from [[Manchester]].<ref name="RonWattsInterview"/>

The enthusiasm for this event was partly due to the very positive and extensive promotion by ''[[Melody Maker]]'' journalist [[Caroline Coon]].

== The line-up ==
'''Monday evening, 20 September 1976'''<ref name="Rock'sBackpagesLibrary">{{cite web
  | title =The 100 Club Punk Rock Festival
  |website=Rock's Backpages Library
  | url =http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=5220
  | access-date = 4 September 2007 }}</ref>
*[[Subway Sect]]
*[[Siouxsie and the Banshees]]
*[[The Clash]]
*[[Sex Pistols]]

'''Tuesday evening, 21 September 1976'''<ref name="Rock'sBackpagesLibrary"/>
*[[Stinky Toys]]
*[[Chris Spedding]] & [[the Vibrators]]
*[[The Damned (band)|The Damned]]
*[[Buzzcocks]]

== Performances ==
[[The Vibrators]] were a new group that had only recently begun to write their own music and, at the encouragement of Ron Watts, they decided to act as backing band for established artist [[Chris Spedding]] for the show. Spedding, who had been booked to play the second night but didn't have a band behind him, taught The Vibrators a few songs in the dressing room immediately prior the actual show, leaving no time for an actual rehearsal.<ref name="Knoxie Interview">{{cite web
  | title =Knoxie – The Vibrators Interview... 15.12.99
  |website=Punk 77
  | url =http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/knoxieinterview.htm
  | access-date = 5 September 2007 }}</ref> [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]]' set, however, was completely improvisational. They didn't know or play any songs, and their act had a purely "performance art" quality. Siouxsie, for instance, recited the [[Lord's Prayer]] and similar memorised pieces of text.

None of the shows were rehearsed, says Ron Watts, "It was just people, getting up and trying to do something."<ref name="RonWattsInterview"/>

== Attendees ==
Attendance at the event later become a badge of honour for punk rock fans, but it is probable that a lot of claims were apocryphal. Indeed, a great many people who were later to become involved in the punk scene claimed to have "been there" during the two-day festival, but this is unlikely to be true since the venue had only a 600-person capacity.<ref name="the 100 club"/>{{Failed verification|date=January 2025|reason=It does not even mention the capacity of the club.}} However, amongst the verified attendees were: [[Paul Weller]] of [[the Jam]], [[Shane MacGowan]] (later of [[the Nipple Erectors]] and [[the Pogues]]), [[Shanne Bradley]] (of [[the Nipple Erectors]] and [[the Men They Couldn't Hang]]), [[Colin Newman]] of [[Wire (band)|Wire]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/11371-desmond-simmons-obituary-colin-newman|title=The Quietus &#124; Features &#124; Remember Them... &#124; Desmond Simmons Remembered by Colin Newman of Wire|date=12 February 2013 }}</ref> [[Viv Albertine]] of [[the Slits]], [[Chrissie Hynde]] (later of [[the Pretenders]]), [[Jah Wobble]] (later of [[Public Image Ltd|PiL]]), [[Vivienne Westwood]] (McLaren's then partner and co-manager of the [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] boutique ''[[Sex (boutique)|Sex]]''), [[Kevin Haskins]] and his brother [[David J]] (later of [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]]), [[Gaye Advert]] and [[T. V. Smith]] (later of [[The Adverts]]), as well as members of the [[Bromley Contingent]], the punk fashion ''[[avant-garde]]'', [[Andrew Czezowski]] (ex-manager of the Damned) and Susan Carrington, who went on to start [[The Roxy (Covent Garden)|the Roxy]] with Barry Jones.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}.

== Incident with Sid Vicious ==
The event was marred by violence when a beer glass, thrown by then Banshees drummer and later Sex Pistols bass player [[Sid Vicious]] during [[The Damned (band)|the Damned]]'s performance shattered against a pillar, blinding a young girl in one eye. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://punkgirldiaries.com/100-club-punk-festival-20th-september-1976/ | title=Private Site }}</ref> Vicious was arrested shortly after the incident and spent several days in jail.<ref name="RonWattsInterview">{{cite web
  | title =Ron Watts Interview Nov 2006
  | publisher =Punk 77
  | url =http://www.punk77.co.uk/Books/ronwatts.htm
  | access-date = 4 September 2007 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of punk rock festivals]]
*[[List of historic rock festivals]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Historic rock festival}}
{{rock festivals}}
{{Punk rock}}

[[Category:100 Club]]
[[Category:Punk rock festivals]]
[[Category:Sex Pistols]]
[[Category:The Clash]]
[[Category:Music festivals established in 1976]]
[[Category:Music festivals in London]]
[[Category:Rock festivals in the United Kingdom]]

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