The 101ers

The 101'ers earned their primary recognition as the group Joe Strummer fronted prior to his move to the Clash, placing them among the final British pub rock acts active during the mid-'70s. Although the band produced no official releases during its existence, its members played a notable role in shifting pub rock toward the emerging punk sound.

Strummer assembled the 101'ers in May 1974, bringing in guitarist Clive Timperley, bassist Dan Kelleher, and drummer Richard Dudanski. Legend attributes the band’s name either to the torture chamber in George Orwell’s 1984 or to the building that housed the musicians. By summer’s end they had debuted at Brixton’s Telegraph pub. Over the following eighteen months the quartet toured the pub rock circuit and recorded demos throughout 1975 and the opening months of 1976.

In the first half of 1976 the 101'ers supported the Sex Pistols on several bills. The experience of witnessing the Pistols and the rising punk scene prompted Strummer to leave the group in June 1976 and launch the Clash. Roughly a month later Chiswick Records issued the band’s sole single, “Keys to Your Heart.”

After the 101'ers disbanded, Dudanski performed with the Raincoats and later joined Public Image Limited, Timperley entered the Passions, and Kelleher became a member of the Derelicts. Once the Clash achieved stardom, Strummer authorized the 1981 release of the compilation Elgin Avenue Breakdown.