<P> In 1920, heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson rented the upper floor of the building on the corner of 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in the heart of Harlem and opened an intimate supper club called the Club Deluxe . Owney Madden, a prominent bootlegger and gangster, took over the club after his release from Sing Sing in 1923 and changed its name to the Cotton Club . The two arranged a deal that allowed Johnson to remain the club's manager . Madden "used the cotton club as an outlet to sell his #1 beer to the prohibition crowd". When the club closed briefly in 1925 for selling liquor, it soon reopened without interference from the police . Herman Stark then became the stage manager . Harlem producer Leonard Harper directed the first two of three opening night floor - shows at the new venue . </P> <P> The Cotton Club was a whites - only establishment and reproduced the racist imagery of the era, often depicting black people as savages in exotic jungles or as "darkies" in the plantation South . The club imposed a subtler color line on the chorus girls, whom the club presented in skimpy outfits . They were expected to be "tall, tan, and terrific," which meant that they had to be at least 5'6" tall, light - skinned, and under 21 years of age . The male dancers' skin colors were more varied . "Black performers did not mix with the club's clientele, and after the show many of them went next door to the basement of the superintendent at 646 Lenox, where they imbibed corn whiskey, peach brandy, and marijuana ." Ellington was expected to write "jungle music" for a white audience; Ellington's contributions to the Cotton Club were priceless, as described in this 1937 New York Times excerpt: "So long may the empirical Duke and his music making roosters reign - and long may the Cotton Club continue to remember that it came down from Harlem". Entrance was expensive for customers, so the performers were well - compensated . </P> <P> Shows at the Cotton Club were musical revues, and several were called "Cotton Club Parade" followed by the year . The revues featured dancers, singers, comedians, and variety acts, as well as a house band . These revues helped launch the careers of many artists, including Fletcher Henderson, who led the Cotton Club's first house band in 1923 . Duke Ellington's orchestra was the house band from December 4, 1927 until June 30, 1931 . The first revue that Ellington's orchestra performed was called "Rhythmania" and featured Adelaide Hall . Hall had just recorded several songs with Ellington, including "Creole Love Call", which became a worldwide hit . The club gave Ellington national exposure through radio broadcasts originating there (first over WHN, then over WEAF, and after September 1929 on Fridays over the NBC Red Network, for which WEAF was the flagship station). The club also enabled him to develop his repertoire while composing dance tunes for the shows as well overtures, transitions, accompaniments, and "jungle" effects, giving him a freedom to experiment with orchestral arrangements that touring bands rarely experienced . Ellington recorded more than 100 compositions during this period . Eventually, responding to Ellington's request, the club slightly relaxed its policy of segregation . </P> <P> Cab Calloway's orchestra brought its "Brown Sugar" revue to the club in 1930, replacing Ellington's orchestra after its departure in 1931 . Jimmie Lunceford's band replaced Calloway's in 1934 . Ellington, Calloway, and Louis Armstrong returned to perform at the club in later years . Lena Horne (Leona Laviscount) began at the Cotton Club as a chorus girl at the age of sixteen, and sang "Sweeter than Sweet" with Calloway . Dorothy Dandridge performed at the club while part of the Dandridge Sisters, and Coleman Hawkins and Don Redman played at the club as part of Henderson's band . Tap dancers Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr. (as part of the Will Mastin Trio), and the Nicholas Brothers performed at the club as well . </P>

What was unusual about the cotton club in harlem