Amidst the chaos that was the Sex Pistols, it's often overlooked just what a great band they are, and what great records they made. The Sex Pistols are no ordinary band; their story is long and complicated, and not without its casualties. Without them popular culture in the last 30+ years would be very, very different. The Pistols didn't just kick down doors; they kicked them off the wall. For a band who (really) only released one album and four singles, they spawned a sea of imitators; and still do to this day. Not bad for a band that supposedly couldn't play. Yeah right! The Sex Pistols could certainly play; one listen to their ferocious slab of raw rock and roll will soon tell you that.Despite claims from New York, the Sex Pistols are the true originators of punk; no one else had their attitude, balls, or honesty. The Pistols were inspired by anger and poverty, not art and poetry. "An imitation from New York, you're cheese and chalk…"
There never was a punk movement. There was the Sex Pistols and there was the rest. The Sex Pistols ARE punk; the rest are "punk rock". Big difference…
History is blatantly being re-written. Fabrications are constantly spouted that when The Ramones came to England in 1976 the Sex Pistols turned up at their first show at London, Roundhouse, and asked them how to form a band. Get it right. On that very night - July 4th 1976 - the Sex Pistols played the Black Swan, Sheffield (over 260 kilometres away!) and had regularly been playing live for over 8 months.
For 30 years the Pistols have had to put up with
these kind of lies and petty jealousies. There is always someone, somewhere, trying to undermine them. But so what? It just proves they were doing something right in the first place.
The band that would become the Sex Pistols originally began in 1972 when school-friends Steve Jones and Paul Cook decided to form a band; Glen Matlock later joined in 1974. Disillusioned by the bloated progressive-rock and hippie music scene of the time, the fledgling Pistols took their musical inspiration from the 60s mod and rock n roll of The Who and The Small Faces. However, it wouldn't be until 1975 and the arrival of John Lydon that the band took on a whole new level. Steve Jones had spotted someone who looked "a bit different" in Malcolm McLaren's clothes shop. Bernie Rhodes, one of McLaren's associates, spotted the same guy on London's Kings Road; complete with hacked green hair and a homemade "I HATE Pink Floyd" T-shirt. Sacrilege at the time.
Malcolm McLaren-who had become the band's (mis)manager by this time-persuaded the reluctant and cynical John Lydon to audition in his shop. Miming to Alice Cooper's "Eighteen" in front of a jukebox, Lydon launched into a series of self-mocking fits, hunches, and weird dances, while the others fell about laughing. However, deep down they knew they had found their man, someone who could help vocalize their thoughts. Lydon was an individual of the highest order. He looked and sounded like no one else on earth, and due to a childhood bout of meningitis, he had a stare that would kill! The perfect front-man, apart from the fact he couldn't sing. But what did that matter, when he had something to say… The Sex Pistols soon started rehearsing, with Lydon (soon to be dubbed Rotten on account of his decaying teeth) providing the lyrics, and Matlock and/or Jones providing the music. One look at this mixture of madmen and working class delinquents told you they weren't going to be just any other band.
Having made their live debut as quickly as November 1975, by early 1976 the band began playing live more regularly; playing anywhere that would take them. This was a time where your haircut and clothes could get you into serious trouble. With their unique look and sound, the Sex Pistols were such a bolt out of the blue that they would often find themselves in physical danger. They would regularly have to fight their way to their van after having the plug pulled on them! However, they soon started to attract a following of like-minded souls, some of whom were later nicknamed the "Bromley Contingent", and would include the likes of Susan Dallion (aka Siouxsie Sioux) and William Broad (aka Billy Idol). Everywhere the Pistols would play, the majority of the audience just didn't 'get it'. They thought the band couldn't play, John couldn't sing and they looked awful. But there was a small percentage of the crowd they got through to. The Sex Pistols affected everyone they saw, whether it was a positive or negative reaction. They always got a reaction.
It wasn't long before they came to the attention of record companies; the ever-ambitious Sex Pistols together with Malcolm McLaren's entrepreneurial (aka blagging) skills had no intention of signing to a small label. They wanted the biggest and best. EMI eventually won the war. The band signed for £40,000 on October 8th 1976. A recent composition penned by Rotten was set to be their debut single, 'Anarchy in the UK'! Like his stage presence, Rotten wasn't scared of saying, or doing, anything. He was more than happy to sow seeds of discontent. 'Anarchy in the UK' was eventually released November 26th, 1976; much to the bewilderment of the mainstream music press.
December 1st, 1976 changed the Sex Pistols and the music scene forever. After the group Queen had to cancel at short notice, EMI booked the Pistols to appear on the 'Today' TV show, hosted by one Bill Grundy. A notorious drunk, Grundy had no time for these young upstarts. Treating the Pistols and their entourage with nothing short of thinly veiled contempt, he proceeded to goad them into swearing. Pre-empted by an apparent slip from Rotten, Steve Jones called Grundy's bluff and launched into a stream of F-words. Unbeknownst to the band, the show was being broadcast live throughout London. Not that it would have stopped them anyway. Grundy was one of the first people to learn not to fuck (sorry, rude word) with the Sex Pistols… The following day the Pistols were headline news up and down the country. "Punk-Rock", as it had been christened, had reached the masses. By early January 1977, EMI had buckled to internal pressure and sacked the Pistols. Honoring their £40,000 contract in full.Around this time tensions between Matlock and Rotten came to boiling point. They were the proverbial "Chalk and Cheese". Matlock was steeped in rock and roll tradition, while Rotten clearly wasn't. Glen officially left by "mutual consent" in February 1977, with McLaren then claiming he was sacked because, "He liked the Beatles." Matlock would later team-up with the band for the 1996 'Filthy Lucre' World Tour.
Steve and Paul had been friends for years, and John saw his chance to even up the score by bringing in his old friend John Simon Ritchie/Beverley, aka Sid Vicious. Sid was one of the earliest Pistols fans; he loved the band, and couldn't wait to join. Despite being practically unable to play bass!
A&M Records became the Pistols' new label, and their next single was to be 'God Save The Queen', John Rotten's alternative National Anthem. To announce the A&M deal, the band staged a mock signing outside Buckingham Palace. However, after a drunken celebration at the A&M offices - and probably another mixture of cold feet - the band soon found themselves without a record deal yet again. Only ten days after they signed to A&M, the Sex Pistols were sacked! Finding them £75,000 richer in the process.
The next record company headhunt ended with them reluctantly signing to Richard Branson's Virgin Records in May 1977. Just in time for the Queen's 25th Silver Jubilee. The nation was gripped by Royal fever. The Queen was a national treasure. Everyone loved her, everyone except the Sex Pistols. Or did they? "We love our Queen…"
The release of 'God Save The Queen' sent shockwaves up and down the country. The band also had a perfect collaboration with Jamie Reid on artwork. This was Britain 1977 long before Diana, Fergie, Edward and the likes had exposed the Monarchy for what they were. No one had ever spoken up so publicly about them. The nation was up in arms. Government Members of Parliament even called for the band to be hung at London's Traitors' Gate!
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While many "punks" and perhaps even the odd journalist, might have supported the Sex Pistols' rallying cry against the Monarchy, only the Sex Pistols themselves had to fight it head on. John Rotten and producer Chris Thomas were violently attacked by "supporters" of the Queen; with John being slashed several times. Paul Cook was also set upon with an iron bar. It was war!
Undeterred, the Pistols went onto release hit singles 'Pretty Vacant' (July 2nd) and 'Holidays in the Sun' (October 15th). October 28th 1977 saw the release of the Sex Pistols' one and only true album 'Never Mind The Bollocks', (that's Bollocks not BULLOCKS guys!). Pre-release orders were so high it immediately charted at Number 1. Now considered one of the greatest albums ever, 'NMTB' towered above all the other thinly recorded "punk-rock" records of the time, the blistering guitars and scathing vocals inspired a generation to "Do It For Themselves." A record that would often be imitated but never surpassed…
On the album's release, more controversy surrounded the band when police took exception to its title being displayed in a shop window. The band were charged with the obscure Indecent Advertising Act of 1889! "Bollocks" is a slang name for testicles; however, the Pistols' lawyer proved that it was actually derived from a nickname for clergymen! Bollocks was legal!
Internal bickering in and around the band had reached a high point by this time, but rather than dealing with the unrest in the camp, McLaren distanced himself from the band, especially Rotten. However, there was to be one last hurrah in Huddersfield, England on Christmas Day 1977. The Pistols volunteered to play two shows for families of striking firemen: a matinee show for the kids and an evening show for the adults. The kids loved the Pistols, they weren't interested in the media hype - like the band - they only wanted to have fun! The band gave out presents; John was in charge of food duties, ending up in a huge 'Bugsy Malone' style pie-fight with the kids! (It's not quite the band considered "subversive" by British intelligence (MI5) or the picture painted by the tabloid media, is it?).
A U.S. tour was arranged for January 1978. Initially the band were refused entry to the States due to their criminal records, however, their visa problems were eventually sorted with the band only having to pull two shows from the tour. The Pistols being the Pistols, they decided not to play big American cities. Instead they opted to play a short series of dates in the Deep South of the country, in a selection of redneck venues throughout the likes of Memphis, Atlanta and Dallas. These shows were probably the straw that broke the camel's back. The pressure of touring, along with the mixture of in-fighting - together with McLaren's unwillingness to deal with the band as human beings - came to a head. Sid's ever-increasing drug problem - and the fact he was the only person on the planet who couldn't see the irony in being called Vicious - didn't help the animosity between the group either.
The alienation between the Pistols increased by the day, with things finally spiraling out of control at their last gig at San Francisco's, Winterland Ballroom on January 14th, 1978. The band was on its last legs. John was fucked with flu, Sid was fucked with drugs, and Cook and Jones were fucked with Sid and John. John Lydon eventually walked out on the others the following day, after trying in vain to get Jones to dump McLaren. The Sex Pistols as we knew them were no more…Sid Vicious' destructive relationship with his junkie girlfriend Nancy Spungen finally hit rock bottom
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