The Sex Pistols changed the face of popular music with the filth and fury of their outrageous punk rock manifesto. The band started out as the Strand with Steve Jones and Paul Cook. They convinced boutique owner Malcolm McLaren to be their manager and recruited Glen Matlock; one of the employees at McLaren's store Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die; to be their bass player. John Lydon was brought into the group when he began hanging out at the store. Jones recalls: "He came in with green hair. I thought he had a really interesting face. I liked his look. He had his 'I Hate Pink Floyd' T-shirt on, and it was held together with safety pins. John had something special, but when he started talking he was a real asshole—but smart."
Lydon brought a dark and intense lyrical perspective to the band that was drawn from the dismal economic times: "Early Seventies Britain was a very depressing place. It was completely run-down, there was trash on the streets, total unemployment—just about everybody was on strike. Everybody was brought up with an education system that told you point blank that if you came from the wrong side of the tracks...then you had no hope in hell and no career prospects at all. Out of that came pretentious moi and the Sex Pistols and then a whole bunch of copycat wankers after us."
Lydon adopted the name Johnny Rotten and the band became the Sex Pistols. They built a dedicated following (called the Bromley Contingent, which included such future luminaries as Siouxsie Sioux, Steve Severin and Billy Idol) with their explosive live shows and scored a contract with EMI. The incendiary politics of their iconic debut single 'Anarchy in the UK' became a top forty hit in the UK. A live interview on the local 'Today' show with Bill Grundy brought national attention and outrage over the profanity used by members of the band. The incident led to cancellations of most of the shows on their Anarchy Tour of the UK with The Clash and The Heartbreakers.
EMI dumped the band and deleted the single; but had to pay fifty thousand pounds for the pleasure. Matlock left the band (or was fired because he "like the Beatles") and replaced by Lydon's friend Simon John Ritchie, who had been the drummer for Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Flowers of Romance and had invented the pogo dance at Sex Pistols gigs. Lydon dubbed his friend Sid Vicious after his hamster (named for Syd Barrett) and Lou Reed's song from 'Transformer'.
The new lineup began recording at Wessex Sound Studios in London with producer Chris Thomas and engineer Bill Price. Matlock was approached to play bass on the sessions because Vicious' skills were not up to par; but Jones ended up playing bass because Matlock did not receive the advance payment he requested. The Sex Pistols signed a deal with A&M and the band immediately trashed their offices and abused the staff. This led to them being dropped from the label only six days later, with a payment of seventy-five thousand pounds. Recording continued as McLaren tried to broker another record deal. Eventually, the band signed with Virgin Records and finished up the album with Johnny Rotten on lead vocals; Paul Cook on drums; Steve Jones on guitar, bass guitar, and backing vocals; Glen Matlock on bass guitar on "Anarchy in the UK"; and Sid Vicious on bass guitar on "Bodies".
The album release was rushed because of bootleg versions and it made its debut at number one on the UK album chart, despite being banned by major retailers. 'Never Mind the Bollocks' also went to number twenty-seven in New Zealand, twelve in Sweden, and eleven in Norway. It only charted at number one hundred and six in the US and one hundred in Spain; but it has since been certified platinum in the US as well as the UK. It was the only studio album the Sex Pistols ever released. They would break up only three months later during their American tour. 'Never Mind the Bollocks' was a major flashpoint in the development of punk rock and is one of the most influential albums of all time. Cook admits: "I’m not tired of hearing it really. I think it stands the test of time and it still sounds great when you hear it on the radio. It’s not like I play it all the time but I was proud to be a part of that, being a part of what happened with the Pistols and the influence it had on everything. I don’t dwell on that; it’s good to listen to it now and again. It’s nice that people say that they were influenced by all the Pistols stuff; it’s pretty good that we influenced a whole range of people. I don’t dwell on it or glorify it."
www.sexpistolsofficial.com
"Anarchy in the UK"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAsWdUo7r4c
http://vimeo.com/27509416
Sex Pistols ~ Anarchy In The UK from sofarsoShawn on Vimeo.
"God Save the Queen"
http://vimeo.com/29951314
SexPistols - God Save The Queen
'Never Mind the Bollocks'
full album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bucVwI0RfEg
All songs written by Cook/Jones/Rotten/Vicious
01. Holiday in The Sun 00:00
02. Bodies 03:18
03. No Feeling 06:20
04. Liar 09:08
05. God Save The Queen 11:47
06. Problems 15:05
07. Seventeen 19:15
08. Anarchy in The U.K. 21:16
09. Submission 24:47
10. Pretty Vacant 28:58
11. New York 32:13
12. E.M.I. (Unlimited Edition) 35:19
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