ENCORE OF THE MONTH
August, 2020
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were confrontational and anti-establishment. The band was like a tsunami that swept the world causing mayhem and havoc, disbelief and fear where ever they went. 'Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols' was the only studio album the band released. The band was in your face and took no prisoners. In 1977 the Queen was celebrating her Silver Jubilee, 25 years on the throne. To mark the occasion the band launched 'God Save the Queen' on a barge in the river Thames. The police closed the event. The stunt grabbed the world's attention and the rest, as they say, is history. To the horror of the industry and the general public the album debuted at 1 on the UK charts.
The band hated the media and music industry with a passion. When they were invited to attend their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Johnny Rotten's response was caustic and got straight to point. He wrote back to say that the museum was a piss stain and they were not coming. This was a band that didn't want to join the mainstream - they wanted to tear it apart.
'The Great Rock 'n Roll Swindle' was a mockumentary on the band that many believed was factual. It was not. Malcolm McLaren was not the puppet master he claimed and he did not create the band. The band was formed by Steve Jones and Johnny Rotten and they chose him. What Malcolm did do was exploit the controversy of the Sex Pistols to maximise the media's attention. Johnny Rotten was the intellect behind the band and no one was going to control him. If truth be told, Johnny Rotten didn't want anarchy he wanted justice. He wanted justice for the working class and he wanted justice for the people.
Although Johnny Rotten was the mouthpiece of the band the musical force behind the throne was Glen Matlock. The band only managed to produce two songs after his departure. One of the great ironies of the Sex Pistols was that Sid Vicious, the band's poster boy and replacement for Matt, could not play the bass. It was so bad that he only played a very short part of the bass on one song on the album. What Sid lacked in musical ability he made up for in attitude. His sneer made Johnny look like he was smiling. Sadly Sid's life was a train wreck and ended in a drug overdose. Although he contributed very little to the band's musical output he did do a song on the 'Great Rock n' Roll Swindle' sound track.
The Sex Pistols broke the mould and inspired a generation of musicians to squeeze themselves out of the confined straight jacket of what was expected. For that we thank you.
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