Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols were, despite their short existence, one of the most influential English punk bands. While The Clash were both more articulate and politically motivated, and Buzzcocks had more astute pop sensibilities, no other band so strongly exemplified the British punk movement's spirit and inherent contradictions or made such a lasting impression on British popular culture.

Never Mind the Bollocks

The promise of the band's early singles was eventually fulfilled by the group's first album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols, released on October 28, 1977. The album included singles "Pretty Vacant" (released on July 2, 1977), an ode to apathy, and "Holidays in the Sun" (released on October 15, 1977). Again the band faced controversy when a record shop in Nottingham was threatened with prosecution for displaying the album's 'obscene' cover, although the case was overturned when defending QC John Mortimer produced expert witnesses, including Professor James Kinsley, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nottingham, who were able to demonstrate that the word "bollocks" was a legitimate old English term originally used to refer to a priest, and that although the word is also slang for the testicles, in this context it meant 'nonsense'.

Related Topics:
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant - Holidays in the Sun - Nottingham - QC - John Mortimer - Linguistics - University of Nottingham - Bollocks - Old English - Priest - Testicles - Nonsense

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