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.

Sid Vicious and "God Save the Queen"

After the end of the 'Anarchy Tour' in December 1976, EMI decided it was too dangerous for the Sex Pistols to be in the UK, so they got the band some gigs at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in early January 1977. After getting some bad publicity at Heathrow Airport on their return, EMI finally had enough and dumped the band on January 27, 1977. The Paradiso gigs would be the last with Glen Matlock on bass. In February Matlock parted company with the band. According to legend he was sacked because he "liked The Beatles" - although in a 2002 television interview Steve Jones claimed the real reason was that he was "always washing his feet". Matlock himself now claims to have quit voluntarily (which was probably due largely to personality clashes with Rotten). He was quickly replaced by Rotten's friend and "ultimate Sex Pistols fan" Sid Vicious (real name John Simon Ritchie) of The Flowers of Romance, famously endorsed as a member by McLaren for his looks and "punk attitude" despite his very limited musical abilities. According to Jon Savage's biography of the Sex Pistols, England's Dreaming, at live performances his amplifier was often turned down, and most of the bass parts on the band's later recordings were actually played by guitarist Steve Jones or Matlock, who (according to Lydon's autobiography Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs) had been drafted in as a session musician. Sid played his first concert with the Pistols at the Screen On The Green in London on April 3, 1977.

Related Topics:
Heathrow Airport - Glen Matlock - The Beatles - 2002 - Sid Vicious - John Simon Ritchie - The Flowers of Romance - Jon Savage - Session musician

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The band signed to A&M Records on March 10, 1977, in a ceremony outside of Buckingham Palace. They later went back to the A&M offices for a party, at which the Sex Pistols' unruly behaviour included Sid Vicious trashing the Managing Director's office and vomiting on his desk. As a result, A&M dumped the Pistols on March 16. On May 12, the Pistols signed their third and final record deal with Virgin Records, with the promise of total artistic control.

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The group's second single, released by Virgin on May 27, 1977, was "God Save the Queen", a stinging attack on the British Royal Family, and by extension the institutions of Britain, delivered in Rotten's trademark sneer. Coming at a time when deference to royalty was still a predominant trait in both the establishment and the country as a whole the record was quickly banned from airplay by the staid BBC, whose Radio 1 dominated music broadcasting.

Related Topics:
God Save the Queen - BBC - Radio 1

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Nevertheless, in the week of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee, the record officially reached number two in some UK charts (although the number-two spot was, tellingly, left blank in several listings, and many believe, with evidence, that the record actually reached number one, and that the charts were rigged to prevent such a spectacle). Meanwhile, the Sex Pistols decided to celebrate the Jubilee, along with the success of their record, by chartering a boat, upon which they sailed down the Thames, past Westminster and the Houses of Parliament, performing their live set. As usual, the event ended in chaos; the boat was raided by the police, despite being licensed for live music, and McLaren, the Pistols and most of their entourage were arrested and taken into custody. Arguably all good fun and a great publicity stunt, but matters took a distinctly uglier turn when young punk followers of the Sex Pistols became victims of physical attacks in the street by 'pro-royalists', and Rotten himself was assaulted by a razor wielding gang of 'Teddy Boys' in Finsbury Park who, it seems, didn't see the humour of the Pistols' antics. This delayed the tour of Scandinavia by a couple of weeks, which would have started at the end of June, but because of the attacks, it started in mid-July. This was followed by a secret tour of England at the end of August (known as SPOTS, Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly), when the band played under pseudonyms to avoid cancellation.

Related Topics:
Queen Elizabeth II - Silver Jubilee - Thames - Westminster - Houses of Parliament - Publicity stunt - Teddy Boy - Finsbury Park - Scandinavia - Pseudonyms

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