THE SEX PISTOLS

This is another entry I was hesitant to write, simply because there's been more bullshit slung around  this band than just about any I can think of, short of Nirvana (the key distinction being that at least the Pistols deserved so much attention).

Look, I'll make it simple for you.  It doesn't matter that the Pistols music wasn't really unprecedented (please
keep in mind the audience for The Stooges, Dolls and MC5 was very small back in the day).  It doesn't matter if Richard Hell had the tousled spiky hair safety pins look first and/or if Rotten cadged it off of him or not.  It doesn't matter if Matlock was the guy with the gift for melody.  It doesn't matter that Sid Vicious was a fuckup who tainted the whole affair with his death and possible murder of Nancy (blech!) Spungen.  It doesn't matter that Malcolm McLaren claimed and got credit where it wasn't due (because some credit is due), or that he caught lightning in a bottle when he brought Lydon in to mime to "I'm Eighteen".  It doesn't matter that Steve Jones went on to a non-career as a poodle-haired slick metal rocker.  It doesn't matter that Johnny Rotten now sells butter, gripes about the poor manners of today's youth, and whores himself out to any TV show that needs a feisty curmudgeon as a host. It doesn't matter that the Pistols are now a professional oldies act.

None of this matters because if you slap The Filth and the Fury into your DVD player you'll at least get an inkling of how different and radical the Pisols were to Britain (and America) in 1976.  They may have evolved from the British Invasion/MC5/Stooges/Velvets/Dolls/Alice Cooper line (in the US - and add Bowie and Bolan in the UK and probably some others I don't know enough about) - except for Alice, most of those acts were largely underground to the point of near-invisibility; a brief moment of infamy, loved by a handful of freakjobs, promptly dismissed by the reg'lar folks and then forgotten.  In 1977 my grandmother had heard of The Sex Pistols, fer cryin' out loud!  Johnny Rotten was different, and original, and one-of-a-kind (he still is, for that matter - and you're hearing theis from a guy who doesn't own a single PiL record) - different even from Iggy and definitely different from David JoHansen or Rob Tyner or Lou Reed.  His closest comparison, in look and attitude, I suppose, would again be R. Hell - but, again, outside of scenesters, rock critics and music geeks, Hell was unknown and pretty much still is.  Johnny Rotten?  They were warning us about him on the evening news.  Hey, make no mistake - The Pistols really freaked people out back then.

I'll make it even simpler.  There's been only a couple million bands in the history of rock and roll with the same musical approach as the Pistols - play incredibly stripped down rock at an intensity level approaching feral.  Most of them could deliver it adequately (after all, it doesn't take virtuoso-level skill - not exactly), a chunk of them better-than-adequately, but only a much smaller group could do it consistently and excellently - meaning they hit as hard as they intended.  The music was like a punch in the chest.  There's three at the top of that heap as far as I'm concerned - The Stooges, who did it better than anybody, The Who c. 1965-1970 (give "My Generation" a spin if you haven't for awhile), and The Pistols.  It doesn't matter if there's filler on Bollocks - "God Save the Queen Alone" is the pudding wherein you find the proof.  The Sex Pistols had a remarkable, if short, career, kicked off an entire subculture in the UK (what happened over here was something different, informed by and sometimes imitating, but always its own thing), inspired countless bands all over the world it seems (and still are inspiring them), conducted themselves with probably as much integrity as a rock band - esp. one in a situation practically exploding with paradoxes, probably could have, and made outstanding music - the second best "punk"-type band I've ever heard (after, again, The Stooges). And that is enough of an accomplishment for anybody.


Sex Pistols Official Site
Sex Pistols Wiki
Allmusic Wiki
Robert Christgau's OBIT for Sid Vicious (says it all)

Essential Listening

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols all you need, man.  There's some scattered singles and b-sides (I myself am very fond of "Don't Give Me No Lip, Child"), and a bazillion quasi-legal live recordings which are interesting but non-essential.  The Pistols need to be seen in action live, not just heard.

Essential Viewing

The Filth and the Fury the Pistols tell their side of the story.  Far superior to the incoherent and indulgent Great Rock and Roll Swindle, and all the good stuff from that one is in this film anyway.

D.O.A. a semi-incoherent documentary attempting to chronicle the rise of punk in England and the US, without any particular logic.  But the footage of the Pistols on their 1978 American tour is often stunning.  Also some nice rare footage of X-Ray Spex, et al.  Amateurish, but a lot of fun and captures the spirit.

The Punk Rock Movie more great live footage, this time from the UK.  Also good clips of The Clash, Heartbreakers, and Shane MacGowan dancing.

Essential Reading

England's Dreaming by Jon Savage massive, detailed - the best book I've read on British punk.
12 Days On The Road by Noel Monk chronicles the disastrous US 1978 tour.

I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol by Glen Matlock and Peter Silverton  Matlock's side of the story.

Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon, Keith Zimmerman and Kent Zimmerman Rotten's side.