Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols is a group of Punk rock'n'roll English which, in spite of a very short existence, of 1975 with 1978, launched mainly the phenomenon Punk. This group was characterized by a very marked taste of the provocation (the song God Save The Queen parodied the anthem of the United Kingdom for example), of the very basic melodies, a sound rough and violent one, a singer ragor, intelligent, facetious and committed, a lunatic energy and a bordelic attitude and I-me enfoutist as the rock'n'roll had never known some. They shook the United Kingdom deeply; their career was punctuated several scandals more or less orchestrated by their manager, the crafty one Malcolm McLaren, intellectual set on Situationnisme.
Largement influenced by groups like the Stooges or the Clean, they were never equalized in the field of the sound, nor of the deflagration which they caused in the medium of the rock'n'roll.
Ils has in their turn influenced all the first wave Punk of groups like The Clash, Jam, Sham 69, then The Exploited and The Flowers Of Lovesong or Nirvana or Bad Brains for the the United States inter alia.

Composition of the group

The original group was composed of:

Biography

After having managed a time the end of a career of the New York Frauds, Malcolm McLaren emigrates with London and opens there in 1971 a clothes shop Rockabilly ( Let It Rock ) then another ( Sex ) to later sell to with it creations of his wife Vivienne Westwood, inspired by sadomasochistic esthetics . This place becomes the appointment of désoeuvrés young people, of which Paul Cook and Steve Jones, who become friendly with Glenn Matlock which was one of the salesmen. They cross the " there; bandage of Johns" who are in fact the futures Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten and Jah Wooble. Steve Jones, Glenn Matlock and Paul Cook play already together (in particular on stolen material) with a guitarist who will be évincé soon. They ask Malcom McLaren to find a singer to them, and thus John Lydon passes a hearing by singeant Alice Cooper over the music of the juke-box. The nickname of Rotten (rotted) is allotted to him because of the state of decomposition of its teeth.

They quickly create for themselves a repertory inspired of the New York Dolls, first David Bowie and Pretty Things. Around them a regrouping of individuals to the provocative attitude and appearance takes place: the Bromley Contingent in which are Siouxie, Billy Idol and other personalities which will mark this time. L'" inflection vitriolée" and the psychotic attitude of Johnny Rotten on scene quickly create a sulfurous reputation with the group. Joe Strummer and Sting - among other hallucinated spectators - will decide to show a group after having seen them in concert. The ease of the music of the Ramones had already had this impact on many grass musicians. After a scandal televised at one hour for great listening on December first 1976, an alcoholized interview during which Bill Grundy, the organizer, encourages Steve Jones to utter insults, the group does the one of the newspapers (see bond n°5). He sees himself prohibited to play in the majority of the cities which the Anarchy Tour crosses in which the Damned took part. They turn then in Europe to escape the pressure a little from the media. The England is in boiling and the young people change only one blow of attitude, vestimentary style and even of opinion. Glenn Matlock and Johnny Rotten get along less and less and the first ends up being replaced by Sid Vicious (which cannot play basic of the whole), thanks to which Rotten hopes well to thwart the influence of McLaren on the group. After the recording of the album, environment is turned sour, of the scissions appear clearly between Johnny Rotten, the manager and the remainder of the group. Sid Vicious subjugated by its starification is detached little by little from reality. Malcom McLaren has then the idea to export what he thinks of being his invention in the United States. But oddly not in New York which would undoubtedly have accommodated them as brothers, but in the preserving south. These the last 12 concerts are made in an atrocious environment which will lead at the beginning of Johnny Rotten, later constrained give up its nickname whose MacLaren asserts paternity.

Sex Pistols separated in 1978. The fast rupture was undoubtedly inevitable between extremely different individualities which started so young as much creative excitation at the ones and of rejection at the others. A film was made stressing a handling of Malcolm Mc Laren: The Great Rock' Roll Swindle (“the great swindle of Rock' Roll”) is itself a caricature commercial definitely less interesting only documentary the more recent, The Filth and The Fury carried out by the same director, Julien Temple, where Lydon reconsiders the adventure of the group.

In 1986, Alex Cox turned a fiction on the relation between Sid Vicious and its friend: Sid and Nancy . There still a commercial film which could not avoid the stereotype.

Johnny Rotten took again then her true name (John Lydon), spends one moment to Jamaica and founds P.I.L (Public Image Limited) with her friends Keith Levene and Jah Wooble. More syncopated and sharp music that of Sex Pistols appears strongly marked by the Dub but also the Krautrock. Paul Cook and Steve Jones formed a group of the name of The Professionals. Sid Vicious, bass player extremely poor but charismatic remained famous to be suspected of the murder of Nancy Spungen, his/her boyfriend. Its death of an overdose in 1979 with New York after a stay in prison helped with the establishment of its legend. Previously it had taken again the As usual of Claude François, My Way like Sinatra earlier but in manner much more parodic. The song is used basic sound with the end of The Goodfellas as Martin Scorsese. Gift Letts, old DJ of Roxy Club and 100 club left a DVD in 2005 recalling the history the Punk evoking the role of Sex Pistols: Punk Attitude. After a short reformation in 1996, and a three weeks round in North America in 2003, Sex Pistols will go up in scene in a single concert with the Brixton Academy of London on November 8th, 2007 for the thirty year one of their single album Nevermind the Bollocks . However, since the sales reccords in this concert, and the 2 dates added the very same day exhausted, Sex Pistols leave in round (for the moment that to England and Scotland) with dates to London, Manchester and Glasgow. It is called Holiday In The Sun 2007 and should (was not checked) pass to Paris. Moreover, all the 43 turns component Nevermind The Bollocks will be republished.

The heritage

The writer and critical rock'n'roll Greil Marcus approached the history of Sex Pistols in his work Lipstick Traces ; by connecting them to the underground history gnostic and Dadaism.

One owes in Pistols the advent of all the scene new-wave and independent of the Années 1980 until our days. They encouraged a whole youth (punks which Johnny Rotten rejected since they had been absorbed by the system; according to its own words he thus did not regard himself at all as punk) to take an active share in the movement carried by a desire of action and revolt vis-a-vis the established standards. The Punk one was one great moment of social dispute, of independent activism, Fanzine S, the " C it yourself " , which, left the United Kingdom practically gained the whole world. An appointment of a whole part of youth with the history and the spirit of revival of its time. As May 68 one finds his trace at various levels of the company, it brought a revival and a wind of freedom which exceeds the strict framework of the music. In this direction the Punk spirit evolved/moved but remains always current, in connection with the remote regions of the modern societies.

Discography

Albums

Vinyl series 2007 - Individual

October 1st: Anarchy In The U.K./I Wanna Be Me 7”

October 8th: God Save The Queen/Did You No Wrong 7”

October 15th: Vacant Pretty/No Fun 7”

October 22nd: Holidays In The Sun/Satellite 7”

Album solo of Sid Vicious

  • December 1979 - Sid Sings

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