The Sex Pistols: the 100 most inspiring musicians of all time.
The original members were Johnny Rotten (by name of John Lydon;
b. Jan. 31, 1956, London, Eng.), Steve Jones (b. May 3, 1955, London,
Eng.), Paul Cook (b. July 20, 1956, London, Eng.), and Glen Matlock
(b. Aug. 27, 1956, London, Eng.). A later member was Sid Vicious
(by name of John Simon Ritchie; b. May 10, 1957, London, Eng.
d. Feb. 2, 1979, New York, N.Y., U.S.).
The Sex Pistols created the British punk movement of the late 1970s and, with the song “God Save the Queen,” became a symbol of the United Kingdom’s social and political turmoil.
Thrown together in September 1975 by manager Malcolm McLaren to promote Sex, his London clothing store, the Sex Pistols began mixing 1960s English pop music influences (the Small Faces, the Who) with those of 1970s rock renegades (Iggy and the Stooges, the New York Dolls) in an attempt to strip rock’s complexities to the bone. By the summer of 1976 the Sex Pistols had attracted an avid fan base and successfully updated the energies of the 1960s mods for the malignant teenage mood of the ’70s.
Heavily stylized in their image and music, media savvy, and ambitious in their use of lyrics, the Sex Pistols became the leaders of a new teenage movement—called punk by the British press—in the autumn of 1976. Their first single, “Anarchy in the U.K.,” was both a call to arms and a state-of-the-nation address.
When they used profanity on live television in December 1976, the group became a national sensation. Scandalized in the tabloid press, the Sex Pistols were dropped by their first record company, EMI, in January 1977; their next contract, with A&M Records, was severed after only a few days in March.
Signing quickly with Virgin Records, the Sex Pistols released their second single, “God Save the Queen,” in June 1977 to coincide with Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee (the 25th anniversary of her accession to the
throne). Although banned by the British media, the single rose rapidly to number two on the charts.
As “public enemies number one,” the Sex Pistols were subjected to
physical violence and harassment. Despite a second Top Ten record, “Pretty Vacant,” the Sex Pistols stalled. Barely able to play in the United
Kingdom because of local government bans, they became mired in preparations for a film and the worsening drug use of Rotten’s friend Vicious, who had replaced Matlock in February 1977. Their bunker mentality is evident on their third Top Ten hit, “Holidays in the Sun.” By the time their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols reached number one in early November, Rotten, Vicious, Jones, and Cook had recorded together for the last time.
A short, disastrous U.S. tour precipitated the group’s split in January 1978 following their biggest show to date, in San Francisco. Attempting to keep the Sex Pistols going with the film project that became The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle (1980), McLaren issued records with an increasingly uncontrollable Vicious as the vocalist.
A cover version of Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon Everybody” became the group’s best-selling single following Vicious’s fatal heroin overdose
in New York City in February 1979 while out on bail (charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen). That same month McLaren was sued by Rotten, and the Sex Pistols disappeared into receivership, only to be revived some years after the 1986 court case that restored control
of their affairs to the group.
A reunion tour in 1996 finally allowed the original quartet to play their hit songs in front of supportive audiences. This anticlimactic postscript, however, did not lessen the impact of their first four singles and debut album, which shook the foundations of rock music and sent tremors through British society.
In 2006 the Sex Pistols were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Free sheet music download.
S̲ex P̲istols – N̲ever M̲ind The B̲ollocks Full Album 1977
Track List:
0:00 Holidays in the Sun 3:19 Bodies 6:20 No Feeling 9:09 Liar 11:48 God Save the Queen 15:06 Problems 19:15 Seventeen 21:16 Anarchy in the U.K. 24:47 Submission 28:58 Pretty Vacant 32:14 New York 35:19 E.M.I.