The Sex Pistols

God bless The Sex Pistols. During their brief and chaotic two year existence, they introduced real musical anarchy to the world, yoking their working class anger and disgust to a brutal roar that still inspires nascent punk bands.

Looking back, it's hard to believe that a group as self-destructive as the Pistols could have gained so much fame and come to wield enormous influence on Rock & Roll and the music industry itself. But the music they played was just one small component of their story. The brief success of The Sex Pistols represented an inspiring marketing operation by their manager Malcolm McLaren, selling an attitude which expressed contempt for everyone. And you didn't have to like the music to like the attitude.

The Pistols ethos can be traced back to 1974 when McLaren, managing drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones in The Swankers, supposedly sacked third member Wally Nightingale for being "too musically proficient". Renamed The Sex Pistols, and now fronted by leering lead singer Johnny Rotten (real name John Lydon), the group made their debut in November 1975 with a gig at St Martin's School of Art in Charing Cross Road, London, before quickly getting banned from venues all over the UK.

In 1976, following the release of their landmark debut single, Anarchy In The UK, they made front page news following an appearance on the Today television show, hosted by Bill Grundy. In fact, The Sex Pistols were last-minute replacements for Queen who had been scheduled to appear on the show. Towards the end of a typically obnoxious interview Grundy goaded the band, spurring them on to be controversial. The boys did not disappoint:

Grundy: "Well keep going, chief, keep going. Go on, you've got another five seconds. Say something outrageous."

Steve Jones: "You dirty bastard."

The interview culminated with Jones calling Grundy a "fucking rotter" and generated an incredible amount of publicity, which coupled with Jamie Reid's provocative sleeve design for their next single God Save The Queen (depicting the monarch with a safety pin through her nose) guaranteed their infamy.

In 1977, bassist Glen Matlock, a talented songwriter, was replaced by the incompetent but iconic Sid Vicious (real name John Ritchie), and God Save The Queen surprisingly managed to top the charts with absolutely no commercial radio airplay at all. The band earned well over £100,000 in advances from three different record companies as high jinks and constant press attention got them sacked from labels with remarkable frequency.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne, the band hired a boat in June and set sail on the River Thames, blasting their anti-Elizabeth anthem ("she ain't no human being") at full volume to the whole of London. It was a far cry from the nationalistic tunes piped from other boats in the procession. 

The cops showed up and of course, savvy manager Malcolm McLaren, had a camera crew on hand to film the bloody lot! The great rock and roll swindle continued as always. In July, Pretty Vacant went Top 10 in Britain and the band toured England undercover (as The Spots - which stood for Sex Pistols On Tour). Holidays In The Sun followed Pretty Vacant into the Top 10 in October. The following month, their debut album, Never Mind The Bollocks - Here's The Sex Pistols went straight into the UK album charts at Number One.

In something of a test case a London record retailer was warned that displaying the album sleeve was an offence under the 1889 Indecent Advertising Act, but magistrates ruled this was not so. The Sex Pistols ended 1977 by signing with Warner Brothers in the USA - Finishing up as the ninth best-selling singles act in Britain for the year!

Early in 1978, the Pistols' highly-publicized and ultimately self-destructive US tour of big venues was a shambles, and it's no wonder that the group imploded later that year. It was public knowledge that the members of the band never really liked each other, and Sid's ill-fated drug abuse and John's intellectual pretensions only exacerbated the situation. 

On October 16, 1978, Malcolm McLaren persuaded Virgin Records to cough up the $50,000 bail required to get Sid out of New York's Rikers Island prison where he was awaiting trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. On December 9, Sid and his new girlfriend Michelle Robinson wound up in Hurrah's  disco at 2.30 AM, where they met Patti Smith's brother, Todd. Sid and Todd argued, with Todd punching him and Sid smashing a bottle and slashing Todd across the face. With his bail comprehensively breached, Vicious was immediately hauled back to Rikers' heroin detox unit where he stayed for the next seven weeks. Virgin's bail money went with him . . .

It came as no  surprise to anyone when Malcolm McLaren unveiled a 1979 Sex Pistols documentary called The Great Rock & Roll Swindle.