The Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols were one of the most influential groups in modern music history. That is surprising, considering the fact that the punk band was only around for a few years and one album recording. Still, they represented a movement in youth culture at the time. Somewhere between the age of hippies and yuppies, a counterculture of punk rockers found a truthful, nihilistic message in the music of The Sex Pistols.

The Sex Pistols’ Early Music History

The formation of the band was the brainchild of fetish clothing designer Malcolm McLaren. At the time, McLaren owned a London shop named Sex with his then partner, Vivian Westwood. Sex was a local hangout for misfits and oddities, making it the perfect place for a punk band to be formed. Always an opportunist, McLaren looked to this fringe culture of teens to make, or rather exploit, a rock band.

Created in 1975, The Sex Pistols were comprised of lead singer Johnny Rotten (aptly dubbed due to his rotting teeth), guitarist Steve Jones, bassist Glen Matlock, and drummer Paul Cook. Although they were far from trained professionals, they seemed to fit the bill. They were a marginalized group of lower class kids with nothing to lose.

Anarchy In The U.K.

The Sex Pistols were a strange mix of young men. Johnny Rotten, who had a wicked stare due to childhood meningitis, was a nihilist and a foul personality. On top of that, he couldn’t sing. These ingredients seemed to work very well for this particular music genre. Steve Jones was an illiterate ladies man, but not a bad guitarist for a beginner. Paul Cook and Glen Matlock, however, were surprisingly normal and subdued.

A record deal with EMI was followed by a storm of loud publicity. The band itself was more of a manipulated stunt by McLaren than an actual, functioning group. They did, however, manage to cause a buzz with their first single, the classic punk anthem “Anarchy in the U.K.” London’s notorious tabloid reporters had their hands full with The Sex Pistols.

Enter Sid Vicious

Although it is hard to imagine by today’s standards, the song “Anarchy in the U.K.” was outrageously controversial. In fact, the band was dropped by its label, EMI, due to the impending media blitz. In 1977, Glen Matlock was replaced by punk fashion plate, Sid Vicious. Although Vicious looked and acted the part of rebel, he had yet to learn how to play a bass guitar. This all seemed irrelevant to svengali McLaren.

Always one to profit from controversy, McLaren had the band sign their new contract, with A&M Records, in front of Buckingham Palace. The group managed to record one album together- Never Mind the Bollocks. Possibly one of the most significant albums in punk history, it offered gems like “God Save the Queen” and “Pretty Vacant”.

The Day The Music Died

Given the dysfunctional nature of the group, it isn’t surprising that the band burned out in only a few short years. McLaren and lead singer Johnny Rotten never saw eye to eye, as McLaren tried to control the band’s every direction. Sid Vicious, possibly one of music’s most infamous figures, had a mounting heroin addiction and an unhealthy co-dependent relationship with groupie Nancy Spungen.

In 1978, only roughly two and a half years after the Sex Pistols were formed, they came to a screeching halt. At a concert in San Francisco, Rotten asked the audience, “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” and walked off the stage. Those were famous last words for the band. No matter, as the band couldn’t function as a working music group. Not with Vicious’ addiction and McLaren’s lust for exploitation.

Possibly the most newsworthy aftermath of the band involved the tragic murder/suicide involving Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. The incident was one of the most shocking in music history, later to be immortalized in the Alex Cox film, Sid and Nancy. A short-lived reunion of the original band in the 90’s proved that The Sex Pistols are perhaps the greatest band that was never meant to be.