1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis, the story of 2 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: the sex Pistols, their beginnings as marginalized, frustrated and angry 3 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: working class teens in London, their unlikely rise to worldwide fame, 4 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: and their anarchic attempt to completely destroy rock and roll 5 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: as we know. It is so complex that we needed 6 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: two episodes to properly tell this story. If you're just 7 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: getting hip to this now, I suggest you hit pause 8 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: and go back to the last episode of Disgraceland, part 9 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: one of the sex Pistols story. In this episode, we 10 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: get into the band's continued feud with the corporate music world, 11 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: the English monarchy, and a horrified public, a struggle made 12 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: all the more difficult by the introduction of the group's 13 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: most volatile member, a junkie who was barely clean or 14 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: competent enough to find his way around four strings. We 15 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: also get into the band's attempt to conquer America, which, 16 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: like most of their grand plans, royally backfired and ultimately 17 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: led to their explosive downfall. To paraphrase Neil Young, this 18 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,839 Speaker 1: is the story of the Johnny Rotten, but it's also 19 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: a story about how great music can shock scandalize and 20 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: galvanize the world. Unlike that music I played for you 21 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 22 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop for my melotron called Flamenco 23 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: Conspirator MK two. I played you that loop because I 24 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: can't afford the rights to Baby Come Back by a player. 25 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 26 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: Bedtime Magic Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was 27 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: the number one song in America on January fourteenth, nineteen 28 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: seventy eight, And that was the day that the Sex 29 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 1: Pistols played Winterland in San Francisco, a show that would 30 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: bring the career of the most notorious band in the 31 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: world to a screeching halt. On this episode, a volatile junkie, 32 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: a royal backfire, an explosive downfall in the Sex Pistols. 33 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. Pete Townsend, lead 34 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: songwriter and guitarist who one of the biggest, loudest bands 35 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 1: in the world, stumbled into the Speakeasy club in London. 36 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: He had one goal to get good and drunk. He'd 37 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: spent the day trying to figure out why his songwriting 38 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: royalties were tied up in a bank account that wasn't his. 39 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: And furthermore, why Alan Klein, the ruthless snake who had 40 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: screwed the Stones and was busy screwing the Beatles, had 41 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,679 Speaker 1: the authority to not only keep Pete's money tied up, 42 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: but pocket his own cut in the process. The math 43 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: was confusing. Pete Townsend didn't do math. He did maximum 44 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: rock and roll to complicate matters. Punk Rocket arrived in England. 45 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: Punk was vital, It was relevant. It spoke to the 46 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: dissatisfied and disaffected youth who struggled at the bottom of 47 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: the class hierarchy. The who had once been that band 48 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: Pete like to think, but that was then nineteen seventy 49 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: seven was now shit. Quadrophenia was four years old, an 50 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: eternity in rock and roll years. The kids may have 51 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: been all right, but Pete Townsend sure as shit was not. 52 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: Steve Jones and Paul Cook, guitarist and drummer for the 53 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: Sex Pistols, sat on their stools and the speakeas he 54 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: had watched as Peete get started with pint number one. 55 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: Jonesy was starstruck. His bandmate John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten 56 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: talked a big game about how the rock and roll 57 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: establishment was overrun with dinosaurs who desperately needed to come 58 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: in contact with a giant asteroid of Pete Townsend. Awre 59 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 1: you fucking kidding? There would be no punk rock without 60 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: the Who. Jonesy would not do what he did, and 61 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,720 Speaker 1: his band would not have nearly the amount of ferocity 62 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 1: and rage and sheer volume if it weren't for Pete's 63 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: windmillon guitaris smashing antics. The songs weren't half that either, 64 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: like substitute a Who cover that the pistols have been 65 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: known to perform, and so loaded with his own liquid courage, 66 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: Jonesy made his way over to the maud Icon and 67 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: introduced himself from Paul he may have talked too much, 68 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: called nerves of the booze and speed coursing through his bloodstream. 69 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: He figured he jogged the geezer's memory with the story 70 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: about the Bill Grundy Show and how the pistols were 71 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 1: unceremoniously dropped from me and I after only a few 72 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: months in one single, or about how just a few 73 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 1: months after that, in February of nineteen seventy seven, they 74 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: finally gave their basis, Glenn Mattlock the boot. Glenn played 75 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,479 Speaker 1: well enough, probably a little too well, if Jonesy was 76 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,280 Speaker 1: being honest. Glenn wanted to be in a proper rock 77 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: and roll band. In the Pistols, well, there was just 78 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: nothing proper about them, now, was there? Always taking the 79 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: piss And the only reason Glenn laughed his way through 80 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: that grundy bit was because he was just as wankeard 81 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: as the rest of them. And then there was the 82 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: whole God Saved the Queen business. Glenn just about lost 83 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: his mind when he heard John's lyrics to that one. 84 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: He called John a fascist, said the song we made 85 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: them all look like fascists, which obviously did not. The 86 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,840 Speaker 1: Queen was the one in charge of the fascist in 87 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: her loyal subjects, the ones drowning in poverty who still 88 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: managed to hang on every word she said and every 89 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 1: breast she took. Well, they deserve what was coming to them. 90 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: And that's probably what really scared Glen, and he just 91 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: didn't want to admit it. It made John happy, though, 92 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: because it gave him a reason to finally send Glenn packing. 93 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: John already had his replacement waiting in the wings, John 94 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: Simon Richie aka John Beverley aka Sid Vicious. That was 95 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: a selfish move on John's part. He wanted someone on 96 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: his side, like how Jonesy had Cook, someone that could 97 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: stand up to Malcolm McLaren alongside of him. But Sid 98 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: the guy was a bleeding idiot. John knew it. Jonesy 99 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: definitely knew it. Sid thrived on chaos, subsisted on junk. 100 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: Sure he had the look down pat but the bass 101 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: guitar was just another accessory to him, a safety pin, 102 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: a rip swastik, a T shirt, something to wheeld on stage. 103 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,600 Speaker 1: He couldn't play the damn thing. Jonesy had to teach him. 104 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: It was like trying to teach a fucking dog to 105 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: swing a cricket bat, and not just any dog, but 106 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: like the dumbest of dogs, which would explain why it 107 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: was just easier for Jonesy to play the bass parts 108 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: on the Pistol's debut album, the album they were in 109 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: the middle of recording at the moment Wessex Sounds Studios. 110 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: Jonesy stopped to ask Pete you ever record there? Pete 111 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: Townsend drained the rest of his pipe, narrowed his eyes 112 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: and gave Jonesy a look of utter confusion. Wait, Pete said, 113 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: who are you shit? Jonesy thought Townsend must be off 114 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: as fucking tits, Jonesy went on. After the Pistols were 115 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: dropped by EMI, they set their sights on another label, 116 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: A and M. And that was in March, shortly after 117 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: Sid joined. What a disaster. They set up this photo 118 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: op at Buckingham Palace where the band would quote unquote 119 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: sign their contract. Did all been drinking Voda since the 120 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: moment when the sun came up that day? Jonesy, for one, 121 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: was hitting the bottle especially hard. Pea could relate to 122 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: this right, get a little of this peak. The whole 123 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: thing was starting to feel stale, stale? Can you believe it? 124 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: The record isn't even finished yet and it already feels 125 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: like it's over. The Grundy Show was the turning point. 126 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: If it was ever about the music, as sure as 127 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: hell wasn't anymore. Now people are dressing the way the 128 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: Pistols dress. Someone saw someone else split it a punk 129 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: show once, and now everyone's gobbling in everyone's face because 130 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: they think they're supposed to. And Joe Strummer, that poor 131 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: Saga conjunctivitis from some bloke saliva in his eye. Nothing 132 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,680 Speaker 1: was shocking anymore. It was a routine and the sex 133 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: pistols are supposed to be outside the system, but they 134 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: could already feel themselves getting sucked into the system, just 135 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 1: another name in the marquis. So they get all good 136 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: and pissed on the day they signed with A and M, 137 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: and the whole way to Buckingham Palace in the limo, 138 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: they argue and fight. John wants to be provocative, Sid 139 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: wants to fix Jonesy's tired of taking a back seat 140 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: to the drama of his bandmates. They go through the charade, 141 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: the bulbs flash, and then A and M breaks out 142 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: the champagne. Just what they all need, right more alcohol, 143 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: and they get back in the limo and fight all 144 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: the way back to the A and M offices. Black 145 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: eyes and blood. Sid so fucking drunk that he kicks 146 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 1: a urinal right off the wall in the bathroom. He 147 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: was probably the one who threw up in the rubber 148 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: plant pop in that executive's office. But incredibly none of 149 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: this behavior put them in the doghouse with A and M. 150 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: It was actually something that happened right here in the speakeasye. 151 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:37,119 Speaker 1: The end of that particular relationship. It was a relationship 152 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: the band was celebrating with lots of pints, some mandies, 153 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: some speed. Sid went for the harder stuff, of course, 154 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: and in walks Bob Harris, the guy from the old 155 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: Gray Whistle Test the BBC Live Music show where bands 156 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: who hadn't quite made it to the top of the 157 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: pops got a little exposure. But Bob Harris wasn't giving 158 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: any love to the Pistols. Why not? When would that 159 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: oversight be addressed? And the band asked these questions to 160 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: Bob Harris's face, and Bob Harris probably didn't appreciate how 161 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,080 Speaker 1: close they all stood. Someone shoved someone and pretty soon 162 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: fists are flying, and then the pint glasses are flying 163 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 1: and Bob Harris doesn't get hurt, but his recording engineer 164 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,560 Speaker 1: gets hit in the head with the pint glass. Then 165 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: after that engineer got his head sewn up with fourteen stitches, 166 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: Bob Harris's lawyer got on the phone to A and M. 167 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: And that was that. The Pistols spent a whopping one 168 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,439 Speaker 1: week as A and M recording artists, and the label's 169 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: record plant was pressing singles of God Save the Queen 170 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: when the acts came down and to pour AsSalt on 171 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: the wound. Thousands of copies were destroyed, probably melted down 172 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 1: to make Bloody Supertramp Records. And now well the band 173 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: was still recording the album and hopes that someone would 174 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: pick it up. Word had it Virgin Records was interested. 175 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: Pete Townsend finished another pint. Jonesy couldn't tell if he 176 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: was still confused or if he was just drunk. Now, 177 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: Pete narrowed his eyes again, like he was sot his 178 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: mind for the right name, and said, who are you? Bullocks? 179 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: Johnsy thought, never meet your idols, right. Pete then turned 180 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: his attention to Paul Cook and suddenly a look of 181 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: recognition came over his face. Ah, Yes, that's right, you're 182 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: Johnny Rotten. Pete Townsend's knight only got more confusing. Before 183 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: long he woke up in the Soho doorway, where a 184 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: policeman knew his name and all that, and he turned 185 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: the events of the night into the Who's Next single 186 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: who Are You, which the band singer Roger Daltrey famously 187 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: snuck the word fuck into his vocal tape twice, which 188 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: was played and continues to be played uncensored. On commercial 189 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 1: radio stations in the UK and the US. It was 190 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: a self consciously punk moment for one of the great 191 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: dinosaurs of rock. The song kicked against the pricks that summer, 192 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: ubiquitous disco cheese like Andy Gibb, John Travolta and the Commodores, 193 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,319 Speaker 1: even the Rolling Stones cap Boogie Fever with Miss You. 194 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: It was just like John had predicted, sellouts, slaves to 195 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: the machine trend, hungry, fuck withits all of them, and 196 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 1: he tried to destroy it all, rewrite the narrative, but 197 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: the narrative didn't want to be rewritten. They wanted to 198 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,959 Speaker 1: write John out. And by the time that Who took 199 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: their punk influence song to the masses in the summer 200 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: of seventy eight, rock and roll did just that. The 201 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: sex pistols were over and what they left behind it 202 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: was a screaming, fucking, bloody mess. It had been a 203 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: few days since he carved the words into his chest, 204 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,680 Speaker 1: but the scar was still legible. Give me a fix 205 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 1: it read sid Vicius had done it with a shout 206 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: of glass while staring into a bathroom mirror. It was 207 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: the truth he needed to score, but it was way 208 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: out of his element. It was the first time he'd 209 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: been to America. He knew there was heroin here in 210 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: the land of the Free, he just didn't know where 211 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: to find it. So he turned himself into a walking 212 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: advert for a fix. A fix as big as the 213 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: place the sex pistols found themselves and now Dallas, Texas, 214 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 1: and the hats were definitely bigger in Dallas, so Sid 215 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,439 Speaker 1: hoped that the junk would follow suit. He wasn't wearing 216 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: a shirt, so the mutilated junkie scrawl on his pasty 217 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: skin was there for all to see as he fumbled 218 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: his way around the frets of his Fender Pea Bass 219 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: on stage. They hung low, looked like it weighed a ton, 220 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,719 Speaker 1: and the longhorned ballroom was packed and the pistols were 221 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 1: frightenly loud. Sid pogoed up and down and the kids followed. 222 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: He spat and they spat back. He knew the message 223 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: on his chest was provocative, both the legal requests for 224 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,079 Speaker 1: drugs and the disturbing way in which he'd written it. 225 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: But it wasn't enough. Sid craved chaos. He was the 226 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:10,880 Speaker 1: one who started that fight with Bob Harris at the 227 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: Speakeasy in London. He threw bottles at other bands while 228 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: they played. He smashed bottles on top of people's heads 229 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: in the crowd. A fix, a fight, some junks and blood. 230 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: It was all the same to Sid. It was all 231 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: a flirtation with the other side. The end, not just 232 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: the end of the decade, the end of the century, 233 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: but everything, the end lights out. One more needle in 234 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: his vein, one more fist in his face, and it 235 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,680 Speaker 1: could all be over. He did it for the rush, 236 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: to stand on the edge and stare into the abyss. 237 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: Sid looked into that knight's abyss, the teeming mass of 238 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: texted youth, all pressing up to the long horned stage, 239 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 1: and he knew exactly what he could do to ensure 240 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: maximum chaos. He shouted out, had no one in particular, 241 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: right there in the middle of Texas that quote cowboys 242 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: are queers. Suddenly his nose hurt like hell, someone's fists, 243 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: someone's head. He wasn't sure exactly what happened. It came 244 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: at him fast. His face was vibrating, and he felt 245 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: the blood start to run good. He wiggled his nose 246 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: to make the blood run faster. He coaxed it out, 247 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: let it gush. He took his hand in white blood 248 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: all over his face. He looked out at the crowd, 249 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: tried to figure out who had made him bleed. Where 250 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: are you, you, little redneck fucker? Do it again, cocksucker? 251 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: He smiled that trademark evil Elvis sneer, and the blood 252 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: kept running. He could taste it in his mouth now, 253 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: and he worked up a big gob in the back 254 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: of his throat and then spat it back out at 255 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: the audience, and it hit someone in the face, a 256 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: thick red blob. He smiled again, and he could see 257 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: the blood all between his teeth. And when the blood 258 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 1: dried up, when it stopped dripping from his nose, and 259 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: he'd spat every last bit back out towards the crowd. 260 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: Sid grabbed a bottle and busted it on top of 261 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: his amplifier. It shattered with ease. He held a jagged 262 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: peace in his hand. His bare chest was a blank canvas. 263 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: All he had to do was start carving. But by 264 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: smashing that bottle, his amp had gone dead. Gave it 265 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: a quick look. Was it the cord the power button? 266 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 1: Sid didn't know, He didn't care. He had no clue 267 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: how the whole fucking thing worked. Anyway to solid state whatever. 268 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: Jonesy was probably over the fucking moon, to be honest, 269 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: not having to listen to Sid fart his way around 270 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: the frets on his base a tosser plus Sid Vicious 271 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 1: wasn't here to make music. Sid Vicious was here to 272 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: make a scene. The sex Pistols were five days into 273 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: their January nineteen seventy eight tour of the United States, 274 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: and so far the whole thing had been one big scene. 275 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: John walking around in his plaid bondage suit or wearing 276 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: that one T shirt with a picture of two cowboys 277 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: facing each other with their big dick swinging. Sid saw 278 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: how that shirt cut people up in arms, and so 279 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: he wore it too. John couldn't stand these backwards American hillbillies. 280 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 1: Ditto for Malcolm McLain. There was a reason why Malcolm 281 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: had booked dates in cities like Atlanta, Memphis, San Antonio, 282 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: Bad Rouge in Dallas instead of punk rock sanctuaries like 283 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: New York City and Los Angeles, not to impress, not 284 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: to unite the clan, to shock, to horrify, to emasculate 285 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: the macho fuckos, and to cause all those Southern bells 286 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: to clutch their pearls like the Queen had clutched for 287 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 1: the Crown jewels. Just months before. June nineteen seventy seven, 288 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: celebrations were well underway for the Silver Jubilee, the twenty 289 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: fifth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth, the second ascension to the 290 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,879 Speaker 1: throne in the United Kingdom, large lavish parties elegant parades. 291 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: On June seventh, crowds followed the procession of Saint Paul's Cathedral, 292 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,160 Speaker 1: where the royal family was met by the United States 293 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,640 Speaker 1: President Jimmy Carter, as well as current former Prime Ministers 294 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: of the UK. After lunch, the procession continued on to 295 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: Buckingham Palace. One million humble servants watched as the Queen 296 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: waved from afar, each and every one of them. Five 297 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,919 Speaker 1: hundred million edition of people watched it live on television. 298 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,640 Speaker 1: Two days later, the Queen would make a royal progress 299 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: on aboat up the River Thames from Greenwich to Lambeth, 300 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: the reenactment of a journey taken by Queen Elizabeth the 301 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: first hundreds of years before. But first another voyage was 302 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: planned on the Thames, a voyage that preempted the Queen's 303 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 1: own trip by two days. A voyage that took place 304 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: on the evening of June seventh, while the memories of 305 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: that day's elaborate procession were still fresh in the minds 306 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 1: of millions. A voyage that would sail from Westminster to 307 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,199 Speaker 1: tower Bridge, A voyage that would pass directly by the 308 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: House of Parliament, A voyage that was definitely not part 309 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: of any Silver Jubilee celebration. You could hear the pleasure 310 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: Cruiser making its way up to Thames before you could 311 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:57,520 Speaker 1: see it. The rude squelt of guitar feedback, the nasally 312 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:05,439 Speaker 1: whines and profane taunts. Problem, problem, they kunt, they kunt, 313 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 1: they kunt, over and over and over again. And then 314 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: you saw it. A shock of orange hair on top 315 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: of a cheap white suit, studded leather, bracelets procured from 316 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,879 Speaker 1: a kink shot, Guys banging their heads to the plotting 317 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 1: beat like automatons, Girls bent over the side of the boat, 318 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: dry heaving into the river. Malcolm McLaren rented the boat 319 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,639 Speaker 1: as a publicity stunt, but it wasn't lost on anyone 320 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: of the sex Pistols. Mini set of Mutinous songs was 321 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: name directly at that week's celebration. Of the monarchy. It 322 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: certainly wasn't lost on London police, who shut it down 323 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: after just four songs. Malcolm had obtained the proper license, 324 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,480 Speaker 1: but the bobbies didn't care. The whole thing was vile. 325 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 1: What did they think? This was the fucking rooftop of 326 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: Apple Records. The Sex Pistols weren't the Beatles. The cops 327 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: weren't just going to politely ask them to shut it down. 328 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,840 Speaker 1: They were gonna make an example of them. Ten cops 329 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:02,239 Speaker 1: that surrounded Malcolm fu He screamed. He tried to make 330 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:03,879 Speaker 1: a run for it, but two of them grabbed him 331 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: by the coat sleeves. They spun him around, twisted his 332 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 1: arm behind his back. They're arresting Malcolm, someone yelled, and 333 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: then they beat him in front of the crowd of 334 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:16,399 Speaker 1: one hundreds until he stopped whimpering, until he had no feelings. 335 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,159 Speaker 1: Malcolm had launched the River TAM's stunt shortly after the 336 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: Sex Pistols signed their third record contract in the span 337 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:27,399 Speaker 1: of five months. After being dropped by both em I 338 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 1: and A and M, the van found a new home 339 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: on Richard Branson's Virgin Records in May of nineteen seventy seven, 340 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 1: Virgin hustled to get God Save the Queen, the controversial 341 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 1: single previously pressed and then destroyed by A and M 342 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,159 Speaker 1: out on the record store shelves, and it's sold something 343 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,160 Speaker 1: like one hundred and fifty thousand copies a day, partially 344 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: because it was a notorious tune, it was offensive, slanderous, 345 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: it ruffled all those reserved British sensibilities, but also because 346 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: it was a killer song, four on the floor in 347 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,119 Speaker 1: a powder keke of angry energy, lution packed into a 348 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: little over three minutes. Nevertheless, the BBC refused to play it, 349 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,400 Speaker 1: retailers refused to sell it. Even the House of Parliament 350 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,679 Speaker 1: attempted to ban anyone from playing or selling it, and 351 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: no doubt that was part of its term. It sold 352 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: enough copies that it climbed the charts all the way 353 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 1: to number one in the UK. Well not exactly. Technically, 354 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,199 Speaker 1: God Saved the Queen peaked at number two on the 355 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: UK charts, but also technically it should have gone all 356 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: the way to number one that week. The British Phonographic 357 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: Institute quietly informed those who compiled charts that they should 358 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,640 Speaker 1: discount returns from all stores associated with record labels. Stores 359 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: like Virgin Records, which meant that if someone returned a 360 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,040 Speaker 1: copy of God Saved the Queen that they'd previously bought, 361 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,439 Speaker 1: it would be subtracted from that week's total sales. For 362 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,879 Speaker 1: that one week only. The band was able to savor 363 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,600 Speaker 1: that number one spot, however, when their debut album was 364 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:01,640 Speaker 1: finally released in the fall of nineteen seventy, never Mind 365 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: the Bullocks, Here's the Sex Pistols remains what are the 366 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: greatest rock and roll debuts of all time? And that's 367 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 1: the thing. It's a rock and roll record. Sure, Johnny 368 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 1: Rotten's sneering punk attitude is there, and Holidays in the 369 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 1: Sun and Bodies and emi the Glorious kiss off to 370 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: their first label. But the music is, perhaps, to Johnny Chagrin, 371 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 1: rock and roll to the bone, like the Stooges playing 372 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: Chuck Berry. And while the sound of never Mind the 373 00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 1: Bullocks echoes the past, John's caustic vocals predict the future, 374 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: paving the way for rock and roll stars like Axel 375 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: Rose and Liam Gallagher. Just like the God Save the 376 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: Queen single, the album's success wasn't entirely due to its 377 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: exhilarating content. The name alone was controversial enough that once again, 378 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:51,680 Speaker 1: stores refused to sell it. According to John never Mind, 379 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:55,160 Speaker 1: the ballocks was a working class expression to stop talking rubbish. 380 00:22:55,640 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: What authorities imprudes alike obsessed over the word bullocks English 381 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 1: for testicles. London police visited Virgin record stores to inform 382 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,119 Speaker 1: them they could either take down the posters advertising the 383 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:11,920 Speaker 1: album or face prosecution for indecency. Not all stories did 384 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: as they were told. Then, on the eve of the 385 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:17,680 Speaker 1: album's US release, a Virgin store owner in Nottingham was 386 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: arrested and put on trial for obscenity. Richard Branson paid 387 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: for the legal defense, which employed the testimony of Professor 388 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: James Kinsley, head of the English department at Nottingham University, 389 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 1: who also happened to be an Anglican priest. He told 390 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: the court the origins of the word bollocks, how it 391 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: could refer to a ball, an orchard, or a clergyman. 392 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,920 Speaker 1: Clergymen are known to talk a good deal of rubbish, 393 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,360 Speaker 1: Kinsley scent, and so the word later developed the meaning 394 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: of nonsense. In the eyes of Professor Kinsley, not only 395 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: a learned man, but a godly man, That's what the 396 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: word meant now. In nineteen seventy seven nonsense. On November 397 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: twenty fourth, after taking Kinsley's testimony into account, the chairman 398 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,160 Speaker 1: of the hearing but grudually let the store owner off 399 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: the hook. And the chairman said, much as my colleagues 400 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: and I wholeheartedly deplore the vulgar exploitation of the worst 401 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: instincts of human nature for the purchases of commercial profits 402 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: by both you and your company, we must reluctantly find 403 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: you not guilty. Who would have thought God not only 404 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: saved the queen, but God saved the sex pistols too, 405 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:33,680 Speaker 1: if only they could save themselves. We'll be right back 406 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:44,240 Speaker 1: after this. We're We're, We're. John Leyden had twenty dollars 407 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: to his name, the shirt on his back, no room 408 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: of his own. Key and Sid crashed with the road 409 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 1: crew in San Jose, fifty miles away from the gig, 410 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: while Jonesy, Cook and Malcolm lived it up at the 411 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 1: hotel back in San Francisco. Even with the band there 412 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: was a cast system. It was like Finsbury Park all 413 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: over again, Like there were sixteen year old delinquents with 414 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 1: a criminal record, not twenty one year olds with the 415 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: number one record. John and Sid still squatting after all 416 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: these years, only this time things were different. Sid was 417 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: a fucking full blown junkie. John felt a responsibility to 418 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: be his brother's keeper, or the very least minimized Sid's 419 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: proximity to smack, which is why he and Sid rode 420 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:32,840 Speaker 1: the bus together with the road crew while the rest 421 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: of the band flew, so John could keep an eye 422 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: on him, keep him out of trouble. But Sid always 423 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,439 Speaker 1: found a way to score, and scoring always led to 424 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: something disastrous. The night before January fourteenth, nineteen seventy eight, 425 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: the seventh stop on their US tour, Sid shot up 426 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: as the band prepared to take the stage at Winterland. 427 00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 1: Taped his arm up from his wrist to his bicep, 428 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: blood seeping out through the white band, both to hide 429 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: what he'd done and to draw attention to it. They 430 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,200 Speaker 1: all knew what was at stake here. Winter Land's capacity 431 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,879 Speaker 1: was five thousand, the biggest venue they'd ever played. In fact, 432 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:14,639 Speaker 1: the size of the crowd was bigger than all the 433 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,120 Speaker 1: crowds put together over the last nine days of the tour, 434 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: and the show was hyped all throughout the Bay Area. 435 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: It was simulcast live on KSA and FM local TV 436 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: crews were rowing tape, but the show was shit. The 437 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: strings on Jonesy's guitar kept snapping and he struggled to 438 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: stay in tune, and the south system was atrocious and 439 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: the mix was uneven. The band couldn't even hear themselves. 440 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 1: None of it bothered Sid. As long as he was stoned, 441 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 1: he was good. And John looked over it Sid and 442 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: under frustration. If you can put up with that, you 443 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,920 Speaker 1: can put up with anything right right. It was a sham, 444 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,480 Speaker 1: a farce, the whole thing it were caricatures. Maybe it 445 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: wasn't England that was dreaming. Maybe Johnny was wanted to 446 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,399 Speaker 1: be the fly in the ointment, the shock to the system. 447 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: Rock and roll took itself so seriously with its orchestrations 448 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 1: and multi part suites and overproduction progressive rock more like 449 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,639 Speaker 1: regressive rock. It wanted to be classical music. It was 450 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: easy to shock, used that build Grundy types and old 451 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: English grandmothers. But some just saw the pistols not as 452 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 1: a reckoning or a shift in the culture, but as 453 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 1: a spectacle, a circus, some artful dodger role play, and 454 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 1: Johnny Rotten was just the gester, a joke, not the 455 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:37,120 Speaker 1: insurgent that he saw himself ass and the whole bloody 456 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: thing about a joke since back when they first started 457 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: with John's treason, his lyrics and attitude clashing with Glenn 458 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:46,320 Speaker 1: Matlock's beetle chords. But that's what made them so great, 459 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: that tension. Now there was no tension, just blood and mucus. 460 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: Naked girls in Jonesy's room. Track marks up and down 461 00:27:55,359 --> 00:28:01,640 Speaker 1: sids are rock and roll cliches. John was still angry. 462 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,560 Speaker 1: He'd always be angry. That was his lot in life. 463 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,440 Speaker 1: He was working class, a rat gnawing at the corrodied 464 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,399 Speaker 1: sewer pipe. But couldn't he be all those things and 465 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 1: maybe have more than like twenty dollars to his name? 466 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,679 Speaker 1: That would be nice, But it wasn't going to happen. 467 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:21,720 Speaker 1: He was dreaming. It was, as the prophet Iggy Pop 468 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: once so astutely noted, no fun at all. It was 469 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:31,439 Speaker 1: fitting then that the Sexpists closed the January fourteenth Winterland 470 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,679 Speaker 1: Show with their cover of that particular Stuges song, with 471 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:39,040 Speaker 1: John hunched over in his most grotesque Quasimodo contortion, just 472 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,120 Speaker 1: repeating the title over and over and over again until 473 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: his voice was ragged and torn no fun, no fun, 474 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 1: no fun, no fun, no fun. And then he crouched 475 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: down lower in the band, thrashing that one cord till 476 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: it was bloody and lifeless. And John stared out at 477 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: the pogoing crowd, But not with his trademark psychotical, the 478 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: one he opened the show with an hour earlier, the 479 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: one that looked like he was about to devour the 480 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: first living thing that got close to him. No, this time, 481 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: John stare was one of disappointment. He didn't move, He 482 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,880 Speaker 1: stayed crouched below. The band hit the chord one last 483 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: final time, and John laughed into the microphone. He knew 484 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,239 Speaker 1: something the rest of the room didn't know, not the 485 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:27,560 Speaker 1: audience and not the other pistols. John knew it was over, 486 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: not just that night's show, not just their brief us tour, 487 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: the whole thing. He was never going to step onto 488 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: a stage with these three blokes again, Jones. He may 489 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 1: have Nick Bowie's gear from the last Spiders show, but 490 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,360 Speaker 1: Johnny was about to nick Bowie's stunt, and he'd do 491 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: it his own way. He looked out at the winter 492 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 1: Land crowd and said, I ever get the feeling you've 493 00:29:51,280 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: been cheated John Leaden earned what he had coming to him, 494 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: or so the guards thought. They stripped him naked, shoved 495 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: him into the middle of the yard and hosed him down. 496 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:27,240 Speaker 1: The whole prison watched murderers, thieves, psychopaths, and the guards 497 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: got off on the whole thing. The man previously known 498 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 1: as Johnny Rotten, shivering in his birthday suit, deprived of 499 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 1: the fashion, statement, said to find him. But that wasn't enough. 500 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 1: It was the middle of the night when the two 501 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: guards appeared standing above him, truncheons in their clenched fists. 502 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: They made sure he knew that they were going to 503 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: thoroughly enjoy beating the piss out of him, and not 504 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 1: because he was a former sex pistol because he assaulted 505 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: some cops. An assault on one of them was an 506 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 1: assault on all of them. Eighty Dublin. They called Mountjoy 507 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: Prison the Joy, but there was nothing joyful about it, 508 00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: even if you were just a short timer, and especially 509 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 1: if you were one of the more notorious inmates, says 510 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:17,840 Speaker 1: John Lydon wouldn't discover. He had flown to Ireland to 511 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: visit his brother, and when the plane landed he went 512 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 1: straight down to the pub where he got in an 513 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: argument with a couple of tossers, only to find out 514 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: after he threw a punch that the tossers were actually 515 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: off duty police officers. Now he was the one being assaulted. 516 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: He was used to it, and used to much worse. 517 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: They assaulted him back when he was a pistol, back 518 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: when the band was recording. Never mind the bullocks, and 519 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 1: they weren't cops or prison guards, just you're run of 520 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: the mill geezers. Ted's maybe who didn't like how John 521 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: looked or what he represented, the things he sang about. 522 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 1: They came at him with knives and razors. He outran 523 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: them and made it to his producer's car, where he 524 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 1: locked the door. But they broke the window and stuck 525 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:02,719 Speaker 1: their blades blindly inside like savages, and they stabbed him 526 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 1: in his knee. A knife went through his hand, straight 527 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:07,760 Speaker 1: in next to his thumb, and straight out all the 528 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,600 Speaker 1: way on the other side by his pinky finger. He'd 529 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 1: never seen so much blood in his life. He thought 530 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:15,280 Speaker 1: maybe that was the end of the line, but he 531 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 1: pulled the blade out and pulled through. He struggled. He survived. 532 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: He always did, whether it was a pack of knife 533 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 1: wielding Ted's in London, or a couple of sidistic guards 534 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:30,200 Speaker 1: in prison and now at Mountjoy Prison. Well, at least 535 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:34,240 Speaker 1: he was alive, right, that's what people said. Anyway, He 536 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: wasn't so sure. Maybe Sid had the right idea. He 537 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 1: rode one last hot shot to an early grave, stupid kit. 538 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: That was February nineteen seventy nine, less than twenty four 539 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,480 Speaker 1: hours after he'd been released on bail charged with murdering 540 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: his girlfriend, Nancy Spongeon. He was just twenty one, and 541 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:56,520 Speaker 1: they all knew what would happen, but it was hard 542 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: enough to be cynical about it. When the press asked 543 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: Steve Jones for he just said, well, at least he'll 544 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,480 Speaker 1: sell some records now. Sid's death came one year after 545 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: the Pistols called it quits following the Winterland Show. At 546 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: least John called it quits. The rest of the band 547 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 1: followed Malcolm down to Rio to make a movie with 548 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,880 Speaker 1: Ronnie Biggs, a real life outlaw known for his role 549 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,440 Speaker 1: in the Great Train Robbery of nineteen sixty three. John 550 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,400 Speaker 1: didn't see what the point was the Great Train Robbery. 551 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,480 Speaker 1: Ronnie Biggs. Ronnie Biggs wasn't Robin Hood. He stole some 552 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 1: poor fucker's payroll from the mail train, working class money. 553 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:36,160 Speaker 1: It was absolutely horror aligning yourself with that. It wasn't 554 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: what they had set up to do from the start, 555 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:43,400 Speaker 1: any of them. John Lyden was truly shocked, but not 556 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 1: as shocked as when he looked up at the television 557 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:49,240 Speaker 1: set in the prisons common room. The set was small 558 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:54,000 Speaker 1: and the reception was shoddy and still loud as bombs. 559 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 1: The Sex Pistols performing God Save the Queen on a 560 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 1: rerun with The Punk Rock Movie, a documentary that Don 561 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 1: Leuts had made two years earlier about the nascent days 562 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: of punk. John Lydon got that same feeling he felt 563 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:11,440 Speaker 1: on stage at the Winterline, the feeling once again that 564 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: he'd been cheated. Once upon a time, the Sex Pistols 565 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:19,799 Speaker 1: were outsiders, rabble rousers, the ones throwing the cherry bomb 566 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 1: in the dirty toilet of rock and roll, and now 567 00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: there were just another rock band, absorbed into the system, 568 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,880 Speaker 1: coming soon to a radio or television set near you, 569 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:34,840 Speaker 1: even in the fucking prison. This was his public image. 570 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:39,360 Speaker 1: It made John Lyden sick. He stood there, his spying 571 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:44,360 Speaker 1: curved in, his dead eye stare intensifying, and then he 572 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:52,239 Speaker 1: hung his head. The Disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan and this 573 00:34:53,239 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 1: is Disgrace Sland. Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and 574 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:24,480 Speaker 1: is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this 575 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:26,839 Speaker 1: episode can be found on the show notes page at 576 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:30,879 Speaker 1: disgracelampod dot com. If you're listening as a Disgraceland All 577 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 1: Access member, thank you for supporting the show. 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Visit disgracelampod dot com slash membership 584 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,640 Speaker 1: for details, rate and review the show, and follow us 585 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,640 Speaker 1: on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook at disgracelampod and on 586 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:09,399 Speaker 1: YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at Disgrace Lampod Rock 587 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:13,879 Speaker 1: a Roller. He's a bad down man.