History Music / SexPistols

* DreadfulMusician: The band aren't virtuosos like Music/VanHalen, or even other punk bands like Music/TheStranglers, but they were all pretty competent musicians. One, however, stood out for being infamously bad, Sid Vicious. Supposedly, he once told [[Music/{{Motorhead}} Lemmy]] "I can't play bass". Lemmy's reply? "I know". Jones admitted that the band tried "as hard as they could" to keep Vicious away from the studio while they were recording ''Never Mind the Bollocks''. Luckily for them, he had caught a severe case of hepatitis. Jones also admitted that they let him play one small bass part on "Bodies", but it was buried in the mix and he overdubbed his own. Paul Cook and Keith Levene have both disputed this and said that Sid Vicious did become a fairly competent bassist. He was dreadful at it because he never played bass prior to being hired by the Sex Pistols (he was a drummer, singer, and saxophonist before that point). Coincidentally, most of the "Sid Vicious can't play" examples cite events that happened immediately after he was hired. Vicious is also said to have shown honest desire to improve his bass playing, at least before Nancy came into the picture. He apparently once stayed up a whole night on speed with a bass guitar and Music/TheRamones' debut album, practising along to the record until morning, by which time his playing had been greatly improved. Also worth mentioning that the manager stated he would have hired Sid Vicious to be the singer if it was an option, a logical choice given that Sid seemed to be able to hit notes far more accurately than Lydon when one compares their vocal performances.

* DreadfulMusician: The band aren't virtuos like Music/VanHalen, or even other punk bands like Music/TheStranglers, but they were all pretty competent musicians. One, however, stood out for being infamously bad, Sid Vicious. Supposedly, he once told [[Music/{{Motorhead}} Lemmy]] "I can't play bass". Lemmy's reply? "I know". Jones admitted that the band tried "as hard as they could" to keep Vicious away from the studio while they were recording ''Never Mind the Bollocks''. Luckily for them, he had caught a severe case of hepatitis. Jones also admitted that they let him play one small bass part on "Bodies", but it was buried in the mix and he overdubbed his own. Paul Cook and Keith Levene have both disputed this and said that Sid Vicious did become a fairly competent bassist. He was dreadful at it because he never played bass prior to being hired by the Sex Pistols (he was a drummer, singer, and saxophonist before that point). Coincidentally, most of the "Sid Vicious can't play" examples cite events that happened immediately after he was hired. Vicious is also said to have shown honest desire to improve his bass playing, at least before Nancy came into the picture. He apparently once stayed up a whole night on speed with a bass guitar and Music/TheRamones' debut album, practising along to the record until morning, by which time his playing had been greatly improved. Also worth mentioning that the manager stated he would have hired Sid Vicious to be the singer if it was an option, a logical choice given that Sid seemed to be able to hit notes far more accurately than Lydon when one compares their vocal performances.

* DreadfulMusician: Vicious. Supposedly, he once told [[Music/{{Motorhead}} Lemmy]] "I can't play bass". Lemmy's reply? "I know". Jones admitted that the band tried "as hard as they could" to keep Vicious away from the studio while they were recording ''Never Mind the Bollocks''. Luckily for them, he had caught a severe case of hepatitis. Jones also admitted that they let him play one small bass part on "Bodies", but it was buried in the mix and he overdubbed his own. Paul Cook and Keith Levene have both disputed this and said that Sid Vicious did become a fairly competent bassist. He was dreadful at it because he never played bass prior to being hired by the Sex Pistols (he was a drummer, singer, and saxophonist before that point). Coincidentally, most of the "Sid Vicious can't play" examples cite events that happened immediately after he was hired. Vicious is also said to have shown honest desire to improve his bass playing, at least before Nancy came into the picture. He apparently once stayed up a whole night on speed with a bass guitar and Music/TheRamones' debut album, practising along to the record until morning, by which time his playing had been greatly improved. Also worth mentioning that the manager stated he would have hired Sid Vicious to be the singer if it was an option, a logical choice given that Sid seemed to be able to hit notes far more accurately than Lydon when one compares their vocal performances.

-->-- '''[[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten]]''', rejecting the band's admission to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Sex Pistols were an English {{punk rock}} band formed in UsefulNotes/{{London}} in [[TheSeventies 1975]]. Though [[ShortLivedBigImpact the band didn't last very long (1975-78), and produced only four singles and one studio album]], ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols'', they were one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music, credited with initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom, and [[FollowTheLeader inspired]] many later punk and {{alternative rock}} musicians. The first incarnation of the Sex Pistols included singer [[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten]], lead guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bass player [[Music/{{Faces}} Glen Matlock.]]

Famously, the band performed to a crowd of approximately 42 people at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in Manchester England in June of 1976. As recounted in the film ''Film/TwentyFourHourPartyPeople,'' each person in the crowd either later formed a band (future members of Music/TheSmiths, Music/JoyDivision[[note]]and by extension Music/NewOrder[[/note]], Music/TheFall, The Music/{{Buzzcocks}}, Music/{{Magazine}}, and Simply Red) or had a pivotal role in shaping that city's music scene (Creator/FactoryRecords founder Tony Wilson and NME journalist Paul Morley). This show alone was proof to the band's aforementioned reaching influence on punk, PostPunk, {{New Wave|Music}} and eventually [[AlternativeRock alternative]] and [[IndiePop indie rock music]].

The Sex Pistols were an English {{punk rock}} band formed in UsefulNotes/{{London}} in [[TheSeventies 1975]]. Though [[ShortLivedBigImpact the band didn't last very long (1975-78), and produced only four singles and one studio album]], ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols'', they were one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music, credited with initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom, and inspired many later punk and {{alternative rock}} musicians. The first incarnation of the Sex Pistols included singer [[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten]], lead guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bass player [[Music/{{Faces}} Glen Matlock.]]

The band was put together by Malcolm [=McLaren=]. The lead singer Johnny Rotten, real name John Lydon, was discovered after [=McLaren=] saw him wearing a Music/PinkFloyd T-shirt he had altered to read "I Hate Pink Floyd," the irony being that Rotten actually ''didn't'' hate Pink Floyd; it was just to be nonconformist. (Additionally, [=McLaren=] once got pissed at Lydon because in an interview he named some of his musical influences as Music/{{Can}}, Music/VanDerGraafGenerator, and Music/CaptainBeefheart, going against the punk image he was trying to cultivate) Lydon couldn't sing, didn't look particularly like a pop star, but he was a genuine teenager from [[WorkingClassHero working-class origins]] who was pretty fed up with a lot of things and now finally got a soapbox to voice his opinions. Fellow band members were brought together and the Sex Pistols were born.

Famously, the band performed to a crowd of approximately 42 people at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in Manchester England in June of 1976. As recounted in the film ''Film/TwentyFourHourPartyPeople,'' each person in the crowd either later formed a band (future members of Music/TheSmiths, Music/JoyDivision[[note]]and by extension Music/NewOrder[[/note]], Music/TheFall, The Music/{{Buzzcocks}}, Music/{{Magazine}}, and Simply Red) or had a pivotal role in shaping that city's music scene (Creator/FactoryRecords founder Tony Wilson and NME journalist Paul Morley). This show alone was proof to the band's aforementioned reaching influence on punk, PostPunk, {{New Wave|Music}} and eventually [[AlternativeRock alternative]] and [[IndiePop indie rock music.]]

The turning point from band to spectacle is usually considered to be the firing of Glen Matlock (their [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]]-liking, actually capable bassist who co-wrote most of their early songs) and the hiring of Music/SidVicious. Notably, Vicious played bass on only one song from their album ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols'' ("Bodies"), with bass duties handled by Jones and (on "Anarchy in the U.K.") Matlock. In fact, he [[DreadfulMusician didn't even know how to play his instrument]], at least at first. But the band's appeal in general [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth had nothing to do with musicianship]], but more with their image, attitude and the way they liberated a lot of youngsters to be themselves. They outraged countless people with their lyrics (which often took the form of [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]] stabs at the conformity of {{Rock}} and {{Pop}}, as well as AntiLoveSong material), swearing and shocking attacks on the British government. "God Save the Queen" was a savage criticism of the British Royal Family and became the alternative anthem during the 25th anniversary of UsefulNotes/ElizabethII's crowning. Although the song peaked at No. 2 in the UK charts[[note]]it's debated in some circles to this day whether the charts were rigged that week[[/note]], many radio stations refused to play it, even denying its chart position. An entire nation was polarized over the success of this "filthy, degenerate band." One time when Rotten went home after a recording session, he was attacked in the street by a bunch of people out of retaliation for "God Save the Queen". Upon arrival at hospital after this incident, police were called to arrest ''him''. The national outrage about the Sex Pistols became so gigantic that many concert halls cancelled their gigs and they had to perform as a surprise act in various cities.

No discussion of the Sex Pistols would be complete without mentioning Malcolm [=McLaren=], their manager, and Nancy Spungen, Vicious' girlfriend. [=McLaren=] had a habit of [[GladIThoughtOfIt taking the Pistols' ideas for his own,]] and spreading the [[TheSvengali myth that the whole group was his Structuralist art project]]. Spungen was stabbed to death in 1978. Vicious was imprisoned for Spungen's death (whether it was him or not is another, untold story) and died of a drug overdose in 1979 after his release on bail.

In January 1978, Rotten left the band sometime after [[Film/BeyondTheValleyOfTheDolls Russ Meyer]] and Creator/RogerEbert gave up trying to film a ''[[Film/AHardDaysNight Hard Day's Night]]''-esque Pistols film called ''Who Killed Bambi?'' and directly after a famously disastrous US tour which ended with him being stranded in the United States by [=McLaren=]. He reverted back to his birth name of Music/JohnLydon and formed art rock band Music/PublicImageLtd (or simply [=PiL=]) as a means to explore his love of genres such as [[{{Reggae}} dub]], ProgressiveRock and [[HarshNoise noise music]], which he had to keep on the low-down during his Pistols days because these were the kinds of "pretentious" genres that the Pistols were allegedly supposed to be killing off. Over the course of the next decade and eight albums, [=PiL=] became an influential pioneer in the genres of PostPunk and AlternativeRock.

The band was put together by Malcolm [=McLaren=]. The lead singer Johnny Rotten, real name John Lydon, was discovered after [=McLaren=] saw him wearing a Music/PinkFloyd T-shirt he had altered to read "I Hate Pink Floyd," the irony being that Rotten actually ''didn't'' hate Pink Floyd; it was just to be nonconformist. (Additionally, [=McLaren=] once got pissed at Lydon because in an interview he named some of his musical influences as Music/{{Can}}, Music/VanDerGraafGenerator, and Music/CaptainBeefheart, going against the punk image he was trying to cultivate) Lydon couldn't sing, didn't look particularly like a pop star, but he was a genuine teenager from [[WorkingClassHero working class origins]] who was pretty fed up with a lot of things and now finally got a soapbox to voice his opinions. Fellow band members were brought together and the Sex Pistols were born.

->''"Ah ha ha..... ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night."'' ({{MicDrop}})

[-[[caption-width-right:320: Sex Pistols in 1976. From left to right: [[Music/{{Faces}} Glen Matlock,]] Paul Cook, [[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten,]] and Steve Jones.]]-]
->''"Next to the Sex Pistols, rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. We're not coming. We're not your monkeys. If you voted for us, hope you noted your reasons. You're anonymous as judges, but you're still music industry people. We're not coming. You're not paying attention. Outside the shit-stream is a real Sex Pistol."''
-->-- '''John Lydon''', rejecting the band's admission to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The band was put together by Malcolm [=McLaren=]. The lead singer Johnny Rotten, real name John Lydon, was discovered after [=McLaren=] saw him wearing a Music/PinkFloyd T-shirt he had altered to read "I Hate Pink Floyd," the irony being that Rotten actually ''didn't'' hate Pink Floyd; it was just to be nonconformist. (Additionally, [=McLaren=] once got pissed at Lydon because in an interview he named some of his musical influences as Music/{{Can}}, Music/VanDerGraafGenerator and Music/CaptainBeefheart, going against the punk image he was trying to cultivate.). Lydon couldn't sing, didn't look particularly like a pop star, but he was a genuine teenager from [[WorkingClassHero working class origins]] who was pretty fed up with a lot of things and now finally got a soapbox to voice his opinions. Fellow band members were brought together and the Sex Pistols were born.

!! Principal Members (Founding members in '''bold'''):

* '''Paul Cook''' - drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1975–1978, 1996, 2002–2003, 2007–2008)
* '''Steve Jones''' - guitar, bass, backing and lead vocals (1975–1978, 1996, 2002–2003, 2007–2008)
* '''[[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten]]''' - lead vocals (1975–1978, 1996, 2002–2003, 2007–2008)
* '''[[Music/{{Faces}} Glen Matlock]]''' - bass, vocals (1975–1977, 1996, 2002–2003, 2007–2008)
* Music/SidVicious - bass, backing and lead vocals (1977–1978, died 1979)

!! Studio and Live Discography:

* 1977 - ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols''
* 1979 - ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle''
* 1985 - ''Anarchy in the U.K: Live at the 76 Club''
* 1996 - ''Filthy Lucre Live''
* 2001 - ''Live at Winterland 1978''
* 2004 - ''Raw and Live''
* 2008 - ''Live & Filthy''

--> ''Anarchy is mind-games for the middle class. It’s a wonderful philosophy if you've got the spare time to indulge in it. It's more like French abstract art than reality, because ultimately you would destroy everything. What's the point of that if you've got nothing to replace it with? Anarchy is a problem. It's not a solution. But it's worthy of some thought.''

---> "''Fuck this and fuck that, fuck it all and fuck the fucking brat!''"

** Their above-detailed [[invoked]] WriterRevolt over "Submission".

-->[[IncomingHam Rrrrrrrrright... NOW, mwahahahahahahaaaaa!]]

---> '''Paul Cook:''' It wasn't written specifically for the Queen's Jubilee. We weren't aware of it at the time. It wasn't a contrived effort to go out and shock everyone.

---> ''The simple facts of the matter were that Chris [Thomas] was hired by Malcolm to do a series of singles for the Sex Pistols. I was hired by Malcolm to do a series of album tracks with the Sex Pistols. Life got slightly complicated, because I did a few album tracks that Chris remade as singles. Also, Chris started a couple of tracks, which got abandoned as singles, which I remade to be used as album tracks. On quite a large number of songs, when we'd finished the album, we had two versions of the song. I couldn't quite understand why Malcolm kept chopping and changing between different versions of different songs. It slowly dawned on Chris and myself that Malcolm was trying to slip between two stools and not pay Chris or me. So we said, "I'll tell you what, Malcolm. Whatever's on the Sex Pistols' album, it was either done by me or Chris, and you can pay us and we'll divvy it out amongst our little selves." Which is what we did. But it did force that very strange credit, simply because the sleeve was printed long before it was finally decided which version of each individual song was on the record. If we'd known, it would have said 'produced by Bill Price' or 'produced by Chris Thomas'. That's how you ended up with that credit, 'produced by Bill Price or Chris Thomas'.''
* TakeThat:

** See the page quote: The band's refusal to attend their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - complete with a scathing TheReasonYouSuckSpeech - also qualifies.

* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: As one of the earlier PunkRock bands, they're obviously one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s - second only to Music/TheRamones.

--> ''Gotta go over the Berlin Wall''
--> ''I don't understand it...''
--> ''I gotta go over the wall''
--> ''I don't understand this bit at all''
--> ''(...) It's no real reason to be waiting''
--> ''The Berlin Wall''

--> ''I didn't ask for sunshine and I got World War III''

->''"Ah ha ha..... ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night." [{{Mic Drop}}]''

->''"Next to the Sex Pistols, rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. We're not coming. We're not your monkeys. If you voted for us, hope you noted your reasons. You're anonymous as judges but you're still music industry people. We're not coming. You're not paying attention. Outside the shit-stream is a real Sex Pistol."''

-->--'''John Lydon,''' rejecting the band's admission to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The turning point from band to spectacle is usually considered to be the firing of Glen Matlock (their [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]]-liking, actually capable bassist who co-wrote most of their early songs) and the hiring of Music/SidVicious. Notably, Vicious played bass on only one song from their album ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols'' ("Bodies"), with bass duties handled by Jones and (on "Anarchy in the U.K.") Matlock. In fact, he [[DreadfulMusician didn't even know how to play his instrument]], at least at first. But the band's appeal in general [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth had nothing to do with musicianship, more with their image, attitude and the way they liberated a lot of youngsters to be themselves]]. They outraged countless people with their BrutalHonesty lyrics aimed at the conformity of {{Rock}} and {{Pop}}, AntiLoveSong material, swearing and shocking attacks on the British government. "God Save the Queen" was a savage criticism of the British Royal Family and became the alternative anthem during the 25th anniversary of UsefulNotes/ElizabethII's crowning. Although the song peaked at No. 2 in the UK charts[[note]]it's debated in some circles to this day whether the charts were rigged that week[[/note]], many radio stations refused to play it, even denying its chart position. An entire nation was polarized over the success of this "filthy, degenerate band." One time when Rotten went home after a recording session he was attacked in the street by a bunch of people out of retaliation for "God Save the Queen". Upon arrival at hospital after this incident, police were called to arrest ''him''. The national outrage about the Sex Pistols became so gigantic that many concert halls cancelled their gigs and they had to perform as a surprise act in various cities.

Famously, the band performed to a crowd of approximately 42 people at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in Manchester England in June of 1976. As recounted in the film ''Film/TwentyFourHourPartyPeople,'' each person in the crowd either later formed a band (future members of Music/TheSmiths, Music/JoyDivision (and by extension Music/NewOrder), Music/TheFall, The Music/{{Buzzcocks}}, Music/{{Magazine}}, and Simply Red) or had a pivotal role in shaping that city's music scene (Creator/FactoryRecords founder Tony Wilson and NME journalist Paul Morley). This show alone was proof to the band's aforementioned reaching influence on punk, PostPunk, {{New Wave|Music}} and eventually [[AlternativeRock alternative]] and [[IndiePop indie rock music.]]

* CoverVersion: "Stepping Stone" by Music/TheMonkees, "Silver Machine" by Music/{{Hawkwind}}, "No Fun" by Music/TheStooges, and "Substitute" by Music/TheWho used to be live mainstays. Notably, "No Fun" was the last song they played at their famous last gig in the USA - the one which ended with Johnny Rotten throwing away his microphone and yelling "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?".

The turning point from band to spectacle is usually considered to be the firing of Glen Matlock (their [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]]-liking, actually capable bassist who co-wrote most of their early songs) and the hiring of Music/SidVicious. Notably, Vicious played bass on only one song from their album ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols'' ("Bodies"), with bass duties handled by Jones and (on "Anarchy in the U.K.") Matlock. In fact, he [[DreadfulMusician didn't even know how to play his instrument]], at least at first. But the band's appeal in general [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth had nothing to do with musicianship, more with their image, attitude and the way they liberated a lot of youngsters to be themselves]]. They outraged countless people with their BrutalHonesty lyrics aimed at the conformity of {{Rock}} and {{Pop}}, AntiLoveSong material, swearing and shocking attacks on the British government. "God Save the Queen" was a savage criticism of the British Royal Family and became the alternative anthem during the 25th anniversary of [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Elizabeth II]]'s crowning. Although the song peaked at No. 2 in the UK charts[[note]]it's debated in some circles to this day whether the charts were rigged that week[[/note]], many radio stations refused to play it, even denying its chart position. An entire nation was polarized over the success of this "filthy, degenerate band." One time when Rotten went home after a recording session he was attacked in the street by a bunch of people out of retaliation for "God Save the Queen". Upon arrival at hospital after this incident, police were called to arrest ''him''. The national outrage about the Sex Pistols became so gigantic that many concert halls cancelled their gigs and they had to perform as a surprise act in various cities.

The band's original Lydon/Jones/Matlock/Cook line-up reunited for a tour in 1996. They reunited once more for a series of dates in 2002 and 2003. In 2007, they reunited once more for a few more shows (and to re-record "Anarchy in the UK" for ''VideoGame/GuitarHero III''). They were put on hiatus in 2008 so Lydon could restart [=PiL=], and the Pistols have abandoned the latest of several attempts to record their second album. Matlock has also become the bassist of the Music/{{Faces}}. Malcolm [=McLaren=] died in early 2010, and by that time Lydon and [=McLaren=] had at least patched up enough things for Lydon to recall him fondly in interviews leading up to [=McLaren=]'s funeral. In 2022, FX released a {{Biopic}} miniseries on the band’s story titled ''Pistols'', focused on the perspective of guitarist Steve Jones.