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John Joseph Lydon

John Joseph Lydon

John Joseph Lydon (born January 31 1956), also known as Johnny Rotten (a nickname derived either from his favourite saying, "You're rotten, you are" or from the rotten condition of his teeth) was the iconoclastic lead singer of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd (PiL) and an Irish individualist anarchist. With his leering, swaggering and sarcastic public persona, he laid down a new template for rebellious youth and band frontmen that continues to be imitated today.

Brief biography

John Lydon was reportedly born on January 31 1956 in Finsbury Park in London—although, according to his autobiography, this cannot be confirmed, as his birth certificate has been lost. His parents were both Irish immigrants. He grew up in the working class environment of Finsbury Park with three younger brothers.

Sex Pistols

Lydon was hanging around Malcolm McLaren's clothes shop, Sex (co-owned with designer Vivienne Westwood), in 1975, after McLaren had returned from a brief stint of travelling with American proto-punk band The New York Dolls, and was working on promoting a new band formed by Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook. Lydon was wearing a Pink Floyd T-Shirt with the words 'I Hate' scrawled in felt-tip pen above their name when offered the job as the new band's singer. He auditioned in the shop singing Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen" to the accompaniment of the jukebox. His interest in dub music and his post-Sex Pistols work with PiL and artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and Leftfield showed him to be far more musically sophisticated than his Pistols persona suggested. Indeed, McLaren was said to have been quite upset when Lydon revealed during a radio interview that his influences included Can, Captain Beefheart and Van Der Graaf Generator. Such acts were not in keeping with the 'punk' image McLaren wished to see projected. Lydon recommended his school friend John Simon Ritchie to McLaren as a replacement for bassist Glen Matlock. Even though Ritchie was a below average bass player, Lydon and McLaren decided he had "the look": lanky, spike-haired, with ripped clothes and a perpetual sneer. Because that image was the exact opposite of the quiet, shy Ritchie's personality, Lydon dubbed him "Sid Vicious" as a joke. Ritchie would prove the Sex Pistols' undoing, however; his chaotic relationship with disturbed groupie Nancy Spungen and worsening heroin addiction angered Lydon in particular, and was the source of much friction. Lydon split up the band onstage at a concert in San Francisco in January 1978 with the now-legendary quip to the audience: "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" The Sex Pistols' disintegration is documented in the documentaries D.O.A. and The Filth and the Fury, and to a lesser degree Julien Temple's comedy/fantasy biopic The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle, in which the Pistols played themselves. That same year, he formed Public Image Limited (PiL) and denounced the Sex Pistols. PiL lasted for ten years with John Lydon as the only consistent member, releasing many critically acclaimed albums. But, to this day, to those unfamiliar with his work as a musician, he is known first and foremost as "Johnny Rotten."

TV reality show

In January 2004, Lydon appeared on the British reality television programme, I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, which took place in Australia. He proved he still had the capability to shock by calling the show's viewers "fucking cunts" during a live broadcast. The television regulator and ITV, the channel broadcasting the show, between them received 91 complaints about Lydon's use of bad language. In an interview previous to the show's first episode, he had described it as "moronic," and throughout the show's run he had displayed an indifferent attitude to staying and threatened to walk out on numerous occasions. 30 hours following ex-football star Neil Ruddock's departure, Lydon left the show for unclear reasons. Neil Ruddock British newspapers claimed that Lydon had won a £100 bet with Ruddock over who would stay in the longest. Lydon, however, stated on air that he felt he would win outright and that it would be unfair to the other celebrities for him to win. In a February 2004 interview with the Scottish Sunday Mirror, Lydon said that he and his wife "should be dead", since on December 21, 1988, thanks to delays caused by his wife's packing, they missed the doomed Pan Am Flight 103. During this interview, Lydon said that the real reason for him leaving the Get Me Out of Here! show was the "appalling" refusal of the programme makers to let him know whether his wife had arrived safely in Australia. In 2004, he publicly refused to allow the Rhino record label to include any Sex Pistols songs on its box set No Thanks! The 70's Punk Rebellion, a compilation of songs by influential punk rock bands. In 2005, he appeared in 'Reynebeau & Rotten' , a five episode documentary on Canvas, the cultural channel of VRT, which is the Flemish public broadcast. John Lydon guided Belgian journalist Marc Reynebeau through Great-Britain to show him and the Belgian viewers what makes Britain so great. When asked why he was chosen as a guide, he answered that he was the cheapest one available.

Further reading


- Lydon's autobiography - Rotten - No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs

External links


- [http://www.johnlydon.com Official John Lydon website] Lydon, John Lydon, John Lydon, John Lydon, John Lydon, John Lydon, John Category:Londoners Lydon, John ko:존 라이든 ja:ジョン・ライドン

1956

1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January-April


- January 1 - End of Anglo-Egyptian Codominium in Sudan.
- January 16 - President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.
- January 26 - 1956 Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
- January 26 - The United Kingdom bans heroin.
- January 25-January 26 - Finnish troops reoccupy Porkkala after Soviet troops vacate its military base. Civilians can return February 4.
- February 6 - Paul Harvey arrested for trying to break into Argonne National Laboratory.
- February 15 - Urho Kekkonen is elected President of Finland.
- February 22 - Elvis Presley enters the music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel."
- February 23 - Nikita Khrushchev attacks the veneration of Joseph Stalin as a "cult of personality."
- March 1 - the International Air Transport Association finalises a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
- March 2 - Morocco declares its independence from France.
- March 9 - British deport Archbishop Makarios from Cyprusto Seychelles.
- March 12 - United Kingdom abolishes death penalty for murder
- March 15 - The Broadway musical My Fair Lady opens in New York City.
- March 20 - Tunisia gains independence from France.
- March 23 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic.
- April 7 - Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.
- April 9 - Habib Bouirgiba is elected prime minister of Tunisia.
- April 19 - British diver Lionel Crabb dives into the Portsmouth harbor to investigate visiting Soviet cruiser and vanishes.
- April 19 - Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

May-June


- early May - The Methodist Church in America decides at its General Conference to grant women full ordained clergy status.
- May 8 - Austria and Israel form diplomatic relations.
- May 8 - Constitutional union between Indonesia and Netherlands is dissolved.
- May 9 - First ascent of Manaslu, eighth highest mountain in the world.
- May 18 - First ascent of Lhotse (main), fourth highest mountain.
- May 21 - Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb.
- May 23 - French minister Pierre Mendes-France resigns due to government's policy on Algeria.
- June 1 - Vyacheslav Molotov resigns as a foreign minister of Soviet Union; he later becomes ambassador in Mongolia.
- June 6 - In Singapore, chief minister David Marshall resigns after breakdown of talks about internal self government in London.
- June 10 - 1956 Summer Olympics: Equestrian events open in Stockholm, Sweden.
- June 14 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the phrase "under God" should be added to the Pledge of Allegiance
- June 18 - Last foreign troops leave Egypt.
- June 23 - Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes the second president of Egypt.
- June 28 - MP Sydney Silverman's bill for abolition of death penalty passes the British House of Commons.
- June 28 - Labour riots at Poznan, Poland, are crushed with heavy loss of life. Soviet troops fire at crowd that protests high prices - 53 dead.
- June 29 - Actress Marilyn Monroe marries the playwright Arthur Miller.
- June 30 - A TWA Lockheed Constellation and United Airlines Douglas DC-7 collide in mid-air over the Grand Canyon in Arizona and crash. All 128 people aboard the two aircraft are killed in the disaster. The accident prompts tighter air traffic control to be implemented in the United States.

July-August


- July 2 - Two passengers planes collide and fall into Grand Canyon - 127 dead
- July 8 - First ascent of Gasherbrum II.
- July 10 - British House of Lords defeats the abolition of death penalty.
- July 24 - At New York City's Copacabana Club, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perform their last comedy show together which started on July 25, 1946.
- July 25 - 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria sinks after colliding with the Swedish ship SS Stockholm in heavy fog, killing 51.
- July 26 - Egyptian leader Gamal Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal sparking international condemnation.
- July 30 - A Joint Resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing "In God We Trust" as the U.S. national motto.
- July 31 - Jim Laker sets extraordinary record at Old Trafford in the fourth Test of taking nineteen wickets in a first class match (the previous best was seventeen).
- August 8 - Fire and explosion kills 263 miners at Marcinelle, Belgium.
- August 17 - West Germany bans communist party

September-October


- September 25 - Submarine telephone cable across the Atlantic opened
- October 10 - Finland joins UNESCO
- October 14 - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian Untouchable leader, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 followers. See Neo-Buddhism.
- October 15 - RAF retires its last Lancaster bomber
- October 15 - Fidel Castro and Che Guevara depart from Tuxpan, Mexico enroute to Santiago de Cuba aboard ship Granma with 82 men. After the ship passes a storm, it lands on Belici, Cuba, December 2
- October 23 - Hungarian revolution against the pro-Soviet government. Soviet Union intervenes. Hungary attempts to leave the Warsaw Pact.
- October 26 - Warsaw Pact troops invade Hungary.
- October 29 - Suez Crisis begins: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.
- October 29 - Tangier Protocol signed: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into Morocco.
- October 31 - Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

November-December


- November 4 - 1956 Hungarian Revolution: Soviet troops invade Hungary to crush a revolt that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded and nearly a quarter million leave the country.
- November 6 - U.S. presidential election, 1956: Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower is reelected by defeating Democrat challenger Adlai E. Stevenson in a rematch of their contest four years earlier.
- November 6 - Enoch A. Holtwick defeated as presidential candidate of Prohibition Party.
- November 7 - Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to withdraw their troops from Egypt immediately.
- November 14 - Fighting ends in Hungary.
- November 16 - Suez canal blocked.
- November 20 - In Yugoslavia, former prime minister Milovan Sjilas is arrested after he critisized Josip Broz Tito
- November 22 - Beginning of the Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
- November 23 - Suez Crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain.
- December 2 - Fidel Castro and his followers land on Cuba in the boat Granma.
- December 2 - A pipe bomb explodes at a movie theater in Brooklyn (work of George Metesky), injuring six people.
- December 5 - Rose Heilbron becomes Britain's first female judge
- December 12 - Japan becomes member of the United Nations.
- December 23 - British and French troops leave Suez Canal region

Unknown date


- Eindhoven University of Technology founded in Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- First hard disk (5MB) invented by IBM.
- Minamata disease discovered

Births

January-February


- January 3 - Mel Gibson, Australian actor and director
- January 4 - Bernard Sumner, British guitarist (Joy Division and New Order)
- January 5 - Chen Kenichi, Japanese chef
- January 7 - David Caruso, American actor
- January 10 - Shawn Colvin, American singer
- January 14 - Ben Heppner, Canadian tenor
- January 16 - Martin Jol, Dutch football manager
- January 17 - Paul Young, English musician
- January 20 - Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst
- January 21 - Geena Davis, American actress
- January 27 - Mimi Rogers, American actress
- January 31 - Johnny Rotten, British singer (Sex Pistols)
- February 3 - Nathan Lane, American actor
- February 11 - Didier Lockwood, French jazz violinist
- February 13 - Peter Hook, British bassist (Joy Division and New Order)
- February 14 - Tom Burlinson, Australian actor
- February 14 - Ron Shore, American film and television composer and producer
- February 15 - Desmond Haynes, West Indian cricketer
- February 18 - Thomas Gradin, Swedish hockey player
- February 19 - Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- February 24 - Paula Zahn, American television journalist
- February 26 - Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese musician
- February 29 - Randy Jackson, American musician
- February 29 - Bob Speller, Canadian politician
- February 29 - Aileen Carol Wuornos, American serial killer (d. 2002)

March-April


- March 11 - Rob Paulsen, American voice actor
- March 21 - Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner
- April 3 - Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian
- April 4 - Kerry Chikarovski, Australian politician
- April 4 - David E. Kelley, American writer and television producer
- April 6 - Dilip Vengsarkar, Indian cricketer
- April 12 - Andy Garcia, American actor
- April 13 - Peter 'Possum' Bourne, Australian race car driver (d. 2003)
- April 13 - Alison Wheeler, British political activist
- April 14 - Barbara Bonney, American soprano
- April 16 - David M. Brown, United States Naval Captain, NASA astronaut (d. 2003)
- April 16 - Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
- April 19 - Sue Barker, British tennis player and television presenter
- April 23 - Judy Davis, Australian actress
- April 26 - Koo Stark, British actress
- April 28 - Jimmy Barnes, Australian musician
- April 30 - Jorge Chaminé, Portuguese baritone
- April 30 - Lars von Trier, Danish film director

May-June


- May 4 - David Guterson, American writer
- May 4 - Ulrike Meyfarth, German high jumper
- May 7 - Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- May 13 - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian guru
- May 13 - Steve Blackwood, American actor and musician
- May 15 - Dan Patrick, American sportscaster
- May 16 - Olga Korbut, Russian gymnast
- May 17 - Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
- May 17 - Bob Saget, American actor
- May 19 - James Gosling, Canadian software engineer
- May 20 - Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
- May 21 - Judge Reinhold, American actor
- May 23 - Buck Showalter, baseball player and manager
- June 6 - Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player
- June 9 - Patricia Cornwell, American novelist
- June 11 - Joe Montana, American football player
- June 23 - Glenn Danzig, American musician (Danzig)
- June 25 - Boris Trajkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia (d. 2004)
- June 27 - Heiner Dopp, German field hockey player
- June 30 - Ronald Winans, American musician (d. 2005)

July-August


- July 2 - Jerry Hall, American model and actress
- July 9 - Tom Hanks, American actor
- July 14 - Ran Andrews, Canadian painter
- July 15 - Ian Curtis, British musician (Joy Division) (d. 1980)
- July 15 - Barry Melrose, Canadian hockey player, coach, and commentator
- July 15 - Marky Ramone American drummer (The Ramones)
- July 16 - Tony Kushner, American playwright
- July 31 - Michael Biehn, American actor
- August 5 - Maureen McCormick, American actress
- August 14 - Rusty Wallace, American race car driver
- August 20 - Joan Allen, American actress
- August 21 - Kim Cattrall, Canadian actress
- August 22 - Paul Molitor, baseball player
- August 23 - Andreas Floer, German mathematician (d. 1991)
- August 24 - John Culberson, American politician
- August 31 - Masashi Tashiro, Japanese television performer

September-December


- September 11 - Phil Bissett, American politican
- September 12 - Ricky Rudd, American race car driver
- September 14 - Costas Caramanlis, Greek politician
- September 14 - Ray Wilkins, English footballer and coach
- September 20 - Gary Cole, American actor
- September 22 - Masayuki Suzuki, Japanese singer (Rats & Star)
- September 26 - Linda Hamilton, American actress
- September 30 - Fran Drescher, American actress
- October 11 - Nicanor Duarte Frutos, President of Paraguay
- October 17 - Mae Jemison, astronaut
- October 18 - Martina Navratilova, Czech-born tennis player
- October 19 - Carlo Urbani, Italian physician (d. 2003)
- November 18 - Warren Moon, American football player
- November 23 - Shane Gould, Australian swimmer
- November 23 - Steve Harvey, American actor and comedian
- November 26 - Dale Jarrett, American race car driver
- November 27 - William Fichtner, American actor
- November 28 - Lucy Gutteridge, British actress
- November 28 - Andreas Augustin, Austrian author
- November 29 - Leo Laporte, Candian author and television host
- December 5 - Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist
- December 5 - Brian Backer, American actor
- December 7 - Larry Bird, American basketball player
- December 7 - Mark Rolston, American actor
- December 8 - Warren Cuccurullo, American musician (Missing Persons and Duran Duran)
- December 12 - Johan Van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
- December 18 - Ron White, American comedian
- December 23 - Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver
- December 23 - Dave Murray, British guitarist
- December 26 - David Sedaris, American essayist
- December 28 - Nigel Kennedy, English violinist

Deaths

January-April


- January 3 - Alexander Grechaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
- January 5 - Mistinguett, French singer (b. 1875)
- January 13 - Lyonel Charles Feininger, German painter (b. 1871)
- January 24 - Sir Alexander Korda, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1893)
- January 27 - Erich Kleiber, German conductor (b. 1890)
- January 29 - H. L. Mencken, American writer (b. 1880)
- January 31 - A. A. Milne, English author (b. 1882)
- February 8 - Connie Mack, baseball executive and manager (b. 1862)
- February 18 - Gustave Charpentier, French composer (b. 1860)
- March 17 - Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1897)
- March 20 - Fanny Durack, Australian swimmer
- March 25 - Robert Newton, English film actor (b. 1905)
- March 30 - Edmund Clerihew Bentley, English inventor (b. 1875)
- March 31 - Ralph DePalma, Italian-born race car driver (b. 1884)
- April 30 - Alben Barkley, Vice-President of the United States (b. 1877)

May-December


- May 12 - Louis Calhern, American actor (b. 1895)
- May 17 - Austin Osman Spare, English magician (b. 1886)
- May 18 - Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)
- May 20 - Max Beerbohm, English theater critic (b. 1872)
- May 26 - Al Simmons, baseball player (b. 1902)
- May 31 - Diedrich Hermann Westermann, German linguist (b. 1875)
- June 17 - Paul Rostock, German official, surgeon, and university professor (b. 1892)
- June 23 - Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (b. 1875)
- July 7 - Gottfried Benn, German poet (b. 1886)
- August 2 - Albert Woolson, last surviving Union veteran of the American Civil War (b. 1847)
- August 11 - Jackson Pollock, American painter (b. 1912)
- August 14 - Bertolt Brecht, German playwright (b. 1898)
- August 16 - Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-born film actor (b. 1882)
- August 23 - Peaches Browning, American actress (b. 1910)
- August 25 - Alfred Kinsey, American sex researcher (b. 1894)
- September 21 - Anastasio Somoza García, President of Nicaragua (b. 1896)
- September 22 - Frederick Soddy, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
- September 27 - Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American athlete and golfer (b. 1911)
- October 12 - Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)
- October 19 - Isham Jones, American musician (b. 1894)
- October 26 - Walter Gieseking, French conductor (b. 1895)
- November 24 - Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (b. 1920)
- December 6 - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian untouchable leader (b. 1891)
- December 7 - Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (b. 1887)
- December 16 - Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (b 1890)

Unknown dates


- James Alexander Allan, Australian poet (b. 1889)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - William Bradford Shockley, John Bardeen, Walter Houser Brattain
- Chemistry - Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, Nikolay Nikolaevich Semenov
- Physiology or Medicine - André Frédéric Cournand, Werner Forssmann, Dickinson W. Richards
- Literature - Juan Ramón Jiménez
- Peace - not awarded Category:1956 ko:1956년 ms:1956 ja:1956年 simple:1956 th:พ.ศ. 2499

Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols were, despite their short existence, one of the most influential English punk bands. While The Clash were perhaps more articulate and politically motivated, and Buzzcocks had more astute pop sensibilities, The Pistols achieved more recognition through their iconic punk rock passion and flamboyancy, and no other band of the era made such a lasting impression on British popular culture. In November 2005, it was announced that they would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Origins and Early Days

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Originally called The Strand (in reference to a song by Roxy Music), the band was formed during 1972 by Paul Cook (drums), Steve Jones (vocals) and Wally Nightingale (guitar). During 1973 the band members began to frequent a 1950s-style clothes shop called 'Let It Rock' in the Kings Road, Chelsea area of London. Here they met the shop's manager, Malcolm McLaren. Jones, being aware that McLaren had some connections within the music business, asked if he would be interested in becoming the group's manager, although at the time McLaren declined. Del Noone, who they met at the shop, was recruited to play bass. By 1974, the group called themselves The Swankers and played their very first gig at a birthday party of a friend of Cook's at Tom Salter's Café in London. They also began rehearsing in a studio called the 'Crunchy Frog', near London's docklands. Noone left the band shortly afterwards because he was becoming unreliable and not turning up at rehearsals. The remaining members recruited bass player Glen Matlock. By early 1975, Jones and Nightingale had begun arguing about what direction the band should take. Nightingale then left the group. Jones replaced him on guitar. Johnny Rotten, who was another of the clientele of the by now renamed and restyled 'SEX' boutique, showed up at the shop in August 1975 wearing a homemade 'I Hate Pink Floyd' t-shirt. He was asked to audition by miming to Alice Cooper's "Eighteen." He passed. McLaren became the new group's manager and was asked to think of a name for the group. Among the list were; 'Le Bomb', 'Subterraneans', 'The Damned', 'Beyond', 'Teenage Novel' and 'QT Jones and his Sex Pistols', The 'QT Jones' part was dropped, and 'the Sex Pistols' were born. The name, no doubt, brings to mind the male sex organ, but McLaren has stated that he wanted the band to be "sexy assassins" (in later years band members frequently accused McLaren both of cheating them financially, and of claiming credit for things that were not his idea as well as falsifying the bands' history). Under McLaren's guidance, the band was initially influenced in part by the simple, chord-based style of The New York Dolls and The Ramones. McLaren had given guitarist Jones the Les Paul guitar used by NY Doll Sylvain Sylvain, and the torn-shirt, spiked-hair look of Richard Hell, then bass player for Television. All of these figures were doyens of the New York City punk, and later new wave music, scene. Rotten and his circle of friends walked into the arrangement already possessed of a similar style -- a grunged-out version of the 'soul boy' fashion affected by fans of Roxy Music. McLaren also claimed that he wanted the Sex Pistols to be "the new Bay City Rollers". The band played their first gig under their new name at St. Martin's School of Art in London on November 6 1975. This gig would be followed by other performances at colleges/art schools for the remainder of 1975 until early 1976, when they started playing at clubs (like the 100 Club) and pubs (like The Nashville). On September 3 1976, they played their first concert outside of England, when they played at the opening of the Club De Chalet Du Lac in Paris. After that they went on their first major tour of England which lasted from mid-September to early October (this included a performance at the Chelmsford Prison), which got them noticed by EMI.

EMI and the Grundy Incident

Following a showcase gig as part of London's first punk festival at the 100 Club in Oxford Street, the band was signed (for a large advance) to the major label EMI. The Sex Pistols' first single, "Anarchy in the UK", released on November 26 1976, served as a statement of intent -- full of wit, anger and visceral energy. Despite a common misconception that punk bands 'couldn't play', the evidence of live recordings of the time reveal the Pistols to be a tight, competent and ferocious live band. 1976 However, on December 1 1976, the group and their close circle of followers, the Bromley Contingent, created a storm of publicity in the UK when, goaded by interviewer Bill Grundy, guitarist Steve Jones used the word "fuck" on Thames Television's early evening television programme Today, as well as calling Grundy a "rotter" after he made a rather inept attempt at 'chatting up' Siouxsie Sioux. Although the programme was only seen in the London ITV region (and although Matlock had, unnoticed, been the first to utter the word 'fuck'), the ensuing furore occupied the tabloid newspapers for days. The shambolic 'Anarchy Tour' of the UK followed, with the majority of the concerts dogged by a hostile press and cancelled by local authorities, and many of the rest ending in states of semi-riot.

Sid Vicious and "God Save the Queen"

After the end of the 'Anarchy Tour' in December 1976, EMI decided it was too dangerous for the Sex Pistols to be in the UK, so they got the band some gigs at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in early January 1977. After getting some bad publicity at Heathrow Airport on their return, EMI finally had enough and dumped the band on January 27 1977. The Paradiso gigs would be the last with Glen Matlock on bass. In February Matlock parted company with the band. According to legend he was sacked because he "liked The Beatles" - although in a 2002 television interview Steve Jones claimed the real reason was that he was "always washing his feet". Matlock himself now claims to have quit voluntarily (which was probably due largely to personality clashes with Rotten). He was quickly replaced by Rotten's friend and "ultimate Sex Pistols fan" Sid Vicious (real name John Simon Ritchie) of The Flowers of Romance, famously endorsed as a member by McLaren for his looks and "punk attitude" despite his very limited musical abilities. According to Jon Savage's biography of the Sex Pistols, England's Dreaming, at live performances his amplifier was often turned down, and most of the bass parts on the band's later recordings were actually played by guitarist Steve Jones or Matlock, who (according to Lydon's autobiography Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs) had been drafted in as a session musician. Sid played his first concert with the Pistols at the Screen On The Green in London on April 3 1977. The band signed to A&M Records on March 10 1977, in a ceremony outside of Buckingham Palace. They later went back to the A&M offices for a party, at which the Sex Pistols' unruly behaviour included Sid Vicious trashing the Managing Director's office and vomiting on his desk. As a result, A&M dumped the Pistols on March 16. On May 12, the Pistols signed their third and final record deal with Virgin Records, with the promise of total artistic control. 1977 The group's second single, released by Virgin on May 27 1977 was "God Save the Queen", a stinging attack on the British Royal Family, and by extension the institutions of Britain, delivered in Rotten's trademark sneer. Coming at a time when deference to royalty was still a predominant trait in both the establishment and the country as a whole the record was quickly banned from airplay by the staid BBC, whose Radio 1 dominated music broadcasting. Nevertheless, in the week of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee, the record officially reached number two in some UK charts (although the number-two spot was, tellingly, left blank in several listings, and many believe, with evidence, that the record actually reached number one, and that the charts were rigged to prevent such a spectacle). Meanwhile, the Sex Pistols decided to celebrate the Jubilee, along with the success of their record, by chartering a boat, upon which they sailed down the Thames, past Westminster and the Houses of Parliament, performing their live set. As usual, the event ended in chaos; the boat was raided by the police, despite being licensed for live music, and McLaren, the Pistols and most of their entourage were arrested and taken into custody. It was arguably all good fun and a great publicity stunt, but matters took a distinctly uglier turn when young punk followers of the Sex Pistols became victims of physical attacks in the street by 'pro-royalists', and Rotten himself was assaulted by a razor wielding gang of 'Teddy Boys' outside the Pegasus pub (which was a music venue at the time) close to Newington Green, Islington, who, it seems, didn't see the humour of the Pistols' antics. This delayed the tour of Scandinavia by a couple of weeks, which would have started at the end of June, but because of the attacks, it started in mid-July. This was followed by a secret tour of England at the end of August (known as SPOTS, Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly), when the band played under pseudonyms to avoid cancellation.

Never Mind the Bollocks

pseudonyms The promise of the band's early singles was eventually fulfilled by the group's first album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, released on October 28 1977. The album included singles "Pretty Vacant" (released on July 2 1977), an ode to apathy, and "Holidays in the Sun" (released on October 15 1977) - The Jam's bass player Bruce Foxton later alleged in a 1990s book that the riff had been stolen from the Jam's "In the city" single. Again the Sex Pistols faced controversy when a record shop in Nottingham was threatened with prosecution for displaying the album's 'obscene' cover, although the case was overturned when defending QC John Mortimer produced expert witnesses, including Professor James Kinsley, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nottingham, who were able to demonstrate that the word "bollocks" was a legitimate old English term originally used to refer to a priest, and that although the word is also slang for the testicles, in this context it meant 'nonsense'.

Last UK gig and 1978 US Tour

The Sex Pistols' final UK performance was at Ivanhoe's in Huddersfield on Christmas Day 1977, a benefit for the families of striking firemen. Despite the band's state of disintegration by this time, the gig was considered by some as a vindication of their anti-establishment stance when they were, for once, united with what might be viewed as their true constituency, the dispossessed English working class. They played two shows, a matinee and an evening show. Tickets for the latter were furtively sold for a secret venue, announced shortly before the gig as a tactic to avoid the attentions of local councillors and the like, who had cancelled many of the Pistols' other shows. Those waiting outside for the second show were given turkey sandwiches from the remains of the meal laid on for the strikers' families. The atmosphere in the evening show was counter to the negative publicity that had been generated towards the band by the tabloid press; before the show, Johnny Rotten mingled with the crowd wearing his pith helmet, and the good humour of the matinee (which was a benefit played for free) lingered on. Years later the promoter of the evening show confessed that the Pistols never cashed his cheque. Early in 1978 an American tour was booked by McLaren. Originally they were scheduled to begin the tour in December 1977, beginning with a performance on Saturday Night Live, but due to the members' minor scrapes with the law, they were unable to receive passports in time. (Elvis Costello and the Attractions went on instead). The two-week American jaunt was an exhausting, badly-planned, dispiriting experience for all concerned (Vicious was beaten by the bodyguards hired to protect him, Rotten had a fierce head cold, and the band's performances were plagued by bad sound and physically hostile audiences, mainly at unlikely venues in the South), and on the final date at Winterland in San Francisco on January 14, the disillusioned Rotten quit, famously asking "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" from the stage before walking off. On January 17 1978, Rotten announced the break-up of the Sex Pistols. He later claimed to have been bluffing, but McLaren, Cook and Jones left for a working vacation in Brazil, and Vicious left for New York, leaving Rotten stranded without airfare in America. Warner Brothers paid his passage back to London, courting him as a solo artist. 1978 In the summer of 1978, Cook and Jones helped McLaren make The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle movie and soundtrack. The movie was McLaren's fictionalized account on the band's history, claiming he controlled and manipulated the band. The soundtrack had Jones, occasionally Cook or Vicious, and sometimes Edward Tudor-Pole, trading on their vocals and engaging in McLaren-concocted gimmicks -- such as recording two songs on the album with notorious British criminal Ronnie Biggs.

Post Sex Pistols

After leaving the Pistols, Johnny Rotten reverted to his given name of John Lydon, and formed Public Image Ltd with his old friend Jah Wobble (né John Wardle), a previous contender to replace Matlock. This group was signed by Virgin and Warner Brothers (in the UK and US respectively). Vicious meanwhile relocated to New York and continued to gig as a solo performer, recording an album that many consider substandard. He was shortly afterwards arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, in New York, and died of a heroin overdose before coming to trial. A fictionalised account of Vicious's relationship with Spungen was later recounted in the 1986 film Sid and Nancy (dir. Alex Cox). Lydon has publicly dismissed this film, stating that it has little to do with the reality of what actually happened. Cook and Jones continued to work as something of an 'instant band,' doing many dates as session musicians, and later forming The Professionals, whose records are in a strong continuum with the duo's post-Rotten 'Pistols recordings. Glen Matlock was involved in various projects, the most noteworthy being the Rich Kids, which featured Midge Ure, later of Ultravox, on vocals. Malcolm McLaren went on to manage Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow, and later scored a number of hits as a solo artist. Paul Cook is currently playing in the band Man-Raze.

Influences and Legacy

The Sex Pistols remain influential, however, both for their musical style and in terms of their influence on the British cultural landscape. Whereas previous challenges to the class system, and to the post-war British ethos of uncomplaining sacrifice, had come mainly from within, such as from the public school and Oxbridge dominated satire boom of the late 1960s and early '70s (including the Monty Python troupe), or from the social-realist novels and theatre of the 1950s and early '60s, the Pistols communicated directly with a much wider, more vernacular audience and, to some extent, the resulting shock waves can still be felt. It can be argued that the Sex Pistols were the most influential British band of the post-Beatles era. In pure form, their chord progressions and pounding, primal bass lines can still be heard in the music of bands such as Rancid, The Libertines, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and other revivalists. They also had a major influence on Oasis, with Noel Gallagher claiming Never Mind The Bollocks was his favourite album of all time and Liam Gallagher stating that he tries to sing like a cross between John Lydon and John Lennon. Conversely, it can also be argued that the Sex Pistols were a manufactured pop act in the vein of The Sweet, Mud, and other early-'70s 'hard rock' singles acts, inasmuch as their look and sound were in part innovations of Malcolm McLaren's. Opinions, however, differ widely on McLaren's actual responsibility for the band's artistic and cultural relevance, with the evidence suggesting that McLaren was never fully in control of events, and played almost no role in creating the band's actual music and lyrics. The aim of shocking the establishment has always been a traditional aim for all groups who feel that a given music or art style is in serious need of renovation. The Sex Pistols emerged at a time when the economic boom had finished, youth unemployment was rising, and pop music was undisputably sugary. Their agressive lyrics and standpoints were taken literally by the conservative press, but really, as later in rap, they can be seen as a form of theatre of rage. In contrast with rap, making money was not glorified at this time. The surviving members of the Sex Pistols have reunited for the six month 'Filthy Lucre World Tour' in 1996, two gigs (one in the UK and one in the US) in 2002, and the three week 'Piss Off Tour' in North America in 2003. They are also planning to do a concert in Iraq and a Japanese tour in the near future.

Members

Main Members
- Johnny Rotten – vocals (1975-1978, 1996, 2002, 2003)
- Steve Jones – guitar (1975-1978, 1996, 2002, 2003), vocals (1972-1975)
- Glen Matlock – bass (1974-1977, 1996, 2002, 2003)
- Paul Cook – drums (1972-1978, 1996, 2002, 2003) Other Members
- Sid Vicious – bass (1977-1978)
- Wally Nightingale – guitar (1972-1975)
- Del Noone – bass (1973-1974) People who have sung on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle include;
- Ronnie Biggs, sung on "No One Is Innocent" and "Belsen Was A Gas", 1978
- Malcolm McLaren, manager, sung on "You Need Hands", 1979
- Edward Tudor-Pole. sung on "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle", "Rock Around The Clock", and "Who Killed Bambi?", 1979

Discography

Albums


- Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (October 28 1977) #1 UK, #106 US
- The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (February 26 1979) #7 UK
- Some Product: Carri on Sex Pistols (interviews and radio spots) (July 27 1979) #6 UK
- Flogging a Dead Horse (compilation) (February 16 1980) #23 UK
- Kiss This: The Best Of (October 10 1992) #10 UK
- Filthy Lucre Live (June 24 1996) #26 UK
- Jubilee: The Best Of (May 27 2002) #29 UK
- Sex Pistols (box set) (June 2 2002)

Vicious Solo album


- December 1979 - Sid Sings, #30 UK

Hit singles


- from "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols"
  - November 26, 1976 - "Anarchy in the UK" #38 UK
  - May 27, 1977 - "God Save the Queen" #2 UK
  - July 2, 1977 - "Pretty Vacant" #6 UK, #93 US
  - October 15, 1977 - "Holidays in the Sun" #8 UK
- from "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle"
  - June 30, 1978 - "No One Is Innocent" #7 UK
  - February 9, 1979 - "Something Else" #3 UK
  - March 30, 1979 - "Silly Thing" #6 UK
  - June 22, 1979 - "C'mon Everybody" #3 UK
  - October 18, 1979 - "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" #21 UK
  - June 4, 1980 - "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" #21 UK
- from "Kiss This: The Best Of"
  - October 1992 - "Anarchy in the UK" (re-issue) #33 UK
- from "Filthy Lucre Live"
  - June 1996 - "Pretty Vacant" (live) #18 UK
- from "Jubilee: The Best Of"
  - May 27, 2002 - "God Save the Queen" (re-issue) #15 UK

References and further reading


- The Boy Looked at Johnny - Julie Burchill & Tony Parsons
- The Sex Pistols - Fred & Julie Vermorel
- Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs - John Lydon
- England's Dreaming: The Sex Pistols and Punk Rock - Jon Savage
- I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol - Glen Matlock
- Please Kill Me - Legs McNeal
- God Save the Sex Pistols: A Collector's Guide to the Priests Of Punk - Gavin Walsh
- Destroy: Sex Pistols 1977 - Dennis Morris
- I Swear I Was There . . .: Sex Pistols and the Shape of Rock - David Nolan
- Vicious: Too Fast to Live - Alan Parker

Films


- Sex Pistols Number One (Derek Jarman, 1976) (a short of footage shot at early gigs)
- Jubilee (Derek Jarman, 1978)
- The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (Julien Temple, 1979) (McLaren's version of the Pistols story)
- The Filth and The Fury (Julien Temple, 2000) (The Pistols' version of events)
- DOA (Lech Kowalski, 1981) (includes footage shot during the Pistols' 1978 US tour)
- The Punk Rock Movie (Don Letts, 1979) (contemporary independent documentary footage)
- Sid and Nancy (dir. Alex Cox, 1986).
- Sid's Gang dir. Andrew Mcleigh, 1999).
- 24 Hour Party People Michael Winterbottom, 2002

See also


- Jamie Reid

External links


- [http://www.anorakyintheuk.co.uk Anoraky in the U.K.]
- [http://www.sex-pistols.net God Save The Sex Pistols]
- [http://www.no-future.org/ "No Future" Japanese Official Site]
- [http://ent2.excite.co.jp/entertainment/special/destroy/index.html Dennis Morris' "Destroy" Photo Exhibition @ Japan]
- [http://www.thefilthandthefury.co.uk/home.htm The Filth And The Fury]
- [http://www.finelinefeatures.com/filthandfury/ Fine Line Features : The Filth And The Fury]
- [http://www.geocities.co.jp/MusicStar/6282/pistols/ NO FUTURE 4 U (Japanese)]
- [http://www.music-city.org/discography.php?artist=The+Sex+Pistols The complete Sex Pistols discography] from [http://www.music-city.org/ M city]. Category:British musical groups Category:Early punk groups Sex Pistols, The Sex Pistols Category:Sex Pistols ja:セックス・ピストルズ

Public Image Ltd.

Public Image Ltd (PiL) is a band formed in 1978 by John Lydon, formerly and later Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. PiL is often cited as one of the most challenging and innovative bands of the post punk period.

Early career

Following the Sex Pistols' breakup, Lydon took a three-week trip to Jamaica with Virgin Records head Richard Branson, in which Lydon helped scout for new reggae artists. After this vacation, Lydon approached Jah Wobble (né John Wardle) to start a new band. The pairing seemed natural: they had been friends since the early 1970s, and had casually played music together during the last days of the Sex Pistols. Furthermore, they were both avid fans of reggae, and of what would later be called world music. Lydon assumed, much as with his friend Sid Vicious, the Sex Pistols' mid-career replacement for original bassist Glen Matlock, that Wobble could learn to play bass guitar as he went. While that had proven a fatal assumption with Vicious (Lydon cites his inability to learn his instrument as a prime reason for the Pistols' breakup), Wobble would prove to be a natural talent. Lydon also launched an effort to locate guitarist Keith Levene (né Julian Levene), whom he had met on tour in mid-1976 while Levene was a member of The Clash. Lydon and Levene had both considered themselves outsiders even within their own bands. After Levene heard of the invitation, he quickly signed on. The original drummer was Jim Walker (né Donat Walker), a Canadian student newly arrived in the UK, who answered an ad in a weekly music magazine. PiL debuted with "Public Image," a single not far from Sex Pistols territory. The single sold well enough to reach number 9 in the UK charts, and surprisingly well as an import in the US, where the mainstream rock culture of the time was strongly resistant to edginess or innovation.

First album

Heartened, the band relaxed and rolled a collective spliff: in preparing the album, First Issue, they ran through their recording budget well before finishing (drugs were a significant expense), and ended up with eight tracks of varying sound quality, half of which were written and recorded in a last-minute fire drill. Wobble had also beaten up producer Bill Price's assistant engineer (Price, with John Leckie, had secured the tight sound of the "Public Image" single), inciting Price to ban the group from their preferred Wessex Studios, and forcing them to scramble for another venue and soundman as deadlines loomed and passed. The album, however, was groundbreaking: scabrous and dirge-like, but lyrical by turn, 'Gothic' before the term was coined, and grounded in heavy dub reggae. Wobble's bass tone was called "impossibly deep" by contemporary reviews, and Levene's uniquely sharp guitar sound (Levene played an all-aluminum Veleno guitar, and a mostly-aluminum Travis Bean Wedge) was widely imitated, most notably by The Edge of the then-fledgling U2 and Geordie of Killing Joke. Lydon's vocals were more tuneless and incantatory than in the Sex Pistols, gesturing toward the avant-garde territory of such artists as Yoko Ono. Despite being widely criticised in the UK press for being self indulgent and not rock'n'roll, the first album did sell well in the UK and Europe reaching number 22 in the UK charts.

Metal Box

1979's Metal Box was a more focused effort, although created, like First Issue, under notably unfocused circumstances. In addition to the drugs and disorganization that were the normal condition of the band, Jim Walker had quit from general disillusionment, making way for a series of exploding drummers -- in one case literally, when Wobble set fire to the aptly-named Karl Burns. Sessions took place in which a star-struck young drummer would show up for an 'audition' and be stunned to discover himself in the middle of a recording date with the tape rolling. Metal Box was originally released as three untitled 45rpm 12-inch records packaged in a metal film canister (it was later reissued as a double LP set, Second Edition), and features the band's trademark hypnotic dub reggae bass lines, glassy, arpeggiated guitar, and bleak, paranoid, stream of consciousness vocals. Metal Box is starker than First Issue, more spread out and uncompromising, and scattered with bits of ambient synthesizer. It is now widely regarded as a classic record, both for its music and its sheer tonality (the 45rpm 12" format added depth and fidelity to what was already a highly tactile, spacious sound), and it sold quite well upon release, and for years afterward. But with Metal Box, PiL was no longer operating as a standard rock band, but was entering a different territory altogether. One critic wrote, "they sounded nothing like the Pistols or anyone else at the time." [http://users2.ev1.net/~dlimon/firecracker/firecracker8/pil.htm]. In fact, although radically different from other British and American rock groups, PiL was heavily influenced by German experimental rock, or Krautrock, especially by Can, Neu!, and the sonic aesthetic of producer Conny Plank. Hallmarks of the genre include minimalism, classically-inspired ambient or atonal leanings, via Stockhausen, and an abandonment of traditional song form in favor of long, slowly-unfolding compositions. The teenage dance show American Bandstand was, circa 1980, entirely innocent of such things, with a history beginning with the likes of Frankie Avalon and extending to the mild end of '70s pop-rock. PiL's booking there revealed a latent fiendish streak in host Dick Clark. The band mimed to the bleak soundscapes of "Poptones" and "Careering," from Metal Box, with Lydon haranguing the cameramen and making no effort to conceal that he was lip-synching. The studio audience made a valiant, but futile attempt to dance and stay in character, ruined by Lydon's good-humored incitements to storm the stage. General chaos broke out, and the show ended with the audience dancing with band members, band members goofing on their instruments, and Lydon chatting with fans while "Careering" blared on. Clark, in later years, would refer to the appearance as "One of the ten best American Bandstand episodes of all time." A U.S. tour led to several cancelled dates and (more of the usual) chaos, this time between the band and their U.S. label, Warner Brothers (PiL was on Virgin in the UK). Lydon had always been a difficult character to work with, but Levene had begun to challenge his crown, by many reports acting increasingly grandiose and delusional, and by all reports sinking ever-deeper into heroin. Levene was a very small, skinny person, of the sort that one thinks of as 'runty.' Jah Wobble, for his part, was among the rarest of sensitive art-musicians and world-music aficionados in that his habits included assault and battery, setting people on fire, and hurling televisions out of hotel windows. Something had to break, and it was clear that it couldn't be Lydon. Oddly, it was Wobble. PiL's elusiveness lent it a thick mystique, but to those behind the curtain it was known as "the laziest band in the world" -- never rehearsing, rarely gigging (the original band only played five UK shows), and recording only when forced to by frantic record execs. (One exec called PiL "a well-oiled machine that burns money and generates pot smoke and excuses.") When Jim Walker joined, he started hanging out at Lydon's apartment, and noticed that Levene would often call from wherever Levene lived -- presumably miles away, since he never saw him. One evening, moments after a phone exchange, he was astonished to see Levene walk in the door: The guitarist had been living the whole time in the apartment downstairs. He'd never bothered to come up before. With that as a ground aesthetic, it's easy to see how an ambitious musician could be frustrated. Wobble had been releasing solo singles since 1978, and had long been unhappy with the band's relaxed sense of time and lack of ambition. While working on his first solo album, he began using PiL basslines as backing tracks, on the premise that nobody else in the band seemed likely to mind. When Levene found out, it provided fuel for a grudge; and while claims differ as to whether Wobble quit or was fired, the split was decisive. Upon Wobble's departure, the band continued not-playing as a bassless trio. A show at the Ritz, in New York, signaled a turning point. The band's musical core had by then been stripped down to Lydon and Levene (drummer Martin Atkins had recently exploded), and PiL had begun to relocate to New York, partly because the MI5 was conducting a harassment campaign -- later admitted -- against the band's headquarters, the London apartment that Lydon bought with his Sex Pistols royalties. (A similar campaign would chase Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV frontman Genesis P. Orridge out of Britain in the early '90s.) Levene had also begun to get big ideas about PiL's formerly-ironic claims to be a 'corporation' and an 'art collective': While friends of the band including filmmaker Jeanette Lee had long been 'full members' of PiL (original drummer Jim Walker was only 'voted off the board' in 1980), no creative works besides the records had ever ensued. For the Ritz gig however, Levene decided that PiL would reorganize as an improvisational multimedia troupe -- working, as usual, without planning or rehearsals. The band appeared at the Ritz playing from behind a projection screen. (Drummer Sam Ulamo had been recruited for the gig from a bar -- the 60-year-old jazz player had never heard the band before.) While something reminiscent of, but clearly different from PiL improvised behind the screen, PiL records were played simultaneously through the PA. Lydon taunted the audience, who expected to hear familiar material (or at least see the band), and a melee erupted in which the audience pelted the stage with bottles and pulled on a tarp spread under the band, toppling equipment. The promoters cleared the hall and cancelled the next night's show, and a local media furore ignited in New York. An appearance a short time later on NBC's Tom Snyder show had Lydon and Snyder insulting each other on-air. The band soon regrouped, after a fashion, back in London.

Flowers of Romance

Martin Atkins, who had initially joined at the tail end of the Metal Box sessions (most tracks on that album were played by Richard Dudanski), was re-recruited to drum on Flowers of Romance, an album considered much stranger and more difficult than the already strange Metal Box. Levene had by then largely abandoned guitar in favor of synthesizer, picking up a technique that was nearly unique, although perhaps owing a debt to Allen Ravenstine of Pere Ubu. Atkins' propulsive marching band-style drumming and Lydon's increasing lyrical abstraction made this LP a difficult listen for rock fans: contemporary reviews expressed great confusion. The record consists mostly of drums, vocals, musique concrète, and tape loops, with only gestures toward bass (played by Levene) and keyboards. Julian Cope, however, expresses the current majority view, saying that Flowers was "the last great PIL album." [http://www.juliancope.com/unsung/reviews/index.php?review_id=984] Its drum sound was widely copied, notably by Phil Collins and Kate Bush. (Collins admits the deed; Bush went an extra step in buying some of Wobble's 'impossibly deep' Metal Box-era bass equipment [the secret is a 1970s or equivalent Fender Jazz Bass through all-tube Ampeg SVT amplifier, speakers faced toward a solid wall, with mikes arranged to pick up the ambient sound]). Kate Bush Atkins was, like Levene and Lydon, a control freak in ways, but Levene had the disadvantage of having repeatedly fired Atkins over apparent trifles, and of being zonked on junk much of the time -- so when conflict arose again, Levene was the one to go. An aborted fourth album, from 1982, was later released by Levene as Commercial Zone. Lydon and Atkins claim that he stole the tapes, while Levene's claim is, in effect, that possession is nine-tenths of the law. Recollections, as usual, differ widely on the particulars, and the album, while considered far superior to the official This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get that later appeared, has never been legally reissued. Atkins stayed on through a disatrous live album, Live in Tokyo -- in which PiL consisted of him, Lydon, and a band of New Jersey wedding musicians -- and left in 1985, following the album, This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get. The band was moving, or perhaps hurtling, toward a more commercial pop music and dance music direction, and while many new fans had found PiL, little of their original audience (or sound) remained.

Compact Disc/Cassette/Album

PiL's 1986 release was simply entitled Compact Disc, Cassette, or Album, depending on the format. The cover's blue typeface and spartan design parodied generic brands; promotional photos featured Lydon in a "generic blue" suit surrounded by generic foods and drinking generic beer. Produced by Bill Laswell (despite Lydon-fuelled faction and disunion) and with many of Laswell's usual rotating cast of musicians, it also featured guitar solos by Steve Vai, considered by Vai as some of his best work. Controversy reared its hoary glower again with claims that the album cover and title concept had been stolen from the San Francisco noise/punk band, Flipper, contemporaries of PiL, whose album, Album, featured a similarly unadorned sleeve. Flipper retaliated by naming their next album, Public Flipper Limited.

Late career

Pil released Happy? in 1987, and during the spring of 1988 performed throughout the United States as part of INXS' Kick tour. In 1989, PiL toured with New Order and The Sugarcubes as "The Monsters of Alternative Rock," an arrangement of disparate alternative bands that predated the Lollapalooza festival by two years. PiL kept going as a Lydon project until 1993, when Lydon disbanded the group. Their final lineup consisted of Lydon, Ted Chau (guitar, keyboards), Mike Joyce of The Smiths (drums), John McGeoch (guitar), and Russel Webb (bass). Notable exploding members of the later PiL include world-music multi-instrumentalist (and former Damned guitarist) Lu Edmunds, and Cream bassist and drummer Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Lydon released a solo album, Psycho's Path in 1997. He considers PiL "on hiatus," and plans a book on his years with the group.

Discography

Studio albums


- First Issue, 1978
- Metal Box, 1979
- Second Edition, 1980
- (The) Flowers of Romance, 1981
- Commercial Zone, 1984
- This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get, 1984
- Album / Compact Disc / Cassette, 1986
- Happy?, 1987
- 9, 1989
- That What Is Not, 1992

Live albums and compilations


- Paris au Printemps (live album), 1980
- Live In Tokyo (live album), 1983
- The Greatest Hits, So Far (compilation), 1990
- Box (box set), 1990
- Plastic Box (box set), 1999
- Public Image/Second Edition (two-in-one), 2003

Singles

Further reading


-

External link


- [http://www.fodderstompf.com/fodhome.html Fodderstompf] - An extensive PiL fansite Category:British musical groups Category:Later punk groups ja:パブリック・イメージ・リミテッド

Individualist anarchism

Individualist anarchism is a philosophical tradition that opposes collectivism and has a particularly strong emphasis on the supremacy and autonomy of the individual. The tradition appears most often in the United States, most notably in regard to its advocacy of private property. Individualist anarchism's roots includes Europeans such as William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Emile Armand, Oscar Wilde, Han Ryner and Max Stirner (who is also connected to the existentialist philosophy), though the individualist anarchist tradition draws heavily on American independent thinkers, including Josiah Warren, Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner, Ezra Heywood, Stephen Pearl Andrews, and Henry David Thoreau. The writer and poet John Henry Mackay is also considered an individualist anarchist. Contemporary individualist anarchists title include Robert Anton Wilson, Joe Peacott, Daniel Burton, Kevin Carson, and Keith Preston. Individualist anarchism is sometimes seen as an evolution of classical liberalism, and hence, has been called "liberal anarchism" [http://www.weisbord.org/conquest8.htm].

Origins

classical liberalism and utilitarian. There is a lack of consensus as to whether he was an individualist, a communist, or neither.]] There is significant variance between the philosophies of different individualist anarchists. Almost all, following Proudhon, support individual ownership of the particular form of private property he refered to as "possession". Stirner supports private property but rejects the notion of a right to property. Godwin is an altruist, Stirner an egoist. Warren espouses natural law as a basis for individual liberty, while Tuckers premises it upon egoism. Tucker opposes intellectual property while Spooner advocates it. However, what these philosophers all have in common is a rejection of both capitalist economics and collectivist notions of society and a pronounced focus on individuality. William Godwin, of England, wrote essays advocating a society without government that are considered some of the first, if not the first, anarchist treatises. As such, some consider the liberal British writer to be the "father of philosophical anarchism." There is a lack of consensus as to whether Godwin was an individualist or a communist. He is regarded by some as one of the first individualist anarchists, although his philosophy has some communist-like characteristics. He advocates an extreme form of individualism, proposing that all sorts of cooperation in labor should be eliminated; he says: "everything understood by the term co-operation is in some sense an evil." Godwin's individualism is to such a radical degree that he even opposes individuals performing together in orchestras. The only apparent exception to this opposition to cooperation is the spontaneous assocation that may arise when a society is threatened by violent force. One reason he opposes cooperation is he believes it to interfere with an individual's ability to be benevolent for the greater good. Godwin opposes the existence of government and expressly opposes democracy, fearing oppression of the individual by the majority (though he believes democracy to be preferable to dictatorship). Godwin supports individual ownership of property, defining it as as "the empire to which every man is entitled over the produce of his own industry." However, he does advocate that individuals give to each other their surplus property on the occasion that others have a need for it, without involving trade (see gift economy). This was to be based on utilitarian principles; he says: "Every man has a right to that, the exclusive possession of which being awarded to him, a greater sum of benefit or pleasure will result than could have arisen from its being otherwise appropriated." However, benevolence was not to be enforced but a matter of free individual "private judgement." He does not advocate a community of goods or assert collective ownership as is embraced in communism, but his belief that individuals ought to share with those in need was influential on anarchist communism later. Some consider Godwin both an individualist and a communist rather than than a strict individualist for this reason. [http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:iCK-K7dEYK4J:www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/overview/shelley.pdf] Some, such as Murray Rothbard, do not regard Godwin as being in the individualist camp at all [http://www.b.150m.com/writers/rothbard/burke.html] (Some restrict "individualist anarchism" to the market anarchists). Others consider him an individualist anarchist without reservation. [http://www.weisbord.org/conquest8.htm] Some writers see a conflict between Godwin's advocacy of "private judgement" and utilitarianism, as he says that ethics requires that individuals give their surplus property to each other resulting in an egalitarian society, but, at the same time, he insists that all things be left to individual choice. [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/] Communist-anarchist Peter Kropotkin says in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica that Godwin "entirely rewrote later on his chapter on property and mitigated his communist views in the second edition of Political Justice." Godwin's basis in utilitarianism and ethical altruism contrasts with later individualists, such as Max Stirner and Benjamin Tucker, who ground their philosophy on egoism or self-interest (though not all are egoists). Also, Godwin's aversion to cooperation and a market economy is not typical among the individualists. self-interest individualist anarchists. Portrait by Friedrich Engels.]] While individualists typically assert property as a right, Germany's Max Stirner that a "right" to property is an illusion, or "ghost"; property is only a matter of control --it is not based in any moral right but solely in the right of might: "Whoever knows how to take, to defend, the thing, to him belongs property.". Stirner considers the world and everything in it, including other persons, available to one's taking or use without moral constraint --that rights do not exist in regard to objects at all. He sees no rationality in taking the interests of others into account unless doing so furthers one's self-interest, which he believes is the only legitimate reason for acting. His embrace of egoism is in stark contrast to Godwin's altruism. He denies society as being an actual entity, calling society a "spook" and that "the individuals are its reality" (The Ego and Its Own). Whether individualist anarchism is properly justified by self-interest (egoism) or natural law has been a subject of debate among the individualists. For example, Lysander Spooner holds that there are natural property rights, but egoists such as Benjamin Tucker agree with Stirner that there are no natural property rights but hold that property can come only about by contract between individuals. France's Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was the first philosopher to label himself an "anarchist." He was particularly influential among the American individualists, mainly by way of Benjamin Tucker who had translated and studied his works. Proudhon opposes government privilege that protects banking and land interests, and any form of coercion that led to the accumulation or acquisition of property, which he believes hampers competition and keeps wealth in the hands of the few. Proudhon favors a right of individuals to retain the product of their labor as their own property, but believed that any property beyond that which an individual produced and could possess was illegitimate. Thus, he saw private property as both essential to liberty and a road to tyranny, the former when it resulted from labor and the later when it resulted from extortion (interest, tax, etc). He says: "Where shall we find a power capable of counter-balancing the... State? There is none other than property... The absolute right of the State is in conflict with the absolute right of the property owner. Property is the greatest revolutionary force which exists." Proudhon maintains that those who labor should retain the entirety of what they produce, and that monopolies on credit and land are the forces that prohibiting such. He advocated an economic system that included private pr