Paul and Steve had been part of a band and they had brought Glen in on bass but it was Malcolm McLaren, the man who saw himself as their Svengali but was more Barnum and Bailey then anything else, who brought John Lydon into the band. It also becomes clear that while McLaren may not have fired Glen Matlock as the band's bassist, he seemed to have managed to sow discord between John and Glen that was sufficient to have Glen replaced by Sid Vicious. McLaren thought Vicious looked the part more than Glen, and so he was given the nod in spite of not being able to play his instrument.
This goes a long way in explaining why the only bass on Never Mind The Bollocks was provided by Matlock, even though he was no longer in the group when it was finally released. As far as I could tell from what the engineers were saying when they talked about recording the album, Glen's bass was heard on "Anarchy In The U.K." and the infamous "God Save The Queen". Everything else was done by Steve Jones.
One of the more fascinating aspect of the DVD are the conversations with the four remaining members of the band and to see them today. Obviously, Glen is the one with least pleasant memories, but even he can't help but get excited when talking about the music and the band. Paul Cook the former drummer has the least to say and it falls to Steve and Johnny to tell the story from the band's point of view.
As I've long suspected, the one who really comes out looking like the villain of the whole piece was Malcolm MacLaren. The Pistols appear to have had a career in spite of him, not because of him. He seems to have seen them as a toy he could play with and a means of creating a stir and being flamboyant. The music and what Johnny was trying to do creatively appear to have been of no consequence to him.
His comments about the trial when a shop owner in Manchester was charged with obscenity for displaying the word "Bollocks", as compared to Johnny's, are very revealing. The English novelist and lawyer John Mortimer defended the band and the shopkeeper and had the charges dismissed on the grounds of freedom of expression. MacLaren was horribly disappointed; he said it would have been so much better to have one of them hauled off to jail because of it.
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Article comments
1 - JC Mosquito
"The act of creating music is not that of a person with no faith or hope for the future, no matter what people say."
Brilliant, Mr. Marcus - and if this revelation is yours, make sure posterity remembers to attach your name to it.
This is the key to the whole thing, isn't it? It was never about nihilism - not even pre-punk godfathers the Stooges were despondent - the whole thing was about the joyful noise.
Thanx for sharing your insight.
Skeeter.
2 - Marty Thau
Nice article. However one thing needs correction -- punk had its origins in New York's east village in '74.
3 - Christopher Rose
"Never Mind The Bollocks" is indeed one of the great albums of all time and the Sex Pistols almost the perfect band.
4 - zingzing
the sex pistols were an interesting group, but let's be honest about things... nevermind the bollocks kind of sucks. there's only really 4 or 5 songs on it that completely work, and most of those were the early singles. plenty of other punk bands put out better albums, and john lydon put out much better stuff himself. but still, for all intents and purposes, the sex pistols were the quintessential british punk group.
and marty... as much as you would like to believe that punk started in your 'hood in 1974, that would be really bad history.
but richard... you make many good points in this peice, but this one betrays you: "The Pistols appear to have had a career in spite of [MacLaren], not because of him. He seems to have seen them as a toy he could play with and a means of creating a stir and being flamboyant..."
it may be true that maclaren was more interested in his own self than he was in the music, but it is also 100% true that the sex pistols would have been nothing without him. he created the atmosphere for them to meet, he gave them the practice space, he got them all their shows, he talked to the media, he was the one spitting out situationist slogans all over the place. without the media, what were the pistols, and without maclaren, how would the pistols have ever attracted the media?
maclaren is a crucial part of the sex pistols story. yes, he was an asshole. but who wasn't? glen matlock? the guy was a whiner. now name me another person in the group who wasn't completely looking after his own interests...
save johnny rotten, i think maclaren is the most important part of the sex pistols story... which, in itself, is far more interesting than the actual music. (other than anarchy, and god save... which are really good songs...)
5 - JC Mosquito
Bollocks kind of sucks!?! Compared to what at the time?
Y'know zing - you might even be right (you often are about this stuff). Personally, I'd sooner listen to almost any of the American punks before the Pistols' first and last effort. But Bollocks is more than just a record - it's the hammer that broke rock and roll as it had come to be known by the late 70's.
6 - zingzing
yeah, that's what i'm trying to say. bollocks is more important than it is listenable. but it wasn't really the album that did it anyway, it was those first three singles. the album was a bit of an afterthought in some ways...
as for albums that were better...
television-marquee moon, richard hell and the voidoids-blank generation, ramones-ramones, clash-clash, buzzcocks-spiral scratch, wire-pink flag... it goes on and on. that's just the more popular stuff, and that doesn't take into account that '78 and '79 were much more interesting than '76 and '77.
7 - JC Mosquito
Marquee Moon might be the best album of the late 70's, period. And the best thing about MM was it was the acid test for good taste. I used to tell people that Tom Verlaine was as good a gutarist as Hendrix or Page, and after playing the title track, if they didn't get it, you knew they never would get it.
But the unbelievers would just shrug at Television - but EVERYBODY had someting to say about Bollocks. And speaking of guitars,one of the most potent, concise guitar solos of ALL TIME is the 4 note assault in the bridge of God Save the Queen - reminded be of McCartneys' four noter in Back in the USSR of all things, except with more firepower.
8 - Christopher Rose
zing, I'm not sure how an album can be both important and unlistenable, though I agree the singles were all so perfect.
Skeeter, Marquee Moon is one of the best albums ever! I still get goosebumps and shivers up and down my spine when I listen to it. Shame nothing else Television did ever got close to it though - talk about one hit wonders!
9 - JC Mosquito
".. important and unlistenable..." I once read a review that called Smells Like Teen Spirit "...as inspiring as it is unintelliglble," which I thought was a perfect description.
CR: The reissue of Marquee Moon is even more excellent, with one of the bonus tracks being a nearly as good alternate version of the title track, and the original version of Little Johnny Jewel. And no matter what anyone says, I thought Television's second album Adventure was nearly as good, with a couple of the tracks topping even some from MM. Just get a copy of the ROIR cassette of Televison, and you got pretty much all there is from the band from that era.
10 - zingzing
ahh, chris, i didn't say bollocks is "both important and unlistenable," i said it is "more important than it is listenable." there's a difference. i think it's vastly more important than the actual quality of the album merits. but that's the thing.
MM is some great shit, but i would say wire's chair's missing is the best album of the late 70s. although maybe talking heads' more songs about building and food or pere ubu's dub housing are better. not sure. i flip-flop all the time.
also, jc, the guitars on god save are fucking fantastic, ain't they? such a rush...
11 - JC Mosquito
All I can say is, if I was Chris Spedding, I would've taken all the credit ;)