Displaying items by tag: The Sex Pistols

This is a wee treat: Johnny Rotten gives a guided tour of London, circa 2009. Full of his usual face-gurning, straightforward honesty and acerbic ...

Featuring performances from: Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks, John Cooper Clarke, Iggy Pop, Wreckless Eric, Ian Dury, Penetration, Blondie, Fall, Jam, Jordan, Devo, Tom Robinson Band, Johnny Thunder, Elvis Costello, XTC, Jonathan Richman, Nick Lowe, Siouxie & the Banshees, Cherry Vanilla & Magazine.

The tour eventually culminated in a high profile gig in San Francisco, where concert promoter Bill Graham convinced McLaren that the band was popular enough to play Winterland, dwarfing any performance the band had previously attempted by far. This now legendary concert, the biggest of the group's career, would also turn out to be the Sex Pistols

© Words Barry Cain
It’s time to enter the twilight zone again. Time to renew my acquaintance with public enemy number one, Spanky and his gang. Time to nip round to his place in Gunther Grove and meet the directors of his company.

 

© Words Barry Cain

Steve Jones is wearing nothing more than a skimpy towel and a few soapsuds when he opens the door.‘All right Baz. Just ’avin’ a baff. I’m going out later so to save time I fort we’d do the interview while I’m ’avin me baff. Don’t worry,’ he laughs, ‘the baff’s full of fuckin’ bubbles. You can’t see nuffink.’

© Words Matteo Sedazzari

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains  (directed by Lou Adler, Up in Smoke  and ex owner of Dunhill and Ode record labels) is a marvellous film that captures the trappings of fame, life on the road and general chaos experienced in rock ‘n’ roll.  Released in 1982 although made in 1980, with additional footage shot two years later to offer a more positive ending to same.  It tells the story of an all female punk/new wave band The Fabulous Stains from Pennsylvania.  Looking like sixties group The Shaggs, led by the arrogant and distrustful Corinne “third degree” Burns  played by Diane Lane

Thursday 10th February- choices; sit at home getting square eyes, or rock on down to the Bowery for a bit of musical entertainment.

The Bowery is a fairly new venue within spitting distance of Centre Point.  It has a cool bar area upstairs, while the music/comedy venue is in the basement.  It’s not massive, holds 150 max, but that just gave the gig a more intimate feel.

“Well, it’s a good life and a good world, all said and done, if you don’t weaken’” states Arthur at the end of Alan Sillitoe’s novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. An angry young man, who works in a bike factory, resists authority, drinks too much and sleeps with the foreman’s wife. Yet after receiving a beating from his foreman’s brother and his friends, who happen to be soldiers on leave, Arthur questions his life waking up to the fact that to lead a fulfilled life you have to exercise self-control and strength.

Yes, yes, yes, we know that Don Letts was the man that introduced punks to reggae in 1976 at the Roxy but that’s just one feather to his bow.