Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols were an iconic and highly influential English punk band, formed in London in 1975. The band originally comprised vocalist Johnny Rotten, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock; Matlock left acrimoniously in 1977, and was replaced by Sid Vicious. more...

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Although their initial career lasted only three years and produced only four singles and one studio album, (1977's Never Mind the Bollocks), the Sex Pistols have been described by the BBC as "the definitive English punk rock band". The Pistols are widely credited with initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and creating the first generation gap within rock and roll.

The Sex Pistols emerged as a response to what was perceived to be the increasingly safe and bloated progressive rock and manufactured pop music of the mid-1970s. The band created various controversies during their brief career which captivated England, but often eclipsed their music. Their shows and tours repeatedly faced difficulties from authorities, and public appearances often ended in disaster and riot. Their 1977 single, God Save the Queen, released to coincide with the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, was widely regarded as an attack on the British monarchy and British Nationalism.

The group broke up in 1978 amid a turbulent tour of the United States, but reunited in 1996 for the "Filthy Lucre" tour, and have staged subsequent reunion tours in 2002 and 2003. On 24 February 2006, the Sex Pistols were officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but they refused to attend the induction, calling the museum a "piss stain".

History

Origins and early days

The Sex Pistols evolved from The Strand, a band formed in 1972 with Jones on vocals, Cook on drums and Wally Nightingale on guitar. Early line-ups also included Jim Mackin on organ, as well as Stephen Hayes, and later, Del Noones, on bass. By 1973 the band members were hanging out at Don Letts' "Acme Attractions", and the more upmarket Let It Rock, a 1950s-themed clothes shop in the Kings Road, Chelsea area of London. "Let It Rock" was owned by former New York Dolls manager Malcolm McLaren and his partner Vivienne Westwood; the shop specialised in "anti-fashion", selling the drapes, slashed T-shirts, brothel creepers and fetish gear later popularised by the punk movement. As Rotten observed: "Malcolm and Vivienne were really a pair of shysters: they would sell anything to any trend that they could grab onto." The shop was to become a focal point of the punk rock scene, and brought together many of its primary members, including Jordan and Soo Catwoman (both of whom worked behind the counter of the shop), as well as Captain Sensible, John Ritchie (later Sid Vicious), Jah Wobble, Gene October, Mick Jones, Tony James, and Marco Pirroni. All were reacting to a distaste to the prevailing fashion of long hair and flared jeans of the early 1970s. McLaren took over management of the band around this time.

Read more at Wikipedia.org