Episode #108 | 8.23.22
The Sex Pistols (Pt. 1): Anarchy, Thievery, and the Death of Rock ‘n’ Roll
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In this episode
Punk rock’s greatest debut record was penned by a singer who saw traditional rock ‘n roll as a disease that needed to be eradicated, and a sex-addicted guitarist who stole wallets, bikes, cars, and more than a few pieces of musical equipment to outfit the band. They cut their teeth performing for hardened criminals at a maximum security prison. They destroyed other bands’ gear and slept with their girlfriends. They scammed the system that scammed them, the working class, for years, by convincing the biggest record label in the world to release their controversial music. And they did all of this before the most infamous Pistol of all ever strapped on a bass guitar and pretended he knew how to play.
Sources
Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, by John Lydon
Lonely Boy, by Steve Jones with Ben Thompson
The Filth and the Fury (2000, dir. Julien Temple)
40 Years Ago: EMI Sacks the Sex Pistols (Diffuser)
Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones Looks Back: ‘It Just Seemed Doomed’ (Rolling Stone)
Sex Pistols guitarist recalls stealing David Bowie’s music equipment at age 18 (The Sound)
EMI may drop the Sex Pistols (The Guardian)
How a fistfight ended the Sex Pistols’ record contract (Far Out)
When the Sex Pistols Played the Longhorn Ballroom (D Magazine)
Photographer Curt Smith Shot the Sex Pistols’ Shitshow at the Longhorn Ballroom (Dallas Observer)
The Sex Pistols in Texas (Rolling Stone)
The Sex Pistols’ Thames River Party (Virgin)
The Sex Pistols’ jubilee boat trip – a classic account (The Guardian)
Revist the Sex Pistols’ secret undercover tour of 1977 (Far Out)
Sex Pistols’ Indecency Trial, Nottingham, 24 November 1977 (Rockhaq)
Flashback: The Sex Pistols Come to a Chaotic End (Rolling Stone)
Watch the Sex Pistols’ final performance from 1978 (Far Out)
Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Music
Hosted by Jake Brennan.
Written by Zeth Lundy.
Copy editing by Pat Healy.
Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.
Score by Jake Brennan.
Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak