Had history taken a different turn for the Sex Pistols, the album you're now holding might have been called "Never Mind The Bollock", and could have been issued in early 1977 by EMI Records. However, in the 18 month eye of the Hurricane we now refer to as 'Punk Rock' the Pistols were Lords, Masters and resident house band. Nothing they got involved in was ever to be referred to as simple.
Public knowledge of the Sex Pistols begins at 5pm on December 1, 1976, when QUEEN (and who would have thought they'de be responsible for Punk) cancelled a TV appearance on Thames Television Today show, and future sports entertainer Eric Hall (then just another member of EMI press staff) suggested that the group step in and fill the gap. Bill Grundy pushed the group to say something rude and in the space of just three 'fucks' and 'one' shit (far less than your average episode of South Park) the Sex Pistols turned prime time television blue. Newspaper front the next day left the originally planned 19 date 'Anarchy' tour in tatters, and by New Year the group had neither a record deal or a bass player.
Just who is actually behinds this most famous of punk bootlegs is anybody's guess -- let's just say the jury is still out on that one -- some stories say that, bored with waiting for Virgin to release the album Glitterbest Management leaked tapes to certain people, knowing full well that they were in the bootleg game. While other rumours state that early producers of the group were offended at just how little money they had made from the Pistols -- while headlines stated the group were rolling in it -- teamed up and issued this album. Either way the Spunk album beat the official album to the shops by at least 4 months.
Anyway back to our story; Glen Matlock departed to be replaced by John Simon Beverley aka Sid Vicious, and managed along with with the rest of the group to spend just 6 days with A&M Records. Not bad work if you can get it, especially when the pay cheque reads a full £75,000 for doing nothing. With the controversial single 'God Save The Queen' (titled "No Future" here in early demo form) already in the can and needing to be issued in time for the Silver Jubilee, the Pistols needed a recording deal and fast.
Virgin Records stepped in and issued what was to become the world's first banned number one single. By this stage everyone from public to press were crying out for an album from the group. The one you're now holding sneaked out during Jubilee week, at first onto market stalls, then under the counter in certain dimly lit record shops, before it found its final resting place at record fairs throughout the world. Meanwhile in the Glitterbest camp Jamie Reid assembled artwork for 'God Save the Sex Pistols' (the album proposed title), while Chris Thom and Malcolm McLaren put together a track listing. Then by October 1977 panic had set in, advance orders for the album had already ensured it a Gold disc on release on release day, with a certain chance of entering the album charts at number one. But still there was no album (just a bootleg and mounting tension in the camp). Steve Jones came up with the title "Never Mind The Bollocks", almost a singles album on release day in November, via the issuing of 'Holidays In the Sun' here in the UK and 'Sub-Mission' in France (which like all things Pistols was imported here by the bucket load). So the group's debut album contained 5 singles from a possible 12 songs.
The problems with 'God Save The Queen' wouldn't go away, finding the album banned by WH Smiths, Boots and Woolworths etc. It was even discussed that the album might be re-pressed without the song but nothing ever came of this. In the end it was issued first as an 11-track album with a one sided white label single 'Sub-Mission' and a free poster, before becoming a 12 track album and a little later a picture disc. The so-called missing track (even listed on some later album covers) from the album 'Belsen Was A Gas' was never recorded in a studio by the group.
Only later did a live version of the song turn up on "The Great Rock n' Roll Swindle".
Twenty four years later both albums can truly be called landmark recordings. John, Steve, Glen and Paul play their hearts out on these demo versions, more like an army going to war than rock'n'roll group cutting its teeth. This album was pressed by different companies in almost every part of the world and was met with various bans in all of them. Now here is the definitive version. Never mind all the talk of punks greatest three minutes and an ever changing list of classic single titles, what you're now holding is punks greatest 55 minutes and 50 seconds of early demos, from the Godfathers of the movement and that my friends is a simple fact. Now for God's sake someone roll the credits and let's have another listen!
~~ Alan Parker (The Gimmick)1.Pretty Vacant
2.Seventeen
3.Satellite
4.No Feelings
5.I Wanna Be Me
6.Submission
7.Anarchy In The UK (demo)
8.Anarchy In The UK (different version)
9.No Fun
10.God Save the Queen
11.Problems
12.Pretty Vacant
13.Liar
14.EMI
15.New York (Lookin' For A Kiss)
..
buy:
interpunk |
amazon ..
home-page:
www.sexpistolsofficial.com/..
linkS:
http://www.multiupload.com/K8H4JDS1L9http://www.multiupload.com/L6Q6GIJCTF..
password:
hha================
Great soundboard bootleg show recorde alive in São Paulo, Brasil in 2000.
