Sex Pistols : Black Arabs
On February 26, 1979 the Sex Pistols released the double album soundtrack to their mockumentary The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, a film that tells a fictional account of the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols from the point of view of their then-manager Malcolm McLaren. Featuring the tagline "the film that incriminates its audience", the movie blows up the Sex Pistols myth and suggests the whole thing was an ingenious marketing ploy ( the "genius" being McLaren with his 10 lessons on how to turn a bad band into the hottest act in the world).
John Lydon had quit the band before filming started, wanted nothing to do with the project, and sued McLaren fearing the damage the movie would do his career with P.I.L. and to the Sex Pistols legacy. The movie would not be seen in theaters until more than a year later.
In Anger Is An Energy, Lydon writes about seeing The Great Rock 'n'Roll Swindle with his new guitarist Keith Levene:
I was very, very happy because it was excruciatingly bad. Me and Keith were over the moon at how rubbish it was--over-long and full of Malcolm pontifications. There were various Nazi outfits and rubber masks, for no reason at all that I could see...It was everything that I wanted it to be, because now Joe Public could see what it was I'd escaped from . And, by contrast, what it is I'm actually capable of --please judge me thereon. If you think I should be involved in a world of swindle--well, fuck you!
Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones says the movie brings up bad memories. As a viewer there are moments that are exciting like the documentary style footage of the Pistols below, and when Sid sings "My Way", but most of the film is reprehensible.
Here's the remaining members of the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones and Paul Cook, in Brazil meeting the notorious outlaw train robber Ronnie Biggs, who would write the lyrics and sing "No One Is Innocent", a B-side to "My Way".
Director Julien Temple made his film debut with The Great Rock n Roll Swindle. He would go on to make music videos for Culture Club, ABC and Dexys Midnight Runners before returning to the subject in 2000 with The Filth and The Fury.
With its foreign language versions of the hits, a disco medley, and a few sloppy numbers knocked off in the studio, the soundtrack is not an essential listening experience
As a 58 year old git loving my past coming back, but the links dont seem to work anymore.
ReplyDeleteMind you I am 58 year old git
Jules I've stopped offering mp3 links for a while now. I find most readers don't bother with them and I've never been comfortable with giving away somebody else's work. If you really want to find a copy of the album on the internet you can, but all you'll find here is what I've written and a link to where you can buy the album. Hope you'll come back.
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