I’ve never been a fan of the Sex Pistols. Nor am I a fan of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Pistols were a manufactored band. Like the Monkees. Or Munudo, or In Sync. Malcolm MaLaren saw a financial window in the burgeoning NYC punk movement in the late 70′s and he capitalized upon it. He created the Sex Pistols to suit his vision of a punk rock band. They weren’t some band that met in high school, or in the hood, wanted to rock and became big. They were four guys who McLaren brought together to make money. He created massive hype around them, dressed them like all the street kids and bands like The Neon Boys, cut a crappy album and sent them out to the world to reap in profits. Of course, the hype was all about taking the rebellousness of punk and pushing it to extremes. Rebellion sells. So does shock. That’s how headlines get made. The legend of the Sex Pistols, in my view, far outweighs any real impact they had on music at the time or since. The hype also far outweighs the music they made. Which was mediocre at best.
Seriously, the genreal reaction amongst everyone I knew at the time was “What’s the big deal? They suck.” And, they did suck. Compared to The Ramones, or Television, or Bad Brains, or John Cale, or The Dead Boys, or The Damned or Poly Styrene and the X-Ray Specs or The Sic F*ucks, or any other dozens of bands that preceeded the Pistols by years. Not even close. But, the attitude, the hype, of the Sex Pistols had taken upon a life all its own. They were icons of rebellion before they had played a note before an American audience or most had even heard one song. And, that legendary status still reverberates today. So, if anyone should be inducted into a hall of fame, it’s McLaren. He created all of it.
The rock and roll hall of fame is sort of embarrassing to me. I think it’s nice that people are recognized for their work, but isn’t that what the Grammy’s are for? And, nothing makes me cringe more than seeing a bunch of people on stage together totally ruining a classic tune in a big rockestra moment. Ugh. The whole twenty guitars and fvie basses and Paul Schaffer bobbing his head in the background just does not have anything to do with rock IMHO. It’s so industry, so posed, so Kip Winger. So hair band. Now and then, a performer overcomes that nonsense. But, the whole thing is pretty self congratulory.
So, I thought it rather funny that the Sex Pistols have declined the “honor” of appearing at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
“Next to the SEX PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain,” the statement read. “Your museum. Urine in wine. Were (sic) not coming. Were (sic) not your monkey and so what?”The statement slammed Hall of Fame voters as “music industry people,” and excoriated the high price of attending the exclusive event — $25,000 for a table, “or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery.”
It concluded, “Your (sic) not paying attention. Outside the shit-stem is a real SEX PISTOL.”
It’s funny because the truth is, the Sex Pistols are all about hype. The music really doesn’t hold up at all. So, the only real reaction they could have is hype. And, the whole asshole act is so boring. It was then. It is now. The thing is, you know deep in his heart of hearts, Johhny “Rotten” Lydon wants to get up on that stage at the ceremony and tell everyone to fuck off then play “Anarchy in the UK” with the guy from the Letterman show playing bass in sub for dead Sid Vicious. You know he does.
But, he’s trapped by his own rebel immage. Pretty funny. Truth is, if he were a true rebel, one with a real message, he could do whatever he wanted, and more than likely, no fluffed up caustic answer to being inducted would be necessary. What a joke.
There’s an old saying… man asks “what are you rebeling against?” And, the punk asnwers “What ya got?” Thing is, you have to know what you are for before you can truly rebel against something.
And, the Sex Pistols were never for anything. They were just against everything. And, to top it off, they sucked and were derivative of every band that did it better, faster and with more teeth than they ever had.
