I hear you guys discussing the Sex Pistols

[Jim Hofmann <hofmann@AMSAA.ARPA>]

so I forwarded this letter from a pistolphile for your perusal.

-Jim
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>From tektronix!hammer!dce
Comment: Message received over unauthenticated port at tektronix
Date: Thu,  5 Sep 85 09:02:58 PDT
Subject: Sex Pistols albumen
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The Sex Pistols are the reason for the punk movement. Without them,
the safety pins and strange hairstyles would never have existed in
the fashion of the late 1970's and 1980's.

I'll bet that there are a lot of people in this world that look at
the album "Never Mind The Bollocks... Here's The Sex Pistols" and
decide that Sid Vicious' real last name is Matlock. There are probably
a lot of people (many of whom are the same people) that think that
Sid played bass on this album. A lot of people don't know that Sid
died from an overdose of heroin a few years ago.

If you are one of the people, it's time to wake up. The fact is, Sid
played bass about as well as I play the piano. He was just good enough
to get by in a live show. He's not much worse now. It is widely rumored
that Steve Jones played both guitar and bass on "Never Mind..". This
sounds reasonable to me. No producer would put up with having Sid get
the song right in sixty takes when Steve could do it right the first time.

Also, the Matlock credited with all but a couple of songs on "Never Mind..."
is Glen Matlock, one of "The Original Pistols", from the album of the
same name. I picked up a copy last week in the "hardcore" section in Tower
Records.

The liner notes say that this album is culled from a tape of the Sex Pistols'
third public performance. The people in the band are:

	Johnny Rotten - Lead vocals
	Steve Jones   - Guitar
	Paul Cook     - Drums
	Glen Matlock  - Bass, background vocals

Background vocals? Background vocals? The Sex Pistols with background
vocals? That's right kiddies, background vocals, and good live bass playing.

A few years ago, it was rumored that Glen left the Pistols because his
mother made him. He said in an interview that he left because of a difference
of musical opinion. Glen wanted the band to sound good. He wanted harmony.
He wanted production techniques. McClaren wanted money, and there was money
in having a group of demented, screaming young punks.

"The Original Pistols" is great stuff. It's basically a live version of
"Never Mind..." with Matlock instead of Sid. For an early live album, it
has good sound quality (directly from the mixing board), and you can
understand the vocals!

The album is one more necessary item in a collection of versions of Sex
Pistols songs. I'll mention some others:

	1. The original version on Warner Brothers (?). The last time
	   I saw one in a store, it was yellow and green. The original
	   copies were pink and green with a black and white sticker
	   on the back, which said that "Sub-mission" was on the record.

	   This is a requirement. This is the version that made the Pistols'
	   names household words.

	2. "The Sex Pistols File". Probably unavailable in stores. I got
	   mine on tape from a friend. Could be a bootleg.

	   This is a four album set containing three live albums (London 1976,
	   Dallas 1978, and San Francisco 1978, the last show) and a the
	   studio sessions for A&M records.

	   The live albums are not so great. The London album sounds like it
	   was recorded on a good cassette recorder from the audience. The
	   other two sound like the recorder was a $25 JC Penney model and
	   the tape was 39-cent KMart brand.

	   The A&M sessions are fantastic. A slow version of "Seventeen".
	   Guitar overdubs all over the place. Echo. Countermelodic bass.
	   All this plus a song called "I'm In Love", which is a great one
	   in which Johnny actually "I love you like a dirty lavatory"!
	   This album has real guts.

	   It makes me mad that A&M never released these sessions.

	3. The Bollock Brothers version of "Never Mind...".

	   Some of it is disco. Some is pop. All of it is great. The stuff
	   on "The Great Rock and Roll Swindle" is shit compared to this.

There's also a greatest hits album ("Flogging a Dead Horse") and a horrible
trash soundtrack album (the aforementioned "Rock and Roll Swindle"). If that's
all you can get, go ahead. Otherwise, they aren't worth it.

By the way, if you want to "borrow" my A&M sessions or "Original Pistols"
stuff, something can be arranged.

			David