Punk destruction!

This week saw the 40th anniversary of the release of one of the most important singles in British musical history, Anarchy In The U.K. by The Sex Pistols. Punk had to happen, particularly to shake up the turgid, desperate music scene of the time and give young folk the chance to challenge the government and its 'system' which they saw as controlling and restrictive.

In reflection of this single's original release, the son of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has decided to set fire to £5m worth of precious punk memorabilia including a very rare copy of the single.

Question is: Do you think it was right of him to destroy all this stuff or should he have auctioned the artefacts to raise funds for a charity? Or was his reasoning correct - that punk was a movement for individuals and his act was merely a belated follow-on of this genre?
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...39782543,d.d2s
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Re: Punk destruction!

I( never bought into Punk, clearly just basic music by a generation of kids who were no different to other generations who had the same ideas. And aided and abetted by an advertising industry looking for the next marketing ploy.

McClaren and Westwood are just as much a part of this, i think reality bit for most with Lydon flogging butter.

Re: Punk destruction!

True, it was giving people a voice. That will always happen, teenagers need to rebel in some form or another as it's all part of growing up. And it wasn't anything new in retrospect. The 1960's had their own 'wave' ten years earlier in The Rolling Stones performing in a similar fashion. It seems every decade has its movers and shakers, it's natural progression.

The whole point of it was it was D.I.Y. music. Unusually, the Pistols always signed to major labels, so they were not underfunded, though they were rarely actually paid for their live shows, royalties, etc. That money mysteriously disappeared into the pockets of their manager and to other dubious figures. However, the production quality of their sole album "Never Mind The Bollocks..." was indeed very professional and gave the pistols their distinctive recording sound. Shame it all imploded so quickly.
And it's a shame we have nothing as thoroughly exciting right now to shake up the dreadful music scene we have to suffer.

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I agree each generation had its heroes and villains, but basic chord bands are as old as the hills, and some always managed to earn a living long past their time, and some managed to create something of a legacy. Lydon and co were very heavily inflenced by the likes of the Velvet Underground, and later on Can.

I happened to like Lydon he has a good snarling rock voice, and they did write some catchy stuff (Pretty Vacant) but it was not new just a change of pace from what was the current norm.

When the ready ripped jeans started to appear in the shops it was all about marketing. And its been that way since, even worse now with the X Factor driven bland product, filling holes in label niches.

Their still is new and interesting stuff out there to be found, and in these techy days many more opportunity's to get your stuff out for folks to see and hear.

Re: Punk destruction!

Excellent post, Nom
I fully agree with what you say there. This sort of thing couldn't happen in this day and age though, as the world has changed so much due mainly to the internet and our awful celebrity 'culture'. Take me back to '76 anytime

Re: Punk destruction!

My generation. I remember punk was fun at the beginning before it went mainstream when the 'straight' media turned it into a bandwagon. Same as anything, if money can be made then it will be exploited. It's actual impact was not that much although there was a buzz in the air at the time. Lots of the bands were awful and a lot of people cut their hair short just because it was the trendy thing to do, I didn't as I've never followed fashion. Punk was, and is, an attitude but it really wasn't any different to what happened in 1966-67. To burn the material isn't punk, it's just a stupid 'look at me' statement, the sort that Westwood and co have indulged in for years. Yes they should have auctioned it off for charity, that would have been a better punk statement.

Btw Anarchy didn't sell to start with. I picked up two copies in the bargain bin of the local newsagent and played them at the college disco. The reaction from the assembled groovers was, 'what's this crap then Jon?' Mind you my musical tastes have never pleased the general populace.

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I wasn't that keen on the Pistols at the time, although I did like the music Lydon made later with PiL.

Re: Punk destruction!

If anyone is in any doubt about John Lydon's musical worth, listen to this...



It never fails to raise the hairs on my neck

Re: Punk destruction!

Sex pistols were a joke.
Love The Stranglers, The Clash, Joy Division, the Associates etc
As for the twit burning the SP memorabilia..well many privileged bratty ofsprings of fashionista and Business bods really never understood Punk.

"Prior to the burning, Corré had listed the single on eBay in the hope of selling it for charity. However, despite bids that reached £62,500 last week, none of the bidders matched Corré’s reserve price of £1 million – meaning that the single was instead destroyed.
Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/music/joe-corre-begins-to-burn-punk-memorabilia-1872892#hTJF7JUHBPWIQzQ7.99"

What a waste of space...and I'm not referring to the stuff.

Re: Punk destruction!

And the Jam

Mr Clean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AtgZPxamsA