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* _ Entertainn England s best < Sex Pist By MARK MUELLER Asst. Ent. Editor Out in the depths of the musical ocean there is a new undertow pulling the listener uncontrollably into its possessive grasp. From the clutches of that current far below, the Sex Pistols are awkwardly riding the tremendous New Wave toward the strand of unbounded stardom. Trying to break the force of the Pistols' part of the Wave are Queen Elizabeth II, the British Parliament, Princess Grace of Monaco, the BBC, various press peeves and record labels which include the likes of EMI and A&M. Although England did everything in its "power" to punish these punks of propaganda by banning them every form of public j /> iHg| InA m ffiP^P 'Bwft ^Jm fl i' iHr Johnny Rotten . . . "We're the only honest band that's hit this planet in about two million years." RpscoeHap\ r*?-r I YOUR RC SE / ,vV v(2v ClJPSTID. V j T| R& \\ \ ! li , lent comes west n 1ft m pti exposure, the pacesetting American public offered refuge. The Sex Pistols were allowed to enter the bewildered U.S. teen scene. But before the States, before the great English revolt and before the breakthrough in this new provocative style of entertainment, the Princes of Punk were always royalty. AFTER THE regime of the Beatles passed, a new generation emerged into the void in the music world. These trend searchers were , 1 ...uu : III cugiudscu wiui a seriuus uuiess labeled an "identification problem." Malcolm McLaren (manager and genius behind the Sex Pistols) felt he could bring entertainment satisfaction and musical exodus to the taste-craved British public. The original group he incorporated consisted of Steve Jones, Paul Cook and a good fellow no one wishes to remember. Well the good guy left and a Rotten substitute appeared. Johnny Rotten became the vocalist and entertainer behind the Sex Pistols. McLaren fulfilled his desire for the trio to become a fearsome foursome when he encountered a Vicious kid called Sid, who qualified for the title by assaulting a persistent reporter. THE PISTOLS wer** now ready to be fired into this new generation. With Rotten on vocals, Cook on drums. Vicious Dlavine lead miitnr - - A ?/ O ? ? Q? and Jones blaring bass, they debuted on the English pub scene. It was also at this time they first were banned from public exposure. Naked women dancing alongside them on stage did not-exactly appeal to promoters or the government. Their^ excellent television aeDut on an unglisn talk show, in which they responded to the producer's antagonism with a barrage of four-letter words, just made matters worse. Contributing to their notoriety was their first IQ\/ HOUM^X 7^L D, )0M MATE | | ^ET ALOt\ N\ESTER? / V S0M mti>inKjy \LEROY I e waves single release "God Save the Queen," in which her majesty was labeled, among other things, a moron. This masterpiece came during a vital peak in Queen Liz's career, the Silver Jubilee. Their poster displaying the title of their first album "Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols" was taken to court on an obscenity charge which the Pistols won handily. BY THIS TIME, fans craved them so badly because of their forced lack of exposure that the first day their debut album hit the cnaris it soared directly to number one. Later, three singles from the lp reached the top spot within a matter of weeks. For this reason many critics have proclaimed this debut album a greatest hits album as well. After "God Save the Queen" and "Anarchy in the U.K." were banned, the controversy over their album cover and content, their vocal appearance on the boob tube, and a lawsuit for the record sleeve from the number one single "Holidays in the Sun," the Sex Pistols were inevitably banned from touring. This proclamation hurt not only the Sex Pistols but caused other punk rock ensembles to be prohibited too. Nevertheless, the S.P.'s went on tour secretly bearing the credentials SPOTS (Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly). Their first record label, EMI, would have been delighted to schedule the Sex Pistols in Siberia, while the group's other contact, A&M, suggested appearance in various mirages in the Sahara. The label that fit their needs was finally found in Virgin Records. SEX PISTOLS etiquette by this time had also been questioned: the hurricane effect they left on A&M's office, Steve Jones losing his lunch in airports, Johnny Rotten offering and giving free saliva samples to their audiences, their combination av>D^\^CSldish r IG OKAY \ HE'S 21 YEAF ETIMES OLD- HOW IS KIND OF/CHILDISH CAN D^SH^>j\HE BE? M ? frQsfnrai uMBHHItf mh^B9D Sex Pistols ... riding David Bowie-Phyllis Diller hairstyles and a vocabulary previously shunned by General Patton. However, the safetv oin-in-cheek V f "" " fad was originated by their faithful followers. The Sex Pistols are no fools. McLaren decided it was time to make the move to the 50 fiascoes. The group immediately ran into visa problems which took months to solve and caused cancellation of their first four engagements. In Atlanta, Memphis and San Antonio, the Sex Pistols received mixed reviews. While their album was one of the all time best selling imports and the song "Submission" was added u A , w i r m ) \ the crest of the New Wave to the album when Warner Brothers produced them in this country, their overall acceptance in America has been slightly less ti r 1-1 man icivuraoie. THEIR LAST date in America was in San Francisco where Sid Vicious was rushed to the hospital and Johnny Rotten apparently left the group. Right now S.P.'s Cook and Jones are in Rio de Janeiro and Johnny Rotten is in Jamaica. \ irvA^AX They say the group is finished, and Cook and Jones have started working on new material with "Great Train Robber" Ronald Biggs, but inside has it this is See SEX PISTOLS, page 13 ^ (Si