VICIOUS WHITE KIDS | THE SEX PISTOLS TAKE ON ROCK ‘N ROLL & THE SOUTH

10 Mar 1977, London, England, UK — The punk rock group, The Sex Pistols, are about to be moved by a policeman as they sign a copy of their new recording contract with A & M Records outside Buckingham Palace. The next record to be released is called “God Save the Queen”. The band members (from far left to right) are John Lydon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Sid Vicious. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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I’m not gonna lie– life has been kicking my ass a little lately. It’s got me wantin’ to spit, sneer, and swear like Sid Vicious.  But instead, I’ll humbly take my licks and lumps, and keep on pluggin’ along the best I know how.  I actually have a feelin’ this could end up being one helluva year– for TSY and beyond.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it here before, but I spend a ton of time in Dallas for business.  I’ve been going down for years, and know it pretty well.  Calling it my 2nd home is not a stretch by any means– it’s a cool town, and I’m very comfortable there.  Lots of great people and good eats.

So, Friday I was having lunch at El Fenix with my buddy Bruce, who’s a few years older than me, and outta nowhere I ask him, “Hey, man– were you in Texas back in ’78 when the Sex Pistols rolled through on tour?  You remember them?”

Well, his face lit-up like a Christmas tree as he said, “You mean that Sid Vicious kid?  Yeah man, of course I remember it.  It was a mess!  He was runnin’ his mouth, spittin’, and swingin’ that bass around like a baseball bat on stage– mowin’ people down.  They wanted to kill him!”

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The Sex Pistols’ infamous Dallas, Texas show marquee at the Longhorn Ballroom (once owned by Jack Ruby) back in January of 1978– “Sid was really f*cked up. Really drunk. He played for a while without his guitar plugged in. He played for a while with a fish. I think somebody threw it up there, a bass or something. People seemed pissed at him. He’d spit on the audience; they’d spit on him. That’s what you did. There was this element of, ‘You paid to see us play?'”— The Austin Chronicle

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From Randy’s Rodeo, a site dedicated to the memory and accounts of the tour–

The band gave their most spirited performance of the American tour in San Antonio. Johnny Rotten came out wearing a T-shirt depicting two homosexual cowboys, and Sid greeted the crowd with some very unkind remarks. The audience hurled anything onstage that they could get their hands on. Items of choice were spit, popcorn, beer cups, cans, hot dogs, whipped cream, bottles, and pies.  Steve and Paul did their best to hold the show together while Sid and Johnny took every possible opportunity to insult and infuriate the crowd. Sid removed his leather jacket to reveal “Gimme A Fix” scrawled on his chest. Johnny blew snot into the crowd, and he snarled and screamed the whole night. Steve promptly broke a string during the first number, and he later used his guitar as a weapon against threatening audience members.  At one point Sid Vicious tells the crowd, ‘You cowboys are all a bunch of f*cking faggots!’ When a young cowboy attempts physical retaliation, Vicious hits him with his bass. The show is stopped for several minutes while the cowboy is taken away by police. He later denounces the Pistols as “sewer rats with guitars” on TV.

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The Sex Pistols’ gig there on January 8th, 1978, and the riotous events that surrounded it, became one of the most notorious chapters in rock history. The Pistols’ Svengali-like manager, Malcolm McLaren, booked the band primarily at Country & Western nightclubs like Randy’s in small markets like San Antonio. It was a perverse, provocative joke. His intent was not to sell tickets, but to incite controversy and mayhem. He succeeded famously.

John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, later expounded on McLaren’s strategy in his autobiography, Rotten: “It wasn’t a question of throwing the band to the wolves when we chose to just play the South during the American tour. We felt that if we were ever going to be taken seriously in America, it would be from a base we built down south. The cowboys seemed to take it for the joke it was meant to be. We weren’t there to destroy their way of life or anything like that. We sought to bring a little freshness into their boring, daily routines.”

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1978, Tulsa, Oklahoma– Sid Vicious, Paul Cook, Johnny Rotten, and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols in concert.  Outside the show, a Baptist pastor protested the show, saying, “There is a Johnny Rotten inside each of us, and he doesn’t need to be liberated, he needs to be crucified.” Photographer Bob Gruenrecalled, “We had a long drive from Dallas to Tulsa through five inches of snow and ice. Sometime in the night we pulled into a gas station where there was a restaurant. I went in with Sid and sat at the counter. Before I knew it Sid had started a conversation with a cowboy and his family. They invited him to sit with them and Sid carried his eggs to their table.  After the cowboy heard that Sid’s name was Vicious he started to challenge him. He crushed his cigarette out in his own hand, then he asked Sid what could he do. Sid just took his knife, cut his own hand and kept on eating as blood flowed on his eggs like ketchup. The cowboy grabbed his family and ran out.” — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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The Sex Pistols landed in New York on January 3rd and performed their American debut in Atlanta on the 5th. Just nine days later after whistle stops in Memphis, San Antonio, Baton Rouge, Dallas, and Tulsa, the tour ended ignominiously with a dispirited show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco — ironically, the only reasonably appropriate venue on the itinerary.

The Sex Pistols broke up only days after their final performance. Within months, Sid Vicious had allegedly killed girlfriend Nancy Spungen in a drug-induced rage, and was later found dead himself of a drug overdose. Soon after, John Lydon claimed the Pistols had “killed” Rock and Roll and embarked on his next musical adventure with Public Image Limited. In the late 90s the Sex Pistols reunited (with original bass player Glen Matlock standing in for Sid) for the aptly monikered “Filthy Lucre” tour.

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Dallas, TX, 1978– Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, performing in concert at the Longhorn Ballroom. Sid’s chest is covered in blood from a female fan head-butting him in the nose, and on his chest he has recently carved the words, “Gimme a Fix” with a razor (some say it was the work of a magic marker, either way it’s classic Sid). — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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1978– Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten drinking a beer in concert. — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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1978 — Sid Vicious and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols in concert. — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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1978 — The Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious poses with a couple fans. — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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Check out what Tom Brokaw and the corporate media had to say about the Sex Pistols tour–

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1978– Sid Vicious & Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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January 1978, Atlanta, GA– Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten perform during the Sex Pistols’ United States debut in Atlanta. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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1978– Sid Vicious & Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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1978– Bass guitarist Sid Vicious, singer Johnny Rotten, and guitarist Steve Jones of the punk band the Sex Pistols perform in concert. Vicious has scrawled “Gimme a Fix” on his chest with a razor. — Image by © Jay Dickman/CORBIS

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1978– (Left)Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols mingling with a couple ladies at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas, (Right) Sid Vicious). — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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1978– Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols during their tour of the South — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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1978– Johnny Rotten displaying classic Punk Rock style… and you thought plaid was boring?  Well, I’m here to tell ya’ Tartans Rock! — Image by © Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis

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Say what you will about the Sex Pistols– they woke-up the 1970’s sterile, corporate rock scene that had begun to dominate the radio, and reminded us what Rock ‘n Roll was really all about– youth, rebellion, energy, innovation and heart.

It was a moment in Rock history that was short-lived, horribly tragic, and incredibly epic.

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