John Lydon Claims The Sex Pistols Don’t Need Publicity - You Could Have Fooled Me
by 
Dave Parrack on July 11th, 2008
The Sex Pistols have used the publicity they have garnered very well over the years.
Whether the publicity comes from controversial statements by lead singer John Lydon in the last few years, or events such as swearing on live television and releasing God Save The Queen around the time of the Silver Jubilee in the late 1970s, it is still engineered publicity to a degree.
So the news that Lydon has now claimed the Sex Pistols have never used a publicity campaign during their career fills me with absolute bewilderment.
Lydon may have been talking more about paid publicity and campaigns to sell records, but the Sex Pistols have definitely used publicity and the press, both good and bad, to their advantage over the years, and continue to do so. In fact, isn’t this claim a prime example of saying something slightly out there in the hope of getting some coverage?
Lydon made the claims in a rambling interview with The Daily Star. He also speaks about not getting on with record companies, the possibility of new material coming from the band, and some other random rants. But the claims about never using publicity have me riled.
Lydon claims:
“During the whole of my career I’ve never orchestrated a record with a tour and a publicity campaign. It’s never happened. So what if we released our last album 31 years ago? We make records when we want not when we’re told. We’re not a shuttle bus service… Or The Rolling Stones.”
“It’s more natural to create new material this way because there’s a different kind of energy when you’re out there. That’s what the Sex Pistols are all about. We spend bugger all on publicity.”
He then laid in to Madonna for spending “about £250,000 a year to keep her pony-arse face in the paper.” She may have an increasingly grandma-looking face, but then Lydon has more wrinkles than a pair of old man’s trousers after his iron has broken, so he can hardly talk.
The Sex Pistols are so over the hill, it isn’t funny any more. I argued the case for them to retire a few weeks ago, but unfortunately, it seems they are going to be hanging around for a while longer. If they are to stick around, then I think Lydon should at least realise that one of the reasons the Sex Pistols has been able to keep selling records, and filling gig venues is their controversial image.
If proof were needed, then just look back at Lydon’s comments back in November about the UK becoming mediocre since he left. If that wasn’t an attempt at getting publicity, then I don’t know what is.
[Photo Source: Yves Lorson at Flickr]
Tags: Brit, British, Controversy, John-Lydon, Madonna, Publicity, Sex Pistols, UK| 2.5 |
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Gossip, Interviews, News, Op Ed, Punk, Sex Pistols
0 opinions for John Lydon Claims The Sex Pistols Don’t Need Publicity - You Could Have Fooled Me
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: