Mohicans, safety pins, rebellion and rage: How the Sex Pistols turned punk into a phenomenon 40 years ago
As the band's debut single turns 40 tomorrow, we look at the band's rise to chaotic prominence and the punks who followed them
TOMORROW marks 40 years since the birth of the punk music movement in Britain.
It was on November 26, 1976, that a bunch of riotous tearaways hell bent on shaking up the system and leading a rebellion against rising racial tensions, social upheaval, boredom and unemployment exploded onto the scene.
The song they released was Anarchy In The UK. The band was the Sex Pistols.
With manager Malcolm McLaren pulling the strings, singer John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), guitarist Steve Jones, bassist Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook captured the attention of the disillusioned masses – giving them an outlet for their bottled rage.
Older generations despised the punk uprising, but they were powerless to prevent its grip on the mainstream.
Young fans flocked to see the Sex Pistols perform live, embodying the band’s passion for chaos and disorder.
Their concerts repeatedly faced difficulties with organisers and local authorities, and public appearances often ended in mayhem.
The Sex Pistols delighted in disgusting those appalled by their very existence - swearing on live primetime TV, vomiting in front of photographers, sparking fights at gigs and mimicking Nazi salutes.
Extreme fashion characterised the scene, with many followers taking to the streets with Mohican hairdos and sporting a mishmash of clothes - often torn or dishevelled - that were never designed to be worn as an ensemble.
Among the most popular items were studded leather jackets and trousers, dyed hair, thick necklaces joined by padlocks (as famously modelled by Matlock’s replacement, Sid Vicious), facial piercings, rolled-up jeans, clothes emblazoned with safety pins and hand-scrawled slogans, Dr Martens boots, and lots of manky teeth on show.
The only rule was to go against the rules of convention.
Anarchy In The UK reached No38, while follow-up single God Save The Queen – featuring the opening line: “God save the Queen and her fascist regime” – peaked at No2, amid claims the chart was fixed to prevent it from hitting top spot.
The band’s obscenely-titled debut album Never Mind The B*******, Here’s The Sex Pistols went straight in at No1, and has gone on to shift millions.
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The most iconic symbol of the punk scene, Sid Vicious joined the band in early 1977 and became the chief antagonist of the band – regularly inciting violence at gigs and joining in whenever fists flew.
He regularly snarled at cameramen, spat obscenities and wore tops bearing the Swastika logo.
After years of heroin abuse, Vicious was arrested on suspicion of murdering his junkie girlfriend Nancy Spungen in October 1978.
In February 1979, just weeks before he was due to stand trial, he died of a drug overdose.
Much like the careers of many of its stars – and, indeed, like Vicious himself – the original punk music scene burned brightly for a short time before crashing to the ground in flames.
Large swathes of its followers were quick to ditch their old punk clothes in favour of a smarter look when the music began to go out of fashion in 1979/1980.
However, punk’s legacy lives on to this day.
The work of bands like the Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, The Buzzcocks and The Stranglers continues to be lauded by fans and critics alike, paving the way for contemporary acts like Green Day and Pussy Riot.
And while fewer and further between, the diehard punk faithful – of old and new – are still out there, proudly flaunting their trend-bucking Mohawks, multiple piercings and outspoken unconventional views.
