Did/Does anybody here like the Sex Pistols ?

[nvmbrsdoom5]

I was/am a big Pistols fan, started listening to them when I was in junior high in the mid Eighties. Got sent home from school when I was a Junior in H.S. for wearing a Sex Pistols shirt, simply because of their name. Didn't grasp why that was so bad at the time, lol. But my music teacher that year was young and very hip, she used to let me bring in music to play every week for the class, so I brought a wide variety of stuff for everyone, and "Never Mind The Bollocks...." got some regular play. I listened to it so much that I did burn myself out on it a bit, and since their studio output was so limited there wasn't enough to really listen to much after a while. But I still love it, and put it on regularly when I'm exercising.

[Brave Ulysses]

Not really my thing but can't deny the influence they had.

[Brazoo]

I love the music, the art and I love the characters involved - without a doubt. The Sex Pistols and everything around them was one of the most exciting things to happen to music. Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren, Johnny Lydon, Jamie Reid!!! Those people coming together to create that combination of style, art, and showmanship - it's incredible to me.

I didn't get into punk music until I was about 14 (1987ish?). Hearing "God Save the Queen" and 'getting it' for the first time at that age was revolutionary in exactly the insanely cheesy teen angsty way it was suppose to be.

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Having said all that - right now - musically they're not my favorite band of that era. I'm much more likely to listen to other bands from around that time on a day to day basis. Still, at the right moment it can be the most perfect thing too.

I think the music is a great mix of obnoxious, dumb and energetic - but I remember hearing an interview with (I think) the lead singer from a band called Bongwater - and he explained that as a kid he'd hear people talking about this revolutionary band called "The Sex Pistols" and this NEW kind of music they created - but he lived in an American small town and couldn't HEAR the music - only heard about it. So, he use to try and imagine what this crazy new music sounded like - and when he finally heard them he was disappointed - it just sounded like louder and faster versions of Rolling Stones music to him.

I think that's fair criticism - and in a lot of ways PIL was musically more creative - but I still do love it.

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"England's Dreaming" by Jon Savage is one of the best books about a band I've ever read. So incredibly detailed and fun to read - even if you're not specifically into the Pistols I highly recommend it.