There are certain names that just sound so perfect and are inherently in perfect communion with what they do and who they are. “Joe Montana” is a perfect pro quarterback name. “John Fitzgerald Kennedy” sounds Presidential. “Mick Jagger” oozes of rock star persona. “Dick Butkus” could only ever be a feared middle linebacker that tackled people like lions destroy zebras.
Likewise, The Sex Pistols is the apotheosis of a punk band name. Just as it would be unthinkable for someone named Joe Montana, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Mick Jagger, or Dick Butkus to be your accountant or the cashier at your local dry cleaner, it would unthinkable for a band to be named The Sex Pistols to not be a punk band.
It is, however, strange that a band named The Sex Pistols only bothered to make one studio album.[1] Released in 1977, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols represents the only time that the band could forgo all of their internal dramas (that were probably rooted in their external theatrics) and just play music that assaulted the sensibilities of the day. The debut album had a little of everything that, at the time, was probably seen as a sign of the coming apocalypse: the ransom note quality of the album cover; the sounds of marching soldiers that begin “Holidays In The Sun”; the inherent middle finger quality of “God Save The Queen.” But the most powerful and assaulting element of Never Mind The Bollocks still remains those devastating riffs and taunting laughs at the beginning of “Anarchy In The U.K.”
“I am an anti-Christ/I am an anarchist,” sings Johnny Rotten with a devilish flourish that allows for anarchist to almost rhyme with anti-Christ. The lyrics of “Anarchy In The U.K.”—much like the image of Johnny Rotten—may seem dated nowadays but one should not have to think hard or long about how disturbing the idea of The Sex Pistols must have been. Think about it: you are living your life in the mid-’70′s[2] and you know that this underground genre of music called punk is gathering some weight. You also know that the times, as they say, could be better. People in general seem irritable with the plethora of social and economic problems of the day, and there seems to be a general consensus that inner cities are wastelands and that post-apocalyptic settings make for good stories.
And along comes this band with a singer that yells “Destroy!” and a guitarist who cuts his name into chest. And this band would like a moment of your time to explain that anarchy is your best option, all things considered. And this lead singer explains to you that he doesn’t know what he wants but he knows how to get it—he’s going to destroy the passersby. Your hypothetical you that exists in 1976 or 1977 would be excused for thinking, “What the fuck is going on here?”
Next November, “Anarchy In The U.K.” will turn 35 years old. Does it still have the same bite? Will it be embraced by future generations of kids? “No” and “probably not” are most likely the respective answers. But its ultimate legacy is probably not the point because even though future kids may see Johnny Rotten as a moron and Sid Vicious as a mediocre circus act “Anarchy In The U.K.” laid the foundation for how punk rock is supposed to look and feel and sound. It provided a proper image of how angry, emotionally-fueled, politically-charged music should sound and look.
The packaging and make-up of “Anarchy In The U.K.” is full of marks against it for future kids (Johnny Rotten cannot be taken seriously anymore, we think of Sid Vicious as being half of the Sid & Nancy equation first and a guitarist second, etc.) but it serves as a very definite starting point for many different discussions pertaining to music. The number of discussions that it can start is most likely equal to the number of punk bands that history has already forgotten about.
And I think even Accountant Mick Jagger would agree with that last sentiment.
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[1] Doesn’t it somehow seem unfair that you can’t ask someone casually, “What’s your favorite Sex Pistols album?”
[2] For the purposes of this example, let’s say that you are somewhere between the ages of 15 and 35.
