5 Feet of Fury

My NEW PJMedia column: How the Sex Pistols Made History By Lying About It


A sort of “Yesterday in Today” post about their first gig:

Over the years, various individuals have claimed the dubious distinction as “the guy who pulled the plug” 20 minutes into the band’s anarchic “performance,” one that relied upon equipment stolen from outside David Bowie’s farewell turn as “Ziggy Stardust”, and which ended in a brawl.

This story, for instance, names Stuart Gordon, lead singer of the band, Bazooka Joe, that the Pistols were opening for that night — for no other reason than that The Pistols’ then-bass player, Glenn Matlock, was a St. Martins student who’d talked their way onto the roster.

However, Gordon realized almost immediately (possibly while the electrical cord was still warm in his hand) that that aborted, shambolic, comic-yet-scary opening act — and not his own cookie-cutter pub rock group — represented music’s new sound and style.

So today he’s better known as Adam Ant.

The Sex Pistols had that effect on people…