SoundPress.net Feature Article: Despite a "Swindle" The Sex Pistols Hold Their Rightful! (DVD Review)

Despite a "Swindle", the Sex Pistols Hold Their
Rightful Place in Punk Rock History!
Fictional Documentary Records the Rise and Fall of Volatile Band
A SoundPress.net Feature Article by Rich and Laura Lynch

The Sex Pistols had a short but memorable career as one of England's premier punk bands. In the mid-seventies, the Sex Pistols were gigging sporadically in clubs around London attracting youngsters wearing torn clothes and safety pins. In stepped Malcolm McLaren who would manage the group and transform them into a hot commodity. The Sex Pistols were Steve Jones - guitar; Paul Cook - drums; Glen Matlock - bass (later replaced by Sid Vicious); and, Johnny Rotten - vocals.

The Sex Pistols' live shows quickly developed a reputation for violence and somehow Malcolm used the adverse publicity to get the band signed to EMI Records. Their first single for the label was "Anarchy In The UK". The song opens with lead vocalist Johnny Rotten's sneering laugh and closes with feedback heralding a new genre known as punk. Other bands both in the United States and the UK were forging this new frenzied music leaving excitable audiences in their wake.

Johnny Rotten wrote confrontational songs and the Sex Pistols were considered a "threat". EMI dropped the band before their next single "God Save The Queen" was released. The Sex Pistols were picked up briefly by A&M and later Virgin despite ongoing negative press. Their second single mocked British nationalism during the Queen's Jubilee. The song was banned from daytime radio but "God Save The Queen" rose to number one on the New Music Express chart and number two on the official charts. Their third single was considered more accessible and the Sex Pistols returned to the Top 10.

Fighting in the band, the departure of Rotten and Sid's drug problems would lead to the disintegration of the Sex Pistols despite Malcolm best efforts to continue to exploit the band and the media. As the Sex Pistols were falling apart, McLaren was working on a movie with director Julien Temple entitled The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. The film was a reworking of the Sex Pistol's history, focusing on Malcom – "leaving Matlock out of the script and Rotten relegated to old footage." As the film was completed the group disbanded.

In 2005, The Great Rock n Roll Swindle was released on DVD. The highlights of the DVD are the seventeen classic Sex Pistols performances that are somehow woven into the unusual telling of the band's story. The film begins with a narrator in a black mask talking about the group as a scene of rioting people from 1780 are burning effigies of the band and their records. The movie moves to contemporary times, where Malcolm is masterminding a plan to "swindle" record companies by creating a buzz around a band that can't play. The film revolves around Malcom and his role in manipulating bad publicity to promote the Sex Pistols. Steve Jones plays a private eye trying to unravel the "swindle".

The Great Rock n Roll Swindle is a fictional documentary that records the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols through the eyes of their manager. The history of the band is somewhat murky as it is hard to distinguish what are the facts and fiction in the film. Bizarre, English humor is incorporated into the occasional commentary, which looks at society and the norms that oppress people, just like the Sex Pistols did in their prime. Oddly, adverse press may have helped the punk movement and the Sex Pistols but McLaren takes the credit for it in the film.

The Great Rock n Roll Swindle takes a very different approach. Rather than a story where the band members meet and start jamming together this movie weaves their brief history into a documentary that melds facts with a fabricated account. The original clips and footage from newscasts, videos and concerts capture some of the raw energy and frenzied live performances that established the Sex Pistols' rightful place in punk rock history!

Related Links: For more information on Sex Pistols and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links -- BUY Sex Pistols DVD | BUY Sex Pistols CD

(Originally Published on June 14, 2005)

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