Sex Pistols tell Hall of Fame to Bugger Off

[africa]

"Punk band the Sex Pistols have refused to attend their own induction into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
 
 In a handwritten note posted on their website, they called the institution "urine in wine".
 
 "We're not your monkeys, we're not coming. You're not paying attention," continued the statement."
 
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4750262.stm

[Bombay Chutney]

I'd much prefer that they show up at the ceremony and create a scene.

[chancegardener]

Oh man the Pistols meeting Sabbath meeting Skynyrd meeting Blondie ... that would be too hilarious.

[HoyaSaxa03]

can anyone say "publicity stunt for tired old band that needs to make some headlines to stay somewhat relevant"?

[Arlette]

But wasn't everything about the Sex Pistols really a publicity stunt?  They couldn't play their instruments (excepting maybe Glenn Matlock, who also wrote their best songs), they manufactured a "look", and they were basically losers who Malcolm found to play the part of junkie/tragic/anarchistic rock stars.  
 
 Even though John Lydon does that well (being a participant on that British version of Big Brother), I don't think they're trying to stay relevant. They really couldn't have had any other reaction to their induction.

[bearman🐻]

Extremely well put Arlette. They were a fabrication of Malcolm McLaren. Sure, I like their music, but ultimately every single thing they did was a publicity stunt. I still think they were the band that made punk rock a joke and ruined it for a lot of other bands. Seymour Stein distanced himself from support of punk bands and instead wanted it to be labeled "new wave"...he wanted a clear separation from punk. That's why the Ramones ended up recording songs like "Needles and Pins" and "Howling at the Moon".

[Arlette]

Originally posted by bearman:
  Extremely well put Arlette. They were a fabrication of Malcolm McLaren. Sure, I like their music, but ultimately every single thing they did was a publicity stunt. I still think they were the band that made punk rock a joke and ruined it for a lot of other bands.

Well, I don't entirely want to make this a mutual wankfest, but thank you, and I 110% agree with the last sentence in your post.  They ruined punk rock and made it a joke. Exactly.

[SPARX]

PIL were a much better band than the Pistols anyway IMHO and the
 chance of them even being nominated is probably slim to
 none. I give the Pitols props in helping to getting  a movement up and running, not their minisacule musical contributions,although they had a few.

[Herr Professor Doktor Doom]

this is a delightfully condescending quote:
 
 

Executive director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, Susan Evans, said: "They are being the outrageous punksters they are, and that's rock 'n' roll."

[ggw]

I always liked Henry Rollins quote about the Sex Pistols:
 
 "I thought they were more 'cute' than anything else.  If John Lydon were here right now, I'd pet him like a little lapdog."

[Bombay Chutney]

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
  can anyone say "publicity stunt for tired old band that needs to make some headlines to stay somewhat relevant"?

I just think they're being lazy.  If they really wanted to make headlines they'd show up and cause trouble.  
 
 I don't really blame them though. No matter what they do, people are going to give them crap about it.  People will call the letter a lazy publicity stunt.  If they showed up and caused trouble, people would call it contrived, staged and a last gasp for attention.  If they show up and say "thank you" people would call them sellouts.
 
 They can't win.  The easiest thing to do is cop the official Sex Pistols attitude and stay home.

[kosmo vinyl]

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  I always liked Henry Rollins quote about the Sex Pistols:
 
 "I thought they were more 'cute' than anything else.  If John Lydon were here right now, I'd pet him like a little lapdog."

this coming from the man who sang "tv party" and probably advanced using "Black Flag Kills Ants on Contact" as the bands statement against Adam and the Ants.  
 
 I think the Sex Pistols have the full right to say the Hall of Fame awards suck and choose not to particate.  It's become nothing more than a another marketing tool and ego stroking event for all those involved.

[set1914]

Say what you might about the Sex Pistols...
 
 When I saw them live (Patriot Center and 9:30) they rocked out.

[Mobius]

It seems to me the Sex Pistols had an enormously positive influence on music.  It seems like every great British band emerging in the late 70's was either linked to or inspired by them.  Like in 24 Hour Party People, you see that Factory Records was created after the label head saw a Sex Pistols show that Joy Divsion was also at.  They didn't kill punk rock, and they didn't kill the Ramones.  The Ramones didn't sell before the Pistols and they didn't sell after and they always had a soft spot and always played songs like Needles and Pins - like I Want to Be Your Boyfriend on their first.   I think the Ramones schtick had a limited shelf-life, as did the Pistols, and the better course may have been to stop (like the Pistols did) than to run it into the ground.
 
 Just about every song on Never Mind the Bollocks is a a classic, and that and their charisma inspired all the bands that inspired all the bands that inspired all the bands - either directly or indirectly.  Mclaren put them together, but so what?  Should we say Jerry Kraus deserves the credit for the 90's Bulls and not Jordan and Pippen??  Jones and Lydon were an all-time classic guitarist/frontman, albeit for a limited time, but at a pivotal time.
 
 It seems silly for them to take a "punk" stand against the Hall of Fame as old well-past-soldout geezers, but as silly as it is, its nice to see some kind of stand against the disneyfication of the history of music.

[chancegardener]

In 1977, when I was 15 years old, and the pop music world was a wasteland of disco, Billy Joel, Peter Frampton and Yes, the Sex Pistols import singles saved rock music for me and game something of my own, something brand fucking new and scabrously raw, hilarious, subversive and headbangingly great. "Holidays", "Pretty Vacant", "Anarchy", "God Save the Queen" .. and album tracks like "EMI" and "Bodies" .. these songs are still thrilling to this day. I remember craving a chance to see them when they did that first US tour. But they toured the south, which basically destroyed them. And then of course Sid (who was just a prop anyway) destroyed himself. Thankfully John kept going and was relevant in the 80s with PiL (that show back at the Warner in 1986, the one with the Beasties opening, was classic), so his place in rock history was enhanced.  The later Pistols reunion tours (at the Pat Center and the 930) were nostalgia-fests to be sure, but they were certainly hard-rocking and rude. And I picked up a swell "God Save the Queen" coffee mug that I use to this day. So I'm glad for what they were, and what they've meant for me. When I was a kid, they were the first in a fairly short list of rock 'n' roll saviors.