While We’re On Classic English Punk. . .

Just ordered John Lydon’s new biography Anger Is An Energy for Amazon Prime delivery on Thursday. I looked at it at Barnes & Noble and it must be 500 pages. (I’m definitely a guy who shops at B&N and buys on Amazon and will be the first to bitch and whine when B&N goes under. What a hypocrite.)

Why does Lydon need another biography? I guess I’ll find out, but I read the first one years ago and liked it a lot. Ty Cobb must be up to like five bios at this point, with a brand new one also on the shelves. I’ve only read the I-think-most-well-known-supposedly-much-tall-tales-and-nonsense one by Al Stump.

And forgive me for treating you like a musical three-year-old, but the new Lydon bio inspired me to listen to the Pistols’ Spunk, the prior-to-Sid Bollocks version with Matlock on bass. Again, I’m guessing you all have this as well as Bollocks and you know that Steve Jones (the guitarist on both albums) played bass on Bollocks, because, true to his rep, Sid couldn’t play.

I give you a typical choice here in Anarchy. Notice the more raw sound, the bouncy bass and Lydon’s a-little-flatter-than-Bollocks vocals as well as slightly different lyrics and delivery.

It isn’t difficult to tell Steve Jones played bass on Bollocks because, on that version, the bass simply doubles the guitar, creating quite a powerful sound wall, but very different from the Matlock Spunk recordings.

Hey, if I taught one person one thing today, maybe it was worth it. I’ll let you know on the book.

4 thoughts on “While We’re On Classic English Punk. . .

  1. I love ’em both. A great band doing a great song. The demo is a little more ferocious which is really saying something since the single is very possibly the most ferocious hit record of all time. I mean, what’s the competition? Tutti-Frutti? The other Pistols’ singles, all three of them? I don’t count Something Else here although that too is great. The Clash? Definitely in the discussion but for sheer musical rage it’s gotta be the Pistols. The record version has one edge: the wall of guitars sound that I love so dearly.

  2. The production on Never Mind the Bollocks is really good. A perfectly conceived conception perfectly presented. But I too love the demos and the auditions, because Jones and Cook were true believers and Matlock was a talent, and Lydon was/is a reality star. Or a true star, however you want to frame it.

  3. I would challenge “Anarchy” in terms of ferocity with my two favorite songs of all-time – “Search & Destroy” and “Kick Out The Jams.”

Leave a Reply to Gene McCaffreyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.