The Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (virgin-1977)
This blog is for albums I feel people have missed out on and also ones I feel have undersold. This is not so much a review of the album as we have all heard this (I hope). But more info on it.
Out in October 1977 this album had to live up to the hype of what punk rock was. And it did, the fans went out and bought it to the point it got a gold award (100,000) in the UK within a few weeks. The album was a gamble by the record company and well, any record company. The hard work paid off.
Hitting the top of the charts as well in 1977 many kids got this and instantly went on to form bands and learn how to play. For anyone to want to play in a band they must want success, I mean who would want to play a gig to know one? The band wanted more success and also money. This album should have provided this. but the media in the UK had painted them as some sort of terrorist faction. So bad was the heat in the UK the band just could not play. Banned in many towns and cities in the UK it is hard to promote an album if you can't play live.
As a music fan I see a band on record as a totally different entity as a live act. Bands like this who thrive and exist due to live gigs the album can be like a keepsake, a memento if you like of a great live gig. But for many this was not the case banned even in Glasgow where the Lord Provost said "that Scotland had enough hooligans already without importing them from south of the border" Ha ha, what can a band do? banned in Glasgow! John loved it. But even outside the UK. Banned by the Catholic church in Italy and Ireland. The next gig was all the way to Norway.
And now onto why this album is in my blog. A blog for albums you may have missed. And for some who read this you may have heard some of the songs on this album. And liked them but it is a great album well produced and well written. It was so much more than it should have been. It was expected to be loud and noisy and a total mess. But producer Chris Thomas has worked with some of the biggest and best in the business (Floyd, Beatles) and his skills are used well here. Extracting some great music and recording something unknown at the time was to be one of the most influential albums ever made.
Even as the album was being recorded the band had no bass player and also no record deal. And half way through Thomas left the recording to leave studio engineer Bill Price to produce some of it. A band that could not get a gig or a record contract facing an uphill struggle and people wonder why they were full of anger. Contrary to popular belief the band was in good spirits when recording. More to do with not really knowing what they were doing. Add in the sacking of Glen Matlock who was the bands member with any real music knowledge.
As the album was about to be released the record company learned that demos of the same tracks were going to be released in France a week before this album. That other album was to be called 'Spunk' and was easy to get in the UK as the importing of albums was a big seller then. With this in mind Virgin rushed the albums release a week early. In doing so an error in the printing of the album missed out one track that was included on the French LP. Know one would buy an album that was missing a track so the LP was accompanied with a 7" single that had the missing song 'Submission'.
Once in the shops the album sold and thankfully music shops found the sale of guitars, drums and bass guitars wee also increasing. back in 77 the only way to learn was to listen and you need a teacher. This album has that, great songwriting that still means something. Johns voice has such a venomous rasp. He sings what he believes add in Steve Jones a riff machine that could give Toni Iommi a run for his money. Countless bands were formed and all because of this album. I really think if this album was crap or a least sounded bad I think everything could have been different. Even to the point a second album could have been made. Again not to go over old ground but the band fell apart while in America on tour. Missing any real normality the band were hounded everywhere and were pretty much locked out of the UK. This album has had so much of an effect on the band that both Steve and John moved to the US as they just could not stay in the UK.
What happened after this was pretty much called post Punk as many of the band changed there style. More aggressive music came out like Discharge and this in turn would go on to start the Hardcore Punk/Metal, Thrash, Grindcore and on an on it goes...
One thing that is shocking is the album too 11 years to go Platinum (300,000) in the UK. Getting to this in 1988. That means the album slowly sold over time. Kids getting to read about the punks and wanting to hear it. By the 1990s music and the industry had changed. Green Day and the Offspring would sell a shed load of albums (Dookie sold 10 million in the US alone). In a way the band were before there time and also a bit behind. There sound and style is not a million miles away from MC5 but the timing was what made it here.
I have this album here as I think many people have overlooked this album. More so the kids, the album is a history lesson as well as a rock n roll album. Hated by adults and loathed by the establishment. The band and album seem to set up boundaries and it simply would not have happened if it was crap. If you own any of the 90s punk bands albums and not this then seriously get a copy. If you have had it for years give it another spin you may be shocked at how fresh is sounds.
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