Fact #163659
When:
Short story:
The Sex Pistols release a new single, Anarchy In The UK. This evening, they play at the Polytechnic, Hendon, where they perform No Future (which will eventually become God Save The Queen) for the first time.
Full article:
Nick Mobbs (EMI Records AAndR man) : When Anarchy finally came out, it was incredibly commercial, much more so than I would ever have dreamed. A wall of guitars.
Captain Sensible (The Damned) : Copies of Anarchy In The UK were brought down to Stiff Records hot off the presses. We sat down to listen to it with bated breath. What are our rivals up to? They were rough and ready on stage all right, but no-one knew what they would sound like on record. When we heard it, we all pissed ourselves with laughter. It sounded like some redundant Bad Company out-take with, like, old man Steptoe singing over the top.
Peter Buck (R.E.M.) : The Sex Pistols are great, but they're kind of like the angry Monkees; they were put together and they were - well, you know, it was a package, and we tended to like the stuff that was just a little bit more... out there. I mean, Wire was one of the first bands where we kind of played each other's records and said, you know, 'This is a really great record'
Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze) : Although punk has been an influence, I don’t think we ever want to be associated with it … When I first heard Anarchy In the UK I thought it was a load of crap. I thought the chord sequence was dumb.
Pete Townshend (The Who) : When the New Wave came along, it was a great affirmation. Aye, we’re not dead yet. It freed me and allowed me to be myself. It dignified and allowed me to be cast to one side. I felt very uneasy with the way The Who were inevitably on the road to mega-stardom. I believed that the punk movement would free me from that. It did.
It was the closing of a circle. It was part of what had been nagging at me. It didn’t seem the music business was ever gonna get back to rock again … We were getting older, more mature and settling down.
Tweet this Fact
Captain Sensible (The Damned) : Copies of Anarchy In The UK were brought down to Stiff Records hot off the presses. We sat down to listen to it with bated breath. What are our rivals up to? They were rough and ready on stage all right, but no-one knew what they would sound like on record. When we heard it, we all pissed ourselves with laughter. It sounded like some redundant Bad Company out-take with, like, old man Steptoe singing over the top.
Peter Buck (R.E.M.) : The Sex Pistols are great, but they're kind of like the angry Monkees; they were put together and they were - well, you know, it was a package, and we tended to like the stuff that was just a little bit more... out there. I mean, Wire was one of the first bands where we kind of played each other's records and said, you know, 'This is a really great record'
Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze) : Although punk has been an influence, I don’t think we ever want to be associated with it … When I first heard Anarchy In the UK I thought it was a load of crap. I thought the chord sequence was dumb.
Pete Townshend (The Who) : When the New Wave came along, it was a great affirmation. Aye, we’re not dead yet. It freed me and allowed me to be myself. It dignified and allowed me to be cast to one side. I felt very uneasy with the way The Who were inevitably on the road to mega-stardom. I believed that the punk movement would free me from that. It did.
It was the closing of a circle. It was part of what had been nagging at me. It didn’t seem the music business was ever gonna get back to rock again … We were getting older, more mature and settling down.