The Sex Pistols were revolutionary. These reluctant Rock and Roll Hall of Famers were the epitome of English punk rock in the 70s, giving the finger to traditional conformity and, well, everyone.
Their sole studio album, Never Mind The Bollocks...Here’s The Sex Pistols, was insanely influential in the realm of punk music, and considered the second-best album of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. The track list included "God Save the Queen", "Bodies", and "Anarchy in the UK".
A single album, and they have received some of the highest honors in music. That should tell you a little bit about the impact these guys had.
The Sex Pistols
(Don't you wish you could do just one thing and be remembered forever for it? Me, too.)
The band consisted of Johnny Rotten (lead vocalist), Steve Johns (guitarist), Paul Cook (drummer), Glen Matlock (the original bassist), and Sid Vicious (the replacement bassist after Matlock’s departure). Their style emerged from the underground anti-BDSM looks brought to life by designers like Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. McLaren ended up managing the band. He had his own streak of rebellious marketing, so it was a match made in heaven.
The incredible shirt that inspired today’s T-shirt Tuesday is this one of a kind deadstock Sex Pistols shirt we just put up on the website HERE!
It’s printed inside out, so all the seams and the tag are on display for the world to see. The shirt is an original from the 70s designed by Vivienne Westwood (remember? Her boutique partially inspired punk fashion!). A tribute to the original Never Mind The Bollocks album design, this shirt is a colorful, screen-printed reminder of the glory days of solid punk music.
Like Siouxsie Sioux or Billy Idol? Their musical styles were born out of the Sex Pistols' sound. Ever listened to Green Day, Guns n Roses, or Nirvana? Yep, those guys count punk rock-and the Sex Pistols by extension-among their influences.
According to the band, saying “Never Mind the Bollocks” is like saying “Stop talking sh*t”. But it wouldn't be punk without the naysayers, would it?
This album created a buzz of controversy that would make 2018 controversies look on with inspired awe. People took issue with the word “bollocks”. They took issue with the obscenity-laden lyrics and the Sex Pistols’ public image and overt societal criticisms. They didn't like that they questioned and rejected the status quo.
It sounds like they could do nothing right. But to some, all these things meant the Sex Pistols were doing everything right.
The Sex Pistols thrived on the controversy, and the backlash may very well have been the key ingredient to not only their crazy success, but their legacy. They never took off in America the way they did in the UK in the 70s, but their legacy reaches much farther than England. What do we love more than people who say “eff you” to society? We all strive to be like that, to varying degrees of success.
And when we don’t succeed? Well, bands like the Sex Pistols will challenge the world for us.
Check out our other Sex Pistols tees HERE!