44 years ago, on October 28th 1977, the album “Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols” was released on Virgin Records. Here’s what happened as the establishment went into total meltdown.
The Sex Pistols released their seminal album, “Never Mind The Bollocks…” after signing for EMI. But first they left EMI and signed for A&M. Then they left A&M and then signed for Virgin. Then they released their album. It is their only album release and it was quite a good one. However, before it was released they had already released a number of noteworthy singles. Let’s take a quick look at them now and set the scene for the wonderful establishment upset.
Anarchy
The first single The Sex Pistols released was “Anarchy In The UK” which hit the shops on 26th November 1976 on the EMI label and reached #38 in the UK charts. Next up on the Sex Pistols ‘shock-show’ was the memorable five minute interview on Bill Grundy’s Today Show on the 1st December, which soon descended into abuse and farce and then spawned the single “Where’s Bill Grundy Now?” by the TV Personalities.
The Sex Pistols & The Today Show
The Pistols had only been invited on the show because megastars Queen were unable to attend (apparently Freddie had a cold) and so were drafted in as last minute replacements. They were shown to the Green Room where guitarist Steve Jones downed a bottle of Blue Nun in readiness for his TV appearance. And what an appearance it was.
Bassist Glen Matlock said they were rehearsing for a tour with Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, when manager Malcolm McLaren received a call regarding the TV slot. A Limo was sent to pick them up. “We’re not going and we’re not getting in that”, said Glen. It was only when McLaren explained that they wouldn’t be paid if they didn’t go, that they finally acquiesced.
Siouxsie
The clip can be seen here. The language is somewhat “industrial” but not particularly poor considering today’s standards of acceptability. These days, most people seem to be more concerned with Bill ‘chatting up’ Siouxsie, of Siouxsie and the Banshees, who was there as a fan of the band (before the Banshees were formed).
Poor old Bill didn’t work on mainstream TV again and the public were so incensed (helped along by the extremely incensed media/establishment) that Thames TV were forced to issue a public apology.
The tabloids also loved every minute of hating the Pistols and lapped up their indiscretions with bombastic vitriol. Especially The Sun and The Mirror.
Jubilee
In June 1977 it was the turn of The Queen and the Silver Jubilee. This one had nothing to do with Freddie however and was all about Queen Liz 2 (gawd bless ‘er). The Pistols decided to mark the occasion by releasing the single “God Save The Queen” which didn’t really paint the ‘happy-go-lucky’ monarch in a totally positive light. Lyrics such as:-
“They made you a moron, potential H-Bomb”
were viewed by the incensed media/establishment as somewhat vulgar and offensive.
It was banned by the BBC, a host of ‘Independent’ radio stations, and record shops, making it the most censored record in British history. Then, the BBC in conjunction with the British Market Research Bureau, rigged the UK charts to stop it from reaching the No. 1 spot during Jubilee week. Retailers stated that “God Save The Queen” was outselling it’s nearest rivals by 2:1.
A&M
To add to the confusion, A&M had pressed the single, fired the Pistols the next week and the single was finally released on Virgin Records. This A&M version therefore is fairly rare and quite expensive. On the “Discogs” vinyl sales database it’s listed as having an average price of £5,658 and a top price of over £12,000. And no, I don’t have a copy (sad face emoji).
So, after all the furore, how exactly were the Pistols supposed to top it once again? Well, simply put, they released an album with ‘offensive’ language on the cover.
Obscenity
When various shops up and down the country started to stock it and display it in their shop windows, police forces were instructed to remove the offensive material and charge the shop owners under the “Obscene Publications Act” of 1427. Well, not quite that bad but not actually that far off.
As usual, the major retailers (Boots, Smiths and Woolies) all banned the album. Virgin Records were selling it (it was on the Virgin label) and the manager of one of its shops in Nottingham, Chris Searle, was charged and arrested with contravening the “Indecent Advertisement Act” of 1889.
Searle found himself in court, but with back-up from Richard Branson, head of Virgin records, who had hired John Mortimer QC (the writer of the “Rumpole of the Bailey” TV series) as defence, they put forward their case.
Etymology
Rumpole, er, I mean Mortimer, argued that the word “Bollocks” was in fact a nonsense statement and called Professor James Kinsley, head of English at the University of Nottingham as an expert witness. The Professor explained the etymology of the word “bollocks” was in fact an Old English term for “priest”. It had also appeared in early English translations of The Bible as a word meaning testicles. It therefore, had no meaning in the context of the phrase in question.
You can read about the trial here….
Never Mind the Court Case – A Look Back at the Sex Pistols’ Obscenity Trial in Nottingham
The Magistrates seemed somewhat put out by the fact they couldn’t send anyone down and the black cap had to wait for another day.1
They summarised thus:-
“Much as my colleagues and I wholeheartedly deplore the vulgar exploitation of the worst instincts of human nature for the purchases of commercial profits by both you and your company, we must reluctantly find you not guilty of each of the four charges.”
In other words, “We’ve all worked really hard to find you guilty but it appears the law states you’re not, so unfortunately we’ll have to go with that.”
Aftermath
Despite its notoriety and sales bans, the album debuted at #1 in the UK charts with 125,000 advanced orders, went ‘gold’ a few weeks later and spent over a year in the Top 75. It went on to sell over 2 million copies and today is seen as the definitive punk album. Then it spawned a TV Series and numerous memes.
Album Title
But where did the title come from? Steve Jones explained it was a phrase some fans used which effectively meant, “Don’t concern yourself with unnecessary trivia.” But that’s not a very good title for an album, so they went with “Never Mind The Bollocks” instead.
These days the album cover adorns T-Shirts, Mugs, Clocks, Key Rings, Socks, Bedding and numerous other assorted paraphernalia. And for good reason too. Because it still sells merchandise. But for a short time, not so long ago, when I was 17, a man went to prison. Because he put a record sleeve in a shop window.
Thank you for your time.
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