Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols

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Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols cover
Studio album by Sex Pistols
Released October 28, 1977 (UK) November 10, 1977 (US)
Recorded October 1976,
March to June 1977,
August 1977 at Wessex Studios in London
Genre Punk
Length 38:47
Label Virgin (UK)
Warner Bros. (US)
Producer(s) Chris Thomas, Bill Price
Professional reviews
Sex Pistols chronology
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
(1977)		 The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
(1979)


Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols is a 1977 album recorded by the seminal English punk band, Sex Pistols. It is now regarded as a classic and influential rock and roll album by many fans and critics alike.

The album was released on October 28, 1977 on the Virgin Records label. It is the only "official" album recorded by the Sex Pistols in their short 2½ year career, although the songs have appeared on many compilation albums (the group had effectively disbanded less than three months after its release). Additionally, many of the songs were featured in the film, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, a "mockumentary" loosely based on the Sex Pistols, but more about their infamous manager (and the film's mastermind), Malcolm McLaren and his stated goal of "making a million pounds".

Older versions of most of these songs also appear on a bootleg album called Spunk, which consists of demo recordings the band had made during 1976 and January 1977, which was released shortly before Never Mind the Bollocks.

Kerrang Magazine named it the best Punk Rock album of all time. [1]

Contents

[edit] Overview

Never Mind the Bollocks was met by a hail of controversy in the U.K. upon its release. The first documented legal problems involved the allegedly 'obscene' name of the album, and the prosecution of the owner of a Nottingham record shop (and label owner Richard Branson) for having displayed it in a window. However, at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on 24 November 1977, defending Queen's Counsel John Mortimer produced expert witnesses who were able to demonstrate that the word "bollocks" was actually a legitimate Old English term originally used to refer to a priest, and which, in the context of the title, meant "nonsense". The chairman of the hearing was forced to conclude:

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.[1]

Far more intense outrage was sparked by the lyrics of the songs "God Save the Queen" and "Anarchy in the U.K.", as well as Jamie Reid's cover art for the single of "God Save the Queen". Both were perceived as musical assaults on the monarchy and civil society. In particular, "God Save the Queen" was viewed as a direct personal attack on Queen Elizabeth II. Guitarist Steve Jones, and singer Johnny Rotten, have both insisted that it was not the Queen that the band directed their animus towards, but other members of the royal house and the British government in general. In either case, the notoriety did little to harm the record's sales in the UK.

Rotten's bitten, over-articulated, angry vocals and his intentional avoidance of "good" singing were startlingly original in style, at that time, and his use of profanity and deliberately inflammatory language seemed downright shocking. He alternately screams and whines about corporate control, intellectual vacuity, and political hypocrisy, while guitarist Jones' multi-layered guitar tracks create a "wall of noise" to counter him. The solid rhythm section of bassist Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook provide an effective foil to Rotten's sneering, contemptuous delivery.

Producer Chris Thomas took a different approach to recording Never Mind the Bollocks than was to become the norm on most later punk albums. Instead of capturing a "raw" or "live" sound, Thomas achieved a very clear, broad, and layered sonic palette via multiple guitar overdubs, and extremely tight musicianship. He said: "Anarchy has something like a dozen guitars on it; I sort of orchestrated it, double-tracking some bits and separating the parts and adding them, et cetera … It was quite labored. The vocals were labored, as well." However, some, purists in particular, have argued that the album is over-produced, and that the impact of the songs is diminished by the refined sound quality. Some critics further contend that the Sex Pistols had lost their initial spark of energy and exuberance by the time Never Mind the Bollocks was recorded, and that any anger present in the songs sounds contrived. Nonetheless, the album's anger and energy are considered to have been trailblazing precedents for the then-nascent Punk Rock movement.

Another standard from the album, "Pretty Vacant" also earned the ire of the British music industry. In his delivery of the song's title in the chorus, Johnny Rotten heavily accents the second syllable of the word "vacant", and clips it very short in stark contrast to his drawn out delivery of the first syllable. Critics and fans alike have noted that it actually sounds like "cunt". Some allege it was deliberate; others counter that it's actually Rotten's accent leading people to the misinterpretation. It does seem unlikely the sharp-witted Rotten would have failed to notice (and savor) the implicit wordplay.

Sid Vicious contributed little to Never Mind the Bollocks; an attempt was made to have him record a bass track for "God Save the Queen", but in the final mix, this is subliminal at best. By the time the album was completed, he had practiced for several months, and most sources agree he plays on the last song recorded, "Bodies". Bass duties were handled primarily by guitarist Steve Jones; original bassist Glen Matlock played on one song, "Anarchy in the U.K.", but left the group in February 1977, before the album was completed. Matlock's and Jones' bass contributions were kept secret at the time of the album's release, since Virgin had no right to reissue the recording made under the group's contract to EMI, and since Vicious was fast becoming the most popular member of the band. Vicious also contributed to backing vocals.

[edit] Charting and influence

Never Mind the Bollocks reached #1 on the official UK album chart, but, in the U.S., it peaked at just #106 on the Billboard album chart. Although the album's sales were slim outside Britain, the Sex Pistols established a wild and large reputation in the burgeoning punk scene; they were never able to capitalize on their celebrity, however, and the band broke up in 1978.

The years have been far kinder to the album, on the other hand. For example, in 1998, Q magazine readers voted Never Mind the Bollocks the 30th greatest album of all time, and in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 10 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The VH1 network named it as the 17th greatest album of all time in 2003. And in 1987 Rolling Stone magazine named it the second-most important album of the previous 20 years, behind only The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album is also number 1 in the Top 50 Albums Ever in the Kerrang! playlist.

In general, most critics and musicians consider Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols to have been a, and perhaps the, central formative influence on Punk Rock music.

[edit] Track listing

The original UK album (Virgin V2086) contained only eleven tracks, before the group changed their mind and decided to include "Submission".

However, Virgin had already pre-emptively produced stampers for the eleven-track version, and by early October 1977 had already pressed 1,000 copies. Rather than scrap these, Virgin released them anyway, initially as promos, then commercially, as an attempt to counteract a sudden flood of imports from France, where a twelve-track version of the album (including "Submission") had been released in mid-October by Barclay Records.

In response to this, Virgin also brought forward the album's intended UK release date by a week, and instead of waiting for the twelve-track album to be mastered, issued further copies of the eleven-track album (reportedly 50,000 copies, although some collectors now dispute these official figures as on the high side). Most of these copies included a poster and "Submission" as a freebie single.

The twelve-track UK version began appearing in early November 1977.

As a result of the track listing confusion, several variants of the UK back sleeve exist: completely blank; omitting "Submission"; including "Submission"; and a misprint including "Belsen Was a Gas" and omitting several other tracks, based on artwork for an earlier rejected track listing.

All songs written by Steve Jones/Glen Matlock/Paul Cook/Johnny Rotten, except * by Jones/Cook/Rotten/Sid Vicious. All lyrics by Rotten (original "Seventeen" lyrics by Jones, original "Pretty Vacant" lyrics by Matlock).

[edit] Eleven track version

[edit] Side one

  1. "Holidays in the Sun" – 3:22 *
  2. "Liar" – 2:41
  3. "No Feelings" – 2:51
  4. "God Save the Queen" – 3:20
  5. "Problems" – 4:11

[edit] Side two

  1. "Seventeen" – 2:02
  2. "Anarchy in the U.K." – 3:32
  3. "Bodies" – 3:03 *
  4. "Pretty Vacant" – 3:18
  5. "New York" – 3:07
  6. "EMI" – 3:10
  • "Submission" was included with most copies as a one-sided seven-inch single (VDJ 24).

[edit] Twelve track version

[edit] Side one

  1. "Holidays in the Sun" – 3:22 *
  2. "Bodies" – 3:03 *
  3. "No Feelings" – 2:51
  4. "Liar" – 2:41
  5. "God Save the Queen" – 3:20
  6. "Problems" – 4:11

[edit] Side two

  1. "Seventeen" – 2:02
  2. "Anarchy in the U.K." – 3:32
  3. "Submission" – 4:12
  4. "Pretty Vacant" – 3:18
  5. "New York" – 3:07
  6. "EMI" – 3:10
  • USA (Warner Bros. BSK3147) and Canada (Warner Bros. KBS3147) artwork is green on pink, track listing reverses "God Save the Queen" and "Problems".
  • Original French track listing (Barclay Records 941 001) as UK eleven-track version with "Submission" at the end of side one.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Miscellanea

  • Recording engineer Bill Price has related that, during the recording of the album, Queen were recording their album News of the World in the next studio and Rotten was eager to meet Freddie Mercury. He therefore crawled on all fours through Queen's studio, up to the side of the piano where Freddie was playing and said "Hello Freddie!", then crawled back out again.[2]
  • The title of this album was later parodied by the punk band Chumbawamba in their 1987 album, "Never Mind the Ballots". Further playing on the title of the Sex Pistols' album was the album's second side, a thirteen minute track entitled "Here's The Rest Of Your Life". Given that each side is, in this instance, given an individual title on the record sleeve [The first side given the album title and the second side being simply called Here's the Rest Of Your Life] the unofficial full title of the album [and frequently used by fans and in some reviews] is "Never Mind The Ballots (... Here's the Rest of Your Life)"

[edit] Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1977 UK Albums Chart 1
1978 Billboard 106

[edit] Certifications

Organization Level Date
BPI – UK Gold November 17, 1977
BPI – UK Platinum January 15, 1988
RIAA – USA Gold December 2, 1987
RIAA – USA Platinum March 26, 1992

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ross Stapleton (October 7, 2004). Never mind the bollocks - here's the court case!. Crikey website. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.
  2. ^ (2002) Classic Albums: Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols. Isis/Eagle Rock Entertainment.

[edit] External links


Sex Pistols
John Lydon | Steve Jones | Glen Matlock | Paul Cook | Sid Vicious
Discography
Studio albums: Never Mind the Bollocks, 1977
Live and compilation releases: Some Product: Carri on Sex Pistols, 1979 | The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, 1980 | Flogging a Dead Horse, 1980
Related articles
Public Image Ltd. | Malcolm McLaren | Jamie Reid | Ronnie Biggs | Edward Tudor-Pole | The Professionals | The Filth and the Fury | Punk rock
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