7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7Thrown together in September 1975 by manager
Malcolm McLaren to promote Sex, his London clothing
store, the Sex Pistols began mixing 1960s English pop
music influences (the Small Faces, the Who) with those of
1970s rock renegades (Iggy and the Stooges, the New York
Dolls) in an attempt to strip rock’s complexities to the
bone. By the summer of 1976 the Sex Pistols had attracted
an avid fan base and successfully updated the energies of
the 1960s mods for the malignant teenage mood of the
’70s. Heavily stylized in their image and music, media-
savvy, and ambitious in their use of lyrics, the Sex Pistols
became the leaders of a new teenage movement—called
punk by the British press—in the autumn of 1976. Their
first single, “Anarchy in the U.K.,” was both a call to arms
and a state-of-the-nation address. When they used profanity
on live television in December 1976, the group became a
national sensation. Scandalized in the tabloid press, the
Sex Pistols were dropped by their first record company,
EMI, in January 1977; their next contract, with A&M
Records, was severed after only a few days in March.
Signing quickly with Virgin Records, the Sex Pistols
released their second single, “God Save the Queen,” in
June 1977 to coincide with Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver
Jubilee (the 25th anniversary of her accession to the
throne). Although banned by the British media, the single
rose rapidly to number two on the charts. As “public ene-
mies number one,” the Sex Pistols were subjected to
physical violence and harassment.
Despite a second Top Ten record, “Pretty Vacant,” the
Sex Pistols stalled. Barely able to play in the United
Kingdom because of local government bans, they became
mired in preparations for a film and the worsening drug
use of Rotten’s friend Vicious, who had replaced Matlock
in February 1977. Their bunker mentality is evident on
their third Top Ten hit, “Holidays in the Sun.” By the