Big John Lydon news…
Virgin Records today re-issue Greatest Hits So Far on vinyl. The double vinyl is be a replica of the original 1990 release as part of Universal's Back to Black series.
Now repressed onto 2 LP 180gm heavy-duty vinyl with reproduction gatefold sleeve and inner sleeves with full lyrics, the album also comes with a voucher to download an MP3 version of the entire collection. Limited while stocks last.
Greatest Hits So Far is available to order online via the Universal vinyl webstore...
Side 1:
Public Image / Death Disco (7" Mix) / Memories / Careering
Side 2:
Flowers Of Romance / This Is Not A Love Song (LP Version) / Rise (Bob Clearmountain Remix) / Home
Side 3:
Seattle / The Body (UK 12" Remix) / Rules And Regulations
Side 4:
Disappointed (12" Mix) / Warrior (Dave Dorrell Remix) / Don't Ask Me
PiL: Greatest Hits So Far
Virgin Records (535 109-2)
Released July 14th 2014 (UK, Europe, Japan, Australia)
Greatest Hits So Far is available to order online via the Universal vinyl webstore...
Record Store Day this Saturday, April 19th…
For Record Store Day 2014 (this Saturday 19th April) the Sex Pistols will release a limited edition numbered 7×7” vinyl box set featuring alternative takes of ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols‘. See News March 17th for more info…
Record Store Day – NMTB alternative takes box set...
Record Store Day 2014 – Never Mind The Bollocks Alternative takes (7×7” box set)
SINGLE 1
Holidays in the Sun (Rough Mix)
Produced by Chris Thomas, Engineered by Bill Price
Wessex Studios, London, April 22nd 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar & Bass / Paul Cook: Drums
Body (Demo)
Produced by Chris Thomas, Engineered by Bill Price
Wessex Studios, London, June 11th 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar / Paul Cook: Drums / Sid Vicious: Bass
SINGLE 2
No Feeling (Demo)
Produced by Dave Goodman
Riverside Recordings Studio July 27th 1976
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar / Paul Cook: Drums / Glen Matlock: Bass
Liar (Demo)
Produced by Dave Goodman
Recorded at Gooseberry Sound Studios, London, January 17-20th 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar / Paul Cook: Drums / Glen Matlock: Bass
SINGLE 3
No Future (Demo)
Produced by Dave Goodman
Recorded at Gooseberry Sound Studios, London, January 17-20th 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar / Paul Cook: Drums / Glen Matlock: Bass
Problems (Demo)
Produced by Dave Goodman
Recorded at Gooseberry Sound Studios, London, January 17-20th 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar / Paul Cook: Drums / Glen Matlock: Bass
SINGLE 4
Seventeen (Rough Mix)
Produced by Chris Thomas, Engineered by Bill Price
Wessex Studios, London, May 16th 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar & Bass / Paul Cook: Drums
Anarchy in the UK (Alternate Mix)
Produced by Chris Thomas, Engineered by Bill Price
Wessex Studios, London, November 11th 1976
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar & Bass / Paul Cook: Drums
SINGLE 5
Submission (Rough Mix)
Produced by Chris Thomas, Engineered by Bill Price
Wessex Studios, London, April 22nd 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar & Bass / Paul Cook: Drums
Pretty Vacant (Demo)
Produced by Dave Goodman
Recorded at Gooseberry Sound Studios, London, January 17-20th 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar / Paul Cook: Drums / Glen Matlock: Bass
SINGLE 6
New York (Demo)
Produced by Dave Goodman
Recorded at Gooseberry Sound Studios, London, January 17-20th 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar / Paul Cook: Drums / Glen Matlock: Bass
EMI (Rough Mix)
Produced by Chris Thomas, Engineered by Bill Price
Wessex Studios, London, April 22nd 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar & Bass / Paul Cook: Drums
SINGLE 7
Belsen Was A Gas (Demo)
Produced by John Tiberi
Denmark Street Rehearsal Room, London, September 20th 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar / Paul Cook: Drums / Sid Vicious: Bass
Belsen Was A Gas (Demo 2) *previously unreleased
Produced by John Tiberi
Denmark Street Rehearsal Room, London, September 20th 1977
John Lydon: Vocals / Steve Jones: Guitar / Paul Cook: Drums / Sid Vicious: Bass
Sex Pistols' John Lydon to publish new autobiography
Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) is to publish a new autobiography.
The hardback version of the book will hit shelves in October and will be written by Lydon along with music journalist Andrew Perry.
"This book is basically about the life of a serious risk-taker," Lydon said. "I make things safe for other people to follow on in my wake. I’m a stand-up-and-be-counted fella – but that’s in a world where nobody seems to be able to count."
Publishing company Simon & Schuster has signed the world rights to the autobiography, The Bookseller reports. Commissioning editor Kerri Sharp said: "Since the mid-1970s he has consistently inspired both musically and politically. My life changed when I saw the Sex Pistols in 1977 and to publish John’s book is a dream come true. This will be a lively, rock 'n' roll ripping yarn full of opinion and surprises whilst also being a thoughtful and mature look back at one of history’s most extraordinary lives."
The as-yet untitled autobiography will follow Lydon's 1994 book Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, which was co-authored with Kent and Keith Zimmerman.
'Jesus Christ Superstar' Tour Starring Johnny Rotten Abruptly Canceled
The touring production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" starring the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten and Incubus' Brandon Boyd has been abruptly called to a halt. The New York Times reports that the production company S2BN announced on Friday that the "Jesus Christ Superstar Arena Spectacular Tour" was canceled and that all purchased tickets would be refunded.
15 Rock & Roll Rebels: The Sex Pistols
Rotten (a.k.a. John Lydon) was cast as King Herod in the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice rock opera, alongside Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child as Mary Magdalene, Boyd as Judas, 'NSync’s JC Chasez as Pontius Pilate and British reality TV winner Ben Forster as Jesus. The cast had been rehearsing in New Orleans on Thursday, and performances were set to start on June 9th at the city's Lakefront Arena. The tour, which was scheduled to hit massive venues like the Staples Center in Los Angeles and New York City's Madison Square Garden, would have been the show's largest since its debut in 1971.
In an interview with Rolling Stone after the production was announced in April, Boyd said that he was thrilled to be a part of the production. "I grew up on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classics and never imagined I would be playing a role in one, let alone with such an incredibly diverse cast of players," he said. Like several other cast members, Brandon took to Twitter on Friday evening to express his disappointment. "I got fired from #JesusChristSuperstar today....but so did the rest of the cast so we're all sad together," he wrote. "Yeah, it's true. Tour cancelled"
Glen Matlock: 'No matter what we do, nothing will equate to the Sex Pistols'
Hello Glen, how are you?
I'm good. Bright and early, in my local coffee shop in London. It's a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. Is this still the Manchester Guardian? Are you a cohort of Bill Grundy's (1)? Er ... you've just put out a book documenting the Sex Pistols' 1996 reunion tour, Filthy Lucre. Why now, after 18 years?
Well, that tour was in the days before iPhones and camera phones. I took loads of photos on a series of disposable cameras and threw them all in a box, where they've been sitting there ever since. I got them out of my attic recently and one of my mates had a butchers and said, "Wow, these would make a great book." If I'd been wiser I'd have waited another two years for the 20th anniversary, but there's stuff that no one's ever seen before. The Sex Pistols at Osaka aquarium is a first, anyway.
They're surprisingly feel good photos, like Sex Pistols holiday snaps. Holidays in the Sun, even …
Yeah, I think so. It's been well documented that there was a lot of shit between me and John [Rotten] over the years but it was a good way of building some bridges, making some money and seeing the world. John, Steve [Jones], Paul [Cook] and myself have got something in common that no other four people in the world have. We're the Sex Pistols and that's something to be celebrated I think.
You were one of the first big bands to reform.
I like to think we always start a trend. I was hanging out in LA with time on my hands and I looked up Steve Jones. I hadn't seen him for 17 years. As soon as I saw him he said, "Let's go and see Rotten …"
Did it feel very different the second time around? You were a married man with kids.
It was kinda different. But it felt natural. No matter what we've all done individually, nothing is ever going to equate to the Sex Pistols. I think we collectively thought, "Well, that's what people want, let's give it to them." The biggest gig I did with the Pistols first time around was to 600 people. The second time round it was 125,000.
Was it a different dynamic between you as people?
I liked John's quote that we might not be the best of friends but we certainly aren't the best of enemies. Flying first-class around the world was a bit different to being stuck in the back of a Transit getting on each other's nerves.
Was the chemistry still there onstage?
The first gig it was pissing down in Germany. It was all right … then we did one in Helsinki at some place next to an ostrich farm. That wasn't so great. Then we had to come back and play in front of 30,000 people at Finsbury Park, and it all came together. All these people coming together to see a band that hadn't made a record in 20 years.
