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Post by Fuggle on Feb 28, 2006 10:15:56 GMT -5
Sex Pistols Snub ClevelandMon Feb 27, 2006The Sex Pistols have announced, well, more like appropriately vulgarly proclaimed, they want nothing to do with their upcoming induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They're also blowing off the ceremonial dinner at NY's Waldorf-Astoria, saying it's too expensive at $25,000 a table. Band members posted a letter on a U.K. website saying "We're not coming. We're not your monkeys." Even Glen Matlock is pissed off, saying "I thought the whole thing was kind of cool at first. But I wanted to take my kids. And when I found out they charged two-and-a-half thousand dollars for an extra ticket, the whole thing went right down in my estimation." Right on. Never mind the man, here come those Sex Pistols, always looking out for the little people...
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 28, 2006 10:19:00 GMT -5
Sex Pistols say they'll skip induction to rock Hall of Fame
BY RAFER GUZMÁN STAFF WRITER February 25, 2006
Who says the British are always polite?A vulgarity-filled letter posted on a U.K. Web site Friday announced that the Sex Pistols will not attend their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on March 13. "Were not coming," read the misspelled, hand-scrawled, unsigned letter, which smeared the rock hall with four-letter words. "Were not your monkeys." The famously contrarian punk band's publicity firm, The Mitch Schneider Organization, called the RSVP, which appeared on the Web site www.the filthandthefury.co.uk, "the official Sex Pistols announcement." The letter also complained that the band was asked to pay for seating at the ceremony at Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. "Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table, or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery ... Your anonymous as judges, but your still music industry people." Reached by phone Friday, Glen Matlock, the group's original bassist, echoed those comments. "I thought the whole thing was kind of cool at first," he said. "But I wanted to take my kids. And when I found out they charged two-and-a-half thousand dollars for an extra ticket, the whole thing went right down in my estimation." The Rock Hall had no immediate reaction to the letter.
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 28, 2006 10:23:10 GMT -5
Sex Pistols considering Hall of Fame snub
Saturday, February 25, 2006 John Soeder Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic
Never mind the bollocks - here's the Sex Pistols. Or maybe not.The volatile British punk group is threatening to blow off its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "We're not coming," the Pistols said in a handwritten statement issued Friday through the group's publicist and posted on the Pistols-affiliated Web site, www.thefilthandthefury.co.uk. The band is set to be enshrined Monday, March 13, during a ceremony at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, along with Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Money appears to be a sticking point for the Pistols. Inductees attend the gala induction dinner free, but their guests must pay anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500 per plate. "I'm a bit pissed off, to be honest," Pistols bass player Glen Matlock said, reached by phone Friday in England. "I thought it was kind of cool at first. But when I found out I would be charged $2,500 per extra ticket if I take my family, I thought, 'Hang on, something fishy is going on here.' " Matlock said the Pistols likely would be no-shows, although he stopped short of ruling out a change of heart before he cut short the conversation. "I'm not sure what I'm doing yet," he said. "I don't really have anything else to say about it now." "We're not your monkey and so what?" the band said in its grammatically garbled statement, which referred to the Hall of Fame as a urine stain. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland referred questions about the Pistols to the New York City-based Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which oversees the induction process. Foundation officials did not return phone calls. Matlock was a founding member of the Pistols, along with singer John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook. Sid Vicious replaced Matlock on bass in 1977 and died two years later of a heroin overdose. The group's 1977 album "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" is a punk masterpiece. Nonetheless, the Pistols had to be nominated five times before they got enough votes to make the Rock Hall.
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 28, 2006 10:30:45 GMT -5
Sex Pistols snub US Hall of Fame Punk band the Sex Pistols have refused to attend their own induction into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Saturday, 25 February 2006The Pistols' hits included Pretty VacantIn a handwritten note posted on their website, they called the institution "urine in wine". "We're not your monkeys, we're not coming. You're not paying attention," continued the statement. The band, named as inductees alongside Blondie, Herb Alpert and Black Sabbath, were due to take part in an induction ceremony in New York on 13 March. Executive director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, Susan Evans, said: "They are being the outrageous punksters they are, and that's rock 'n' roll." 'Old famous' The note further criticised the Hall of Fame for offering "fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery". It further claimed that the money "goes to a non-profit organisation, selling us a load of old famous". A Hall of Fame representative said each inductee gets two free tickets, with additional ones costing $2,500 (£1,432). The group's letter acknowledged that the organisation's judges are anonymous, but denounced them as "music industry people". Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten once famously derided the rock 'n' roll institution as "a place where old rockers go to die", dubbing it the "Rock and Roll Hall of Shame". The Sex Pistols' notorious hits from the late 1970s include Pretty Vacant and God Save The Queen, while they released just one album before splitting. They reformed for a tour in 1996, and came back in 2002 to re-release God Save The Queen to coincide with the Golden Jubilee. The Sex Pistols, including Johnny Rotten, returned in 1996This was followed with a brief tour of the US a year later. Musicians for the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, based in Cleveland, Ohio, are considered for induction 25 years after their first recording. A shortlist of nominees is sent to an international body of about 700 voting "rock experts".
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 1, 2006 12:23:51 GMT -5
Sex Pistols Insult Rock Hall of Fame
Associated Press
For years, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame didn't deem the Sex Pistols, the revolutionary punk rock band, worthy of inclusion into its ranks. Now that the Sex Pistols have gained entry into the club, they've decided the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame isn't worthy of their presence.
The group was finally inducted into the hall late last year, along with Black Sabbath, Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blondie, and induction ceremonies are scheduled March 13 in New York City.
However, in a crude letter posted on its Web site Friday morning, the group made it clear that they would not be attending.
Comparing the rock hall to "urine in wine," the handwritten letter said: "Were (sic) not coming. Were (sic) not your monkeys and so what?
"Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table, or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non-profit organisation (sic) selling us a load of old famous," the letter read, apparently referring to the cost of attending the dinner, although
a representative for the hall said each inductee gets two free tickets, and other tickets are $2,500. When informed of the group's statement, Susan Evans, the executive director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said: "They are being the outrageous punksters they are, and that's rock and roll."
The Sex Pistols had been eligible for the Rock Hall since 2001, but voters snubbed the groundbreaking punk rock band in favor of contemporaries like Clash, Police and Talking Heads. They broke up after just one album but left a lasting legacy in rock, as Johnny Rotten and late Sid Vicious shocked the rock establishment with songs like "God Save the Queen" and "Pretty Vacant."
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 1, 2006 12:26:39 GMT -5
Sex Pistols Say "Screw You, Hall Of Fame"You may have thought that The Sex Pistols were a tired old reanimated corpse of a band; reality TV veterans who keep reforming in more and more useless ways to convince the world that they're still cool. But The Sex Pistols still know how to stick it to the man! The cheeky rebels have decided that they don't want to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next month. How did they do this? They wrote a nasty letter, that's how. Woo! Punk's not dead, kids! The Sex Pistols (CDs) and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame have something of a chequered history. In the past, The Sex Pistols have been rejected for entry on four separate occasions - possibly because Johnny Rotten kept calling it "The Rock And Roll Hall Of Shame," and labelling it, "a place where old rockers go to die." But that hasn't stopped The Sex Pistols being announced as among the batch of artists to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March, along with Black Sabbath, Blondie and Lynrd Skynyrd. But The Sex Pistols apparently want nothing of it. A handwritten letter has been posted on the band's website saying: Next to the SEX-PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. Were not coming. Were not your monkeys and so what? Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table or $15000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non profit organisation selling us a load of old famous. Congradulations. If you voted for us, hope you noted your reasons. Your anonymous as judges but your still music industry people. Were not coming. Your not paying attention. Outside this shit-stem is a real SEX PISTOL. Lucky it's not the Basic Grammatical Skills Hall Of Fame. Anyway, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame organisers seem perversely delighted at the put-down. Susan Evans, the executive director, said: "They are being the outrageous punksters that they are, and that's rock and roll." You hear that, kids? Writing letters of complaint is the new rock and roll. And soon, if the crotchety behaviour of the ageing Sex Pistols is anything to go by, moaning at how young policemen are these days and being appalled by all the bad language on TV will soon the new rock and roll, too.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 1, 2006 15:59:01 GMT -5
Never mind the bollocks, the Sex Pistols aren’t comingCulling ArchivesJohn Lydon, by any name, is an obnoxious little poseur, even narcissistic in a curious kind of way. But God save the freakish fellow for once again giving the rock ‘n’ roll industry a boot in the ass when it was desperately in need. Lydon, the artist formerly known as Johnny Rotten, announced last week in an almost determinedly miswritten letter posted on the Internet that his great old punk band, the Sex Pistols, were graciously declining their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Were not coming. Were not your monkeys and so what?" Lydon wrote in a handscrawled letter. He proceeded to call the Hall "a piss stain" and "urine in wine." Fellow ex-Pistol Steven Jones, now host of an L.A. radio show, was quoted as stating on the air last week: "We’re not going to the museum. You can shove it. You can have it." Do the Pistols believe their inclusion in the Hall would sully the purity of their music, the way great actors like George C. Scott and Kate Hepburn always dismissed the notion of the Academy Awards turning their art into a competitive sport? Not likely. But then, who knows? I’ve always suspected there was a bit of performance art in the Pistols’ boorish antics, with the exception of the late Sid Vicious, who was just too stupid to understand anything else. There was a strong dose of genuine anger as well, no doubt, but essentially the punk rock credo gave its practitioners a license to misbehave. And when the surviving band members participated in reunion tours more than two decades after their heyday, that represented everything punk rock was supposed to be AGAINST. As was Lydon’s participation in a British celebrity reality show a couple of years ago. So yeah, the Pistols’ anti-Hall of Fame stance has brought them more media attention than if they had just shown up to collect their honor. Once again they’ve upstaged their contemporaries — in this case fellow inductees Blondie and Black Sabbath — and maybe that’s what they were hoping. maybe they’re pissed off that they had to wait a few years to get in, while fellow punk icons like the Clash have already been included. But in this case, their motive isn’t as important as their message -- the music industry is once again a bloated and self-satisfied beast, perhaps even more than it was when the Sex Pistols burst onto the scene in the 1970s and re-energized rock with the rebellious passion that sparked its birth. I’ve always thought the idea of institutionalizing something as rooted in rebellion as rock ‘n’ roll seemed oxymoronic in the first place. Sort of like trying to wrap a cage around a wild wind. And when my boys expressed surprise during a visit to the Hall a couple of years ago that the Pistols weren’t already enshrined, I told them it was almost ludicrous to even imagine such a thing. It still is: these sneering, snarling delinquents accepting their plaques before a sea of gowns and tuxedos with a polite bow and a teary thanks to mum and dad? Did anyone really expect that? Give credit to Susan Evans, anyway, the head of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation who shrugged off the Pistols’ comments by saying: "They are being the outrageous punksters they are, and that’s rock ‘n’ roll." There are still some talented acts out there today, like the White Stripes, the Flaming Lips and Franz Ferdinand, but like most everything else a corporate sheen seems to sparkle off the music industry. Something ex-Pistol Glen Matlock referred to as "a bunch of Herberts in suits." It is a business, of course, which I guess is both necessary and sad, but in an age when popular music is sounding so generic and performers seem so manufactured, it’s refreshing to hear someone who’s not afraid to say "Fuck off." (While also acknowledging that the Pistols themselves were something of a product shaped by manager Malcolm McLaren.) Or as Lydon ironically and almost illiterately described the Hall ceremony: "Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a nonprofit organization selling us a load of old famous. Congradulations." D. Allan Kerr sometimes forgets that the Sex Pistols, underneath all the filth and the fury, were also a pretty damn good band. Kerr may be reached at
the_culling@hotmail.com.www portsmouthherald.com/news/kerr/kerr.htm
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 1, 2006 16:02:42 GMT -5
Sex Pistols Boycott Rock Hall, Apostrophes
Matthew Solarski reports:
True to the non-conformist ethos of punk (and, simultaneously, the marketing-savvy ethos of generating headlines), rabble-rousing icons the Sex Pistols have announced they will boycott next month's Twenty-First Annual Induction Ceremony at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As announced last November, the Pistols were selected alongside Blondie, Miles Davis, Black Sabbath, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, to join the Hall's elite on March 13 at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Bollocks to that, says they!
On Friday, the Pistols posted the following hand-written, apostrophe-bereft, Thom-Yorkesque note on their official website. Clearly, Keats and Yeats are on their side:
"Next to the SEX-PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. Were not coming. Were not your monkey and so what? Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table, or $15000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non-profit organisation selling us a load of old famous. Congradulations. If you voted for us, hope you noted your reasons. Your anonymous as judges, but your still music industry people. Were not coming. Your not paying attention. Outside the shit-stem is a real SEX PISTOL"
Sic, man. Sic. That pen-and-ink gem, in all its cryptic, 300 dpi glory, is available for your downloading pleasure here. Expect a fledgling sludge-core act to be christened Urine in Wine within the hour.
According to the NME, seats for the induction ceremony cost $2500 a pop (hence, presumably, $25,000 for a table for ten), which is a pretty reasonable cause for protest if you ask us, considering the Pistols are among the acts being honored at the event. Non-profit or no, 'tis a mite insulting, oi? Perhaps Johnny Rotten and Steve Jones will expound on their decision when they get the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" interview treatment March 9. Because nothing says "punk" like Jimmy Kimmel.
All in all, not bad for the band who sought to embody anarchy.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 2, 2006 19:53:07 GMT -5
Rotten a rock hall scoundrel Sex Pistols lead singer trashes induction show in letter on Web site. He won't be attendingMalcolm X Abram Beacon JournalJohnny Rotten, of the Sex Pistols, the punk rock group that broke up in 1978. The group re-formed twice for tours, the latest in 2003.Ahh, Mr. Lydon. Disgruntled fans who find contemporary rock too corporate can always count on ol' Johnny Rotten for some good old-fashioned vitriol spewing about the music industry. If you haven't heard by now, Lydon, former lead singer of soon-to-be rock hall inductees the Sex Pistols, posted a handwritten statement last week on his Web site regarding the band's feelings about being honored and whether they'll show up and play for said honor. Here it is, slightly sanitized for your reading pleasure: ``Next to the SEX PISTOLS, rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. Were not your monkey and so what? Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non-profit organization selling us a load of old famous. Congradulations. If you voted for us, I hope you noted your reasons. Your anonymous as judges. but your still music industry people. Were not coming. Your not paying attention. Outside the (poop)-stem is a real SEX PISTOL.'' OK, it's usually fun to hear someone rage against the machine and amongst Lydon's spotty grammar and spelling are valid points. In the past, the rock hall appears to have made an effort to ignore several of this year's honorees (Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Pistols in particular, plus Blondie and Miles Davis) and only now as the era of eligibility for Motley Crue, Duran Duran and Bon Jovi is dawning have they deigned to bestow enshrinement on the aforementioned artists. And yes, you get two complimentary tickets at a table in the big room, but if you need any more you'll have to fork over $2,500 (the actual price per seat) to have your loved ones with you. And sure, the rock hall telecast tends to be one big night of ``old famous'' playing instruments in their best suits (unless you're Prince, then you bring your ``acceptance/performance'' suit, your ``sitting in the audience'' suit and your ``surprise guest guitar solo'' suit). And yeah, the voters are anonymous and the entire process and organization reeks of cronyism and more recently an eye for what and who will play well on VH1 (i.e., a live Buddy Guy is more visually compelling than say, a relative of the dead and as yet uninducted Albert King), but... wait, where was I going with this? Oh yes, it's not like the Sex Pistols were actual pillars of the independent, DIY ethos associated with punk, though they were a huge inspiration for those that followed. They may have defined the punk attitude and been shrouded in controversy, but they were also courted, signed and fired a few times by major labels aka the ``(poop)-stem.'' They didn't survive long enough to become hard-core road dogs like the Ramones or musical adventurers like the Clash. They were initially brought together (and later partially torn asunder) by annoying, frizzy-haired fashion designer/entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren, who was looking to bring attention to himself and his boutique. And, let us not forget (as I did but was reminded by a fellow music geek) the very corporate and mainstream rock-sounding records made by guitarist Steve Jones in the '80s, and that Lydon's post-Pistols' band Public Image Limited's entire catalog was released on major labels. Again, Lydon has some valid points and the folks at the foundation could always use a good kick in their collective tuckus, but the whole thing also has the scent of posturing on Lydon's part. I'd wager (and it's purely a guess based on his words and demeanor in the documentary The Filth and The Fury) that bassist Glen Matlock, the least overtly ``punk'' member of the group, wouldn't mind putting on a suit and thanking his mum on American television. Naturally, the rock hall folks were sanguine about Lydon's statement. Executive director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, Susan Evans, said, ``They are being the outrageous punksters they are, and that's rock 'n' roll.'' ``Outrageous punksters,'' eh? Why didn't she just wag her finger and say, ``oh, those crazy kids.'' Unfortunately for us disgruntled rock fans and ceremony viewers, this development means that we'll probably be stuck with the usual humble and gracious acceptance speeches from the honorees. I guess we'll have to wait and see what combination of meds Sharon concocts for Ozzy to find out if we'll get a middle-finger-themed or at least an interesting speech during the actual shindig. Of metal and publicists As long as there are angry young people, particularly males, there will always be a place for metal in our society, but right now the commercially successful strain is metalcore. The musical melding of (pick a subgenre) metal and hard core isn't new. Old-school bands such as Nuclear Assault and Exodus and more punk-inspired metal bands such as Metallica and Slayer were mixing the musical elements and attitude of both forms more than 20 years ago. But as nu-metal's hip-hop flavored navel gazing has lost favor, metalcore has become big business. Groups of kids that aspired to be Limp Bizkit only a few short years ago are now learning to scream, adding a technically impressive drummer, getting spookier tattoos and trading in their Korn-brand sweat suits for black clothes. Or going emo. Anyway, bands such as Lamb of God and Unearth are selling many units of their focused rage, chromatic riffs and double-kick drum madness and touring relentlessly to preach to the converted. One such band, Bleeding Through, will be performing at Peabody's in Cleveland along with fellow angry young people Everytime I Die and Between the Buried and Me. The Orange County sextet has a new album, The Truth, on metalcore stalwart Trustkill and it's (surprise!) full of anger and disillusionment, but also filled with stark lyrics of metalhead heartbreak on cuts such as Line in the Sand and Confession. You can probably surmise from all the band names that the show won't be an evening of uplifting songs of praise or gooey tunes about love's foibles. It'll be musically brutal and cathartic, F-bombs will rain down from the stage like buckshot from the barrel of the vice president's rifle and the testosterone flowing in the room will be at threat level of black (metal). Honestly, I don't think any of these three bands are as good as the trash-inflected Lamb of God or the New York hard core-leaning Hatebreed, but neither of those bands are in town this weekend and their publicists aren't nearly as much fun to talk with as the woman who handles Bleeding Through. Besides, the tour has been selling out venues all over the country, so if you've been a fan of BT's since their 2002 debut Dust to Ashes you can now stand around Peabody's and call the new fans ``posers'' and ``newbies.''
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 2, 2006 20:03:39 GMT -5
Never mind the Hall of Fame
The Sex Pistols are sticking it to the man by refusing to attend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for inductees this March. After a few years of snubbery for bands like the Police and the Clash, the SP posted an extremely harsh letter on their Web site comparing the RRHF to "urine in wine."
According to WTOP.com, the band also complained about the ticket price for inductees to attend, about $25K. However, a rep for the Hall of Fame advised that inductees received two free tickets and all others are approximately $2,500.
Either way, no one is really surprised at the band's rebellious stance, not even the RRHF, who commented "they are being the outrageous punksters that they are, and that's rock and roll." Sorry, I don't think they're being cheeky. I honestly think Johnny Rotten hates you just as much as he hates Kurt Loder. Hey, semantics.
BASSEY ETIM-EDET is a student at George Mason University. Date published: 3/2/2006
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 3, 2006 16:27:54 GMT -5
Inductees get my OK, even if that makes me feel old
Posted on Fri, Mar. 03, 2006 THE SKINNY ON MUSIC COURTNEY DEVORES
I'm officially old -- old enough for the bands I loved as a child to be inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. On March 13, Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Sex Pistols, and Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss will be inducted in to the hall. While I couldn't have picked most of those acts out of a lineup at age 4, Blondie was one of my first loves. I had 1979's "Parallel Lines" (which remains one of my all-time favorite albums) on cassette. I also remember the afternoon my dad took me downtown to the local record store where I chose a copy of the new "Best of Blondie" on LP. It was 1981. This year's inductee list is a good one. Southern rock pioneers Lynyrd Skynyrd finally get their due, as will the incredibly influential Davis and Sabbath. The Sex Pistols, whom I didn't discover until high school, were a surprise inclusion. The Ramones were inducted in 2002, but Britain's punk forefathers were always more snotty and anti-establishment than their American peers. I imagined they'd simply not show up for the ceremony, but last week, Johnny Rotten (Lydon) and company issued a messy, handwritten statement declaring the whole thing bogus. "We're not coming," they said. "We're not your monkey. ... Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table, or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery ..." While the Pistols' 1996 comeback was disappointingly un-punk, despite their admission that they did it for money, their Rock Hall response, is fittingly punk in spirit. Even if they were secretly delighted to finally see some recognition, they wouldn't be the Pistols if they rolled up in a swanky limo and black ties to collect.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 4, 2006 10:30:28 GMT -5
Sex Pistols refuse to play the fame gameMar 3 2006 By Stephen Milton, Daily PostELVIS was an inductee, as was Bob Dylan. So too were the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Even U2 and Michael Jackson were recently made members of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame and no doubt graciously accepted the accolade as the crowning glory to their legendary careers. But was it really a surprise that when nominated for this year's induction ceremony, the Sex Pistols, in true rebellious spirit, told the organisers where to go. "Truth be told, the whole ceremony and pompous nonsense that goes along with it, is ridiculous," says Glen Matlock, original bassist and founding member of the Sex Pistols. The news was announced this week on the Sex Pistols website (www.thefilthand thefury.co.uk), with a letter which made it clear the group would not be attending. Comparing the rock hall to "urine in wine," the handwritten letter said: "Were not coming. We're not your monkeys and so what?" "I did actually want to go and bring my kids along for the experience, but found out they were charging two and a half thousand dollars a ticket, which is just madness," says Glen. "And I'm supposed to be one of the blokes being honoured yet I've still got to pay two and a half thousand for an eight and a 12-year-old. "Five thousands dollars for my two kids and then, they let us know if you wanted a table for your mates it would cost $25,000. I mean that is just absolutely ludicrous." Proceeds from the event, on March 13, go to non profitable organisations and as expensive as the tickets may be, they are still only pocket change to a rock and roll icon. So was this rejection simply a reminder of the anarchic attitude of the Pistols, all those years ago? "There is that as well but that wasn't our problem. Our problem was that the whole ceremony was just bull---," he says. "Anyway as it transpires, we're still going to be inducted into the museum, whether we like it or not." One of the founding members of the band that defined a punk rock generation, bassist Glen Matlock toured with the Sex Pistols for two years and co-wrote, amongst others, punk anthems Pretty Vacant and God Save the Queen. However he succumbed to the ambitions of infamous manager, Malcolm McLaren and was pushed out and replaced with the less gifted, but ultimately more crowd pleasing, king of punk, Sid Vicious. Personality clashes with John Lydon, also led to Matlock quitting the band, although initial legendary rumours claimed it was due to his fondness for the Beatles. "That fondness for the Beatles rubbish was a blatant lie," he says. "I wanted out of the band and Sid Vicious made the Sex Pistols what they are today. "Had he not joined the band, I think the Pistols would have gone more along the lines of the Who and it goes without saying that the group would have had more longevity. But if Sid hadn't been part, then it wouldn't have been the Sex Pistols, plain and simple." Matlock remained in the background and offered bass lessons to the not so musically talented Vicious and played on the band's seminal album, Never mind the B------s. Over the years, he went on to form the Rich Kids with Midge Ure and toured with Iggy Pop, before reforming with the Pistols in 1996 for their 20th anniversary reunion tour. However, it still seemed that the tension between Matlock and Lydon hadn't subsided over the years. "John is definitely an odd kettle of fish. It's fine to be on stage with him again, as long as you look the other way," he says, jokingly. "It probably goes without saying that John's relationship with all the lads in the band is quite tetchy and strained, and I'm definitely not the only one who has a problem with him." And the rumours of one last final reunion gig? "Everything with the Pistols is always last minute. To be honest, you'll probably know before I do." * GLEN MATLOCK and the Philistines play the Cavern tonight. Sex Pistols Tribute Convention takes place tomorrow night at the Cavern.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 11, 2006 2:07:58 GMT -5
Sticking to their guns
Sex Pistols refusing to show at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction
First published: Thursday, March 9, 2006
Monday night at the ritzy Waldorf-Astoria hotel in Manhattan, the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be held, and Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Sex Pistols will be enshrined along with record execs Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. But for the first time in the two decades since the swank inductions ceremonies were first held, one of the inductees won't be on hand to graciously accept the dubious honor.
Kudos to the Sex Pistols for not buying into the whole Hall of Fame concept.
Speculating about the Pistols' possible induction several years ago, singer Johnny Rotten proclaimed, "It's such a geriatrics' ball, so smug and so self-congratulatory. I'll tell you this much -- I ain't going."
And the Pistols are sticking to their guns. Rotten -- now John Lydon -- posted a handwritten announcement on his Web site (http://www.johnlydon.com) last month that was full of misspellings and grammatical errors. It was also full of the true punk spirit of revolution, as he simply dismissed the proceedings. "Were not coming," he wrote. "Were [sic] not your monkey and so what?"
I'd print more of the note for you, but this is a family newspaper.
There's really no point in arguing about who is being inducted (pop-punkers Blondie), as opposed to who still has yet to be elected (punk pioneer Patti Smith). Let's just say that I couldn't agree more with Mr. Lydon. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is simply diametrically opposed to the spirit of rock 'n' roll.
Unfortunately, the absence of the Pistols will rob rock fans of the chance for what surely would have been one of rock 'n' roll's most surreal, bizarro moments -- Johnny Rotten and Ozzy Osborne bellowing their way through the obligatory end of the night super jam.
"Free Bird," anyone?
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 11, 2006 2:42:21 GMT -5
Johnny Rotten to Rock Hall of Fame: 'Kiss this!'
Sat Mar 11, 2006
Former Sex Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten has nothing but disdain for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is why he won't be attending Monday's induction ceremony.
The singer, who now goes by the name John Lydon, appeared as a guest on ABC's late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Friday, and was asked why he and his two surviving partners from the ground-breaking punk band were snubbing the hall.
"They never cared who we were," Lydon said. "They never bothered to correct the incredible fatal, bad mistakes about our legend and legacy in their museum and up until now, they've rejected our nomination for three years running, and now they want a piece of us.
"Well, guess what? KISS THIS!" he said, making a rude gesture.
"When I began as a Sex Pistol, there was no Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and suddenly this organisation is put on top of us like we have an obligation to them. Well, it's the other way around. Don't use my name to prop up your ... nonsense."
When it was first announced the group would be inducted into the Hall of Fame, the Sex Pistols declined the honour with a coarse message posted on their Web site.
Other inductees into the Hall of Fame this year include Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd and music executives Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 11, 2006 14:11:31 GMT -5
LYDON BLASTS HALL OF FAME OFFICIALS FOR CHARGING HIM FOR A TABLELATEST: SEX PISTOLS star JOHN LYDON has further explained his decision to boycott the punk group's induction to the Rock + Roll Hall of Fame on Monday (13MAR06), insisting he balked at the ideaof having to pay to be told he was famous. In a statement released at the end of last month (FEB06), angry Lydon - aka JOHNNY ROTTEN - claimed he had been charged $25,000 (GBP14,700) for a table at the induction ceremony. In the hand-written press release, the GOD SAVE THE QUEEN singer called the Rock + Roll Hall of Fame and Museum "a p**s stain," stating, "We're not coming and we're not your monkey." Speaking on former Pistols bandmate STEVE JONES' Los Angeles radio show on Friday (10MAR06), Lydon raged, "They're selfappointed sods. "I don't mind getting something for nothing but I don't wanna pay for it. I don't mind being paid to be famous but I'm not paying them to tell me I'm famous." The punk rock icon reveals it's isn't the first time he's been opposed to the officials behind the Hall of Fame and Museum. He recalls, "Years ago when I was doing ROTTEN TV for VH-1 we were gonna shoot an episode there at the museum and they wouldn't let us." Then, Lydon discovered the museum claimed to have handwritten Pistols songs he had penned and signed as part of a tribute to the punk group. He says, "It was phoney but they said they had irrefutable proof these were for real. It seems my word isn't good enough but my words are. "They were selling you a load of old cack... They were never interested in the truth."
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