Coon, Caroline. “We feel like prisoners / Punk storm grows.” Melody Maker, 11 Dec. 1976, 4 pages. Reprint – History of Rock 1976, p. 140.

— Report by Caroline Coon in Melody Maker, chronicling the fallout from the Sex Pistols’ TV notoriety and the collapse of the Anarchy in the UK tour.

— Following the explosive Thames TV appearance, councillors, halls, and broadcasters banned the Pistols adn the other punk bands. Only six of 19 tour dates survived

— The Damned ousted after siding against McLaren. Councils in Derby, Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, and Glasgow intervened, citing threats to order. Retailers reported sell-outs of “Anarchy in the UK” despite strikes at EMI’s Hayes plant.

— Alex Harvey, Eric Burdon, Roger Daltrey, and Phil Collins weighed in, variously condemning hypocrisy or questioning talent. The Pistols insisted censorship had made them “prisoners,” while EMI directors considered future releases carefully.

— Cancelled dates in Derby King’s Hall, Glasgow Apollo, Norwich University, Cardiff Top Rank, Bournemouth Village Bowl; surviving shows at Leeds Polytechnic, Manchester, Dundee, Plymouth, Liverpool Eric’s, Roxy Theatre London (later cancelled), and others rescheduled.

On board the Anarchy Tour bus, December 1976: (front, l-r) Mick Jones, Johnny Rotten, Billy Rath (Heartbreakers bassist), Paul Simonon and Joe Strummer. At the back, Johnny Thunders sits next to photographer/tour manager Leee Black Childers (blond hair)

The Sex Pistols' appearance on TV has caused uproar. Radio stations won't play their single, local councillors are banning concerts, and the band are suing. Melody Maker reports the fallout.

The Sex Pistols' headlining British tour has been reduced to ruins. Just six dates from the original 19 are left following mass action by local councils and hall managements across the country. Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren plans to take legal action against everyone involved with the band's cancelled dates and claims that the Musicians' Union support him and the Pistols.

A spokesman for the Union, however, commented: “We haven’t had an opportunity to assess the situation. The Sex Pistols wouldn’t be regarded as different to any other band coming to us with a problem. If we felt there was a legitimate complaint we would take it up.”

Dissent has broken out on the tour itself. Said McLaren: “The Clash and the Heartbreakers are behind us but we are not in sympathy with The Damned and we will ask them to leave the tour after the show at Leeds Polytechnic.”

McLaren said The Damned considered playing at Derby Kings Hall on Saturday when the Pistols were refused permission to play by local councillors. “We were disgusted by this and so they will have to get off the tour.”

McLaren has arranged new dates for the tour and told MM: “There is no way we are going to be prevented from playing in Britain. This is pure censorship and a complete denial of the principle of free speech.”

Radio stations across the country are banning the Sex Pistols’ debut single “Anarchy in the UK” and one major record store chain is considering this week whether they should refuse to stock the record.

One radio station was swamped with phone calls after playing the single and inviting listeners’ comments. But sales of the record have rocketed in some parts of the country.

One record retailer in Manchester claimed he could have sold as many records as EMI could have supplied and blamed his lack of stock on the lightning strike by workers at EMI’s pressing plant on Friday after the Pistols’ controversial appearance on Thames Television.

Another punk band, The Vibrators, claim they have suffered a backlash because of people associating their music with that of the Pistols. Three of their British dates have been cancelled and a full European tour scrapped.

In Glasgow, where the Pistols were due to play the Apollo on December 15, the local council revoked the theatre’s entertainment licence for just that night. Said Councillor Robert Grey, explaining the unprecedented move: “This group attracts a young element and I honestly believe we have got enough problems in Glasgow without importing yobbos.”

Local councils in Derby, Newcastle, Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield, Guildford and Birmingham all banned the Pistols from playing in their towns.

This was an unprecedented decision for Sheffield Council since they have never banned any rock group from the City Hall before now.

Newcastle Councillor Arthur Stabler said: “It was decided to cancel the concert in the interests of protecting the children. We can control what happens at the City Hall but not what happens on the stage.”

In Derby on Saturday the Pistols kept a 15-strong council delegation waiting for two hours at the King’s Hall. The band had agreed to stage a special preview concert so that councillors could judge whether the show should go ahead or not.

The Pistols stayed in their hotel as the councillors waited, refusing to travel with a waiting police motorcade into the centre of the town. Eventually the council delegation conferred in secret at the hall and Councillor Leslie Shipley, leader of the delegation, then announced the concert was off.

He said the council was disgusted by the Pistols’ lack of manners in making them wait at King’s Hall for nothing – and added: “I have personally spoken to the manager of the group and he told me that they will not perform before the council unless we come here this evening and see the whole of the show.

“This we are not prepared to do. We have bent over backwards to put on this rehearsal, but in fairness to the group, the promoter and the public, the committee have decided that the Sex Pistols will not perform here tonight.”

He said the rest of the package – The Clash, The Damned and The Heartbreakers – could play if they wished. The Clash and The Heartbreakers refused.

The Damned, staying at a different hotel, considered their response and, says MM reporter Caroline Coon, it was rumoured among the touring party that The Damned would play.

The Damned’s Dave Vanian announced: “Although we do not align ourselves with the Pistols’ political position we sympathise; but we are going to do all the gigs we can and any others that come along.”

Said manager McLaren: “We were disgusted by this statement and we feel that The Damned have no place on this tour.”

The original opening date of the tour was to have been Norwich University on Friday, but this date was cancelled by the university authorities. The vice-chancellor, Frank Thistlethwaite, met two members of the Students’ Union social committee on the morning of the show and, according to an SU spokesman, “took it upon himself to force the union to cancel the punk package concert.

“Since the university own the hall, they are legally entitled to do this by simply refusing to allow the union use of the hall. We wish it to be known that we are disgusted with the manner in which this decision was taken.”

Said a spokesman for the authorities: “Because of the group’s reported views on violence we felt there was a possible threat to personal safety if the concert had gone ahead.”

At press time the Students’ Union reported they were planning to rearrange the concert despite the university’s views.

Two more dates disappeared because the owners of the venues, Rank Leisure Services, refused to be associated with the Pistols. Rank information officer Chris Moore told MM: “The date at Cardiff Top Rank on December 14 was never really on. We had signed no contracts with anyone connected with the Sex Pistols for that date.

“As for Bournemouth Village Bowl on December 7, the Sex Pistols’ appearance on TV brought that to a head. We were concerned about the security aspect of it all. We were certainly not keen to be associated with a band of this sort.”

Moore added that the question of future Sex Pistols concerts had been discussed and said the company wouldn’t be interested in booking them if they could not prove they had changed themselves from the current format.

The only dates remaining from the tour by press time were Leeds Polytechnic on Monday this week, Manchester on Thursday, Dundee Caird Hall (December 16), Plymouth Woods Centre (21) and London Roxy Theatre (26).

Dates were added at Leeds Polytechnic – a second booking on Wednesday, Liverpool’s Eric's (December 12), Caerphilly Castle Cinema (14), Maidenhead Skindles (18), Birmingham Bingley Hall (20), Paignton Penelope’s (22) and Plymouth Woods Centre, another repeat booking (23).

“The whole thing is ridiculous”: Johnny Rotten with the Pistols at Leeds Polytechnic, December 6, 1976, photos: Evening Standard / Getty

Radio One is refusing to play the “Anarchy in the UK” single during its daytime programmes, but denies that its decision was prompted by the controversy surrounding the Pistols. Said a spokesman: “The record has been played by John Peel as a new spin on his late-night programme, which has always featured new bands of interest.”

Peel will be devoting his Radio One show this coming Friday to punk rock, with The Damned making their BBC debut and records by the Pistols, Australian punks The Saints and New York punks Television.

Producer John Walters told MM: “It’s not meant to be a history of punk, but a presentation of the music after all the words about the sociology of the players. It’s not like the Beeb jumping on the punk bandwagon, but just some examples of what the controversial artists sound like.”

But in Sheffield the local commercial station, Radio Hallam, has banned the Pistols’ single. DJ Colin Slade told the MM: “It was played last week during the lunch show and then we threw the phones open to the listeners. We got 80 calls through our jammed switchboard in less than 20 minutes, and only four people said they liked it. The rest thought it was terrible. We decided this was a pretty clear mandate from our audience, and so the record is not being played.”

In Manchester, Piccadilly Radio say the record is not on their playlist, and the same goes for Capital Radio in London and BRMB in Birmingham.

In record shops across the country, sales of the single rocketed after the Pistols’ TV appearance. One retailer in Cambridge said: “People who would never normally be seen in our shop have been coming in and asking for the single. They’ve been buying because of curiosity value and because of the Pistols’ appearance on television.” Another retailer in Manchester told MM he sold every record he had in stock. “We could have sold plenty more but EMI didn't have any more in stock, which was a great shame from our point of view.”

A spokesman for EMI said that sales were very healthy but refused to give figures.

“That’s not our policy. But let me just say it was doing fine before that television programme, but it’s doing fine now.”

EMI’s pressing plant in Hayes was hit by a lightning strike on Friday. Women on two shifts refused to pack the Sex Pistols single in protest over their television appearance. They handled other records. The problem was resolved and the plant was back to full production on Saturday.

A spokesman for EMI said: “We can appreciate what these ladies were upset about and I won’t suggest that they were exactly delighted to have to go back and carry on packing the record. EMI itself does not condone the use of bad language, but there is no question of action being taken against the Sex Pistols.”

The spokesman denied suggestions that directors of EMI were attempting to force the recording division to revoke the band’s contract. “That’s totally out of the question. Their contract is signed and that’s all there is to it.”

“We'll have to have a special listen to the single to see if it is offensive”

Boots are currently considering whether to continue stocking the Pistols single. Said a spokesman: “Some of our branches have copies of the single, but I think we will need to have a special listen to the single to see whether it is offensive before deciding on whether to continue selling it.”

Pistols singer Johnny Rotten, speaking to MM at his hotel in Leeds, commented: “The whole thing is ridiculous. I don’t see why councillors should dictate to people what kids go out and listen to any night.

“It’s up to the kids who work and pay taxes just like anyone else to decide what they want to do. I’m just sick of the whole thing. We feel like a bunch of prisoners.”

Stop press: Sex Pistols London concert at Roxy Theatre on Boxing Day cancelled.

Sir John Read, chairman of EMI, said at the company’s AGM on Tuesday that they are considering “very carefully whether to release any more Sex Pistols records”.

He also told shareholders: “EMI will review its general guidelines regarding the contents of pop records. We seek to discourage records which are likely to cause offence.”

“Clever management”

Rock stars comment on the Pistols “outrage”.

Alex Harvey

“The hypocrisy of all this staggers me – if everyone used four-letter words on TV, then nobody would object. But how can a word like fuck be offensive; one wonders what Shakespeare would have said. Yet you get a man who says the TV show offended him admitting that he would use these words to his mates, but he didn’t want it coming in his home. Well, how hypocritical can you get?

“The whole of rock music breaks the rules – which is only what these kids were doing, and what the Stones did. Jazz, another four-letter word, broke the rules. As for the talk of them being violent – to me, when my kids can see an advert Join The Professionals, that’s far more violent – like ads to join the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.

“I don’t think the adverse publicity will do the Sex Pistols any harm. I don’t know if they can play – but if they can, then all that publicity can only do them good. This is 1976; and these kids think differently.”

Eric Burdon

“This is obviously a spin-off from the Rolling Stones era.

I haven’t heard the Sex Pistols yet, but anything that publicises hot rock or more sex is all right with me.”

“This is really a very clever piece of management and is typical of the times, which seem to throw more attention on the management than the music. Perhaps the warning aspect is the quasi-Nazi spin-off from New York. Hitler would have been very proud of Clockwork Orange, Andy Warhol, Kiss and the Sex Pistols. It’s when this gets beyond the playful side, and youngsters could perhaps be manipulated for other reasons, that the real danger would set in.

“Hitler was very much under the influence of Wagner – and this was an unpleasant association with music. But I don’t want to pre-judge the Sex Pistols; I haven’t heard them play. The name, however, turns me off. But from what other people have said, their music is not that important. Let’s hear something which shows ability, and then we won’t care what they say.”

Roger Daltrey

“The best possible hype image since The Who and the mod thing. It’s not all that original. If you look back through the files of old MMs you’ll be surprised how much the Sex Pistols sound like us.

“Swearing doesn’t bother me at all; I just think they could have said something really sensational. I don’t dislike what they do, but I’d like to tell them they’re skating on thin ice, for the press jumped very quickly on the sensational aspect and if the group can’t produce something more substantial to back them up they are going to be in for a very tough time.

“It’s about time the youngsters kicked up and maybe this will lead to a more mellow attitude in people. But a lot of this is good old rock’n’roll hype.

“The Sex Pistols may now feel they won’t change, but you don’t see things the same at 32 as you do at 19. And only someone of 32 can tell you that. It’s all like reading about The Who smashing up hotels – so what’s original about that?”

Phil Collins

“I suppose their behaviour is aimed at teaching something other music can’t reach. And if the public reaction is anything to go by, then they couldn’t have had a better PR job done for themselves. It will arouse interest in the group, and as the main aim of a group is to get a record in the charts, then it is likely people would now buy a disc by the Sex Pistols out of curiosity. But if Johnny Rotten and his group aim to become the next Beatles, they won’t do so on shock tactics alone – they’ll have to produce something musically worthwhile.

“A friend video-taped the group on a So It Goes TV programme and following all this publicity we played it over out of curiosity. All we found was a complete lack of talent.”

Photos: David Corio / Getty, Michael Putland / Getty, Anwar Hussein / Getty, Waring Abbott / Getty