ROCK SCENE | May 1977 | Pages 34, 35, 36 & 37
Sex Pistols! Clash! U.K. rock!
EUROCK EUROCK EUROCK EUROCK EUROCK EUROCK EUROCK
Watch out! We’re coming to get you!
It was a tour to end tours, banned by town councils throughout England, accompanied by front-page newspaper headlines and a reeling British populace. Throughout, the chosen bands maintained their audacity and fervor, carving the name of the Sex Pistols, The Clash, the Heartbreakers (America’s own), and The Damned on the consciousness of every rock-thinking and socially unfit youth. It was an explosion not felt on that quiet isle for nearly a decade, a movement meant to rise up the underdog, the birth of a music truly belonging to the 1970s.
The Sex Pistols take their mark beside a convenient brick wall, (left to right) Johnny Rotten, bassist Glen Matlock, guitarist Steve Jones, and drummer Paul Cook. (Pic: Bob Gruen)
In performance, the Sex Pistols are a Clockwork Orange fantasy run rampant. Johnny isn’t bending his head; he’s accidentally connected the safety pin in his ear to his shirt. (Pic: Michel Esteban and Lynn Mercer)
In between soundchecks, musicians love to talk shop: Johnny Rotten, Mick Jones (guitarist for The Clash) and Paul Simonon (bassist for The Clash). (Pic: Michel Esteban and Lynn Mercer)
New York faves the Heartbreakers were flown over to give the Sex Pistols tour an over-the-ocean outlook. Here, Johnny Thunders picks out a few power chords. (Pic: Michel Esteban and Lynn Mercer)
Steve Jones looks up at manager Malcolm McLaren (far right) for advice, while the latter remembers Laurence Harvey in Expresso Bongo. (Pic: Leee Black Childers)
Yob rock? Or is this just a glance into the local unemployment office? Johnny, Paul Simonon, and The Clash lead singer Joe Strummer. (Pic: Leee Black Childers)
The Clash are among the most talked-about new bands on the scene. Here, a moody Paul Simonon and a committed Joe Strummer show two of the cogent reasons why. (Pic: Leee Black Childers)
White Riot is among the heaviest Clash live tunes, with an energy level that starts at the top and keeps right on going. “No more Beatles, Stones, Elvis in 1977!” (Pic: Michel Esteban and Lyzzi Mercier)
On the coach between gigs, Paul and Joe work their way through a hard-fought game of dominoes. (Pic: Leee Black Childers)
Johnny Rotten and Lyzzi Mercier cement Anglo-Gaelic relations. (Pic: Leee Black Childers)
Johnny Rotten goes to Paris
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Well, ooh la la y’self...
If I looked any more French they’d call me a fry!
Damned lead singer Dave Vanian presents a frightening on-stage visage. (Pic: Michel Esteban)
All right... I am an antichrist, I am an anarchist, don’t know what I want but I know how to get it... (Pic: Michel Esteban and Lyzzi Mercier)
Garçon! More vin blanc! Glurk!
Just passing another quiet afternoon at the Café Deux Magots. Next to our hero, wearing pointed shades, is London correspondent Caroline Coon, whose incisive articles in the British press have done much to spread the word on Europe’s new music.
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