It also had a slightly altered running order with ‘God Save The Queen’ and ‘Problems’ swapped. The US and Canadian version of ‘NMTB’, originally released by Warner Brothers, November 11th 1977, was issued with salmon pink/green artwork different to the UK release and included a wraparound inner sleeve. However, a “lost” demo of the track – recorded at the band’s Denmark Street rehearsal room in September 1977 – surfaced in 2012 on the NMTB super-deluxe box set. Some sleeve misprints include ‘Belsen Was A Gas’ however the track does not appear on the album. Since its original LP release ‘NMTB’ has been reissued countless times in a variety of formats and editions, including a picture disc in 1978.
He replaced glen matlock on bass guitar in the sex pistols free#
An estimated 50,000 copies of ‘NMTB’ had already been pressed without ‘Submission’ so it was decided to insert the track as a free 7″ single (along with a fold-out ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ collage poster).
As it was written as a backhanded piss-take of the management). The band also insisted that a 12th track was added to the album, ‘Submission’. To help counteract the French import it was decided to bring forward the UK release by one week to October 28th 1977. Bollocks was legal!ĭue to (mis)management shenanigans against the record company ‘NMTB’ got its first release in France, via Barclay Records, shortly before it was due to be released in the UK by Virgin. The band were found “reluctantly” not guilty. The Sex Pistols were charged with the Indecent Advertising Act of 1889! “Bollocks” is a slang name for testicles however, the Pistols’ lawyer proved that it was actually derived from a nickname for clergymen. On the album’s release, more controversy surrounded the band when police took exception to its title being displayed in a shop window. A catchphrase coined through Steve Jones. The album’s working title was ‘God Save The Sex Pistols’ but changed to the far superior ‘Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’. With the exception of ‘Anarchy in the UK’ – which features Matlock – bass duties were supplied by Steve Jones. Although rumour has it he appears somewhere in the mix on ‘Bodies’. Sid Vicious, who replaced original bassist Glen Matlock in February 1977, does not play on the album. The albums’ subject matter covered everything from Monarchy to Abortion to Record Companies. In John Rotten Lydon they also had a frontman, lyricist, and vocalist like no other. Grounded in Steve Jones’ relentless full-on rhythm guitar and Paul Cook’s no-nonsense drumming ‘NMTB’ had a genuine wall of sound. There was nothing like it before (or since). Now considered one of the greatest albums of all time, the importance and power of ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ can not be disputed. Pre-release orders were so high it immediately charted at Number 1 in the Album chart. The legendary ‘Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols’. That’ll be out in the summer, with a single out in a month or two.The Sex Pistols one and only true studio album. I like the way the Spiders From Mars worked: great musicians, but with Bowie driving it all with an acoustic guitar. And now I have an album coming out that’s an extension of that, with Slim Jim Phantom and Earl Slick. “In the last year I’ve played at Glastonbury and at the Montreux Jazz Festival, just me and an acoustic guitar. “To be honest, I haven’t even played bass for a while,” he continues. The players I like are people like Carole Kaye, Tina Weymouth, John Entwistle and Ronnie Lane, and the Tamla Motown and Stax players, people who give songs counter-melody and colour.” To be honest, I’ve never been to one of these things before and I’m not really sure what you’re supposed to do! But I think can I teach people that it’s not about eighth notes, like Steve Jones on Never Mind The Bollocks, which I think is boring, and it’s not about Jaco Pastorius either. “I’m gonna go through some of the songs that I learned, the songs that got me to where I was going.