When I was a punky young thing trapped in the body of blowdried blonde advertising chick, I used to drive to work listening to Holidays in the Sun on my car tape deck and sing (okay, shout) along. The Sex Pistols were agreeably disagreeable, and they dared to flout authority with spectacular rudeness and bluster, something this well-brought-up girl could only dream about in Walter Mitty moments as she sat at her IBM Selectric, trying to think up clever ways to sell things--banking, for example, and ice-cream bars--that people needed and wanted anyway.
So I really have no moral leg to stand on when it comes to criticizing the Sex Pistols for selling out.
Not that I'm going to let that stop me, though. Oh, no. Because I'm more than a little irritated to learn that the band famous for flipping off what we post-Free Love youngsters continued to refer to as The Establishment have, in their middle years, been happily selling their souls to that very Establishment while signing over the rights to their back catalog to Universal Publishing Group. Which in turn has targeted Range Rover and British Airways, among others, to use Sex Pistols songs in their advertising.
Sex Pistols songs in their advertising.
For crying out loud. (As opposed to singing and shouting out loud.)
The band still plays the occasional club show, though, as they did at a sold-out private concert last night, at the Roxy in L.A., part of a warmup for the inevitable Sex Pistols Reunion Tour.
About 500 sweaty fans packed the Roxy Theatre for the private show, the group's first public performance in four years. The English foursome played almost all of their songs during the hour-long set, including their best-known tunes "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen."
The show was predictably a little rusty, with singer John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten) forgetting the words to the first song of the night, "Holidays in the Sun." But he added some bonus lyrics along the way, notably "Paris Hilton, kiss my arse" in "Stepping Stone."
He also struggled with sound problems and the heat.
"It's hotter than (expletive) hell up here," said Lydon, 51, clad in a traditional Indian kurta, tartan pants and blue vest and guzzling red wine from the bottle.
I suppose it could've been worse--I'm picturing Johnny Rotten sporting a Just Say No t-shirt autographed by Nancy Reagan, drinking glucosamine smoothies between sets and appearing in Viagra commercials on MSNBC the following week.
Someone tell me I'm not getting old. Please.
I didn't ask for sunshine and I got World War Three
I'm looking over the wall and they're looking at me
Now I got a reason
Now I got a reason
Now I got a reason and I'm still waiting...
Also at litbrit.
I had a discussion years ago with my brother, a musician, about bands' music appearing in commercials. Initially, my reaction was "What the fuck? Eric Clapton and Phil Collins are writing beer jingles!" My brother gave me a new perspective. Very few musician actually make money playing music, and if you've got an opportunity where somebody is willing to pay you lots of money for a song you've already recorded, take it!
ReplyDeleteI am the anti-Christ
ReplyDeletePlease buy my merchandise
I recall an interview with John Mellencamp about his last album, and he was asked why he allowed Chevy to use his new song in a truck commercial. He said that since radio and music television hardly ever touches his new music, he needed some outlet through which to announce to his fans "Hey, I've got a new album!" Truck commercials, pathetically enough or not, provided that outlet.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the Sex Pistols haven't released anything new in years -- and won't. So they don't share Mellencamp's problem. So yeah, ole Johnny Rotten's in it for the money. Personally, I'm not sure if I should care... Though on the topic of brit punk, I admit that whenever I see those new Nissan commercials with the Clash playing, I cringe.
I'm waiting for "Holiday in Cambodia" to appear in a Levis commercial. Once that happens, then I'll slit my wrists.