Thursday, April 13, 2006
never mind the drum machines
Simon Reynolds' excellent book on postpunk, Rip it Up and Start Again, highlights PiL in its first section. Johnny Rotten's beautifully wimpy synthetic self talked about the Pistols' first album and how it was shaped by Malcolm McLaren. Rotten, whose real name is Johnny Lydon, said that his vision of their classic Never Mind the Bollocks record would have been different. He said, his ideas would have rendered the album "unlistenable for most people." Are we talking about the inception of noise? Post-Luigi Russolo static? I can only imagine what Rotten had in his brain and can wonder if pop history would have been different if McLaren and the rest of the Sex Pistols would have let him have his way.
For now, I guess I'll just rip my black leather jeans and go outside.
Thanks, Malcolm.
