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in reply to Re: Re: Rap Star I would most like as my Project Manager
in thread Rap Star I would most like as my Project Manager

I know I'm six months late pointing this out, but it was Sid Vicious who covered "My Way", not Johnny Rotten.

It may seem like a small thing, but speaking as a scholar of the period, there's a world of difference between the two. Lemme see if I can offer a comparison:

Johnny Rotten is to Sid Vicious as Kevin Smith is to Jason Mewes.

John had very specific ideas about music, fashion, and society which he expressed through his style and lyrics despite a complete lack of vocal talent and formal education. For a brief shining period, he was able to embody the fear and loathing of a society that was collapsing upon itself. One 19-year-old kid became England's Public Enemy Number One through his lyrics, attitude, and grooming. Not since Elvis has a pop musician had such a dramatic effect in such a short time. Post-breakup, he alone had the foresight to retain the rights to his music, and the brains and balls to fight for what was rightfully his (it took 15 years, but he won). And, post-Pistols, he had a respectable career fronting PiL.

Sid Vicious was a deeply damaged man-child who was completely unable to cope with success on any level. He couldn't play, had no ideas, and no emotional defenses to protect him from the demands of fame and stresses of infamy. Fun fact: on the Sex Pistols' one album, all Sid's bass lines are overdubbed by Glen Matlock. Sid was brought into the Pistols because of his attitude, not for anything resembling talent. He was a nasty, brutish gutter punk who became the worst rock-and-roll casualty of all time.

For further study, read England's Dreaming by Jon Savage and watch The Filth and the Fury. There will be a test.

-Logan
"What do I want? I'm an American. I want more."

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Rap Star I would most like as my Project Manager
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Apr 22, 2003 at 07:16 UTC

    but speaking as a scholar of the period,

    Hmmm. Showing my age yet again, but I lived through the period:). One night in '77 or '78 I was in Dingwall's at Camden Lock waiting to watch Suzi & The Banshees when a fight broke out. I heard later that it had been (some of) the Sex Pistols, but it was far enough away that I didn't see it myself.

    As for thinking JR did the My Way cover, I honestly didn't think SV was ever straight enough, long enough to actually record the lyrics to a complete song, the base on the albums was mostly over dubbed by a session musican, so I just assumed is was JR. I (still) quite like a few of the things he did with Public Image Ltd. Strange, but strangely evocative, not that I have listened to any of it for many years.

    BTW: Who are "Kevin Smith ... Jason Mewes"?

    (And no, I'm not joking. I quite literally have no idea:)

    Thanks for the bit of history and a short trip down memory lane. '76 (the best summer the UK ever had) through 79/80 my first trip to the States and Canada was just about the best period of my youth.

    Examine what is said, not who speaks.
    1) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
    2) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible
    3) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
    Arthur C. Clarke.
[reply]
      Wow, Siouxsie and the Banshees in a club. That must have been a good show. It may well have been one of the Pistols who started that fight, that was kind of a hobby for them. There's a legendary episode where Sid smacked rock journalist Nick Kent with a chain, and John jumped off stage to join in the kicking.

      I honestly didn't think SV was ever straight enough, long enough to actually record the lyrics to a complete song

      You are correct. He seldom was. "My Way" was produced for the film "The Great Rock and Roll Swindle", and was Sid's high point as a solo performer. He never actually recorded an album, and it was fairly common to turn his amp off when they played live, simply because no bass was better than Sid's bass.

      BTW: Who are "Kevin Smith ... Jason Mewes"?

      Kevin Smith is the director of "Clerks", "Mallrats", "Dogma", "Chasing Amy", and most recently "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back". Jason Mewes is his profane man-child sidekick. They're better known and more easily recognized as their alter egos "Jay and Silent Bob". The deal is that (in character) Kevin almost never talks, and Jay never shuts up. Kevin, however is the one who writes all the dialogue, and Jay, well, there's a reason all his films have someone assigned to be "Mewes Wrangler". The front page of the website has a pretty fair depiction of how the work load is divided. Put it this way: Kevin Smith is currently in post-production on his 6th feature film, and is in pre-production on #7. Jason Mewes is in rehab trying to quit heroin. Get Well, Jay!

      -Logan
      "What do I want? I'm an American. I want more."

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