# Sex Pistols say "Bollocks!" to Hall of Fame **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253 "2006-03-14T00:52:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/41 "2006-03-14T18:36:08Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Interesting. I believe Michael Stipe and Peter buck met at the Pistols show in Atlanta. You’re joking right. Buck and Stipe met in late 1978 at Wuxtry Records in Athens. Buck was a sales clerk; Stipe, an art student at UGA, was a regular customer. I don’t know if they ever went to show put on by some incarnation of the Sex Pistols (sans Viscious), but that’s not where they met. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/42 "2006-03-14T18:47:23Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Interesting. I believe Michael Stipe and Peter buck met at the Pistols show in Atlanta. You know, their first US tour opened in Atlanta at Alex Cooley’s Great Southeast Music Hall, and rumor has it Buck snuck into the show. Maybe that’s the source of your confusion. For more see [here (not the best link ever)](http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Pavilion/9373/atlanta.html) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/43 "2006-03-14T18:49:46Z")
Eh, since induction just means you get moved up one more level of has been, I can see why they thought it wasn’t worth showing up for. Now, to be able to pull this off convincingly, they should have done this on the reunion tour: Go out, perform only one song, and only one song (preferrably “No Fun”), then say “Ever feel like you’ve been cheated?”, then walk off stage. That would have been something to enjoy. As it was, it was a standard reunion tour, and should’t have been done. As far as being the least talented band on the bill: yeah, so. The were still the band that sucked the least, and knew when to throw in the towel (that is, they did until they had the reunion). Take it from a rock musician, I know. Being talented or smart is really a small part of whether or not you suck at being a rock musician. If you are one, you probably are not particularly talented or smart, if you were, you would probably choose a different genre. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/44 "2006-03-14T20:06:51Z")
I’m going to back up what I said last night about the Pistol’s relevance. I think they were an incredibly relevant band at their time. Of course they were a manufactured band like the Monkees or the Archies, but their music and attitude reflected that of the generation angry with the culture of the time. Although they didn’t invent punk and they weren’t the best punk band of the late 70s London scene, they influenced a whole lot of musicians and bands to come. So, yes, they were incredibly relevent for 20 minutes in 1977. As far as Johnny dissing the R&R Hall of Fame, it’s just Johnny being Johnny. It’s classic Sex Pistols. That was their schtick in 77, with ripping off record labels. Lydon showed himself to be a shrewd businessman in the 80s with PIL, he’s just marketing his old SP image. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/45 "2006-03-14T20:10:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Sometimes it amazes me that Johhny Rotten thinks he is as relevant as he thinks he is. Um, hello? Public Image Limited? ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/46 "2006-03-14T20:15:27Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > i respect this. they never went out looking for fame (or so i’ve had the impression) and when given it, they kinda turned away from it. makes me wish that mick jagger would have done the same when he had the shiny biscuit of knighthood dangled in front of him. keith richards was pissed about “sir mick”, if my memory serves me right. Your memory serves you right, after all… > [@](#): > > **Keith Richards:** “I thought it was ludicrous to take one of those gongs from the establishment…it’s not what the Stones is about, is it? I don’t want to step out on stage with someone wearing a fucking coronet and sporting the old ermine. I told Mick, ‘It’s a fucking paltry honour.’” ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/47 "2006-03-14T20:47:39Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > As far as Johnny dissing the R&R Hall of Fame, it’s just Johnny being Johnny. It’s classic Sex Pistols. That was their schtick in 77, with ripping off record labels. Lydon showed himself to be a shrewd businessman in the 80s with PIL, he’s just marketing his old SP image. My thoughts exactly. This is just a reflexive response by Lydon. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/48 "2006-03-14T21:24:40Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Attitude sells, sure, but attitude doesn’t last. Music lasts. Never Mind the Bollocks was fourth rate music. At the time and today. I get that… > Music is about talent. All music, everywhere, every time. If you don’t like it or get it, I’m sorry for your ears, but that’s the reality behind the music business. No amount of teenage posturing can change that. And Marcel Duchamp’s urinal looks really bad over the sofa. I get that. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/49 "2006-03-14T21:51:36Z")
> [@Ichbin Dubist](#): > > And Marcel Duchamp’s urinal looks really bad over the sofa. I get that. Only because my neighbor keeps using the damned thing. Ruined 3 sofas so far this month… ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/50 "2006-03-14T22:30:34Z")
> [@ayalabmaj](#): > > So what if the Sex Pistols were all style and no substance? Punk was a reactionary genre. It’s point was that it valued the immediate over the revered. The best punk bands, The Clash and The Ramones included, understood this. Why do you think The Ramones tried to imitate girl groups and bubblegum? Why do you think the Clash ignored three chord simplicity in favor of ecleticism and experimentalism? They, like The Sex Pistols, knew that punk was a limited phenomenon based around creating entertainment for the now irrespective of what the excessively revered past thought of it. Bullshit like “It’s an insult to bands like The Clash and The Ramones,” is not only ridiculous, it is directly contrary to the irreverent nature of the punk period. You can try to turn The Clash into today’s Pink Floyd if you want, but it’s entirely against the band’s reason d’etre. +1 I love the Sex Pistols for what they were - they stirred it up. And their one real album is a great album - great songs, catchy melodies. Entirely worth listening to and boppin’ along… The fact that they upset so many people is core to what they were…and the fact that this thread is stirring up so much dust means that they were effective at what they did and still are to this day. More power to 'em… And I love Miles Davis and a wide variety of other music, too. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/51 "2006-03-15T02:48:19Z")
I used to feel the same negative way about the Sex Pistols’ “style” until I saw “The Filth and the Fury”. It is clear that John Lydon is an intelligent, calculating person who knows how to really manipulate things. It wasn’t all Malcolm. (TF&TF is strongly anti-Malcolm, so you have to take that into account.) Of course it’s “just an act”, but so is “Richard III”. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/52 "2006-03-15T03:36:23Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Except that REM (up to 2000 or so) played this thing they call _music._ I don’t usually get personal like this, but that’s just small minded. You can TOO sing along with the Pistols, and a lot better than most of these death metal bands, who seem to scream half the time. NMTB is a great album, IMNSHO. It leaps out of the speakers, with a couple clinkers in there, I admit, like “New York” and “Submission” (a bit). Heck, I knew a guy in HS who said the Pistols were TOO musical. Of course, he wore a painted leather jacket to school every day. I just really hate it when people jump all over a whole genre and call it total crap. You don’t have to like it, but it really is true that tens of millions of people just can’t be that wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/53 "2006-03-15T04:56:16Z")
Without the Pistols, it was up to Blondie to ensure that personal drama got in the way of the proceedings. And Blondie performed admirably! ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/54 "2006-03-15T11:31:30Z")
I’m not going to get into defending the Sex Pistols’ music (see **Wordman** ’s post for that) As someone who was a teenager in the 70s I’d just like to clear up the history. Before the Sex Pistols _there was no punk genre_. There were some punky type American acts (Iggy, and I think the Ramones pre-date the Pistols) but there were no British “punk” acts. All the safety-pin, bondage trousers, dodgy haircut learn-two-chords-and-start-a-band stuff happend after the Pistols, mostly after they had ceased to be a band. And whatever you think of the Pistols they were a couple of orders of magnitude better than almost all of the bands they (ahem) inspired. People seem to assume that all the punk bands (The Clash, Damned etc) were all contemporary. They weren’t. The Pistols came first. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/55 "2006-03-15T15:20:08Z")
> [@Small Clanger](#): > > I’m not going to get into defending the Sex Pistols’ music (see **Wordman** ’s post for that) As someone who was a teenager in the 70s I’d just like to clear up the history. Before the Sex Pistols _there was no punk genre_. There were some punky type American acts (Iggy, and I think the Ramones pre-date the Pistols) but there were no British “punk” acts. All the safety-pin, bondage trousers, dodgy haircut learn-two-chords-and-start-a-band stuff happend after the Pistols, mostly after they had ceased to be a band. And whatever you think of the Pistols they were a couple of orders of magnitude better than almost all of the bands they (ahem) inspired. > > People seem to assume that all the punk bands (The Clash, Damned etc) were all contemporary. They weren’t. The Pistols came first. And on that note, **Claurican** , it was Tom Verlaine that Malcolm was trying to imitate in style. The Dolls were still using the glam look, although a rather declassé version. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/56 "2006-03-15T15:53:13Z")
Any word on Paul Jones or Glen Matlock? I haven’t heard if anybody told them about the whole thing. The idea of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is pretty stupid (and Rock and Roll isn’t the same thing as Rock isn’t the same thing as pop - there aren’t Rock and Roll bands anymoer), but if you’re going to have one, the Sex Pistols have to be there. If it weren’t for the Ramones and the Pistols, music today would all still be “art rock.” :vomit smiley: ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/57 "2006-03-15T16:37:52Z")
Although I’m sure dissing the RRHOF is Lydon’s own brand of self-promotion, I’m glad to see someone finally do it. The very concept of a RRHOF is anathema to the subversive character of all good rock and roll, although it represents a perhaps inevitable falling to the middle that seems to characterize the entire species. Like the Academy Awards, the RRHOF has no substantive import, but is simply an industry circle-jerk. You know rock and roll is dead when people start dedicating museums to it. _Inside the museums infinity goes up on trial Voices echo, “This is what salvation must be like after awhile” But Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues—you can tell by the way she smiles_ — Bob Dylan ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/58 "2006-03-15T16:50:52Z")
> [@Small Clanger](#): > > I’m not going to get into defending the Sex Pistols’ music (see **Wordman** ’s post for that) As someone who was a teenager in the 70s I’d just like to clear up the history. Before the Sex Pistols _there was no punk genre_. There were some punky type American acts (Iggy, and I think the Ramones pre-date the Pistols) but there were no British “punk” acts. All the safety-pin, bondage trousers, dodgy haircut learn-two-chords-and-start-a-band stuff happend after the Pistols, mostly after they had ceased to be a band. And whatever you think of the Pistols they were a couple of orders of magnitude better than almost all of the bands they (ahem) inspired. > > People seem to assume that all the punk bands (The Clash, Damned etc) were all contemporary. They weren’t. The Pistols came first. Remember that it was the Ramones’ catalytic tour of England in 1976 that inspired all of those English bands in the first place. The Clash were only a couple of months behind the Pistols chronologically—and they were lightyears ahead of them artistically. I saw the Clash in 1979 on the _London Calling_ tour. It still ranks as one of the greatest musical events in any genre I’ve ever attended. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/59 "2006-03-15T16:58:33Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Music is about talent. All music, everywhere, every time. If you don’t like it or get it, I’m sorry for your ears, but that’s the reality behind the music business. No amount of teenage posturing can change that. You can say this with a straight face when bands like Sonic Youth get critical acclaim, and recording contracts? Get over yourself. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253/60 "2006-03-15T17:21:14Z")
Having been to the R&R HOF, I’d say Lydon’s assessment is flattering. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-pistols-say-bollocks-to-hall-of-fame/348253.md?page=4)