About this episode
“Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” spat a deflated Johnny Rotten before walking off stage in San Francisco. The Sex Pistols were finished. One album, a handful of singles, and a trail of chaos that changed British music.
But where did it all begin? How did a green-haired kid from Finsbury Park, nearly killed by meningitis and raised in poverty, end up fronting the most incendiary band in British history?
In Episode 1 of The Rise and Fall of Sex Pistols, Gina Birch, a founding member of The Raincoats, and Steve Lamacq drag you back to the murky mid-70s and dive into the turbulent origins of punk’s most iconic band.
From stolen Bowie gear to backroom pub auditions, this is a story of disillusioned youth, of a fetish shop on the King’s Road, of a snarling, short-sighted teenager, and of a chaotic Britain. The perfect breeding ground for a cultural revolution that the Sex Pistols were being primed to lead.
Featuring archive interviews with: John Lydon, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, Paul Cook, Malcolm McLaren, Vivienne Westwood and Bob Geldof.
Presented by Gina Birch and Steve Lamacq
A BBC Audio Production
Get every episode summarized
Each time The Rise and Fall of ... publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
