He recently signed my vinyl sleeve of their debut album! Treasure ~ C was here in July 2024

I've always dug Lydon's voice for its rawness and overall DGAF attitude. Love this track. There is such a diverse landscape with PIL in the 80's, which was a great period for musical experimentation.

Jah Wobble on bass. He used to share a flat with John Lydon. They were actually 4 living together. The 4 Johns as they were called . It was John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), John Wardle (Jah Wobble), John Grey and John Simon Ritchie (later Sid Vicious).

Love this track, it's a burst of anger, still spiky and scratchy but melodic and rather beautiful too. I think there are several targets of his ire - the media, who whipped up a frenzy and "moral panic" around the band, Malcolm McLaren their manager, who regarded them as property and fuelled the media frenzy, but also how punk became about fashion and the ideas behind it were lost. About how he is now John Lydon and the Johnny Rotten persona was a creation, him playing up to what he perceived the public wanted but it was his and now he is just him.

I saw PIL live maybe a decade ago. It was a fun show.

what a bassline!

Is that John Taylor and Clay Aiken gunfighting each other for JG? Loser gets her!

Maybe it's too late to change, but you should allow yourself to read the lyrics after listening.

The UK press always hated him, and created many hit pieces on him because of how he looked and dressed. I guess this is his angry rant about that, and him telling them that that image they created of him is his, so he will use it.

@mattsnider2667

Ай бұрын

Ahhhh, I see. So I heard it slightly wrong, it was "they" who created the image, but he made it his own.

@handsolo1209

Ай бұрын

@@mattsnider2667 Malcolm McLaren manufactured a band called Sex Pistols in the mid/late 1970s. 3 of them were sort of quiet, compliant musicians. John Lydon was a complete maverick. He didn't do as he was told, and was very opinionated. They would be on mainstream TV interviews, and he would shock people with what he said (he called out Jimmy Saville as a pedo in 1978, for example). He was far more intelligent than they wanted him to be, so the UK media twisted him in to this nasty, obnoxious prick who was trying to corrupt the youth. God Save The Queen was the top selling single in the UK in 1977, but the media wouldn't let them have the #1 slot, so lied and said something else was #1. Lydon said to himself "If that's the image you want of me, I am going to turn it up to 11 and that is what you are going to get!", so he stopped trying to have conversations on TV appearances and just acted as the obnoxious prick that they expected.

@dummekunst7708

27 күн бұрын

@@handsolo1209 The MCLaren myth is very popular in USA. It's not actually true but McLaren managed to convince a lot of people.

I've never liked the Sex Pistols or PIL, mainly because of John Lydon's voice (but not only!), but I do like the track "Public Image", in which his voice is more bearable than usual! Good track.

@dummekunst7708

27 күн бұрын

He has a challenging voice. You miss out on a lot of good music if you avoid bands because you don't like the sound of their instruments.

@a.k.1740

27 күн бұрын

@@dummekunst7708 No, for me the voice is essential. I get the same effect from Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne, it annoys me.

@dummekunst7708

27 күн бұрын

@@a.k.1740 Interesting. Many of my favourite vocalist front people can't sing tunefully but they're amazing singers. I'm probably wrong but i suspect you're missing out on a lot of great music.

@a.k.1740

27 күн бұрын

@@dummekunst7708 The thing is, I like Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan and Tony Martin but not the original Black Sabbath with Ozzy. I suppose if the Sex Pistols had Dave Vanian or Hugh Cornwell on vocals, I'd have loved the Sex Pistols! (Although I've never found their music particularly remarkable).