NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS by the Sex Pistols was released in late-October 1977 The LP was buoyed by the hit singles GOD SAVE THE QUEEN, PRETTY VACANT, and the hot HOLIDAY IN THE SUN and while rejected by the BBC and various UK record stores, the Sex Pistols’ album reached the # 1 spot without ever getting airplay.

Political pressure and police presence in Britain forced the controversial band to hit the road and their provocative manager Malcolm McLaren scheduled a USA tour through the Deep South for the sake of headlines.

Sid Vicious gave him what he wanted.

The bass player was completely junked out and the audience thronged to the venues to watch punk’s top band sink into an ocean of hostility.

Sporting a recently blooded body carving ‘Gimme a fix’ Sid Vicious hit the stage of Dallas’ Longhorn Ballroom. According to Wikipedia ‘he spat blood at a woman who had climbed onstage and punched him in the face.’

Over 2000 people saw that show.

An Austin reporter wrote the following;

“Sid was really fucked up. Really drunk. He played for a while without his guitar plugged in. He played for a while with a fish. I think somebody threw it up there, a bass or something. People seemed pissed at him. He’d spit on the audience; they’d spit on him. That’s what you did. There was this element of, “You paid to see us play?”
The memorable thing about the show was the crowd and how tightly packed it was. Everybody had moments when you were suddenly not on the ground anymore, being swept along with the crowd. Some people were genuinely scared of being crushed. But that’s an old British football tradition, too.
I don’t remember anything about the song list. I’m sure it was all their favorites. They didn’t have all that many songs, but they were entertaining songwriters. Their songs still hold up. “God Save the Queen” is a wonderful song. And it was a great rock & roll show.”

Another attendee wrote;

“Sid hits the bottle hard before the show. Being in Texas again, he and Johnny mock the “Cowboys” in attendance. About half of the 1,800 in the crowd are fans; the other half are Country & Western fans defending their territory against these British punks. They play SEVENTEEN.

John wears an ugly pink shirt and black glove for most of the show, while Steve wears all black, including boots, spurs, and a Sheriff’s star. Next song NEW YORK.

Although he contributes nothing musically, Sid knows he’s stealing Johnny’s limelight, which is more important to him.

EMI

With “Gimme a Fix” on his bare chest, Sid barely played his bass and seemed more interested in jumping around instead of performing music. Plastic cups and other assorted objects flew toward the stage for the duration of the performance. (No glass bottles were sold.)

At the end of “Holidays in the Sun,” Sid gets head-butted by an overzealous woman and receives a bloody nose. Instead of wiping up the mess, he lets the gore flow down his torso. After smearing it on his face, he spits into the crowd, yelling off-mic and over the din,

“All cowboys are queer!”

During PRETTY VACANT Sid takes a broken bottle and carves his chest. He removes the pus-soaked bandage from his arm and throws it into the crowd. The other band members continue the show. With his newly carved chest, Sid isn’t playing bass as much as using it, while jumping around and staring, like the heroin-deprived, schnapps zombie he now is.

After a blistering version of ANARCHY IN THE UK the band left the stage, and, surprisingly, the crowd yelled for more. As the band reappeared for an encore, Sid showed the audience an obscene gesture and Steve yelled,

“You must be mad to want more of us!”

No Fun

In the middle of NO FUN Steve confronts a heckler by throwing a couple punches and jabbing him with the headstock of his guitar. The next morning, the Dallas newspaper read:

“Most of the people last night came to see the people who came to see the Sex Pistols.”

Now why ain’t all Rock Concerts like that. Fucking Amazing.”

I GUESS YOU HAD TO BE THERE.

To view the Sex Pistols at the Longhorn, please go to the following URL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-MFo25_3hI