Rotten

35 years ago on January 14, the Sex Pistols played their final gig as the band we remember,  that lineup with Sid Vicious.  It's ironic that on that date this year, I finished reading Rotten, John Lydon's memoir.
Takeaways: 

• Lydon has a great respect for women.  With the exception of Vivienne Westwood, who he disliked immensely, they come off pretty well.  As for the men in the book, there are few that he liked or had any patience for.  Strangely he did have patience for Sid Vicious who he brought into the band.
   
• The Sex Pistols career was short (not including reunions).  It was basically a two year stint.      

• Their only US tour during the 1970's took place in southern states.  Their manager Malcolm McLaren thought animosity would follow them throughout the South.  This would bring publicity.  Logic would have them playing NY, Philly, Chicago, LA.  Logic rarely entered into  McLaren's thinking.  

Some of the most interesting anecdotes come from the photographer Bob Gruen who accompanied the Pistols on the US tour.  The stories of tour manager Noel Monk trying to keep things in check are riveting.  Did you know that John and Sid were on a tour bus with the crew while bandmates Steve Jones and Paul Cook traveled separately and stayed in different hotels with McLaren?  Chaos hung around this band like a noose. 

The book also contains words from those who were part of Lydon's scene ( Billy Idol, Chrissie Hynde, Steve Severin). They shed an ancillary light on the Pistols story.  The commentary basically ends when the Sex Pistols ended. The book was published in 2008, but there was no mention of the 1996 Filthy Lucre Tour (Original member, Glen Matlock returned to replace a departed Sid).  There are mentions of his second band Public Image Ltd, but the bulk of the book deals with his life as Johnny Rotten. 

After reading Rotten,  I'm inclined to think that the Sex Pistols may have had a longer career than one album if Lydon had never brought Sid into the band.  He was disruptive and useless.  Except for his image and his tabloid attention-getting antics, there isn't much to say about him.  In today's world (with 24/7 media coverage of anyone's moves), I don't know if Sid would have been considered a legend.  His disruptive girlfriend Nancy Spungen would be dismissed as annoying (apparently everyone hated her and had no problem vocalizing it).  The media has had it's fill of the closest we've come to another Nancy in Courtney Love, who ironically I met when she was filming Sid and Nancy.  Lydon writes that there are many falsifications in that movie and nobody bothered to consult him on the story.  

John Lydon rants and raves throughout his story.  Would you expect anything else?

Billy Idol To Tell All

80% of my reading list lately seems to be celebrity autobiographies/biographies.   I just finished the Karen Carpenter story, Little Girl Blue.  Here's another to add to my future list.  It looks like birthday boy Billy Idol will be penning his own story to come out the end of 2011 or beginning of 2012 to be published by Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster.  No surprise that the book will be titled Dancing With Myself.  Per Billy's website he wrote, “Life gave me a golden key when I fell in love with rock n roll music.  It was the key to the answer of how to live and achieve your dreams. This world opened up to me with all the good opportunities but also every temptation—the drugs, the booze, the women, the 24-hour around-the-clock excess. And yet you have to write good songs to survive. Life had to be lived to do all that! Now I’m putting it all down in book form—from the heart. I’m going out on a limb here, so watch my back.”  Who  he needs to watch his back?  I'm sure he's getting a nice advance to tell all.  

Perri Lister will more than likely make an appearance in his book as she does in the Hot In The City video.  The site of her being raised on a cross in the final moments of the song prompted MTV to ban the video. 

Bill Aucoin Managed Kiss, Idol, Squire

Bill Aucoin who was best known for discovering and managing Kiss, died this week at the age of 66 from complications from cancer surgery. Peter Criss, the drummer for Kiss said in an AP interview , "He was the fifth Kiss. If it wasn't for Bill, there would be no Kiss." Bill served as Criss' best man for his second marriage. Bill believed in Kiss when people were passing them off as a crazy makeup group.

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, the remaining members of Kiss are quoted on their website: "He was instrumental in guiding us from the beginning and without his vision, leadership and unending dedication, we could never have scaled the heights we have reached...Over all the years, he never missed an opportunity to be with us at our shows near his home or fly in for special concerts, including our most recent Madison Square Garden show. He had hoped to attend our London show earlier this month but his illness prevented it. He still planned to visit us upon the start of our upcoming US tour.
We loved him, told him and have peace that he knew it.
We will grieve and celebrate all he was and did.
We have lost a part of us."

Bill loved life and lived it to the fullest. Words can never convey his impact on us or those close to him.

Aucoin also managed Billy Idol and Billy Squire. Squire paid tribute to Aucoin on his website saying "Thank you friend, for the years of unwavering support...and for never letting me forget what it is that I do best."

Quadrophenia: A UK Stage Production Debut

According to Billboardbiz, Quadrophenia will be start it's UK theatrical run on May 9.

The article quoted Quadrophenia's author, Pete Townsend. "It's taken a long time and a lot of wrangling to accept that Quadrophenia is probably never going to work as conventional music theatre," said Townsend in a statement. "So I hope for a grand and chaotic explosion of music and chorus that revives the memories of being young in the '60s, but also brings those memories to life in the 21st century."

Metropolitan Entertainment promoted Quadrophenia at Madison Square Garden when I work there, which is why I saw it. I think it was the summer of 1996. At best I was a casual Who fan. I was blown away by the energy of Roger Daltrey and the writing of Pete Townsend. I now pay attention to the Who. This wasn't even Townsend at his best. He was only playing acoustic guitar as he had hand trouble. Billy Idol and Gary Glitter were part of the show. Zak Starkey (Keith Moon was his godfather) was impressive on drums. Even without it being a full blown Who show, the power of the music hit me. Hearing Bettye LaVette sing "Love Rain O'Er Me" at the Kennedy Center Honors reinforced the ability of Pete's music to strike a chord that resonates deep in one's soul.