Glen Matlock on his time in the Sex Pistols before all this Bollocks
It’s been almost 45 years since the Sex Pistols released their first single Anarchy In The UK, in November 1976, changing the face of popular music. A new box set titled 76/77 compiles 80 studio recordings with eight unreleased tracks that pre-date the group’s official debut, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols, released in October 1977.
Original bassist Glen Matlock was a significant musical force in the band, playing a key role in three of the album’s four singles, including Anarchy.
“I tried Steve [Jones] for not having invented anything, ”recalls Matlock. “He said, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ I had a few ideas in mind and started playing the top-down riff that would become Anarchy. He said; ‘It’s rather good; what happens next? So I played the next track while John [Lydon] gathered something from this bag of lyrics. He had a lot of ideas and one of them was Anarchy.
The original line-up of Glen Matlock, John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), Steve Jones and Paul Cook was formed in 1975 in London. Lydon based part of her DIY image around ‘poverty’ explaining that safety pins were used to ‘keep your pant ass from falling out’. With a mother from Cork (Eileen Barry) and a father, also John, from Galway, he was keenly aware of the conflict in the North, referring to the IRA and UDA over Anarchy.
Lydon’s political anger, combined with Matlock’s penchant for catchy rock’n’roll songs, would become the band’s musical focus.
“When I auditioned, Faces were Steve and Paul’s favorite band; I played Three Button Hand Me Down and it got me the gig! Ronnie Lane was an influence; I learned bass playing on these records, as well as Trevor Bolder in Bowie’s Spiders (From Mars). I loved writing classic British songs; The Kinks, The Who, Small Faces and I liked Motown.
The Move would also be cited as having a notable impact on the group’s upcoming single, God Save The Queen. “I had a chat with Roy Wood once in my room, told him firefighters weren’t much different from guns, he said, ‘I had noticed.’ No Future, which has become God Save The Queen, was my riff. When we were recording Anarchy in a previous session, I was driving everyone crazy with it on the piano. John came up with lyrics, but we all put ideas into it.
“The only one who didn’t write was Paul [Cook] but what people miss about Paul’s drums is that his parts are quite catchy with little hooks, when you think about what he plays on God Save The Queen and Anarchy. He’s not a jam-type drummer, he plays the same role every time. When I played Pistols songs with different drummers that they want to crush, I say, “Listen to the record”. After touring with the band between late 1975 and February 1977, Matlock left due to tensions with Lydon and manager Malcolm McLaren.
“I had enough because I didn’t feel like I was being supported by Steve and Paul. I had just turned 20 and had no backup. The only reason you’re in a group is that you don’t want people telling you what to do all the time or you better get a fucking job; it was in my head and the way we were seen; I didn’t think it was honest.
“We were told we weren’t allowed to play anywhere, and then I would go to someone like the Ramones, a promoter would pat me on the shoulder and say, ‘Do you want to come and play?’ I would tell Malcolm and he would say, ‘No; you are banned ”. I would say: “a promoter has just offered to put us at the 100 Club and he would say” No “. It might have been naive of me, but that’s what was happening.
Matlock has been replaced by Sid Vicious, a friend of Rotten’s and “the biggest fan they’ve ever had”. While Vicious looked like he was playing the part, becoming the ultimate punk icon along the way, he was a neglected and damaged figure unable to cope with stardom. He would die of a drug overdose within two years of joining the group.
The Sex Pistols would go their separate ways within a year of leaving Matlock, but not before they built an unforgettable steam head. After God Save The Queen came another song written by Matlock. “I wrote Pretty Vacant and it [Lydon] changed a few lines in the second verse, I never got to hear the final version before it was released.
Guitarist Steve Jones has since admitted some regrets about the band’s brief stint in the limelight, suggesting that if it hadn’t been for the infamous expletive-laden conversation on the Today show with Bill Grundy and Matlock leaving the group, they probably would have stayed together longer. .
“I agree with him,” Matlock adds, “but he should have known at the time.” The 76/77 collection traces the development of the group, giving some context to the amount of work that went into creating one of the most important albums of the 20th century.
“We did a lot of recordings in our rehearsal room on Denmark Street,” says Matlock, “and we recorded a lot of backing tracks that sounded great. It was suggested that Malcolm take these backing tracks to a recording studio and do some overdubs and mixing to get better sound. This is indeed what the bootleg album Spunk is, Matlock says of the sessions that are also included on 76/77.
By the time these tracks arrived at Never Mind The Bollocks, much of Matlock’s bass playing had been replaced, most notably by new member Sid Vicious.
“My ideal record would be the sound of Never Mind The Bollocks with the Spunk cassette playing,” says Matlock.
- Sex Pistols 76/77 is now available
Matlock found himself in disgrace after his departure, often ridiculed at various times by Rotten, Vicious and Jones.
Lydon recently fell out with his former bandmates after a legal dispute over the use of Sex Pistols songs in an upcoming TV series ruled in favor of Jones and Cook. The couple have been granted permission to use the band’s music for a new miniseries, Pistol, directed by Danny Boyle.
“I’m slightly involved,” said Matlock, “not as much as Steve and Paul but more than John. He could have been involved but chose not to be. I went to see them filming and I met Danny Boyle. He’s going to do his best to see justice done.
“I met the guy who is going to play me but I haven’t seen the finished thing; I think it’s going to be a bit surreal in places. The danger is that there might be a slight liberty taken with it all and then the young people might think it’s the truth but I don’t know.
“Steve started the group and he should be allowed to tell his story, it’s not just about the Pistols; this is the story of Steve’s life. If it was based on my book, I would be very annoyed if I couldn’t use Pistols songs in it; likewise, if John told his story, he would be the same.