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Title: Sid Vicious: Rock 'n' Roll Star by Malcolm Butt ISBN: 0-85965-340-4 Publisher: Plexus Publishing Pub. Date: October, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Terrific little book!
Comment: How much more can be said about Sid Vicious, the Sex Pistols, and 70s punk in general? Well, it helps if you've got stories nobody's heard before, and "Sid Vicious: Rock'n'Roll Star" (God, I hope there's some irony intended in that subtitle) has them. I won't reveal them here, but I will say I've been a punk fan for a long time (I'm not telling!) and I learned a lot here--lots of little details really make Sid come alive in a new way. Sure, he was nasty and brutish, and his life was short, but he's still entertaining. There are also fantastic pictures, again, many which I was unfamiliar with. There's a funny one of him in the hospital after the break-up of the Pistols, and lots of good ones before he ever joined the band.
This book covers his whole life--his childhood with his drug-friendly mother, his teen years as an art student (but then, name me one British rock star that DIDN'T go to art school!)--and the hellish descent his life took after January 14, 1978. It's all here--great writing (the bibliography includes "England's Dreaming" and "12 Days on the Road"), hilarious and chilling anecdotes, unparalleled photos, and good research. However, it did leave out a really cool fact--that Sid got his trademark padlock necklace from Chrissie Hynde. But it does reveal that the one Gary Oldman wore in "Sid & Nancy" was, in fact, that very one.
This slim book doesn't look like much at first glance, but appearances deceive. Avoid at all costs, however, the much more hyped "El Sid" by David Dalton--a wretched, exploitative, cheap and poorly written work with no photos and imaginary diary entries from Sid. CRRRAAPPP!
PS: "Sid Vicious: Rock'n'Roll Star" would make an EXCELLENT gift for that bratty 14-year-old nephew of yours who thinks Rancid and Green Day and Blink 182 are "punk rock"--show him the guy who walked it like he talked it, and paid the highest price for it.
"Regrets... I've had a few... But then again, too few to mention......"
Rating: 5
Summary: The best Sid book ever written!
Comment: This is by far the best Sid Vicious book ever written, and I have read them all. A fast, good read. A great picture on almost every other page, including childhood photos. Also, the best Sex Pistols book is: "12 Days on the Road, the Sex Pistols and America"
Rating: 5
Summary: "Don't let them take you alive."
Comment: The British Punk Rock band, the Sex Pistols exploded onto the Punk music scene in London in the 70s. They remain, perhaps, the most infamous Punk band--due to their revolutionary, anarchistic message, their violent, anti-social behaviour, and the fact that their bass player, Sid Vicious was later charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen at the Chelsea Hotel on October 12, 1978. No band ever went quite so far as the Sex Pistols--they even make Eminem look like some sort of preppie. The Sex Pistols remain, at least to me, one of the most important bands on the Punk music scene. Their musical contributions, were unfortunately, not prolific--but it was what the Sex Pistols said--and how they said it--that made them memorable.
England in the early 70s was not exactly an optimistic place to be, and you had to be a teenager living in England to understand the bleakness of the times. The Sex Pistols did not exaggerate when they sang "No Future." They merely expressed the frustration and hopeless of many British teenagers at the time. Britain's teens were ready for the Sex Pistols, and the Sex Pistols were more than ready for the role they soon created.
The book, "Sid Vicious," skillfully written by Malcolm Butt, concentrates on the life of Simon Ritchie--AKA Sid Vicious--rather than the entire band. While the first chapter deals briefly with Sid's life prior to the Pistols, the remainder of the book covers Sid--the vicious fan whose meteoric rise to bass player increased the Pistols' notoriety, Sid--the most vicious member of the band, and Sid--his brief post-Pistols life.
Butt details the relatively short, violent, and destructive career of the Sex Pistols, and covers the record deals with both EMI and A&M records (both companies terminated their contracts abruptly with the Pistols). A&M records terminated their contract after the Sex Pistols literally "pillaged" their offices, and the Sex Pistols eventually signed with Virgin Records. Butt describes and details the escalating violence that surrounded the band--the violence of the fans, the violence of the Pistols at the various venues (they often demanded to play at bars and clubs and started fights if there was any opposition), Sid's obsession with self-mutilation, and the growing number of violent attacks against the band members. Violence escalated to such a degree that the Sex Pistols eventually took to playing fairly impromptu venues under a variety of assumed names, and the band members--especially Sid Vicious rarely went out in public due to the number of physical attacks that occurred.
The Pistols' disastrous American tour took place just prior to the break-up of the band, and Butt speculates whether or not Sid was tossed out or if he indeed left. Butt presents opposing stories of the break-up, and the reader is left to decide which version is 'the truth.' Butt spares no punches as he details Sid's descent into a drug-addicted hell, and I was simply amazed by the stories of the Pistols' North American tour. Sid disintegrated in front of everyone. Two band members actually refused to travel with him, and Sid had to be woken up from his drug binges with a cattle prod every morning.
Butt also describes Nancy Spungen's relationship with Sid--Johnny Rotten's rejection of Spungen (she was a notorious groupie), the band's attempted and foiled kidnap attempt, and her rather unfortunate influence over Sid. While Nancy was immensely unpopular with everyone, Butt maintains that Sid and Nancy did share a remarkably close relationship--something that went beyond their mutual Heroin addiction. Butt also explores the mysterious "third person" theory surrounding Nancy's death, and he again leaves the reader to make the decision whether or not the theory seems feasible.
This was the best biography I've read in ages. While Butt deals with various versions of the multiple sides of every story with fairness, nonetheless, the book is laced with personal touches--for example, Butt blasts Cliff Richard calling him "Mr Self-Righteous himself" during Cliff's organized rally against the Pistols. Butt also deals with the McLaren's management of the Pistols, questions the venues played by the Pistols during their last tour, and addresses the issues of exploitation. I can heartily recommend this book to anyone--an excellent read, and Butt provides the reader with much food for thought in the final chapter when he very fairly and generously addresses the issue of whether or not anything could have been done to stop Sid in his hideous decline towards an inevitably ugly and premature death at age 21--displacedhuman.
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Title: And I Don't Want to Live This Life : A Mother's Story of Her Daughter's Murder by Deborah Spungen ISBN: 0449911411 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 29 September, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Rotten : No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon ISBN: 031211883X Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 15 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title:Sid & Nancy ASIN: B00004ZBVO Publisher: MGM/UA Video Pub. Date: 19 December, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $17.98 |
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Title:The Filth and the Fury - A Sex Pistols Film ASIN: B00003CXHM Publisher: New Line Home Video Pub. Date: 10 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $22.48 |
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Title: Chelsea Horror Hotel: A Novel by Dee Dee Ramone ISBN: 1560253045 Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press Pub. Date: 10 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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