Now we’re getting a little more interesting here. You may remember that our inaugural ACSS was Prince Harry and his grandmother. But to be fair, Johnny Rotten did technically ask God to Save the Queen. Technically. Johnny Rotten (née Lydon) was born in North London 51 years ago to Irish parents. Rotten is most famous of course for being the frontman for the legendary punk band Sex Pistols, and later for legendary post-punk band PiL. But as you can see from this video, he was a Gooner before all of that business. Besides the aforementioned “God Save the Queen”, the Sex Pistols are best known for the 1977 Album “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols”. It would prove to be the Pistols’ only studio album (at least during their initial iteration). In naming the album the 41st best of all time, Rolling Stone Magazine opined: “Packed with disgust, nihilism and raw guitar, the Pistols’ only studio album sounds like a rejection of everything rock & roll, and the world itself, had to offer. True, the music was less shocking than Rotten himself, who sang about abortions, anarchy and hatred in general on “Bodies” and “Anarchy in the U.K.” But Never Mind . . . is the Sermon on the Mount of English punk — and the echoes are everywhere.” I’ll leave you with the following, a little “Anarchy in the UK” to get your weekend started right.
