SEX PISTOLS LP never mind bollocks PICTURE DISC SEALED

$

43

ARTIST:  THE SEX PISTOLS                         

TITLE: NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS HERE'S THE...

LABEL: VIRGIN VP2086

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK

YEAR: 1977

COVER CONDITION: MINT SEALED

VINYL CONDITION:  MINT UNPLAYED SEALED

DETAILS: very rare original PICTURE DISC pressed by Virgin records in 1977. This copy has the ORIGINAL SEAL and is therefore in pristine MINT perfect condition. Is any punk collection complete without this? I think not. This was a seriously limited item to begin with and can't imagine there are many sealed one left.

Back cover has the song list and Vernon Yard, London Address.

Good luck!

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols was recorded between March and June 1977, in Wessex Studios, Highbury, London. Produced by Chris Thomas, who had previously worked with Roxy Music, the album featured Matlock on bass, redrafted as a session musician to compensate for Vicious' lack of musical ability. According to Jones: Sid wanted to come down and play on the album, and we tried as hard as possible not to let him anywhere near the studio. Luckily he had hepatitis at the time. Although Vicious did record on one occasion, his contribution was later over-dubbed. Jones recalls: We just let him do it, innit. When he left I dubbed another part on, leaving Sid's down low. I think it might be barely audible on the track.

Never Mind the Bollocks was released on 28 October 1977, to mixed reviews. Rolling Stone described the album positively, comparing the sound to two subway trains crashing together under 40 feet of mud, victims screaming, and praised the band for playing "with an energy and conviction that is positively transcendent in its madness and fever. Some critics, however, were disappointed that the album contained all four previously released singles, and considered the release to be effectively a Greatest Hits album. In recent years, the album has come to be commonly regarded to be one of the most influential rock albums of the last 40 years, and has been described as one of the greatest, most inspiring rock records of all time.

The album title caused difficulties for the band. Boots, W.H. Smith and Woolworth's refused to stock the album, a Conservative MP condemned it as a symptom of the way society is declining, and the Independent Television Companies Association refused to carry the album's TV advertising campaign. In Nottingham a record outlet was threatened with prosecution for displaying indecent printed matter. The case was overturned however, when defending QC John Mortimer produced expert witnesses, who were able to demonstrate that the word bollocks was a legitimate Old English term originally used to refer to a priest. Although the word in popular slang means testicles, in this context it is intended to signify 'nonsense'; the title had been unwittingly suggested by Steve Jones when, in response to bickering over possible titles, he exclaimed Oh, never mind the bollocks of it all!

The Sex Pistols' final UK performance took place at Ivanhoe's in Huddersfield, on Christmas Day 1977, where the band played a matinee and evening show as part of a benefit for the families of striking firemen. The location of the gigs was not announced until shortly before the venue opened, a tactic the band used at the time to avoid the sort of attention that had led to earlier cancellations.

In January 1978 the Sex Pistols embarked on a US tour, consisting mainly of dates in America's Deep South. Though originally scheduled for December 1977, it was delayed due the US authorities reluctance to issue visas to band members with criminal records. Though highly anticipated by fans and media, the tour was plagued by in-fighting, poor planning and physically hostile audiences. Malcom McLaren has admitted that he purposely booked redneck bars to create those hostile situations. Over the course of the two-weeks, Vicious, by now chronically addicted to heroin,   began to live up to his stage name. According to Rotten: He finally had an audience of people who would behave with shock and horror. Sid was easily led by the nose. Early in the tour, Sid wandered off from his Holiday Inn in Memphis, Tennessee, looking for drugs. He was found in a Memphis hospital with the words "Gimme a fix" self-carved in his chest with a razor. During a concert in San Antonio, Texas, Vicious called the audience a bunch of faggots, before striking a member of the audience across the head with his bass guitar. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he received simulated oral sex onstage, later declaring that’s the kind of girl I like. Suffering withdrawal symptoms from heroin, Vicious appeared onstage in Dallas, Texas, with the words Gimme a Fix still cut into his chest, and spat blood at a female who had climbed on stage and punched him in the face. He was admitted to hospital later that night to treat injuries resulting from his wounds. Offstage he is said to have kicked a female photographer, attacked a security guard, and was eventually beaten by one of his own bodyguards.