Stumbled across this by accident. I'm on record for not being a great Sex Pistols fan, but I'm an avid "Johnny Lydon - the interview partner"-devotee. This here is lovely, Sid Vicious ("being in the Sex Pistols blew his head up"), The Allmans, Glenn Matlock ("you can't have these people that make you sound good"), the Queen ("choose your enemies carefully ... we picked the Queen and worked our way down ..."), Paul Simonon ("talentless") and Kurt Cobain are just a few that get scorched ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtWWeSuLGSU
That interview is 24 years old now, before Glen Matlock rejoined.
In case you missed it last month, John Lydon to voice a power hungry mutant pig in new Ninja Turtles series (https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/07/john-lydon-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/).
Yeah, that's an oldie but a goodie.
I like him in interviews too but his reliability as a narrator varies and can sometimes be difficult to pin down whether he's really being honest or putting it on (and all this can be within a single interview, nevermind different ones over the years). I also get the feeling that he will trash people and things he just personally doesn't like, unfairly so, and he is shameless about it. Paul Simonon is hardly 'talentless.' Completely unskilled at bass in the beginning - sure, but he got a lot better (along the same lines as Steve Jones actually) and was one of the more organised/creative/intelligent punks on the scene.
I wonder whether it's a second mutant pig or a replacement for the old Bebop character.
I know that most of this is tongue in cheek (except maybe the "life is precious"-part at the end, he sounds sincere there), but that doesn't stop it from being entertaining. He's a rabblerouser and a joker, always clamoring for laughs or shock value like some ADS kid. But there are sure dumber rock stars around.
I even have PIL CDs, so there!
Quote from: uwe on August 30, 2018, 08:32:51 AM
...But there are sure dumber rock stars around.
You could be wrong, you could be right. :mrgreen:
Seriously, he's done very well for himself over the years. Successful rock frontman, author, entertaining talk show personality, and a natural as a commercial spokesman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvR2QiJ8wno
He's a modern day Oscar Wilde to me.