Lydon’s wife has Alzheimer’s. He loves her very much and is devoted to taking care of her. He wants to keep her home, not send her to some kind of nursing home. He’s a good man. He’s an excellent example of not judging a book by its cover. God bless him.
Oh yeah,Nora has Alzheimer and I feel so sorry for Johnny💖 and two of his brothers have cancer.Johnny is a very good man & very kind hearted.God bless him and his family💝💝💝
But he was "selling out", by 1) Saying PiL (the clue is in the name) is a company not a band. 2) Going in for the experimental music that Lydon had explictedy deride during his time in the Pistols. It's really not 'rocket science' to understand, just more like 'cognitive dissonance' if you can't.
@@sunnyjim1355 if you think PIL sold out, in that era, you are clearly deluded, and its not rocket science to think otherwise despite your "cognitive dissonance" bollox you print.........
you are correct Dylan Kidd, and that someone was from angelic upstarts who having jumped on the bandwagon, failed to get anywhere near PIL. If country and western was fashionable in 77/78, the upstarts would have all bought themselves horses...
You never listen to word that I said, You only seen me For the clothes that I wear, or did the interest go so much deeper It must have been the colour of my hair.
They watched a group of nobodies dissing them, and then expected to just sit there. Nice to actually see the uneditted version where it shows the programme as being the arseholes and not PIL, as over the years you were meant to think.
C'mon, lok the band were being total pretentious, arseholes. I love them as much as you but Lydon had this almost personality disorder. This has be borne out in subsequent interviews. But I still find it hilarious!
TurntablesRockmyworld et al...Like yourself I thought PIL when they were a band '78-'81 were great (so were 'Pistols)... Wobble & Levene have 'grown up'...Lydon never has ..for 40yrs now if not praised he doesn't engage, makes statements, stares ,goes silent , does "look I'm from Finsbury Park ,so I know" act or bullies with his 'mates'/minders... ...( I also highly rated the 'Upstarts & SLF live & on record '78-'80)...but this is 12mins of 'all in cringing embarrassment' for everybody involved...
@@andchat6241 Yes, I agree. Watch Lydon in this clip with a punk round-table with Tommy Ramone, Henry Rollins, Duff Mckagan. Just cringeworthy: narcissist, cringeworthy, rude,ugly etc. Hard to watch. Like the drunk old guy in the pub that everyone is trying to avoid. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HhVZLL1pMQ0.html
Definitely unfair to have put up the cut down version previously that makes Lydon look like he was being an awkward twat for no reason. This shows how the TV show was trying to wind him up to get a reaction, cheap 'gotcha' publicity stunt, just plain rude and ignorant way to treat a guest.
Hardly being trapped on a show that's asking about the new group image and their musical direction. Very basic really. He never really said much in interviews and anything that provoked an interesting response was met with his fake hard man stare down and jaw jutting which resulted in him usually saying "next question". Fair play for making a career of it though
@@blueblood3108 except what do you expect? They literally had a bunch of nobody’s slag him and his band off for 5 minutes and expected him to be civil and answer their stupid questions which of themselves showed how out of touch they were with PIL and the punk movement by 1979.
@@blueblood3108 oh yeah those interviewers were so innocent. they just had a clip of some douchebag talking shit about Johnny Rotten lined up to show him and his band while on the air. I wonder why they would do that cause they seemed so friendly.
@@danielaschwarz1971 ..exactly ..in the same way Lydon would call virtually anybody in a band pre 1976 'a boring old fart'..... Andy Blade of Eater (with their 14 year old drummer, Dee Generate) called the Pistols 'too old!'
R.I.P Keith Levene, one of the most influential, and unique guitarists of all time. He's easily in my top 5 guitarists of all time. I never got the chance to see perform live, but he use to live in my hometown, I would see him walk around in the town centre, I never went up to him geeking like a school girl, or asked for his autograph, but i'd be in awe of him. My thoughts are with his family.
So sad to hear today that Keith Levene has died. This incredible performance is a fitting testament to his extraordinary talent. A true original and a massive inspiration to everyone of the punk/post-punk generation. He will be very sorely missed.
Well..., you are right in that they were NOT parroting 77 Punk (which is nice & brave of them),..., but the "Absolutely Revolutionary" statement is a little over the top, I´m afraid. They sound like a SLOPPY, LEAST TALENTED, VERSION of what the german band CAN had been doing since 1968. Same thing, only NOT half as good.
@@chrisjames6327 100% agree. Chant has frantic and dissonant guitar playing which helps convey the feelings of mob mentality (especially during riots), hence the lyrics "mob, war, feel hate." Keith's sloppy playing was done intentionally, but unfortunately some people just can't think deeply enough to understand the ideas in the music. Plus, their style was actually quite revolutionary as it would go on to influence a lot of different experimental music later on, especially some of what was being done in post-punk. Sure the music itself isn't necessarily as skillful or as calculated as CAN's music, but these were punk rockers at heart who were putting their own spin on experimental music. It was all quite artful, and definitely boundary pushing for its time.
One of my favs too and an influence on my playing. I also play bass and Jah Wobble is a big influence when it comes to that instrument. I wish Jah Wobble stayed with the band for it's entirety. Same with Keith levene. I can only imagine the things they could've done.
Thanks for posting the entire thing. It's extremely rare and people judged the band for being rude to the interviewers, but they didn't know the full context.
"The Lydon Death Glare!" I've liked you since I've been 14 John. Still honest and still making music. Some people blamed Lydon for not dying and thriving. Good on you John! Why did they follow some nitwit shouting his mouth off?
I love how whenever this is used in other documentaries it’s chopped down to try and show Wobble and Lydon as volatile and arsey people, but as the old Guardian advert says it’s only when you get the full picture that you can fully understand what’s going on! Thanks for this upload it’s invaluable!!!!
It’s absurd how many so called “journalists” back then would treat Lydon and other controversial artists of the time like dirt and with no respect or courtesy. When he was in the pistols he was already under constant scrutiny for being honest and raw, but when the idea of punk became trendy, and the label itself proved marketable for the media to use, artists like John and company were accused of not being punk enough, (whatever that means). It’s so brutally epic how he takes the crap they constantly threw at him and gave it right back. It’s also pretty funny how in the thumbnail he almost looks cheery and amicable.
My first time seeing the whole thing.. He had every right to be pissed off..they didn't want the full band in the interview..then proceed to show a video of someone talking shit about him...I would have busted that TV..
There would be no angelic upstairs without Sex Pistols or Lydon That name is really dumb too My hope is angelic upstairs are in some nursing home right Now
That's the whole point, you moron... to get you to feel empathy for the 'under dog'. Now our whole society is based on 'victimhood' because of idiots like you.
I seriously think that he was considering trashing the TV. This was very low and disrespectful treatment of any band or singer. Invite on a show and play a 10 minute video of a nasty, critical, and jealous person that has nothing good to say. I'd of walked off, too. Even sooner.
Yeah what a bunch of dick heads, and as for that upstart, should have just shut the f up. Ha John was the real thing, good honest rock and roll, he wasn't trying to be punk rock, just was. That angle boy was trying to be punk. That's not punk even if you think it is. They were as bad as sham 69. Bollocks.
I just came back and watched this two years after first seeing it, and the thing I find the most shocking is that PIL sat there and watched the crap interview with that Angelic Upstart nobody. That showed true patience! Total setup by the show, and I'm amazed they stuck around as long as they did.
6:54. "wa doon wanna end up like Genesis or anything like that ya knoo".. like a dog turd might sprout wings and fly if it wasn't careful.. I like the Angelic Upstarts' version of Firth of Fifth though.. especially the intro.
No staged reality but real life and art. This is TV at its very best, but unfortunatley these times are long gone. And what a performance by the best PIL line-up
Great to see the full version of that intellectual upstart making a complete arse of himself, , , , , even better to see PIL taking the piss out of everyone.
Angelic Upstarts were a Sex Pistols clone and that guy just regurgitated the same thing Johnny Rotten said about punk. Yet he keeps insulting him because he is trying to be him so bad. Punk is a mindset and he doesn't have it, he is just a clone. Punk is DIY and expression, but once the Pistols came, everyone tried to mimic the whole angry sound.
Two extra bits. The interviewer was Chris Cowey reportedly in his first ever tv interview. The woman is Lyn Spencer. She was previously at teacher training college with Sting, and when the Police appeared on the show he reportedly tore her off a strip for her part in this travesty of an interview.
Not sure about it being Cowey's first interview, it might have been. The point is that Cowey was on the production team and worked with his team to set this disgraceful stand-off up along with another fake music fan called Malcolm Gerrie.
I have a sneaky suspicion the “dock walk” was staged. And then him protesting he’s down to earth, I mean really? Why comment on johns looks it’s the polar opposite of being “down to earth “. The conversation was about music and the music scene, not a beauty contest.
@@davemcmahon4045 i think he lost the argument when he said "for a start, i'm a lot better looking than Lydon". I always say the personal insult is the last bastion of the lost argument.
That's what I thought when I saw parts of this the first time. It's more an interrogation than an interview. I would also got pissed of and left the studio. Also at first the band was in a good mood, "where do you wanna go next?", "ah, In the pub I think", the interviewer didn't get the humor. Instead he treats Jah and John like silly schoolboys. The interview with Mond says also a lot.Where are the Upstarts now?
When I was in the alternative scene in high school you could tell who was a real one vs who was a “poseur.” The poseurs didn’t know anything other than The Pistols, whereas the real ones were into PIL
I'm not the biggest Sex Pistols/PIL connoisseur, but if the guitarist can play, then I just want people to know how bad it is to play guitar badly and have it still work with the music.
it's interesting that Johnny can keep track of the tempo in 'chant' despite the erratic composition. there is a pattern to the tempo it is just almost obliterated by the frenetic rhythm.
This interview was exactly what Johnny called it "a cheap interrogation act" with bullshit games & stirring the shit pot showing a video of another band trash talking...
@@davidjameschamberlain part of his brilliance was being 'behind the curve' in a way - his musical hero was Steve Howe of 'prog-dinosaurs' Yes ( for whom he was a roadie/guitar tech)
There’s definitely arguments for both John and Mensi here, On the one hand John had given a running order in the early Pistols days of the rock stars he thought were old farts who no one should listen to anymore and Mensi was just throwing that attitude back at him! But as John says the whole thing was irrelevant to what PIL were doing on this programme so why do the interviewers keep digging this shit up time and time again? Cos obviously “Check It Out” was not a platform for anything avant garde or experimental like PIL so wrong programme in my view!!!!
Well if you really want to be technical, the 80s wasn’t until ‘81, but I’m not one of those smart bastards who has to butt in every time someone says something that’s not exactly 100% correct.
"EVERY LIBRARIAN HAS ITS THEORY!"... I don't comprehend why Lydon immediately attacks Wobble for MERELY saying on the origin of the band's name, Public Image Ltd----a very reasonable question---that the name came naturally from the themes in the song, that it was an "ironical" and apt name, therefore it stuck, and Wobble then gets attacked first by the shallow hostess of talking "rubbish" which he immediately counters, and then attacked by Lydon himself: "shut up! Throw him off!" Throw one of the best bassists ever off the show for giving a cogent explanation---which Lydon himself does not bother correcting, if he is so daintily offended. What the fuck? The version of Chant they just played was epic. Chaotic, impulsive, powerful: the Ornette Colemans of Rage, the band and Lydon working together, tighly wound yet anarchic, elegant, Levene, Wobble, Atkins all in top form. Too bad there were not more recorded live shows with this line up. But why does Lydon so childishly turn on Wobble and demand he be thrown off the show? But my God, these blithe, niggling interviewers wanted to stage The Assassinate The Johnny Rotten Show, a really cheap attack. Bravo to Wobble for throwing a beer bottle; and the petty, little minded, sick-with-envy, rightly named "Upstarts" should not have been accorded so much time. These scumbags just wanted to sack PiL.
That was actually Richard Dudanski on drums. They were still working on Metal Box at the time of this appearance, and Dudanski plays drums on several key tracks including "Chant". Martin Atkins had not yet joined the band; the one Metal Box track he appears on, "Bad Baby", was in fact his live audition. Lydon was just taking the piss out of Wobble. They had a rough sense of humor, and by his own account, Wobble usually gave as good as he got.
@4:26 LMAO at Jah Wobble putting on an ironic fake trans-Atlantic/ showbiz/mock-north eastern accent when answering to the presenters instead of his usual barrow-boy cockney tones! Hilarious!!
Lydon really knew how to handle these clueless music journalists. Even though I loved Lydon’s clever antics, I will admit that I always wondered why he seemed to always go off on them. But now, as an adult, I absolutely get it. He really was totally justified in doing so. Especially now that in the age of the internet, we have more access to raw footage and more behind the scenes stuff. It’s quite easy to see that these disgusting music journos were really asking for it, with their cheap, sleazy journo tactics and asinine questions. In fact, I am honestly surprised that he didn’t knock out a couple of these idiots. He would have had every right!
I wish I could like this 50 times. The Angelic upstarts cutting a promo on Lydon was golden. The tune PiL did was epic too. And the hapless 1979 presenters were hilariously lame. And the iceing on the cake was the ending credits music. Perfect lols👌
End of day John Lydon had not long lost his childhood Friend - and then you get idiots like that calling him finished and old man, you can see the pain behind Johns Eyes, deep inside grieving for Sid ffs!! Fair play to him, it could have been a whole lot worse for these interviewers!
In which Lydon and Levene finally pass from being white to being grey. Lydon in particular is the palest person I've ever seen and looks like an animated corpse! Marvellous finally seeing this footage. Amusing to see the pack of oafs down at the dockside rubishing Lydon and PiL. Punk by the Daily Mirror.
The group or company..are 100% for the music. The interviewers were just 100% celebrity personage..therefore they drew a blank. Bought the first two albums when first came out and still play them. Chant is one of the great tracks off PIL 2nd edition.
This was amazing to see the full thing finally. I've seen the this PIL interview before with Johnny losing it but now it's clear why. A classic, just like the Grundy from '76! 😂🤣
Hilarious. PIL were a progressive band, the Pistols were initially great but became a gimmick very quickly. The idea that Lydon sold out with PIL is a simpletons view with little understanding of music. Angelic Upstrats and Stiff Little Flingers were rather one-dimensional.
@Craig wells "Maybe not ALL of PiL" lmao you haven't heard any of their albums, have you? You should check out First Issue. You might like it, much more volatile than The Sex Pistols and it has some genuinely catchy songs. I love their first four albums but this preformance was shit. If you judged their recorded output off of this, you're missing out. I've always enjoyed their studio works but I think they're shit live.
@Craig wells Thanks for the very thoughtful response man. I also checked out PiL because I loved Nevermind The Bollocks and I have come to prefer PiL. I would highly recommend First Issue, Metal Box, Flowers of Romance and Commercial Zone, they're some of my favourite albums. Play them all loudly. Their later albums mostly sound like pop and it's not my cup of tea. Also yeah, they've never been good live hahaha. They're very much a studio band in my opinion.
@Craig wells Music never worked like that. If someone does something never heard of, its going to get traction sooner or later. I mean can you really be so daft Craig? Like Fucking Throbbing Gristle invented a whole genre yet there music was abrasive as the choirs of the damned. Btw the song Chant is basically a noise song, like L.A Blues by The Stooges.
Craig wells music is NOISE. The whole band were talented musicians. Levenes brand of dissonance was quite unique and very influential. Their first 2 albums sound extraordinary even today. Fuck knows what people made of it 40 years ago. I don’t think you’ll find a pitch perfect live performance from this lineup of the band or any lineup really. They were pissed off without a doubt during this whole video. The interview was engineered to put them down, it was a total farce.
Wow... Amazing. Only ever seen the couple of minutes this is famous for, and having seen the rest of it, it gives a lot of context. They were on a stitch-up job they were probably planning for weeks. Good on PiL for digging in there and not standing for it.
