Your reviewer purposely left reviewing this until now, the weekend THE SEX PISTOLS will allegedly storm the (Crystal) Palace once more, playing a 25th Jubilee of Punk celebration gig to commemorate the filth, fury, safety pins and kicked in TV sets.
Because - like it or not - THE SEX PISTOLS reputation is now cast in stone and, while it's tempting to accuse them of reforming (again) as mere nostalgia and pantomime - their slim volume of recorded work remains as startling and incendiary as ever.
And, frankly, "slim" is the apposite term when referring to THE SEX PISTOLS back catalogue. I mean, the ROTTEN-era band (never mind the contentious "Swindle" material) only recorded 16 original tracks if you include the notorious "Belsen Was A Gas", and there are only live versions available of this latter. Yet THE SEX PISTOLS dead horse continues to be flogged. Only the dust can remain, surely?
Not so, actually, which is where "Best Of British", the (probably) inevitable 3CD box set comes in, right on time, 26 year after the Summer of Hate. And, yeah, it is valid and deserves praise...with certain reservations.
First things first. "Best Of British" comprises 3 CDs with a total of 61 tracks (62 if you count the uncredited instrumental run through of "God Save The Queen" at the end of Disc 2), although there are only actually 26 different songs here - and some of these are silly, throwaway studio takes of things like JONATHAN RICHMAN'S "Roadrunner" and THE SMALL FACES' "Whatcha Gonna Do About It?" - mostly with Johnny voicing his displeasure. So, buyer beware: if you're not interested in work-in-progress versions, out-takes and rare demos, forget it. CD1 opens with all of "Never Mind The Bollocks" sequentially, but you could just save your lucre and buy that alone...or mop up the singles with "Flogging A Dead Horse" or the new "Jubilee" compilation.
On the other hand, if you're a confirmed PISTOLS addict, then there's plenty to absorb, not least the illuminating and high quality demos spread liberally across CDs 1 and 2. For instance, this writer had never previously sampled the much-vaunted CHRIS SPEDDING-produced demo (The Pistols first studio visit) from May 1976 and was fascinated to discover that eve after just 15 or 20 gigs the band's nihilistically cocksure sound was falling into place.
Nevertheless, CD2 is perhaps the biggest treat worthy of wolfing down here. Opening with Steve Jones' amusing BEATLES piss-take, cracking versions of "Pretty Vacant" and "Submission"(spacy and subterranean) ensue, with production assistance from the under-rated Dave Goodman.
OK, both of these are available on the great "Spunk" official bootleg, along with the raw, abrasive "Anarchy In The UK" (the October 76 one with the "Vinyl Quotation no.1" lyric and the definitive take in my opinion), but there are other excellent unreleased demos, like the EMI studio demos (Manchester Square) recorded during a weekend off on the notorious "Anarchy" tour fiasco. These feature a sketchy early take of "God Save The Queen" (still "No Future" here) and an illuminating rejected "Anarchy In The UK" with a ridiculously OTT guitar solo from Jones. Apparently producer Chris Thomas still hangs his head in shame over this one.
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CD2 closes with a slew of out-take versions from "Never Mind The Bollocks," though no different songs. By this time, Sid was on board, so the basslines are supplied by Steve Jones. He doesn't quite match up to Matlock's invention, but nonetheless the other elements of the PISTOLS' inimitable wall of sound and Jones' ace, fat guitar sound are very much present and correct.
Historically, CD3 is the biggest selling point. It features the entirety of the band's legendary Screen On The Green gig (29.8.76): THE SEX PISTOLS cooking with gas at 3AM, still with Matlock in the ranks. Personally, this writer would still rate the Burton-on-trent gig (24.9.76) as superior, but nonetheless, this show features sizzling, humongous versions of "Anarchy In The UK", "Don' Give Me No Lip" and "No Feelings" amongst others and is a must for anyone remotely anally-retentive. The whole thing eventually signs off with two badly-recorded live versions of "Flowers Of Romance" (not a song as such, just an introductory noise bath at early shows) and "Belsen Was A Gas" (live in Dallas) which probably was/is the last word in the SEX PISTOLS anyway.
Of course, "Best Of British"s other seductive trick is its' superb, book-style packaging, with excellent in-depth commentary from all the band (bar Sid of course...), a welter of great, previously unpublished photos, complete lyrics and invaluable stuff like a full gig list. Knicker-wetting stuff for completists, basically.
If we're being pedantic, a fourth CD rounding up the "Swindle" era stuff would have been nice. But then, "Silly Thing" aside, much of that stuff was dross and/or high farce. This way, the band's legacy claws back much of its' credibility after years of abuse from Malcolm McLaren and combines with the "Filth And The Fury" documentary to remind us why THE SEX PISTOLS were so important at the time.
In short, then, ever feel you've been cheated? No not this time around, at least.
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