Diverse

In 1993, Lydon's first autobiography, Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, was published. Aided by Keith and Kent Zimmerman, and featuring contributions from figures including Paul Cook, Chrissie Hynde, Billy Idol and Don Letts, the work covered his life up until the collapse of the Sex Pistols. Describing the book, he stated that it "is as close to the truth as one can get, looking back on events from the inside. All the people in this book were actually there, and this book is as much their point of view as it is mine. This means contradictions and insults have not been edited, and neither have the compliments, if any. I have no time for lies or fantasy, and neither should you. Enjoy or die."[26] In December 2005, Lydon told Q that he is working on a second autobiography to cover the PiL years.[1]
In the mid-1990s, Lydon hosted Rotten Day, a daily syndicated US radio feature written by George Gimarc. The format of the show was a look back at events in popular music and culture occurring on the particular broadcast calendar date about which Lydon would offer cynical commentary. The show was originally developed as a radio vehicle for Gimarc's book, Punk Diary 1970-79, but after bringing Lydon onboard it was expanded to cover notable events from most of the second half of the 20th century.
In 1997 Lydon released a solo album on Virgin Records called Psycho's Path. He wrote all the songs and played all the instruments. In one song, "Sun", he sang the vocals through a toilet roll.[27] It did not sell particularly well and received mixed reviews from critics. The U.S. version included a Chemical Brothers remix of the song "Open Up" by Leftfield with vocals by Lydon. This song is heard during the title menu of the computer game All Star Baseball 2000 (Acclaim Entertainment). The song was also a club hit in the U.S. and a big hit in England. John Lydon has recorded a second solo-album but it has not been released. One song from the album was released on The Best of British £1 Notes.
In November 1997, Lydon appeared on Judge Judy fighting a suit filed by his former tour drummer Robert Williams for breach of contract, and assault and battery.[28] Lydon won the case, although Judge Judy Sheindlin wasn't overly impressed with Lydon's antics and did advise Lydon to keep quiet several times.
In 2000, Lydon hosted Rotten TV, a short-lived show on VH1. The show offered his acerbic commentary on American politics and pop culture. In one segment he attempted to take Neil Young to task for not appearing on the show, making fun of Young's singing style and pointing out that Young had once proclaimed Johnny Rotten "the king" in the song "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)".
In 2003 Lydon appeared as a panelist on an episode of Richard Belzer's ill-fated conspiracy-themed panel show, The Belzer Connection. The episode in question posed the query, "Was there a conspiracy involved in the death of Princess Diana?" For his part, Lydon responded to suggestions of Royal Family involvement by proclaiming "If the Royal Family was going to assassinate someone, they would have gotten rid of me a long time ago." The series ran for only two episodes.
In a February 2004 interview with the Scottish Sunday Mirror, Lydon said that he and his wife "should be dead", since on 21 December 1988, thanks to delays caused by his wife's packing, they missed the doomed Pan Am Flight 103.[29] During this interview, Lydon said that the real reason for him leaving Get Me Out of Here! was his fear over the Pan Am incident and the "appalling" refusal of the programme makers to let him know whether his wife had arrived safely in Australia. In an interview previous to the show's first episode, he had described it as "moronic", and throughout the show's run he had displayed an indifferent attitude to staying and threatened to walk out on numerous occasions. Thirty hours following ex-football star Neil Ruddock's departure, Lydon left the show for unclear reasons, although he had been very visibly angry both to and about fellow star Jordan. British newspapers claimed that Lydon had won a £100 bet with Ruddock over who would stay in the longest. Lydon, however, stated on air that he felt he would win outright and that it would be unfair to the other celebrities for him to win.
After I'm a Celebrity..., he presented a documentary about insects and spiders called John Lydon's Megabugs that was shown on the Discovery Channel.[30] Radio Times described him as "more an enthusiast than an expert". He went to present two further programmes: John Lydon Goes Ape in which he searched for gorillas in Central Africa, and John Lydon's Shark Attack in which he swam with sharks off South Africa.
In 2005, he appeared in Reynebeau & Rotten, a five episode documentary on Canvas, the cultural channel of the Flemish public broadcaster VRT, in which Lydon guided Belgian journalist Marc Reynebeau through Great Britain in a chauffeured Rolls Royce, having a go at things typically 'British'. When asked why he was chosen as a guide, he answered that he was the cheapest one available. After the show had been broadcast, Lydon claimed in an interview with the popular Belgian magazine HUMO that he was very unhappy with the way they handled post-production and was very angry with the way they depicted him in this particular show. He claimed that the creators mainly showed his humorous, sometimes clownish antics, instead of focusing on his personal opinions and arguably philosophical conversations he had with Marc Reynebeau. Lydon was also infuriated that the production company used songs from the Sex Pistols' catalogue, without consulting all the remaining members of the band, including him.
Lydon broadcast a short pod on Current TV in which he critiqued The Doors' keyboardist Ray Manzarek's previously broadcast pod. Manzarek's advice to young people had been to "fuck your brains out." He emphasised this especially for 25-year-old women, saying that "it won't last." Lydon had several choice words for Manzarek and told young people that the best thing they could do was get an education because knowledge is free. Lydon also suggested that at one point Manzarek had asked him to work on a project together and that he did not do it because it would negatively affect his career.
In late 2008 Lydon appeared in an advertising campaign for Country Life, a popular brand of butter, on British television. Lydon was widely mocked as a sell-out for this move.[31] Lydon has defended the move by stating that the main reason he accepted the offer was to raise money to reform Public Image Limited from the ground-up without a record deal. The advertising campaign proved to be highly successful, with sales of the brand raising 85% in the quarter following, which many in the media attributed to Lydon's presence in the advert.[32]
2006-2009: Sex Pistols revival
John Lydon (2008)
Although Lydon spent years furiously denying that the Sex Pistols would ever perform together again, the band re-united (with Matlock returning on bass) in the 1990s, and continues to perform occasionally. In 2004, Lydon publicly refused to allow the Rhino record label to include any Sex Pistols songs on its box set No Thanks!: The 70s Punk Rebellion. In 2006, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Sex Pistols, but the band refused to attend the ceremony or acknowledge the induction, complaining that they had been asked for large sums of money to attend[33] and stating that it went against everything the band stood for.
In June 2007, Lydon, Jones and Cook re-recorded "Pretty Vacant" in a Los Angeles studio for the video game Skate and, in a radio interview in the same month, Lydon announced that the Sex Pistols may perform again over the Christmas period. They also re-recorded "Anarchy in the UK" for the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. In September 2007, Lydon announced that the Sex Pistols would play a concert for the 30th anniversary of Never Mind the Bollocks at the Brixton Academy on 8 November 2007. Due to popular demand, four additional concerts were added, as well as further shows in Manchester and Glasgow.
The Sex Pistols appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival 2008 as the headlining act on Saturday night. They also appeared at the Peace and Love Festival in Sweden, Electric Picnic in Ireland, the Live at Loch Lomond Festival in Scotland, Heineken Open'er Festival in Gdynia (Poland), Paredes de Coura Festival in Portugal, Traffic Free Festival in Turin (Italy) and EXIT festival in Serbia the same summer.
2009 - PiL reformation
In September 2009 it was announced that PiL would reform, including earlier members Bruce Smith and Lu Edmonds, for a number of Christmas shows in the UK.[34] Lydon financed the reunion using money he earned doing a UK TV commercial for Country Life butter. "The money that I earned from that has now gone completely -- lock stock and barrel -- into reforming PiL[35]," said Lydon.
In 2010 the group have gone on to perform in Europe and the United States.

JOHN LYDON'S AUDITION
21st August 1975
By Paul Gorman

So when did John Lydon audition for the Sex Pistols? It has been stated previously that it was possibly Saturday 23th August. Paul Gorman, who was in The Roebuck on the night it took place, re-examines the evidence and posits a different conclusion.
Paul takes up the story exclusively for God Save The Sex Pistols:

"I recall it being close to the Bank Holiday weekend that year because I spent a week around the holiday painting and decorating a flat with my brother off the King's Road, travelling there via the 31 bus from north west London. On one of those journeys I distinctly recall jumping off the bus to join some friends at the Notting Hill Carnival. August 23rd-25th was the bank holiday weekend that year.

"But was it Saturday 23rd, as previously conjectured? It seems so due to all the accounts I've read but I recall meeting a friend of my brother's the next morning in Kensington who commented on how hung-over we were. He was on his way to work so that can't have been Sunday 24th (nothing opened on a Sunday in those days).

"It still feels to me like it was a weekday night, possibly Thursday 21st (because it was, to me at least - remember I was just 15 years old - so naughty that all these people didn't give a fuck about convention and were pissing it up well into the night regardless of getting up in the morning and having a job to go to). The 21st - according to my Letts diary from the time which I have in front of me - was a Full Moon.

"Now wouldn't that be fitting?"

John Lydon's Megabugs (Green Umbrella GUDVD5479)



Disc 1. Spiders / Mosquitoes / Scorpions / Bees / Leeches 117 minutes
Disc 2. Termites / Cockroaches / Flies / Ants / Wasps 117 minutes

This is a great value double DVD set, superbly packaged in a slip case with a holographic cover: watch John change into a bug before your very eyes.

All ten episodes of the Discovery Channel series are included, a whopping 3 hours and 54 minutes' viewing time. John tackles the various bugs he encounters in the USA with relish, and he's not afraid to subject himself to the horrors of being stung, eaten, and sucked to illustrate the nature of the nasties on show, if only to make the point that they are not all that nasty after all, just misunderstood. Like John!

John also treads an unorthodox path through the subject. He tackles issues such as urbanisation which threatens the tarantula in the desert outside of Phoenix, and the subject of alternative medicine with bees being used to treat an MS sufferer, ("does your doctor know about this?" John enquires). John goes in search of scorpions under the cover of darkness ("they glow in the dark"), and visits the swamps of Louisiana to get chewed by the leeches. Mosquitoes, "the most dangerous animals on the planet" is a fascinating episode as we get to learn the full life cycle of the deadly bug, coupled with John subjecting himself to 14 minutes unprotected inside a mosquitoe tent, (previous record 3 minutes)! You can feel his pain!

The Amercian deep south is home to many of the nasties, and the woods outside New Orleans provide the backdrop for John's exposure to termites, a species that not only weighs more than the human race but prove to be environmental heroes! Cockroaches,"the ultimate recyclers", love the dark, and therefore John heads down sewage pipes. As for flies, it's a story of filth and sex tourists: keep an eye out for maggots on the move. John climbs into a freshly excavated pit to see a colony of ants at work, and then goes out at night to see leaf cutter ants doing just that; cutting leaves and taking them back to their colony to produce fungus. Johnny dons a protective suit and tackles a vicious looking wasps nest in the final episode, and finds himself a queen bee. A strength of the series is the quality of the close-ups, the jellow jacket bees proving specatular. As per the theme of the series, the megabugs have a positive side, with wasps proving their worth in preserving sugar cane.

John shows that even the most fearsome megabugs have a purpose and a right to exist, although extermination where appropriate is welcolmed by John, such as an horrendous cockroach infestation. The series carries a pro-environmental and pro-nature message, but crucially it's delivered in an entertaining way. It reminded me of the Horrible Histories range of books which seek to educate by entertainment. John and the Discovery Channel pull off a similar feat for a more mature audience with Megabugs, and that is quite some achievement.

The Rabbit Song Fan Reviews / The DVD / The Album

The Rabbit Song Fan Reviews

Rabbit song! I think it's great. To me it's a cross between a heavier "Audio Bully's" rant and John's Psychopath album. I love techno and electronica, so anything like Mike Skinner (The Streets), Prodigy, and Audio Bullys is fine by me. [Shonie]

Absolutely fantastic, the best vocals I've heard from JL since Go Back from the Flowers of Romance, in fact the whole song has that dark Flowers of Romance vibe without copying it, it's kind of like an updated Flowers... [Tim Bucknall]

This is a great song from John. Good, fast, technoish, mostly singing, no solos or anything, just straight foward. A very good song, I will be listening to it for ages. [Rory Fallow]

If this doesn't come out as a single, then it's a crime against musical knowledge. The only thing wrong here is that the track is too short; it's crying out for an extended mix. It's right on the button with Lydon's lyrical charm and urban sound of today; brings the cutting edge forward, while waiting for the crowd to catch up. Hope the future album is as forward thinking, everybody else will feel cheated if they haven't listened to this. [Gus]

Vocal is upfront and high in the mix, and in your face! JL's voice is his main instrument anyway. Very good stuff, straight to the point. Not sure about an album's worth though, because I'm not a big electronic music fan. [Bob Driver]

This is far better than I'd dared hope for. Falls somewhere in the Metal Box / Flowers experimental period. Love it. [Colin Winter]

This song is brilliant!!!!! If this is the stuff that John Lydon is working on, we're in for an incredible 2006! [Eliot Wien]

The DVD


The DVD...



LYDONVD1

Anarchy In The UK (1976) Sex Pistols
God Save The Queen (1977) Sex Pistols
Public Image (1978) PiL
Death Disco (1979) PiL
This Is Not A Love Song (1983) PiL
Bad Life (1984) PiL
World Destruction (1985) Time Zone
Rise (1986 PiL
Home (1986) PiL
Seattle (1987) PiL
The Body (Uncensored) (1987) PiL
Warrior (1989) PiL
Disappointed (1989) PiL
Don't Ask Me (1990) PiL
Cruel (1992) PiL
Covered (1992) PiL
Open Up (1993) Leftfield Lydon
Sun (1997) John Lydon

Extras
Pretty Vacant Finsbury Park 1996
Bodies Phoenix Festival 1996
Silver Machine Crystal Palace 2002

Audio extras
Rare Monitor Mixes:
Albatross (alternative take 1) PiL
Death Disco (alternative take) PiL
Albatross (alternative take 2) PiL

This collection is simply stunning.

It kicks off with Anarchy In The UK, but not just any old Anarchy video, it's the almost mythical Mike Mansfield filmed EMI promo video from 1976, uncut! In incredible quality! See the Pistols mime to the single in this classic piece of rock history. What a start! The God Save The Queen promo follows, and it's restored to its true glory, no murky print as seen on the Live At The Longhorn DVD. The oft aired Pretty Vacant video is omitted from the collection, so we leap to 1978 to embark on the fascinating and complex journey that is Public Image Limited.

Public Image is still an atmospheric piece of film, as a silhouetted and intense John shakes off his past. Death Disco continues this direction taking it in a creepy and frightening direction mirrored by the accompanying video. These two videos allow Levene and Wobble to display menace all of their own. It's a shame Wobble left the fold the following year. There is no Memories or Flowers Of Romance videos as none were made, so it's on to 1983 to see John performing This Is Not A Love Song by himself, Levene having left prior to the song's release. The backdrop of skyscrapers along with the limo reflect the capitalist irony of the song. The video has a strangely 'clean' feel to it in contrast to the grit of the preceding videos. Bad Life is often overlooked as a song, but acts as a bridge between the cacophony of the earlier Flowers of Romance era and the forthcoming Album period. The video features John and Martin Atkins, who were PiL during this point in their history, in a low budget but energetic affair. Fire extinguishers and a great shirt worn by John are the overriding images.

World Destruction. What can anyone say about this incredible song and the equally incredible video to match. The musical collaberation of the mid-80s. No doubt about that. Reagan and Thatcher may have been the political double act to help bring about World Destruction, but Lydon and Bambaataa were here to warn you! PiL had already allowed John to operate outside any one particular musical style, so this mix of Hip-Hop and John' s unmistakable delivery seemed at the time both radical and natural. The video is stunning, stark and frightening. Yet, such was its importance, both Channel 4's The Tube and BBC's Whistle Test aired it. If you need one reason to buy the DVD, this is it.

Rise is another Lydon peak. I was never sure quite why John found himself amongst washing lines, but it works. Slightly surreal, but a brilliant piece of film. Home, is another great song, but without the video to do it justice. A minimal set, plus a few toys, doesn't convey the power of the music. John throws himself into it despite the shortcomings, and anyway, it's good to have Album represented by a second video.

Having put a new PiL together, Seattle was the first chance to hear the group, and clearly effort was put into the accompanying video. Snappy editing, and a mix of imagery, ranging from industrial plants to exploding melons, gives the video a totally different feel to any previous promo film. To emphasise that PiL was a group again, the band are featured throughout. ITV's Chart Show aired this with the comment "we think you look great, John". Few would argue. The Body video (uncensored) is a piece of entertainment in itself. Macarbe, bizarre, and somewhat sinister, parts will bring a tear to your eye! Ouch! This was never going to get much exposure back in 1987, but it has stood the test of time well. A great piece of theatre, in more ways than one!

PiL's ninth album, 9, spawned two videos. Warrior is one of the lesser known videos, which is a shame. John, dressed in his own Warrior-esque clobber, gives a sprightly rooftop performance enhanced by some psychedelic paintbox film work. Disappointed is one of my favourite PiL tracks. A fairly standard 'late 80s' group video, with some nice effects designed to reflect the feel of the album cover, it does the job intended. Yes, there are better PiL promos, but the song is so good, it's more than adequate.

Don't Ask Me. This is the rare title version, which means that it comes complete with on screen captions which tell a story. These were usually omitted, quite simply because ITV etc. never showed videos complete from start to finish, and the story would have been lost. John's eco-song, a Radio One Record of the Week, was a barbed attack embellished with a catchy chorus that should have made it a huge hit. Still, it didn't perform badly, and the video boasts John acting in some excellent, cramped sets, cut together with some neat exterior shots of John and the band.

The Cruel video is distinctly quirky; John and his teddy! The gothic imagery provides the setting for the last great PiL video, with Covered a more standard 'live in concert' setting, which seems very un-PiL.

Open Up is a Lydon-diamond. The black and white promo, with an apt industrial feel, is the perfect contrast to the lyrics, "Burn Hollywood Burn". Fantastic. The video for Sun, John's solo single from 1997, is quite literally postcard humour. Colourful and brash! Just like the song itself.

DVD Extras:
Pretty Vacant live at Finsbury Park 1996 is essential viewing for any Lydon or Pistols fan. Brilliantly edited and dynamic.

Bodies from the Phoenix Festival is another exciting Pistols performance from 1996, not seen since the 'MTV - Live & Direct Uncut' edit from the same year.

Silver Machine, from Crystal Palace 2002, is filmed using a single handheld camera at the side of the stage. Very DIY, very Pistols, and gloriously shambolic. You get a couple of minutes build-up prior to the band coming on stage: shots of the Pistols waiting on the stairs, plus close-ups of the highly charged crowd with the anticipation mounting...and on they come! Cue the bubble machine! A fine way to bring the DVD collection to a close.

Audio Extras:
Albatross take 1 is similar to the Metal Box version, although it has a harsher feel which makes it more intense. Whereas the original crept into your consciousness, this take grabs you by the throat. It's certainly on a par with the more familiar take, and may even have the edge. (10.20 mins).

Death Disco clocks in at 9 and a half minutes, "That's long enough for anyone, innit?" asks John at the song's conclusion. Not a million miles away from the previously released version, it's a strong take. Death Disco was PiL's first ever 12" single, which was always well suited to the space allowed by the format.

Albatross take 2 is radically different to Metal Box, with a variety of sounds, vocal and musical, drifting in and out of the mix. (10.30 mins)

As I stated at the start, this collection is simply stunning.


NRK On line Feature.
Translation by Audun Nordseth for www.sex-pistols.net.

John Lydon to play himself in a new Norwegian movie.

30 years after the Sex Pistols shocked the world, lead singer John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten, is in Oslo to appear in a Norwegian film. "I cannot act, I'm doing everything in the free form; it is my style. They have taken a big chance to bet on me, a real big chance." says John Lydon.

Rebelling against your parents' generation is the theme of the movie Theory and Practice, where the action is based in Bærum in the late 20th century, the time the Sex Pistols had their big breakthrough.

Known to provoke

To be an actor is different for Johnny Rotten. He created scandalous headlines as the lead singer of the punk band Sex Pistols. Songs like Anarchy In The U.K. and God Save The Queen had many Britons getting their tea stuck in their throats. They became really famous in 1976, when they were on the popular television programme Today, and one of the band members fired a few juicy words towards the host. The band is considered to be the start of British punk, despite the fact that they dissolved after only a few years.

Plays himself

A cup of tea was received with great enthusiasm, while the film crew were getting ready for shooting in Oslo. " I'm English, I love my tea, that's all I want. I made this film for a cup of tea." laughed John Lydon.
The now 54 year old Johnny Rotten is in Norway to play himself in the film adaptation of the novel Theory and Practice by Nikolaj Frobenius.

It was no simple matter to get him to join in the film, but actor colleague Sven Nordin is very pleased that it went okay. "It is amazing that he has agreed to join. John Lydon is a major role model for the protagonist in the film, who starts playing in punk bands when Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols are the big heroes. Therefore, it is quite amazing and a huge bonus for us that he is with us."

Sven Nordin plays the father of a son who rebels, and seeks refuge in punk rock. Father and son have moved to the suburbs of Rykkin in Bærum, which in theory should be the perfect place to grow up. In practice it is different. It is the origin of the novel and film titled Theory and Practice.

Sex Pistols were the turning point

The film's history is based on the author's own experiences, and the music he himself played when he was young. "For me it was a real turning point in my life, the first time I heard the Sex Pistols and Johnny Rotten's furious voice." says Nikolaj Frobenius.

The author follows the film's recording eagerly. He thinks the Sex Pistols have influenced youth culture and a whole generation, and young people were inspired to go out and create their own bands and fanzines.