Some of the craziest conspiracy theories have come from the music world where drugs, Rock, Punk and death collide and anything can happen. In drugs, Punk, Pop and death was there a cover-up over the real cause of the death of Doors’ rockgod Jim Morrison? Were the Rolling Stones such a danger that the FBI tried to get them thrown into jail? Was the establishment so frightened of the Sex Pistols that they tried to silence them? And did Led Zeppelin start Jimmy Page’s use of black magic to destroy a rival band? Conspiracy s1e11: Drugs, Punks & Death, Spike 2017
Sex Pistols: The soon to be infamous God Save the Queen ... In stepped a young entrepreneur: Richard Branson … ‘A good teenage bit of terrorism’ … The BBC immediately banned the single … Despite record sales figures, the song never got to number one. ibid.
‘I think it starts with Brando and The Wild One.’ Punk: Attitude, Legs McNeil, Sky Arts 2017
‘The hippies were the real punks.’ ibid. Chrissie Hynde
‘None of the bands called themselves Punk … The bands were so diverse.’ ibid.
‘The first review of the Sex Pistols in NME: ‘Don’t look over your shoulder, the Sex Pistols are coming.’ ibid.
‘We’re not into music, we’re into chaos.’ ibid. Sex Pistols
Sniffing Glue magazine. ibid.
Sid Vicious whose real name is John Simon Ritchie was arraigned today on charges of murder. He said he felt sick. Sid Vicious: Who Killed Nancy? Sky Arts 2018
‘Sid Vicious will not have to stand trial for the murder of a girlfriend at the Chelsea hotel. Sid is no longer vicious, he’s dead.’ ibid. television news
Nancy was stabbed once in the abdomen and it took her around three hours to pass out and bleed to death … The murder weapon, the Jaguar K11 hunting knife, is left on top of an open suitcase next to the door wiped clean of any fingerprints and traces of blood. ibid.
01.02.79 Sid Vicious dead. ibid.
Did you call 911? Sid & Nancy 1986 starring Gary Oldman & Chloe Webb & David Hayman & Debby Bishop & Andrew Schofield & Xander Berkeley & Perry Benson & Tony London & Courtney Love & Edward Tudor-Pole & Kathy Burke & Sara Sugarman et al, director Alex Cox, opening scene rozzer to Sid
Fucking great we are. The Sex Pistols. Do yourself a favour. ibid. Sid
Never trust a junky. Isn’t everyone? ibid. Nancy
Sidney is more than a bass player. He’s a fabulous disaster. ibid. Malcolm
Sid! What about the farewell drugs? ibid. Nancy
‘Punk for me didn’t really exist. Punk for me was just when all the kind of girly magazines … started showing those kinds of fashions. It was very much a rock-n-roll thing.’ Arena: Punk and the Pistols, BBC 1995 Glen Matlock, Sex Pistols
‘None of us thought it would last more than five minutes.’ ibid. Captain Sensible
Having sold over a million records in six weeks, they’re straight in at number nine, here’s Nirvana with Smells Like Teen Spirit. When Nirvana Came to Britain, BBC 2021, Top of the Pops
Nirvana brought to Britain the most exciting time in music. They left an incredible legacy. ibid. Jo Whiley, Radio DJ
It was an amazing thrill to sing one of your songs played by this great band. ibid. The Vaselines dude
It took me a long time to go through her things. It was all too painful. And there was so much to sort through: photos, lyrics, albums, things of value and cultural importance … It was about five years after she’d died that I decided to go through everything. I was blown away by her artistry. Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche, daughter, Sky Arts 2021
She liked nothing more than traipsing round the West End: let’s go window-shopping, she’d say. ibid.
With Polly’s voice we could blow them out the water. ibid. Paul Dean, X-Ray Specs
But the experience of being famous made here insecure; the public scrutiny of the way she looked started to grate on her. ibid.
I just thought that I’d write about all these plastic things because they seemed to be creeping in more and more … People don’t actually like it, but in order to cope with it, they develop a perverse kind of fondness for it. ibid.
But if you see things and hear voices you’re considered to have schizophrenia. ibid. Poly misdiagnosed
She would suffer a series of breakdowns during our time in the [Hari Krishna] Temple. Her heaven had become a hell and it was going to get a lot worse … I was three and half stone when I was removed from her care. ibid.
‘Looking back, Debbie once said Blondie’s goal ‘was to be as exciting and cantankerous as possible.’ They’ve achieved that and more, and with these classic songs we’ll be blessed with Blondie’s presence for many more years to come.’ When Blondie Came to Britain, BBC 2023
‘We wanted to be a British band.’ ibid. Debbie
The main thing that we liked was the freshness and energy,’ ibid.