By Keith Walsh
Imagine trusting the guy who made a fortune signing the disgusting Sex Pistols to his record label to launch you into space. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records, then Virgin Atlantic Airlines, and now Virgin Galactic is that man.
Taste is everything. It speaks volumes about the sensibilities of Branson that in 1977 he heard the commercial potential of “Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols,” yet didn’t flinch at the bad taste of the album, the classlessness of the band, the obscenity of the movement. The band’s vulgarity on record, on stage and in interviews is notorious. Yet Branson thought of them as an investment worthy of his backing.
I’m listening to that first and only album (aside from the soundtrack to “The Great Rock and Roll Swindle”) — not because I enjoy it, but for research. The 11 track disc that created such a sensation at the start of the British punk rock movement is no doubt well produced and recorded (in very commercial fashion), but it’s not really doing anything new musically. The only novel thing about it really is that it is louder and dirtier, and clear departure from rock music of 1977, which had become slick and overproduced. Ironically, “Bollocks” is expertly produced by Chris Thomas and Bill Price. I must admit that the guitars are appealingly energetic, vocalist John Lydon is charismatic, and the overall sound is pleasantly brash. Take that, Corporate Rock!
Yet despite Lydon’s claims that he was rebelling against mainstream rock and society in general, The Sex Pistols were in fact the “Punk Monkees,” curated and presented to the public by Malcom McClaren in a fashion similar to the famous 60s TV band. And Richard Branson, dollar signs in his eyes, got them first. Meanwhile, with The Pistols and his follow up P.I.L. (Public Image Limited), Lydon lined his pockets and became just the type of celebrity he started out despising.
The most disgusting component of the band is Sid Vicious, the deficient dolt who joined as bass player after Steve Matlock left. Vicious toured with the Pistols before self-destructing in a display of idiocy. The entirety of the band is stained by Vicious’ insanity, as well as by their legacy of spitting on crowds (and being spat upon), a reputation built on vulgar songs, and bad taste and rebellion in general.
Some might say that to offend was the point –that the punk movement was necessary to challenge the bland and cruel excesses of society, not to mention the anodyne nature of popular music. That’s all fine, but when it comes to trusting my life to an aerospace company, I’ll take the one whose earlier team didn’t spit on their audience, every time.
As I write this in July of 2021, Branson is offering trips to space (another marketing play – in actually his debut trip just broke above the earth’s atmosphere). Indeed, he’s a brilliant businessman (though his Virgin Record Stores didn’t survive the digital revolution) but as a rocketeer, he’s not my first choice.
finis