Anyone wanna come have pie and mash with Steve and Paul?
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Sid Vicious could play the bass
- Thread starter Panek
- Start date
Next you'll be telling me his last name wasn't Vicious!
Here's more of Sid's playing, this time it's Submission. To be honest, it's my favorite track by the Pistols.
I am glad I read this whole thread. I will change my outlook and trash talking of Sid I have done in the past. It seems from some of the posts that he could indeed carry a tune on the bass. I was never a fan of The Sex Pistols so I have no comments except to say, in my days of the early 80's The Misfits and Bad Brains were the only things punk wise I listened to.
for your enjoyment.
for your enjoyment.
I love the Bad Brains to death! But I never quite got into the Misfits, as I didn't like the whole "horror" aesthetic. After all those years I'm giving them a second chance, can't stop listening to "Bullet"!
The video is great and shows one of my favorite drummers, Robo, during his time with the Misfits. Check him out with Black Flag - especially with Ron Reyes on vocals, in my opinion the best lineup - superbly tight!
7th Grade, TOTAL Dork. Snuck out and used older friend connection to sneak through the back. Southeast Music Hall, Atlanta, GA January 1978. I'm still on a submarine mission for you, babe! Rest in restless peace.
Not likely that it’s Sid, it’s Steve Jones. As stated before, the only studio track verified that features Sid’s playing is “Bodies”.
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Seems doubtful that Sid played much bass. Started playing bass from scratch Feb. '77 and dead by Jan. '79
From Wikipedia.
Vicious was in the band, but he could not play well and had no bass guitar experience, so guitarist Steve Jones played bass on the band's debut album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. Vicious appeared only on "Bodies", which he was allowed to play bass on, even though it would be overdubbed later on by Jones. He was also absent from the album's sessions, because he was in the hospital with hepatitis (most likely from his drug use) and during that period his main visitor would have been his girlfriend [Nancy Spungen], an American groupie (and friend of Johnny Thunders') he had met in 1977.
From Wikipedia.
Vicious was in the band, but he could not play well and had no bass guitar experience, so guitarist Steve Jones played bass on the band's debut album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. Vicious appeared only on "Bodies", which he was allowed to play bass on, even though it would be overdubbed later on by Jones. He was also absent from the album's sessions, because he was in the hospital with hepatitis (most likely from his drug use) and during that period his main visitor would have been his girlfriend [Nancy Spungen], an American groupie (and friend of Johnny Thunders') he had met in 1977.
"Belsen Was a Gas" was verified by a separate article, but the guy who uploads this knows his stuff. The bass sounds simple enough and has a couple of "hiccups" that I wouldn't think a solid player like Jones would do - who knows?
Either way the second alternate mix in that video is awesome and this thread has 5 pieces of evidence of Sid's playing, with lots more available online.
OK, it's 2020 and I'm glad I'm not the one who honestly likes the Pistols. So I want to share this with "my people", this is 100% real, coupon from my neighborhood grocery. Buy 1 gen.admission ticket to Black Flag, get 50+ vitamins free! I'm old but I'm not the only one.
Here is another great performance clip.
Also wanted to bring this to the attention of @LBS-bass as I noticed the band is using E-drums in this clip, which I think is a legit live recording. As with tracks LBS has been posting with e-drums, these things sounds great. My question to LBS, do you think the band is "silent onstage" in this recording? The amps look mic'd, but possibly this is stagecraft? A quiet stage would allow the singer to benefit from the natural reverb of the room without other competing reflections.... Any theorizing welcome!
Man, I don't know. It looks like he's playing a hybrid kit with a beat box, and that's kind of what I'm hearing too. So I would bet that you've got at least something coming off the drums. The rest of it could be stagecraft; the sax would have to be mic'd like that anyway, but who knows if the amps would be live? They wouldn't need to be, necessarily. And a quiet stage does allow a vocalist to hear a lot better, and that leads to a lot better quality on the voices.
Good band; no Psychedelic Furs influence there! But most importantlly, perhaps? Why does the lead singer have my initials tattooed onto his forehead?
Thanks for this, I'll definitely be spinning this, can't get enough Viagra Boys at the moment.
Among other things, they remind me of a great band called Gallon Drunk.
As for that "official video" I posted, I think that could be my all-time favorite rock video. It's so smart, referencing
Godard and Fassbinder in its style. And it's so funny.
