That's funny that Sid needed slapping. And wise of you to desist: Never give a masochist what they want.
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sid vicious playng ability?
- Thread starter Nykki Madd
- Start date
That's funny that Sid needed slapping. And wise of you to desist: Never give a masochist what they want.
Those bands, and about 10 000 others will happily admit that without the Pistols they would never have formed a band.
Of The 50-odd people who were at the Free Trade Hall gig in Manchester, I reckon half of them were in bands within a couple of weeks.
The NME had a cover with 'this is a guitar chord, this is another one, this is a third one, now go form a band".
None of that would have happened without The Sex Pistols.
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Because there is enough time between notes to shoot up?
The album "Sid Sings" was a live recording of Sid and his band after the Pistols imploded. I like it and Sid sings & plays well enough. It's a pretty rough recording with a certain drunk audience member in the background throughout.
Sid doesn't play bass on that recording, nor did he play bass for any of his rare NYC shows so far as I know. Happy to be corrected on this.
I must have been one of the 10,000, if they could 'do it' then anyone could ... right?
So when are Fender going to issue a signature Sid Vicious P-Bass? (ha-ha!!)
Sid live at Max's Kansas City - the shows
I believe this is from the live NYC gig released as "Sid Sings." No bass on Sid.
I believe this is from the live NYC gig released as "Sid Sings." No bass on Sid.
I think musicianship was purposefully not important to what the Sex Pistols were all about. It would be more accurate to call it a fashion show and I think they would have willingly agreed. I also think you bristled unnecessarily.
White p-bass, black guard, rose wood fretboard featuring vintage '70 style pups and no output jack?
Bull$h1t.
The Ramones are the original. Full Stop. Period. End of Sentence.
Sid Vicious used to follow Dee Dee Ramone around in NYC as if he were Jesus Christ Himself.
This is quite right. Sid's whole visual look, white Precision bass included, is basically an homage to Dee Dee.
Johnny Rotten saw the Ramones in London at the Roundhouse when they debuted there, and the Pistols were still but a glimmer
in Malcolm's eye.
And for my money, Dee Dee was a brilliant bassist. Almost all downstrokes. A very tight, rhythmic style. An invention (for him) borne completely out of necessity, due to Johnny's guitar style. It was their combination, along with the bone simple beats of Tommy that defined punk. Before the Ramones, proto-punk bands, such as the stooges, played a much more straightforward rock style. The Ramones tightened things up a good deal, and with Dee Dee's brilliant lyrics, (all much more genuine than you would think, due to his unusual mind,) and Joey's love for a good melody, they more or less invented a style.
Did they invent punk? I don't think I would say that, but they certainly made it more appealing, and they certainly invented a style of punk, which was emulated by many. The Ramones were one of the most authentic bands of all time, each member having a pretty good dose of mental illness that made them exceptionally genuine.
As for the Pistols, I find John Lydon to be a fairly interesting guy.
This is the point of punk in the beginning. It was the anti to everything. Sid couldn't play any less than most hugely successful pop stars of today can. As a bass player forum, we tend to raise ourselves up pretty high on the scale of importance, yet most of everyone else doesn't. I myself am also a drummer, singer and guitar player. As much as I love bass and appreciate and respect great players, I'll take the shag you attitude of Sid over the skill of a virtuoso. To me punk was that shag you attitude and was anything but boring! I don't care what anyone says, Vicious has maintained a massive impact on punk and rock and roll regardless of his skill level. That says a lot when there are so many guys that are insanely good, yet few know who they are or care.
I just checked & Sid is credited as playing bass on "Born To Lose" off "Sid Sings". The bulk of the material on the record is from Max's Kansas City & was most likely "Arthur Kane" of "New York Dolls". Learn something new every day.
Not my memory really. I don't want to knock anyone's belief. I just think putting Vicious on a pedestal is a mistake.
Rebellious, yes. Re-invent the world, yes. But not anti everything. Anti-racist, yes. Anti-establishment, yes. But also pro working-class, pro individual freedom, pro democracy in it's purist form, and pro take control of your life do-it-yourself ethos. Some bands, like Husker Du, really disliked the punk label precisely because of guys like Vicious who helped popularize that anti everything attitude which risked turning Punk into a cartoon.
Most people I was around back in the 70s-80s thought the Pistols were cool but that Vicious was a clown. I remember reading a short piece in Maximum Rock'n'Roll around 1984 pushing the idea that, from a long term perspective of keeping Punk around, players needed to get some chops and learn how to play their instrument. Even punk influenced bands like Einsturzende Neubauten could play their instruments.
There is a difference between a shag you attitude and using that attitude as an excuse for sucking at playing your instrument.
A friend of mine once told me that he stood on line behind Glenn Danzig at a Target. He was buying two pairs of black jeans and a Snapple.
