The son of the late Malcolm McLaren has set fire to reportedly over £6million of merchandise relating to the band that his father managed during their rise as the punk icons they were. The Sex Pistols were indeed trailblazers and like many punk outfits had a limited shelf life, but their music and attitude has endured.
Joe Corre along with his mother Vivienne Westwood (who was behind the SEX shop alongside McLaren, where Pistols’ John Lydon worked and met his fellow bandmates) burned the memorabilia on the river Thames (London) this past weekend to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the iconic debut ‘Anarchy in the UK’ single by The Sex Pistols.
The move was made to tackle the promotion of events by ‘Punk London’, who are organising events relating to 40 years of subversive culture.
The real meaning being that Corre, like his mother and The Sex Pistols would not appreciate their Punk movement being acknowledged and respected by the Mayor of London, libraries, film councils and even the Queen.
He said that it was as if “the establishment had privatised, packaged and castrated punk”.
“Punk was never meant to be nostalgic” he continued.
A nice move by a man who has kept the Punk flag flying in the wake of the re-birth and embracing of the genre after 40 years.
The Sex Pistols were formed in 1975 and released only four singles and one studio album.
That album was ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’.
The band were volatile and lead singer Johnny Rotten (Lydon) was foremost in making them so. Guitarist Sid Vicious is also known for his wild ways and his early demise.
The Pistols lasted just over two years and even with that short duration they have kept on promoting that punk spirit and enthusiasm. Many bands today relate to their wild style of music and state that they were influenced by them.
