Butter Wars, squatting with Sid, and £10,000 on iPad apps

November 19, 2014 11:13 AM

The financial wisdom of Johnny Rotten. Former Sex Pistol John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) discusses spending, saving, investment, debt, and reveals the "best thing [he] ever bought." Unsurprisingly he's a bit cynical on celebrity charity, but it makes him "happy" when people spend their money on him.
posted by bhb (17 comments total)

Transcript [yay] is just below the video which ironically, considering the interviewee, could not be amplified to the point where I could hear him.
posted by vapidave at 11:25 AM on November 19, 2014

I really like Lydon. Under all that sneering sarcasm and cynicism, there's a sweet, smart guy.
posted by davebush at 11:32 AM on November 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

Marry an heiress.
posted by gwint at 11:33 AM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Happy.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:44 AM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

TIL Johnny Rotten is still alive.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:23 PM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Adverts would say, “A carpet you can afford by Cyril Lord” and you’d go, “Why can’t we have one?” My parents replied with a smack on the head.
posted by blucevalo at 12:23 PM on November 19, 2014

This is the story of Johnny Rotten / There's butter to earn out so you make your crust / Malcolm is forgiven but he's not forgotten / Hey hey, my my / iTunes bills will never die
posted by Devonian at 12:35 PM on November 19, 2014 [4 favorites]

Oh my god, Johnny Rotten is an app whale.
posted by boo_radley at 1:30 PM on November 19, 2014 [7 favorites]

On the subject of John Lydon and money, his former bandmate Jah Wobble has related how ‘PiL set itself up as an alternative corporation, but never got around to achieving its grand ideals, and was a disaster as a business. Group funds were kept in a shoebox at PiL HQ - a house off London's King's Road - and when he left, Wobble felt justified in taking the shoebox with him.’ I like his characterisation of Lydon in the same piece: ‘“I watch Withnail and I, I think of John and have a tear in my eye. Seriously. I do.” (He has the Withnail character in mind.) “He‘ll probably hate me for saying that, but, bang on, that is John. If you chucked a bit of Kenneth Williams in there, a little bit of Ian Dury, and you make an amalgam of them. A little bit of Margaret Thatcher even. That would be him…”’
posted by misteraitch at 1:38 PM on November 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

His autobiography has a lot of stuff about growing up when and where he did that's a fascinating look at the place and time.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:27 PM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

That Jah Wobble quote is like all my favorite things in the world at once.

Thank you.
posted by lumpenprole at 3:42 PM on November 19, 2014

If you chucked a bit of Kenneth Williams in there, a little bit of Ian Dury, and you make an amalgam of them. A little bit of Margaret Thatcher even.

With that thirty-year out-of-date straw dyed barnet, you could even chuck in a little bit of Jimmy Savile.

Owzaboutthatthen?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:11 PM on November 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

I believe that Lydon really wanted Wobble back for the current incarnation of PiL - from the point of view of the music and the crowd pull factor, rightly so - but Wobble still wanted most of the shoebox.

No matter. If you get the chance to see the band, do. Yer man is as splenetic as ever, even if he does get through a bottle of brandy per show (it's OK, he spits it out into a dustbin once he's gargled, although towards the end of the gig the swigs get more frequent and the spitoon less troubled). The rhythm side is spot on, and Lu Edmonds is mesmerising. Nothing's been dialled down.
posted by Devonian at 6:36 PM on November 19, 2014

you could even chuck in a little bit of Jimmy Saville
posted by unliteral at 7:01 PM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

I believe that Lydon really wanted Wobble back for the current incarnation of PiL - from the point of view of the music and the crowd pull factor, rightly so - but Wobble still wanted most of the shoebox.

Just do it and give him the fucking shoebox.
posted by charlie don't surf at 8:07 PM on November 19, 2014

I recently found a complete episode of the show Video View from 1988, with guests John Lydon and Dennis Morris (photographer of note and designer of the PiL logo) where they watch as much of a music video as they can handle before stopping it and giving a critique. YT Link

I've always wanted to see Lydon in some form of a show where he is presented various things, reacts to them, and see where the conversation goes for a bit. The subject matter could be anything, TV, music, odd antiques, conduct and protocol of various passenger railroads of southeast Asia, whatever. I never have figured out who would be the best person to be on the other side of the conversation in such a show. It would have to be someone whose role is neither the sidekick nor the host/ringmaster, but rather kind of an instigator that can hold his own in a conversational sparring match but one who can steer the show when necessary. Too little control and Lydon will get bored, to much and he'll have more fun giving the other guy a hard time.

Perhaps the best way to frame it would be sort of an episodic "My Dinner with John Lydon," but without the food (most of the time).
posted by chambers at 8:09 PM on November 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

I've always wanted to see Lydon in some form of a show where he is presented various things, reacts to them, and see where the conversation goes for a bit.


He briefly had a show when I was in college. I only vaguely remember it, but I seem to recall finding it kind of interesting and freeform, and not entirely dissimilar to what you seem to be thinking of. There are a couple episodes on YouTube if you're curious.
posted by DiscountDeity at 1:31 PM on November 20, 2014 [1 favorite]