Ghod I feel old...

January 20, 2004 9:19 AM

No future for you...
John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten to appear on a reality TV show. What's next? Cruse ships promoting themselves using songs about junkies?
posted by jpburns (30 comments total)

That'd be "cruise ships", of course...
posted by jpburns at 9:22 AM on January 20, 2004

They also have Peter Andre billed. I can't wait to see what these two have to say to each other.
posted by MarkC at 9:23 AM on January 20, 2004

He's a celebrity. That's what they do, they make money from their name and image. Just because he was a pioneer in some sort of musical movement back in a time when that sort of thing could still happen it doesn't mean thirty years later he should be any different from Britney Spears.

People need to stop having faith in celebrities. They'll always dissapoint you.
posted by bondcliff at 9:32 AM on January 20, 2004

What is going to happen next? Is Suggs from Madness going to host a TV show?
posted by toddst at 9:35 AM on January 20, 2004

What's next? Cruse ships promoting themselves using songs about junkies?


[big drums] I got a lust for life... [/big drums]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 9:55 AM on January 20, 2004

As ever what Lydon will have to say will be 'I don't care, I just don't care', immediately after he's had yet another ludicrously fatuous point squashed by even the most lightweight interviewer or co-guest.
Why anyone ever saw fit to pay attention to this moron is way beyond me.
posted by biffa at 9:59 AM on January 20, 2004

That scrawled-"A"-in-a-circle logo for Access Atlanta is a funny coincidence. Anyway, don't be so aghast. A celeb reality show is a great way for Lydon to get back into the spotlight after the failure of his VH1 show.
posted by eatitlive at 10:10 AM on January 20, 2004

Yeah...I mean, John proved himself to be a whore over and over and over again. This should come as no surprise. As an aside, I thought he was a lot older than 47. Dude has not aged well.
posted by dejah420 at 10:13 AM on January 20, 2004

I imagine that if you asked him, Johnny would claim to have invented Selling Out, along with the roman alphabet, curling and penicillin.

(argument against the existence of God: Joe Strummer is dead but Johnny Lydon gets a TV show every year.)
posted by Mayor Curley at 11:02 AM on January 20, 2004

John Lydon, Jordan, Radio 2 DJ Mike Reid, Jenny Bond (the ex-BBC Royal Correspondent) and some multi-million-pound fraudster.

I'm sure it's going to be grotesquely watchable. Jordan never fails to make a complete arse of herself; like watching David Brent from the Office, but female, with big tits and fewer redeeming qualities (well, apart from those).
posted by Blue Stone at 11:15 AM on January 20, 2004

Why anyone ever saw fit to pay attention to this moron is way beyond me.

O, biffa ole bud - doesn't co-writing three of the best pop songs in the 70s count for anything anymore? (",)

And I agree with Blue Stone - this is gonna be a fabulous train wreck!!
posted by dash_slot- at 11:22 AM on January 20, 2004

Lets talk about the best dog food brand in the 70s instead
posted by Satapher at 11:27 AM on January 20, 2004

Ms. Lawless (hah!) sure pumps out old bs.

While the band was still active (on the famous TV show, I think), Lydon said "we never called ourselves punk."

As for the "taunt" ... "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated" ... Lydon has stated *numerous* times that he was talking about himself & the band, not the audience ...

"No future" was what the band (and many others, e.g. Joe Strummer) believed what was going down in the UK. Starting a band was the way out ... just as in Jamaica.

Yeah, sorry -- wasn't about new credos and radical chic after all. Just survivin to get old and keep spitting venom back at the snakes.
posted by Twang at 11:47 AM on January 20, 2004

I believe the name of the Sex Pistols last tour was "Filthy Lucre." That pretty much sums it up.
posted by me3dia at 12:11 PM on January 20, 2004

I like music by the Sex Pistols and Public Image. That Leftfield song with John Lydon is also pretty good. Video footage of him from the late 1970s and early 1980s amuses me.

I really have no opinion on him, at present.
posted by mikeh at 12:15 PM on January 20, 2004

Why do people continually act shocked when the Sex Pistols or Johnny Rotten do something commercial. I don't recall that the guy took a vow of poverty, and Malcom McLaren has long ago admitted that the whole band was a manufactured commercial product, just like Fabian (who bit), or Peter, Paul and Mary, or N'synch. What's great about rock and roll, is that its bogus product is often just as great as the real, off-the-street stuff. The Ramones were the real thing, but the Sex Pistols also managed to but out three outstanding songs -- just like such manufactured entities as The Flying Machine ("Smile a Little Smile for Me, Rose Marie"), the Monkees ("Daydream Believer") or Gene Vincent (anything by Gene Vincent). What is shocking is that Johnny Rotten followed up the Sex Pistols with the total crap group PIL, which provided ample demonstration of his nearly complete lack of talent or charisma or pop sense. What this charmless man will do on TV is a mystery to me.
posted by Faze at 12:20 PM on January 20, 2004

Why do people continually act shocked when the Sex Pistols or Johnny Rotten do something commercial. I don't recall that the guy took a vow of poverty, and Malcom McLaren has long ago admitted that the whole band was a manufactured commercial product, just like Fabian (who bit), or Peter, Paul and Mary, or N'synch. What's great about rock and roll, is that its bogus product is often just as great as the real, off-the-street stuff. The Ramones were the real thing, but the Sex Pistols also managed to but out three outstanding songs -- just like such manufactured entities as The Flying Machine ("Smile a Little Smile for Me, Rose Marie"), the Monkees ("Daydream Believer") or Gene Vincent (anything by Gene Vincent). What is shocking is that the Johnny Rotten followed up the Sex Pistols with the total crap group PIL, which provided ample demonstration of his nearly complete lack of talent or charisma or pop sense. What this charmless man will do on TV is a mystery to me.
posted by Faze at 12:22 PM on January 20, 2004

this is not a love song , lowlife , careering , public image and rise are all great post-pistols songs.
The Sex Pistols easily rank as one of the best bands ever and John Lydon is always an interesting and engaging personality i'm really looking forward to this show.
How anyone can rank the Ramones above the Pistols is a mystery to me, you dirty f**ker.
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:44 PM on January 20, 2004

You fucking rotter.
posted by adamgreenfield at 2:48 PM on January 20, 2004

I'd put the Ramones above the Sex Pistols. So what?

Its called an opinion which means I can have one that's different than yours.

The Sex Pistols are one of the best bands ever? Um, okay. Let's just agree that you've got an opinion and I'm of the opinion that you're wrong. The Sex Pistols were a decent band but I wouldn't even rank them in the top 100 best bands ever.

By the way, who is Jordan? I've never heard of her but she seems worth looking at, at the very least.
posted by fenriq at 2:53 PM on January 20, 2004

Are you serious or are you just making me… trying to make me laugh?
posted by sgt.serenity at 3:18 PM on January 20, 2004

I look at the whole RnR swindle of the Sex Pistols as a precursor of reality television. Young people with anger and little talent making s[chl]ock rock under the guidance of a highly manipulative producer. I love the Ramones and have seen them more times than I can count (never again, sob) but for a good year, the Pistols were much better entertainment. I occasionally listen to a Ramones record now and then, but if I want Pistols I pop in the Great Rock N Roll Swindle on video. But I listen to PiL's Metal Box more than I do either.
posted by spartacusroosevelt at 3:20 PM on January 20, 2004

The Sex Pistols as a band? There's a way in which I think it's hard to say and, frankly, somehow beside the point -- I just don't think they can be assessed as a group of individuals who created a full body of work in the same way as you can the Clash, the Ramones, the Buzzcocks, etc. (or nearly any other band, punk or no). But in my book, none of that takes away from their significance -- I will go on the record as stating that Never Mind the Bollocks easily ranks among the five greatest rock'n'roll records ever made. That is the absolute sound of adrenalin surging, as far as I'm concerned.

As far as Johnny-on-reality-TV goes, I just have five words: Johnny Rotten on Judge Judy. Comedy gold, my friends. Comedy gold.
posted by scody at 3:28 PM on January 20, 2004

O, biffa ole bud - doesn't co-writing three of the best pop songs in the 70s count for anything anymore? (",)

They were no Boney M.

And I agree with Blue Stone - this is gonna be a fabulous train wreck!!

Would guess so, sadly I am (voluntarily) tv-less so won't know for sure, though I imagine I'll be able to keep up by looking at the tabloid headlines of a morning.
posted by biffa at 4:00 PM on January 20, 2004

Most first wave (and many new wave) punk bands did what they did with the intent of achieving chart success and thus celebrity, whether that was because they were attempting to bring a message to a wide audience or because they simply wanted to be rock stars. The indie ethic of Rough Trade and the billions of American indie labels of the 80s and thereafter is a related, but separate phenomenon, IMHO. Whatever the case, I can appreciate either approach. (Of course, I'm 29, which makes me old but not old enough to comment on this with authority, so I'm certainly open to differences of opinions here.)

To echo sgt.serenity, PiL made some absolutely fantastic pop songs in their day (come on, "Public Image" is nothing short of brilliant), and I'll always love the Sex Pistols for "Holidays in the Sun," if nothing else.

As for reality shows, I don't like them, so I don't watch them.
posted by cobra libre at 7:41 PM on January 20, 2004

Tangentially related self-link, since trackbacks aren't working again : never mind the bollocks, here's the wonderchicken.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:44 PM on January 20, 2004

What is shocking is that Johnny Rotten followed up the Sex Pistols with the total crap group PIL, which provided ample demonstration of his nearly complete lack of talent or charisma or pop sense.

Oh, how sad your are to not see the glory of PiL. The orginal lineup, with Wobble's rightous throbbing bass and Levine's ringing, chiming guitar (a sound soon copied by U2), were the perfect soundscape for Lydon's moaning and chirping.

Later versions of PiL were iffy, but Metal Box is a fucking classic.
posted by Ayn Marx at 7:57 PM on January 20, 2004

That is the absolute sound of adrenalin surging...

It's amphetamine sulphate surging,actually. But you're close.
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:09 PM on January 20, 2004

What's next? Cruse ships promoting themselves using songs about junkies?
First time I saw the "There she goes" cruise ship ad I almost bust out laughing - do you think the ad agency (or the cruise company) knew and figured their target audience wouldn't?

Reminds me of the "Perfect Day" BBC \ Charity single a few years back.....
posted by brettski at 2:42 AM on January 21, 2004

I wish Johnny would go back to interviewing B and C level stars on the streets of Aspen. That was comedy gold.

The one thing I've always loved about him is the sense of unpredictability. Sure, he says some of the same things over and over but with a sneer and total commitment. The fact that he's in it for the money should come as no surprise since he readily admits it and even screams and spits it sometimes. The fucker is totally wacked but he's damn entertaining.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 3:22 AM on January 21, 2004