John Lydon
Birthday: 1956-01-31 Place of Birth: London, England, UK
Synopsis
John Joseph Lydon (born 31 January 1956), also known by his stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead singer of the late-1970s British punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s. He is also the lead singer of post-punk band Public Image Ltd (PiL), which he founded and fronted from 1978 until 1993, and again since 2009. Lydon's outspoken persona, rebellious image and fashion style led to his being asked to become the singer of the Sex Pistols by their manager, Malcolm McLaren. With the Sex Pistols, he penned singles including "Anarchy in the U.K.," "God Save the Queen", "Pretty Vacant" and "Holidays in the Sun", the content of which precipitated what one commentator described as the "last and greatest outbreak of pop-based moral pandemonium" in Britain. The band scandalised much of the media, and Lydon was seen as a figurehead of the burgeoning punk movement. Because of their controversial lyrics and disrepute at the time, they are regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music. [source: Wikipedia]
Acting
Rebel Dread
Documentary about Don Letts who played a leading role in pop history. Letts injected Afro-Caribbean music into the early punk scene and shot over 300 music videos including for Public Image Ltd. and Bob Marley, but also for teen sensations Musical Youth's reggae smash 'Pass The Dutchie'. Besides his enduring relationship with The Clash, the constant factor in Letts' eventful career as a DJ, manager, film director, musician and radio maker is that, from the 1970s on, he continued to draw attention to cultural issues, as he does today with his radio programme for BBC 6, Culture Clash Radio.
Their Way: A Film About the Sex Pistols
A erratic and spontaneous documentary chronicling the Sex Pistols's short reign on London, made completely of footage from the 1970s.
The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill
This documentary explores Kate Bush's career and music, from January 1978's Wuthering Heights to her 2011 album 50 Words for Snow, through the testimony of some of her key collaborators and those she has inspired.
Super Duper Alice Cooper
Emerging from the Detroit music scene of the 1970s in a flurry of long hair and sequins, Alice Cooper restored hard rock with a sense of showmanship, while simultaneously striking fear into the hearts of Middle America with the chicken-slaughtering, dead-baby-eating theatrics that would cement his identity as a glam metal icon. Meticulously crafted from rare archival footage, Super Duper Alice Cooper tells the story of the man behind the makeup, Vincent Furnier, the son of a preacher, who got caught in the grip of his own monster.
Sex Pistols: There'll Always Be an England
There'll Always Be an England' - named after Vera Lynn's stirring intro music - was recorded on Saturday, November 10th and captures the energy and excitement of the band and the crowd. The whole of the classic 'Never Mind The Bollocks' album is performed, together with a mixture Pistols cover versions, b-sides and even an impromptu crowd sing-along of 'I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside'.
Joy Division - Under Review
This 70-minute documentary covers the entire career of Joy Division, one of Manchester and Post-Punks most respected bands. It charts the entire short lifespan of the group, from their origins in their days as Warsaw to the more well known incarnation of Joy Division. Features include rare musical performances, obscure footage of rare interviews and rarely seen photographs. Plus review, comment, criticism and insight from; Mick Middles, co-author of Torn Apart: The Life Of Ian Curtis; former NME and Melody Maker journalist, Barney Hoskyns; Ex-Mojo Magazine editor, Pat Gilbert; Manchester punk musician and author, John Robb; music journalist and author David Stubbs; and more.
Classic Albums : Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols album Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols is unquestionably one of the most important musical statements in the history of British music. It was in 1977, at a time when the nation was crippled by class division and unemployment that four working class teenagers with supposedly non-existent futures recorded an album that to this day remains as one of the greatest and most influential bodies of work ever recorded. This documentary features exclusive interview's with all four of the original members of the Sex Pistols as they take you on a track by track look at the making of the album. Featuring Steve Jones and Glen Matlock demonstrating selected riffs and licks off the album and explaining the development of the song writing. Candid interviews with Malcolm McLaren, Chris Thomas and Bill Price set the record straight about the recording session. Intertwining additional rare home video, live footage and early demo's make this release a compelling must see.
The Filth and the Fury
Julien Temple's second documentary profiling punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols is an enlightening, entertaining trip back to a time when the punk movement was just discovering itself. Featuring archival footage, never-before-seen performances, rehearsals, and recording sessions as well as interviews with group members who lived to tell the tale--including the one and only John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten).
Sex Pistols: The Filthy Lucre Tour - Live in Japan
The concert was recorded live on the Japanese leg of the band's Filthy Lucre Tour. This release is unique in that it is the only officially available full-length visual record of the band's performances on their 1996 Filthy Lucre Tour. Tracklist: 1. Bodies 2. Seventeen 3. New York 4. No Feelings" 5. Did You No Wrong 6. God Save the Queen 7. Liar 8. Satellite 9. (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone 10. Submission 11. Holidays in the Sun 12. Pretty Vacant 13. EMI 14. Anarchy in the UK 15. Problems
Sex Pistols: Live at Budokan
Here’s the Sex Pistols – the original Sex Pistols, with Glen Matlock on bass – in an intense, non-stop onslaught of pure punk rock in a 1996 reunion tour, shot at the fabled Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. John Lydon returns as Johnny Rotten, with two-tone hair, red shorts, and no letup from the famous raw, shouted vocals with which he helped invent UK punk in the 1970’s. Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook blast out the music in the Pistols’ trademark fast, tight, loud style, reviving a host of Sex Pistols favourites. While the great punk-rock moment that the Sex Pistols created and owned in the mid-1970’s was brief and fleeting, this concert shows that punk rock – and the band that made it famous – will never die. A searing evening of wild music.
Sex Pistols: Live in Winterland
Live At The Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco. 1978.01.14.
D.O.A.
Documentary chronicaling the rise and fall of the punk movement with rare interview footage of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Also concert and news footage.
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
A rather incoherent post-breakup Sex Pistols "documentary", told from the point of view of Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, whose (arguable) position is that the Sex Pistols in particular and punk rock in general were an elaborate scam perpetrated by him in order to make "a million pounds."
Sex Pistols - Live at the Longhorn
The Sex Pistols captured live onstage at the very end of their fame (they split days after this show). Sid Vicious had by now replaced bassist Glenn Matlock, but internal divisions in the band would come to a head during this winter tour of the US. Numbers performed include 'Pretty Vacant', 'Anarchy in the UK' and 'No Fun'. Live at the Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas, January 10, 1978.
The Punk Rock Movie
Documentary on the London punk-rock scene, circa '78
