May 31, 1977: The BBC announces a ban on the new Sex Pistols single, "God Save the Queen"
The six-month-long festivities surrounding Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee – the 25th anniversary of her coronation – proved to be the Sex Pistols' ideal time to release their vitriolic anti-monarchy song "God Save the Queen." An attack on the British government and the hopeless standard of living of its citizens, the song was the punk band’s second single off their lone album, 1977’s vastly influential Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. During the Jubilee, it reached Number Two on the U.K. singles charts, though rumors abounded that the numbers had been fixed to prevent the song from hitting Number One.
The Sex Pistols gained international notoriety when the BBC announced a ban on the "God Save the Queen," insisting it was "in gross bad taste." Radio stations were ordered not to play the song, though BBC Radio 1’s John Peel still spun the track.
The refrain in the song, "No future," became the de facto motto of the late Seventies punk explosion – and ironically paved the way for the enduring legend of the Sex Pistols.
By Stacey Anderson (RollingStone)
May 31, 2011 10:40 AM ET
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento