Herb & Sex Pistols

[Sleepy Night Records]

Has anyone got the rare record by the Sex Pistols "God save the Queen" on A&M and what was the story about Herb, having a bad time with them, was this in London, did Herb come over?

 

[Harry]

I don't own this rarity - not sure I want it!

This is a quote from Herb Alpert in GOLDMINE that I found within our A&M Corner pages:

"I think we're at the forefront, we have the best groups. We spotted it right from the beginning. We had the Sex Pistols, but that fell apart. They were on A&M for a week in March '77, and it was longer than they deserved to stay."

There were stories circulating at the time that some of the label's other acts wanted the Pistols dumped, but Alpert says, "The Pistols were too demanding, too crazy, too drugged out, and as far as I'm concerned, just nonsense. I can go for somebody who's flamboyant, for craziness y'know, but when it turns on you then it doesn't matter how good an artist is. They were so self-centered they didn't care about anybody else. The Pistols were very rude to our London staff and there was a scene in our offices there. We had some money invested in them but Jerry and I agreed, 'let's get them the f**k off, who needs that'!"

A&M was set to release "God Save The Queen," but all 25,000 copies pressed were allegedly destroyed. A few did in fact get out and now change hands for close to $100 apiece (with picture sleeve).

 

[Rudy]

This is a good summary of the Sex Pistols contract:

March 16, 1977: A&M Records Fires The Sex Pistols After Six Days

A lot of bands get dropped by their record labels, but it usually takes several years and a few stale releases before a label is willing to pull the plug on something it invested so heavily in.

www.guitarworld.com

I've never tried to buy the single, though.

 

[Bobberman]

I never heard of them until years later and even when I did I had a gut feeling they needed to be avoided at all cost Herb confirmed it in that article.

 

[Sleepy Night Records]

This is a good summary of the Sex Pistols contract:

March 16, 1977: A&M Records Fires The Sex Pistols After Six Days

A lot of bands get dropped by their record labels, but it usually takes several years and a few stale releases before a label is willing to pull the plug on something it invested so heavily in.

www.guitarworld.com

I've never tried to buy the single, though.

Thanks for the info Rudy.

 

[JOv2]

(--Well, with the signing of a group named "Sex Pistols" (way back in 1977, no less), one would expect more "issues..." so to speak than signing a group named "The Percy Faith Singers".)

 

[Rudy]

Or Pat Boone?

 

[Bobberman]

Or Pat Boone?

I remember this caused a stir among the extreme conservative church world Mr Boone referred to it as a Joke I heard this CD and it was simply Big band style versions of rock and heavy metal classics only in the stressed out polarized 90s could this have been possible

 

[AM Matt]

Never cared for The Sex Pistols or the late Sid Vicious. In 1978 when "NBC Nightly News" was on (with the lates John Chancellor & David Brinkley), David was reporting on them & Sid Vicious spit some of the people backstage & in concert!!!!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I remember when that all happened. The Sex Pistols' one and only album came out on Warner Bros. eventually. Since they were being acclaimed as this hot new thing (if controversial), I had to give it a spin in order to be in the know. What a waste of vinyl. You could literally drop the needle anywhere on the album and all the songs sounded about the same. Even the tempo wasn't much different from track to track.

I got the whole "rebel" thing they were doing, punk rock and all that, but to me there is still a requirement that the music needs to be good. Theirs wasn't. I remember having several customers inquire about that album. I would say, "Want to hear a sample?" and I would play it and invariably they would buy something else.

The fact that those clowns are still "acclaimed" to this day is kind of a mind boggler to me.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I remember this caused a stir among the extreme conservative church world Mr Boone referred to it as a Joke I heard this CD and it was simply Big band style versions of rock and heavy metal classics only in the stressed out polarized 90s could this have been possible

Oh, I think it would be very possible today, too.

 

[Rudy]

Oh, I think it would be very possible today, too.

Yep. Pat Boone should do an album of Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys covers. Maybe a bonus track or two of Chelsea and/or The Damned?

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Yep. Pat Boone should do an album of Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys covers. Maybe a bonus track or two of Chelsea and/or The Damned?

Well, what I meant, was that today is as (more?) stressed out and polarized as the 90s and had he waited until now, Pat could have found himself in every bit as much hot water as he did then.

More if he covered Miley Cyrus' "Rainbowland".

Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus' 'Rainbowland' was banned from a first-grade spring concert