ON the fortieth anniversary month of Sex Pistol's Never Mind The Bollocks, original band member Glen Matlock has recalled the bands first ever Scots gig in Dundee - and the unexpected carnage of the night.
Glen who was the band's bass guitarist and man who cowrote ten out of the twelve tracks on Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols is currently on tour and plays Aberdeen's Lemon Tree tonight (Sunday).
Despite the band's rebellious reputation Glen admits the Dundee gig was full on and he says he'll never forget the welcome he and the young punks received there in October 1976.
He said: "I played here with the Sex Pistols in 1976 and we played at a teacher training college in Dundee. It's not really on the radar this gig and we got bottled off.
The gig was at the Dundee College of Technology’s Union, more commonly known as the Bowling Alley by the locals and Glen recalled:
"There weren't that many people there but they must have drunk a lot cause there were lots of bottles of Tennent's and Newcastle Brown.
"People just began throwing bottles at us and we had to go off stage. The door was just behind the drum riser and it was going bang bang bang bang bang from the sound of the bottles for about fifteen minutes.
"Eventually they ran out of ammunition and we opened the door and the place had cleared and we went to the bar to get a drink.
These two blokes were there and they said to us 'Why didn't you come out and play any more numbers?' and we said 'Because you were throwing bottles at us and they replied: "But we read that you liked that.'
The young band were meant to return to Dundee following their debut that same year at Caird Hall but had to quickly re-arrange their plans at the last minute to enable them to appear on the "Today" tv programme that was broadcast live on December 1 1976.
Their appearance with Bill Grundy was full of profanities and as a consequence of all this publicity, the Pistols were "banned" from most of the Anarchy tour venues, including Dundee - so they never returned.
Glen who will soon been touring in Australia and New Zealand as well as playing Glastonbury and nostalgia festivals like Rewind this year parted ways with the Pistols in 1977 said: "Life hasn't been that bad. It's a bit up and down being a musician but I've been doing lots of things."
"I'd tell my teen self to get a good lawyer. There's always something going on and always somebody who will try and take you for a charlie."
He added: "I've always loved Scotland and I had a song called Ghost of Princes In Towers which I did with a fellow Scot of yours Midge Ure. We got on well and I’m proud of our project the Rich Kids. We were a bit before our time.”
For his gig tonight Glen who has already played Paisley and Edinburgh this week says he's ready to rock n roll.
He said: "I just need plenty of Silk Cut and some coffee when I play. It keeps you on your toes. Then I strap up my guitar and off I go."
Excerpts of this story have since appeared in the Sunday Post.
From Scotland with Love - theshowbizlion.com
