Malcom McLaren, Seminal Legend, Dead
You may have already heard that Malcom McLaren from Sex Pistols fame has died of cancer at age 64, since it’s been on top news for sites such as CNN and the NY Times. Many feel if it were not for McLaren, the Pistols would not have gained such notoriety. I’m sure John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, does not feel that way, judging from interviews and John’s excellent autobiography “No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs”.
He spent the last few decades feuding with McLaren over copyright and royalties. But turns out they recently mended and Johnny said some nice things about Malcom after he passed: “Above all, he was an entertainer”. While the vision for the Pistols came from both these men, McLaren planted the seed of originality, anti-establishment. He cared little about how they played musically. When Lydon first tried out for the Pistols, he sang a horrifying cover of Alice Cooper’s “Eighteen”. But McLaren thought there was something unique in John that was not so much musical, but more style and approach. McLaren used the Pistols as a vehicle to carry out his artistic vision, tired of the rock dinosaurs of the day. He joined together four local musicians through his boutique clothing store, Sex, where the band frequented. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Sid Vicious persona, aka John Richie. The more outrageous, the better, seemed to be Malcom’s approach. He had a flair for the intangibles of a music act and his influence is far reaching, even today.
