PRETTY SCATHING
Johnny Rotten takes aim at Pistol bandmates over song deal ‘slavery’... and slams The Crown
ANYONE hoping for anarchy in a UK court from Johnny Rotten yesterday may have been left feeling cheated.
But, ever the showman, the punk rocker made the most of the lunchtime recess, jovially insisting photographers take pictures of him enjoying a cigarette next to a No Smoking sign outside the High Court in London.
Inside court, it was a more restrained performance from the former singer of the Sex Pistols, appearing under his real name John Lydon in a dispute with ex-bandmates Steve Jones and Paul Cook over the use of their songs in a TV drama series about them.
Mr Lydon, 65, told the court: ‘I’m not very good at all this legal stuff.’
But it was clear he cared about the legacy of the band he fronted in the 1970s, notorious for hits including God Save The Queen, Anarchy In The UK and Pretty Vacant. ‘This is my life, my history. I didn’t write those songs to be given off to nonsense,’ he said. ‘It’s got to retain the integrity.’
Mr Cook, the band’s former drummer, and Mr Jones, the guitarist, are suing Mr Lydon in the High Court in London to allow their songs to be used in Pistol, directed by Danny Boyle and due to air next year. Mr Lydon said he refused to allow God Save The Queen to be used in The Crown – as the producers of the Netflix drama wanted to invent scenes of a rioting crowd pelting the Queen with bottles during the Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977.
The Sex Pistols performed the song on a boat on the Thames that day but the show wanted to depict ‘events that simply did not happen,’ he said. ‘There were no bricks and bottles thrown at the Queen... it’s a lie. They can mishmash history all they want, but they can’t do it using my name.’
Mr Jones and Mr Cook – who was in court yesterday with his wife Jeni – argue that under the terms of agreement between band members made in 1998, decisions regarding licensing songs for use can be determined by a majority of them.
Mr Lydon argues that licences cannot be granted without his consent. He has described the Pistol series as ‘disrespectful s***’. He told the court the band agreement ‘smacks of slave labour’ and the Pistols have so far managed to agree how to conduct their business with unanimity. He added: ‘I don’t understand how Steve and Paul think they have the right to insist that I do something that I so morally heart and soul disagree with.’
He could not remember signing the agreement. The other band members had ‘selective memory’, he claimed, as original bassist Glen Matlock had blocked a request to use Anarchy In The UK in Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Mr Lydon said he was in favour but it had been ‘unanimous approval or nothing’.
Mr Matlock and representatives of the estate of the late Sid Vicious – who replaced him in the band – support Mr Jones and Mr Cook’s claim, the court has heard. The case continues.