No surprise: John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) doesn’t approve of a just-announced Sex Pistols compilation coming out May 27th.
Sex Pistols: The Original Recordings collects 20 songs by the influential UK punk band, culled from its 1976-1978 heyday. Most of Sex Pistols’ lone studio album, the iconic Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols, is included, along withe selections from The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle soundtrack and various B-sides. The timing of the release coincides with Danny Boyle’s Sex Pistols Hulu series, titled Pistol.
Lydon previously criticized the Hulu series, and even attempted to block its production and the use of the band’s music with a failed legal battle. Now, he’s not endorsing the compilation, which arrives a few days before Pistol hits Hulu on May 31st. The singer’s team shared a statement on Lydon’s Facebook page blasting the comp and calling it “substandard” compared to prior Sex Pistols releases by Universal:
“Universal Music Group have announced the release of a new Sex Pistols compilation entitled ‘The Original Recordings’. For the avoidance of any doubt, John Lydon has not approved this compilation and does not endorse or support it. He has not approved the artwork or tracklisting.
He and his team were not involved in producing this compilation and consider it substandard compared to previous Universal releases since 2012.”
Lydon is at a bit of a loss when it comes to the Sex Pistols catalog. His ill-fated legal case regarding the Hulu series was thrown out because a “majority voting rules” band agreement outweighed his own claims to the music’s rights. It appears that ruling also applies to any future Sex Pistols music releases, though there isn’t a ton of studio material outside Bollocks to begin with.
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You can pre-order Sex Pistols: The Original Recordings via Amazon. View the full tracklist, artwork, and Lydon’s statement below.
Sex Pistols: The Original Recordings Artwork:
Sex Pistols: The Original Recordings Tracklist:
01. Pretty Vacant
02. God Save The Queen
03. Bodies
04. No Feelings
05. I Wanna Be Me
06. Anarchy In The UK
07. Submission
08. No Fun
09. (I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone
10. Holidays In The Sun
11. New York
12. Problems
13. Lonely Boy
14. Silly Thing
15. Something Else
16. C’Mon Everybody
17. Satellite
18. Did You No Wrong
19. Substitute
20. My Way
