John Lydon hits 60 and it suits him.
Despite the Sex Pistollian youth droog pop culture baggage and his role in helping tear the fabric of Englands dreaming in the late seventies as the perma staring youthful anti icon there has always been something of the old man about Lydon.
And that’s a good thing.
Instead of the cliched you burn out of rock n roll Lydon was always something different – even in the late seventies he dressed beyond the teenage gang look of fellow rockers. 60 suits the former Pistol and with Public Image’s musical wanderings following their own instinct he is free from all the dead weight of rock career.
These 60 songs are in a rough order – this is not science – music depends on mood and there are lots of moods here from the filth and the fury of the Pistols to the angular dub of Public Image to the collaborations to the new sound of the new PiL.
- Sex Pistols ‘God Save The Queen’ Firebrand anthem of 1997 that nearly brought down the government
2. PiL ‘Poptones’ mesmerising hypnotic work of genius from perfect PiL of Wobble/Levene/Lydon
3. Sex Pistols ‘Anarchy In The UK’ The call to arms that changed everything
4. Leftfield/Lydon ‘Open Up’ Techno punk party! proving that collaboration is art power – still sounds great
5. PiL ‘Public Image’ Stunning comeback single that reinvented the template
6. PiL Careering Stunning stripped down piece from the game changing Metal Box
7 PiL ‘Theme’ Dark and enthrallingly oppressive piece with corrugated iron vocals over metallic KO Keith guitar and THAT dub bass
8. PiL One Drop proving there was still life in the old dog with the recent comeback PiL
9. PiL Flowers Of Romance One of the weirdest top 30 singles ever and oddly catchy. Fantastic clatter.
10. Sex Pistols Satellite With the Pistols the gems could sometime be on the b sides
11. Sex pistols Submission the song on Bollocks that hints at where it could have gone…
12. PiL Rise Post Wobble/Leven PiL changed but there were still stunning moments like this piece of perfect pop
13. PiL Albatross Mesmerising exorcism in song
14. Sex pistols Holidays In the Sun – John peel’s favourite Pistols song
15 Afrika Bambaata/Lydon ‘Time Zone’ Perfect synthesis of early hip hop and punk proving with that voice you could go anywhere – would have loved to have heard more collaborations
16. Sex Pistols Bodies – psychodrama in song
17. Sex Pistols No Feelings – Bollocks is one of the great pop records – every song is perfect
18. Sex Pistols EMI Riposte to the label that burns
19. Sex Pistols Liar – Rotten tears strip with that penetrating glare and vocal
20. PiL Socialist – pushing the parameters
21. Sex Pistols Seventeen – the generation gap in song
22. Sex Pistols New York – spitting in the ye of hipster city
23. PiL Religion – the stark anti religious poem
24. PiL Religion II – and then the chords arrive –
25. PiL Annalisa – churning pop noise madness
26. PiL Low Life – anti dark side of rock n roll skree
27. PiL Attack – the new thrill of PiL
28. PiL Double trouble brilliantly catchy rant proving that the manic sense of humour and intensity is still there
29. PiL Memories – brilliantly insane second single from metal Box
30. PiL Swan lake – glorious zig zag dub disco rhythms – genius
31. PiL No Birds – spooked and eerie
32. PiL – Graveyard – atmosphere soaked dub shape shifter
33. PiL The Suit – sneering poetic rant
34. PiL Bad Baby – psychotic sneering weirds
35. Sex Pistols Problems – telling the truth
36. PiL Chant – hypnotised by the weird
37. PiL Four Enclosed Walls – Stunning drum sounds – mesmerising muezzin
38. PiL Big Blue Sky from the current album – gorgeous pastoral neo prog – love it!
39. PiL Phenagen – really pushing the envelope
40. PiL Fodderstompf the disco jam at the end of the PiL debut that was a harbinger of what was to come
41. PiL Hymies Him
42. PiL Banging In The Door
43. PiL Go Back
44. PiL Francis Massacre
45. PiL Bad Life
46. PiL Another
47. PiL Under The House
48. PiL Betty Page ‘tapping into the inner kookyness on this hypnotic track from the What the World Needs Now album
49. PiL Terra Gate
50. PiL Lollipop Opera
51 PiL Reggie Song
52. PiL Seattle
53. PiL This Is Not A Love Song
53. PiL Psycopath from the long lost same title solo album
54. PiL Sun from solo album
55. PiL Bad Life
56. PiL The order Of Death
57. PiL F.F.F. opening track from album
58. PiL Tie Me To The length Of That
59. PiL Home Is Where The Heart Is
60. PiL Track 8 – precision weirdness