Archived news
from the OLD John-Lydon.Com site

Please note this part of the news archive comes from the previous John-Lydon.Com site. Therefore it will have a different appearance and style to the current site.

Although all images should load fine, given the age of the features and info, maybe not all external links will work. If you spot anything that you think can be fixed just let us know...

Regarding the message board...
You CAN post now. The only messages that you can not respond to are any messages before it originally crashed (i.e., message numbers 627 or below). Anything after that will work.

There will be a new poll up soon. The voting site I use is experiencing technical difficulties at the present time - check back in a day or so.

The new CD by Prodigy's Liam Howlett titled 'The Dirtchamber Sessions - Volume One' features a minorly remixed version of the Pistols' song 'New York'. In the booklet credits, Liam writes 'EXTRA THANX GOES OUT TO: JOHN LYDON, ..." Cool.



June 22nd, 1999

Sorry about the message board. The server that this site is on died recently and I was just able to update it for the first time today - the board will be working very soon. Other than that, it's been a very dry period for news, so if anyone has anything to send me, please use the link above.



June 12th, 1999

CNN.com recently had an article about 20 new VH1 shows coming this summer. No mention of 'Rotten Television' though.




May 25th, 1999

Sorry there's been no decent updates. There hasn't been much 'breaking news' lately and I just moved - which equals major chaos! I will post breaking news as it arrives until I get settled in - then I can get caught up on the back-burner info.

Looks like 'Public Image' kicked ass on the last vote. But now there is a very cool new poll - check it out here.



May 19th, 1999

Plastic Box will see a U.S. release date of June 8th - Check CD NOW or your local record store to buy it!

- Thanks to several sources



May 9th, 1999

There's a new voting topic at the vote section.

There was a VH1 special this weekend featuring an interview with John. It's actually somewhat old and is part of a PBS string of videos about the history of rock and roll. This one being 'punk'. Most people can find it at their local library.



May 6th, 1999

The clock's back up. It's the best I could find so far. Some parts of the world don't recognize Daylight Savings, so it may be off depending on where you are.

The new Alice Cooper Box Set booklet includes some commentary from John...

'The liner notes are colorfully informative, with Sex Pistol John Lydon chipping in a gracefully written essay.'

-Thanks to Brian



April 29th, 1999 - UPDATED

Previously reported: 'I added the new clock on the front page...' Well, it doesn't work right. Sorry. Wrong times often were posted upon reloads. I hope to have it corrected by this weekend.



April 29th, 1999

I added the new clock on the front page and tested it with some folks on the east and west coasts. It should work and will tell you what time it is EST. If you're sure that it's inaccurate afterall, please let me know. I'd like to see more people chatting.

I've tried to fix most of the broken links to the audio and video files. That should cover about all of the problems. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me with the broken links. If you're still having problems or find any additional broken links to images - or anything else, please e-mail me so I can fix it. Thanks!



April 27th, 1999 - UPDATED

Spice Girl Mel C enjoys the Sex Pistols...

Duet with former Pistol Steve Jones surprises audience at recent LA gig.



April 27th, 1999

I added some screen captures from the recent VH1 show.



April 26th, 1999

According to an anonymous source, there will be no face lift for John. The rumor was absolutely not true. (Whew!)

The voting section is now up. This weeks poll is 'What is your favorite PiL album?'

I've finally added the Ben Is Dead interview that Steph spent a lot of time transcribing for this site. Thank you Steph for all your hard work!



April 25th, 1999

I made an AVI clip of the 2nd minute or so of the 'Where Are They Now' that was on VH1 this weekend. Some short, but hilarious clips of the new show. I didn't upload the first part, since it just brought you up to date on what he has done up to the Pistols reunion. I'll try to get to some screen caps.

I forgot to post this before, but someone reminded me of it today. A recent 'Jeopardy' question went something like... 'The name John Lydon went by during his music career." Answer being, 'What is Johnny Rotten?' Cool.



April 24th, 1999

VH1 will be re-airing the bad boys of rock 'Where Are They Now' that includes Lydon today and tomorrow. Check your local listings!

-Thanks to Walt and Psychospth

O'D writes, 'On the new Prodigy album, 'The Dirt Chamber Sessions, vol.1', there is a mix of New York, with some other songs, and also John is specialy thanked.'

Also Christian writes, 'Unofficial sources told us yesterday that 'The Filth And The Fury' will not appear on Channel 4 during April. It is still a rough cut, according to Julian Temple. Temple told one of his friends it will be finished by May! Hmmm... Guess we just have to wait some more!'

Be sure to send your favorite quotes in that I mentioned yesterday. (Preferably 1 or 2 lines max.)



April 22nd, 1999

New site, new look! Sorry I've been slacking on the updates for a bit, but I've been very busy putting the finishing touches on the new site. Until PiL reforms, this will be the spot! There is now a chat room. Pretty much the same as the others that are offered on the message board, so I've designated 9pm EST as the good time to chat. If anyone can suggest a better time, let me know. Some more highlights of the new site:

-You can now vote on the topic of the week. (This should be up in a day or so.)
-There is a new news ticker on the main page, click the headline to go to the full story.
-Every time you reload, there is a random pic of John. I only have about 10 so far, but I will be adding more.
-Also there will be a random quote by the random picture. Any ideas? What's your favorite Lydon quote? (Please be accurate!)
-I will be getting rid of the infamous generic headers on each page, eventually.
-Lastly, it is designed for viewers with Explorer in 800x600 mode. So if you're still 640x480 and using Netscape, it'll look pretty weird.

Now on to some recently aged news...

Recently on Mtv, there was a special on the 2nd generation of VJ's. Ex-VJ turned fisherman Kevin Seal said his favorite interview was John Lydon. Remember the infamous snot-blowing during that one? They even showed a clip!

The other day, VH1 had a 'Where Are They Now' that spent some time on John, showing highlights from the upcoming 'Rotten Television'.

The Pistols documentary is now said to be on-hold with Channel 4, pending it's release first on the big screen, then on video. (Supposedly) Can anyone send me an article?

Still no set date on 'Rotten Television'. Sorry!

I've tried to fix as many broken links as I could with the new site. Please let me know if you find any. I know about the big file broken links, some aren't transferred over to the new site yet. I will fix those. I'm mainly referring to images and html links. Also, some people had problems not being able to download some of the large video/sound files. Try it again, since I've re-uploaded them. Before you do, please install GetRight - it's a great free program that lets you resume if you get stuck halfway. If you still have trouble, please let me know and I'll try and fix the file.

And please, PLEASE, if you have news, e-mail me with it. If you only post it on the board, it will get lost in the useless posts going around. I don't care if you post it there, but I can't read every message, so try to send it to me as well so I can put it up in the news. Thanks!



March 29th, 1999

A recent Irish Times article on Lydon says that the new Pistol's documentary will be out next month on Channel 4... get your VCRs ready!! The article was more or less the same as the one I posted in the last news update.

- Thanks again to Brian



March 25th, 1999

I received a great update on the Pistols documentary, "The Filth and the Fury". It's kind of lengthy, but Johnny cries...

- Thanks to Brian



March 23rd, 1999

I've added 2 new pics on the images section. One is from the British Journal of Photography's April 27th 1989 issue (thank you Richard!) and the other is (I hate to do it - but it's news) from the new issue of Rolling Stone. Along with the below, very unflattering picture, it features the following blurb:



Maybe next year's host ought to be Johnny Rotten, who staked out the red carpet for VH1, "interviewing" unwitting subjects like Celine Dion as they headed into the ceremony. "You're bringing back swing music, are you?" Rotten asked Brian Setzer. "All we need now is a world war." While the rocker mumbled a response, Rotten produced a gift. "It's a calendar," he said, "to remind you what year it is."

Ah, well. After an evening that Johnny Rotten summed up as being "one big damp pudding," folks headed off to party.



March 15th, 1999

For those in the UK, keep your eyes out for the Channel 4 exclusive Sex Pistols Documentary - coming soon. It's done, it's reportedly very exceptional, and will be seen there first. Don't miss this one!

The recent "Times UK" interview is now in the interviews section, with the published picture from the photo shoot that day.

The video section has been updated to include the VH1 Grammy clips.

I added a few pics to page 10 of the images section, including a picture from the "LA Times" at the Grammys, an "Album" publicity shot and the photo from the UK interview. Great Grammy pics to come...



March 8th, 1999

I've got my Plastic Box, have you?...

It's out there - somewhere! Reportedly VERY difficult to come across too. I had mine shipped in from the U.K. There's also reports that there may be some differences in the US vs. UK release of this package, ranging anywhere from different packaging to trouble with some tracks skipping. I'll try to get more info on that later. My import version looks/works as described - so far.

Virgin Records, who released the new package, doesn't even carry it at most of their so called 'mega-store' outlets. People have reported to have had better luck finding it at their local neighborhood record store. For more info, check out the updated Plastic Box section, which includes a picture of the package.

I've received word that taping for "Rotten Television" is due to start in a few weeks. There was also a previous mention that there will be a 'special' on VH1 before the regular weekly show starts (sort of a preview I suppose).

David (from the world-famous message board) has decided to create a discography of PiL songs, arranged alphabetically, and to include all variations and what albums they were on. (Whew! I wish I had the time!) As he sends them in, I will be creating a discography section. I will let you know when it's up and running. Thanks, David!

Here's a review of the recent VH1 Grammy events hosted by John:

"Grammys Provide a Rotten Time"

Kevin Walker / The Tampa Tribune

03/01/99

Two decades after he fronted the most famous punk band ever, there was the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten on my television last week actually interviewing people at the Grammy Awards for VH-1.

After doing a double take, I settled in for a surreal hour of watching Rotten (real name John Lydon) - the man whose lyrics caused Britain's government to view the Pistols as a threat to society - talk with the likes of Celine Dion and John Tesh.

Sure, the Pistols were about money and marketing as much as the next band. But who ever would expect to see Rotten pitching questions to the Dixie Chicks about what it felt like to win a Grammy? Even his teeth looked nicely cleaned.

His old self did show through, however. When Dion told him she was taking a break from music to spend time with her family, he turned to the camera and said "Well, there's something good coming out of tonight."

He also later told Tesh "The whole idea of the Grammys is laughable to me. I'm just here to amuse myself."

- Thanks to Brian



March 2nd, 1999

"Plastic Box" has been released! I have mine being shipped to me as of yesterday by a friend with some connections. Forget trying to get this in the US for a bit, from what I've heard. But, still... keep checking your local stores. For now, here's another review (not very flattering either):

The Independent - London              

Pop This Week's Album Releases - Public Image Ltd Plastic Box

(Virgin)
REVIEWED BY ANDY GILL
02/26/99
(Copyright 1999 Newspaper Publishing PLC)

DESPITE THE neat packaging, which unites the twin peaks of PiL's career - the seminal new-wave industrial-dub epic Metal Box and the solid, generic Album - there's something about the band that remains fundamentally ill- suited to the retrospective box format. It's the antithesis of the rebellious spirit they once personified. In the way it smoothes the group's spiky iconoclasm with historical pomposity, it's like a turkey voting for Christmas.

This four-CD set does, however, illustrate the classic trajectory of all rock groups, the way that inspired enthusiasm erodes over time into formulaic obligation - a process John Lydon satirised by recording 1984's dismal This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get album with session hacks.

Notwithstanding the later lapses into drab proto-grunge riffing, the demeanour is, for the most part, pleasingly prickly and abrasive - mostly courtesy of Lydon's voice, which remains impressively idiosyncratic. It's hard to think of another artist in any field (apart from maybe Francis Bacon) who has operated at such a pitch of aestheticised disgust for so long.

- Thanks again to Brian

As reported earlier, John was supposed to attend, but couldn't make this recent UK boxing match...

"According to the Islington Gazette, John Lydon was to be ringside, along with John "Rambo" Stevens, during the Dunne vs. Holiday match. He was unable to make. This match was televised on ITV in London."

- Thanks to Chris, Nathan and 'A Fan'

More VH1 Grammy RealVideo coming soon! Thanks to everyone that demanded more, I'm glad you enjoyed it.



February 28th, 1999

Major news update!! Screen captures of the VH1 Grammy shows and more news are coming soon, but first...

Finally, the first ever RealVideo clip offered on this site is now available here. It's from the recent "Grammy Awards Pre-Show Red Carpet Special" hosted by John Lydon. (I will be adding this to the main media section in a few days.) But first, a few details before you download...

This is the first, of hopefully six clips of the VH1 Grammy shows, and it is a whopping 5 and 1/2 minutes long. The file is about 6.3 megs in size. Now, we've all downloaded huge RealVideo files before and, in my opinion, they're way better quality and only half the size of the one I've made. The reason for this is that I'm using a FREE RealVideo creation program, along with a piece of crap video capturing card. Basically, this makes for a VERY LARGE file, with only about 5 frames per second in a small viewing area. As opposed to the standard 15 frames per second.

And as a reminder, this is not live stuff folks (like my RealAudio files). You have to download and save it to your computer first, then play it in your brand new RealPlayer G2 program.

In the future, if you want more clips from the Grammy events, I will gladly oblige. However, if you're dissatisfied with the first clip, until I can afford some decent hardware and software, you'll just have to deal with these clips as they are. So now, quit whining and enjoy - and let me know if you want more!

Reportedly, there was "lots of classic stuff done at the show, but VH1 wasn't brave enough to air it, hopefully it can be used on Rotten T.V." Also, the new Sex Pistols documentary is in its final stages and will be released on the big screen soon. It is reportedly very moving.

-Thanks to an anonymous source.

The first of many "Plastic Box" reviews is here. This is from the recent edition of "Q Magazine". Thanks to all who sent this in to me:

Sex Pistols Shot Themselves

Their leader took revenge. In 1979, just two feet-finding years into what would pan into an eight-album career for Public Image Ltd, Richard Branson asked John Lydon to join The Professionals, Steve Jones and Paul Cook's new project. Lydon impolitely declined. It was an improper suggestion and roughly 17 years premature. Between the Sex Pistols' messy demise and their eventual slick exhumation, the former Johnny Rotten made some periodically brilliant rock music as PiL, named after a Muriel Spark novel, The Public Image. As this chronological 4CD, five-hour, 1978-'92 retrospective reminds us, he certainly didn't sit on his arse.

Although the first fruits of his alliance with ex-Clash guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble and drummer Jim Walker, the 1978 debut, Public Image Ltd, largely echoed the Pistols' sound (the title track, Religion and Low Life were all written during the band's implosive American tour), the democracy of the new arrangement stoked Lydon's creativity, and by Metal Box (1979) - famously packaged as three 12-inchers in a tin - a whole new sonic palette had been established to support his trademark squawk.

Despite Lydon's looming presence, the power of other individual members in the ever-changing PiL carousel shouldn't be underestimated Wobble's reggae-influenced thumbwork characterises the first two albums; keyboardist Jeanette Lee's 1979-'82 tenure brings gothic drama to the arthouse; drums are the defining sound on Flowers Of Romance (1981), thanks in part to yo-yoing member Martin Atkins; and the parade of sessioneers and guests stars recruited after Lydon emigrated to New York helped shape the more commercial but still spiky sound of This Is What You Want . . . This Is What You Get (1984) and Album (1986). Plastic Box respectfully speeds up when the story reaches the alterna-pop of Happy? (1987), 9 (1989) and That What Is Not (1992), all three pruned and squeezed onto the final disc, rarely to be played except by perverse Simple Minds fans. PiL's first four albums - the important ones - appear almost in their entirety, forming a bizarre, mind-expanding adventure in sound. Pity Lydon's terrific collaborations with Afrika Bambaataa and Leftfield aren't here to improve the ending.

3 Stars

Andrew Collins



February 26th, 1999

Quite an event the other night! I received tons of e-mail and there was very heavy posting on the board as well. To those who wrote me, please be patient - I'll reply as soon as I get a chance.

In response to the e-mail and postings, I've decided to add RealVideo files to this site. The first item will be the Grammy pre/post-shows (only the parts with John of course). I want to let all the people who weren't able to see it have the opportunity to watch John's "red carpet" coverage in its entirety - which would be impossible if I were to only offer the usual large-sized file 15-second video clips. This new feature will be added sometime this weekend, along with some screen captures. Stay tuned!

Also, I'm not sure what this next bit means, but someone wrote me and this is what they said:

"london: check out the colin dunne boxing match saturday, 2/26/99."

If you know what this is, please tape it and let me know. Thanks!



February 22nd, 1999

Further VH1 ads now say the action starts at 6pm EST, with Lydon hosting pre-show coverage. Again, there is still a post-Grammy event at 11pm which may be hosted by him as well. My suggestion to all: Be prepared to watch from 6pm to midnight.

The new issue of "Q Magazine" has a review of Plastic Box. I haven't been able to find this yet, but if someone has it and is willing to type it, please send it to me, I'd appreciate it. Thanks again to everyone who's contributed to this news section. Without your help, we all would've missed out on some very important updates!

Thanks very much to Juan Gallego of Madrid, Spain for sending me a copy of the 1991 PiL book he helped publish, titled "Donde Estas Tu Public Image Ltd." by author David Carballal (see picture below). It's very well put together, and quite rare apparently. My Spanish is pretty pisspoor, but hopefully someday I can have someone read it to me in English.



There have been some postings concerning the release date of "Plastic Box". As several have stated in postings, it's not the easiest thing to find on most music sites or local record stores. However, the release date is still, to the best of my knowledge, March 1st in the UK and March 3rd in the US. Virgin Records, as usual, probably isn't promoting this very well.

I've added a new link to the main page and to the store section. In my opinion, it's the internet's best auction site to find pretty much anything you're looking for. It's called eBay, and they usually have about 10-20 different PiL/Pistols stuff for auction at any given time. Check it out by searching for PiL, Public Image, Lydon, Sex Pistols, Johnny Rotten, etc...!



February 18th, 1999

TVGuide.com lists a VH1 Grammy pre-show from 7pm - 8pm on the 24th as well as post-show from 11:00-11:30pm (no further details given). I still don't know if John will be hosting one or the other, or both. VH1's Grammy Section still only lists the info that was in yesterday's news.



February 17th, 1999

According to VH1's site and an anonymous source, John will be hosting a Grammy Awards pre-show event on VH1. I discovered the following info on VH1's website:

VH1 continues Grammy-dedicated programming right up until our "Live Red-Carpet Pre-show" coverage of the event on Wednesday, February 24th at 8:00 p.m. hosted by Johnny Rotten.

The info I had before said it was a post awards show, so you may want to stand-by before and after, just in case.



February 16th, 1999

I received a couple of e-mails about this recently, and it was posted on the board as well. Apparently, John will be interviewing Grammy Award winners on Wednesday, February 24th after the awards. This info was advertised on VH1, so I would assume the interviews will be broadcast on VH1 that night, as opposed to Fox, who is broadcasting the actual awards show. There is a post show listing for VH1 that night as follows:

VH1 - 11:00pm
Grammy Post Show
30 minutes

Should be fun! I know I'll be watching!!

For those who indicated an interest in reading John's description of the Psycho's Path tracks, I have posted it on the page that used to have my (now outdated) interpretations. It's linked off the main page. I know that it is still buried somewhere on Virgin's site, and someone dug deep, found it and posted the link on the board, but this just makes it a little easier in case it disappears completely off Virgin's site someday. Plus - I can't believe no one made this observation, but it's been on this site under the interviews section for over a year and a half already!

 And lastly, the new issue of Entertainment Weekly has a cover story of the top moments in television history. Guess what #92 is? None other than PiL on American Bandstand (with a pic of Lydon and all).

-Thanks to Steve M.



February 8th, 1999

Everybody get a chance to read John's post on the message board from last week? It generated some pretty interesting responses!

I've received some reports that the new Sex Pistols Documentary was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. However, I have not been able to confirm this yet.

A website called Radiodayz recently posted an interview that former KROQ DJ Dusty Street did with John Lydon back in 1982. It's in RealAudio and you can listen to it here.