Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ray Stevenson. Sid Vicious entertaining the children, with Nancy Spungen.
On Christmas Day 1977, the Sex Pistols treated the kids of Huddersfield to the Sex Pistols Christmas Party. All the cool children were at Ivanhoes to see the Pistols play a benefit show for the families of striking firemen and miners.
Johnny Rotten served cake to the children of striking miners. They did the right thing: they picked it up threw it in his face.
Says John Lydon (nicknamed ‘Johnny Rotten’ by the band’s Steve Jones on account of his teeth):
“Fantastic. The ultimate reward. One of my all-time favourite gigs. Young kids, and we’re doing Bodies and they’re bursting out with laughter on the ‘f*ck this f*ck that’ verse. The correct response: not the shock horror ‘How dare you?’ Adults bring their own filthy minds into a thing. They don’t quite perceive it as a child does. Oh, Johnny’s used a naughty word. Bodies was from two different points of view. You’ll find that theme runs through a lot of things I write like Rise – “I could be wrong, I could be right”. I’m considering both sides of the argument, always.
Jez Scott was there:
Johnny Rotten came out in a straw hat and they had a cake with Sex Pistols written on it, the size of a car bonnet. He started cutting it up but it soon degenerated into a food fight. He was covered head to foot. It was fantastic. I took a photo of Steve Jones, who did a rock’n’roll-type pose. I took one of Sid and he asked, “Do you want to put Nancy [Spungen] in as well?”
Eventually the Pistols came onstage. I think they only played about six songs. I remember they did Bodies, but omitted the swear words because of the children.
The story gets better with age.
One more time with feeling:
Would you like to support Flashbak?
Please consider making a donation to our site. We don't want to rely on ads to bring you the best of visual culture. You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. And you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop.
