John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten

               I have been a Sex Pistols fan for as far as I can remember. I actually can’t remember exactly when I first started listing to them. It was probably on Z-Rock or something on Crankin’ Craig’s show. From the first time I heard them, I was a fan. Of course they were long disbanded when my fandom started up. Nonetheless, I was still a hardcore fan. Like any other fan, I had to have as much as I could get of the band. This was obviously long before the thought of the internet. So actual merchandise wasn’t easy to come by from a band from another country and a band that had broken up when I was a little over a year and a half years old. There were a few record stores that I could always count on to supply me with my import fix. One being Last Beat in Deep Ellum. From hard to find vinyl, tapes, posters, books, movies & patches. I had (and still have most) it all. I loved the music, the lyrics, and Johnny Rotten’s voice. And even though he didn’t really actually play that much, I was even a huge fan of Sid’s. Sid Vicious was the epitome of “punk” at the time.
                As I grew older, the fandom I had of Sid’s turned to sadness. Sadness because he was a product of his environment. The people around him made him the way he was by taking advantage of his naivety and low self-esteem. He was fed the constant b.s. from McLaren  and his cronies that he had to act a certain way and do certain things that eventually he believed it himself. Which led to his suicidal demise at the age of 21 due to a heroin overdose (later revealed that it was his Mom that gave him his lethal last shot).

                I also fell in love with Lydon’s project after the Pistols called Public Image Ltd. aka P.I.L.. I didn’t have a lot of their merchandise. But I had most of their music. They were more new wave/alternative as opposed to punk the Pistols were. Fast forward a little to about 1992 and their album “That What is Not” came out. I loved this album. It easily became my favorite by them. And on the song “Acid Drops” there was even a sample of “God Save the Queen”. Which made it even cooler. I remember after that record came out, PIL took a hiatus. The rumor at the time was, they had broken up. So I figured that was it. Bands break up all the time. Fast forward once more to 2012, 20 long years after the release of “That What is Not” and guess what I find out, PIL is coming out with a new record. To put the proverbial cherry on top, they are doing a tour to promote said album. I thought to myself “If only they would come to Da…Holy Crap they’re coming to Dallas”. As soon as tickets went on sale, guess who bought his ticket. That’s right, this cat. It was at the Granada Theater off of Greenville Ave. I had been there a few times before and thought that it’s going to be an awesome show. It’s a small venue and there’s not really a bad seat. Well to make my story a little sweeter (to me at least), I find out that PIL is doing a free signing at a local record store the day of the concert. HOLY SHIT!! (Sorry for expletive, but that’s how excited I was) It was in the middle of the day and I had the PT at work, so naturally I took off early. I was excited and bummed out at the same time. Excited that I’m going to get to meet Johnny Rotten himself. Bummed because it was only one item you can get signed and he wasn’t signing Sex Pistols items.                  

                Well I went into a quick panic mode. All of my PIL stuff had been converted to digital. I had one thing of John’s that wasn’t Sex Pistols. I had a vinyl single of World Destruction “Time Zone” he did with Afrika Bambaataa. I had that record since it came out. So it wasn’t in the greatest shape. But it was all I had. I get to Good Records super early. Damn it, I’m going to be first in line. And damn it, I was. Lol I was talking to the owner of the store and he told me that it was changed to three items per person. But still no Sex Pistols. So I bought their new album on vinyl and “This is what you want, this is what you get” on cd. As time is slowly going by, about 30 minutes before the time, I see John outside smoking. He comes in greets the fans and starts signing early. He sits down and I go up to the table and Rambo starts talking to me while he gets ready. So I go up to him with my items and he shakes my hand and introduces himself to me and asked my name and thanked me for coming. He first grabs my Afrika Bambaataa record. His face kind of lights up then goes on with this story of the album and how he invented rap with this song. Huge fan John, but three words, The Sugarhill Gang. Lol. He signed my other items and asked if I was coming to the show. “Of course” I answered. He took a photo with me (Thanks again Scott) and said see you at the show. And there I was front row, right up against the stage. It was such an awesome show and awesome day.  Seems like only yesterday.