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Ask the proverbial American on the street to name a member of the Sex Pistols -- or, for that matter, to name the first British punk figure who comes to mind -- and chances are that the answer will be "Sid Vicious." That's because for many listeners, the myth surrounding Sid Vicious became the essence of what punk rock was all about -- anarchy, violence (especially at gigs), nihilism, wild excess, an apathetic lack of concern with everyone and everything, and dying young, all in the service of a pervasive boredom and dissatisfaction with the predictable, mapped-out existence in store for young adults of varying class backgrounds. Legend even has it that Vicious disciple and Germs lead singer Darby Crash committed suicide by overdosing on heroin in tribute to his idol. According to his myth, Vicious' demise was destiny from the start, as he chose the path of destruction and lived it to the hilt, breaking all "the rules" out of total disrespect, destroying himself and everything around him out of frustration with the hollowness of existence, a quixotic rebel without a cause who possessed a certain doomed romanticism and junkie glamour. However, what Vicious the icon (and, by proxy, the original punk movement) has come to represent in the minds of many, and what Sid Vicious actually was, are two very different realities.
To his peers -- and even his bandmates -- Vicious was something of a sad sack, deficient in both intelligence and common sense, essentially a sweet soul easily led into stupidity and flights of egomania. Despite the Sex Pistols' reputation for amateurish musicianship (often supported by subpar live bootlegs), everyone in the band could play their instruments -- everyone, that is, except Vicious, who made a valiant effort to learn the bass at first but was quickly derailed by the instant gratifications of fame, stardom, and heroin addiction. Not only was Vicious musically talentless, but the Pistols' vision had virtually nothing to do with him: he wasn't even present when much of the group's material was conceived and written, and Johnny Rotten was largely responsible for the controversial lyrics and attitude that built their reputation. Vicious' presence did contribute a certain dangerous energy to the Pistols' performances, but his unreliability as a rhythm section anchor could just as easily hurt the band's live sound. What sealed Vicious' downfall, though, was his romantic association with groupie/heroin addict Nancy Spungen, whose presence ensured that any attempt Vicious made to break out of the spiral of self-destruction in which he found himself would be met with failure and a reversion to his old habits. Those habits eventually destroyed both Spungen (who was found stabbed in the couple's New York apartment) and Vicious, who died of a heroin overdose on Groundhog Day, 1979.
Vicious was born in London on May 10, 1957; various accounts list his real name as John Beverley, Simon Ritchie, or "John Simon" followed by one of those two surnames. His mother Anne was single and a frequent recreational drug user, and Vicious often sought companionship and entertainment out on the streets of London. Vicious grew up idolizing glam rockers like David Bowie, Roxy Music, and T. Rex, often trying to imitate their style of dress. While attending state school as a teenager in 1975, he met and befriended John Lydon, who christened him "Sid Vicious" after a seemingly cute pet hamster who had once bitten a chunk of flesh out of Lydon's father's hand; it was actually a name that Vicious himself disliked. Lydon, Vicious, and several other friends began squatting in vacant buildings, and the former two occasionally busked in subway stations. When Lydon joined the Sex Pistols as Johnny Rotten, Vicious became one of the band's most visible followers, creating a dance tabbed the "pogo," which arose from his jumping up and down to see the band better. Although Vicious played drums for mutual Pistols fans Siouxsie & the Banshees at their first gig, his pre-Pistols days are more remembered for the occasional violence he stirred up at shows. During a Damned show at the 100 Club, he was arrested for throwing a beer glass at the stage; the glass instead hit a pillar, shattered, and struck a female spectator, allegedly blinding her in one eye. In another notorious incident in June 1976, Vicious struck music journalist Nick Kent five times with a rusty bicycle chain. By February 1977, the Pistols' fallout with Glen Matlock was complete, and Rotten suggested his friend Vicious as a replacement; while Sid could not yet play bass, Rotten had faith in his ability to learn, and he already had a dangerous image that played well in the media.
Early in 1977, shortly after Vicious officially joined the Pistols, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers arrived in the U.K. to tour with the Clash and the Damned; following them was a frustrated groupie and heroin addict named Nancy Spungen, who had once had a brief affair with drummer Jerry Nolan. Thunders did his best to introduce his drug of choice to the London scene, in one instance waving a heroin-filled syringe in Vicious' face and shouting, "Are you a boy or a man?" But it wasn't until a short while later, when a repulsed Johnny Rotten attempted to halt Spungen's unwanted advances by introducing her to Vicious, that Sid's heroin habit began in earnest. The couple took to each other immediately, as Spungen fulfilled her ambition of bagging a Sex Pistol, while Vicious identified with her outcast status and (some friends thought) endured her whining, stupidity, and instability simply because no one wanted him to be with her. As a member of the Sex Pistols, Vicious became an instant star; the resultant ego inflation and opportunities for indulgence, coupled with Spungen's voracious appetite for drugs, spelled trouble.
Vicious played his first live show with the Sex Pistols on April 4, 1977. Although his efforts to learn the bass were sincere, he showed up at recording sessions for Never Mind the Bollocks too drunk to play at all effectively, so the group rehired Glen Matlock as a session musician for most of the tracks. In between all the Pistols controversies of that year, Sid's friends spent most of the rest of the year trying in vain to get rid of Spungen and to break Sid of his heroin habit.
In January 1978, the Sex Pistols embarked on an ill-fated tour of the United States. Most Americans who had heard of Sid Vicious knew only his media image, and upon his arrival, Vicious did his utmost to live up to that violent tough-guy persona -- which, in England, had usually resulted in his getting beaten up. Since he was separated from Nancy, Rotten tried again to help Sid kick heroin, but he was overall too far out of control for the effort to matter much. Tales of Vicious' excesses and self-mutilations on the tour abound: in San Antonio, he called the audience "a bunch of faggots" and hit someone on the head with his bass; in Dallas, he appeared on-stage with the phrase "Gimme a Fix" scrawled on his chest; at a truck stop on the way to Tulsa, a trucker put a cigarette out on his hand and challenged Vicious to do the same, so Vicious sliced his own hand open and calmly continued eating. Two days after the Pistols' final gig in San Francisco, Vicious suffered his first heroin overdose; three days later, on a flight to New York, he slipped into a drug-induced coma. Upon his return to England, he and Rotten fell out completely over his drug abuse; he wound up going to Paris for the Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle film, for which he recorded covers of "My Way" and a couple of Eddie Cochran songs. In August 1978, he and Nancy moved to New York, raising money by performing a farewell gig with a backing band called the Vicious White Kids, which featured guitarist Steve New, bassist Glen Matlock, and drummer Rat Scabies.
Upon arriving in New York, Vicious formed the Idols with Barry Jones, guitarist Steve Dior, and the New York Dolls' former rhythm section of Arthur Kane and Jerry Nolan. A live album, Sid Sings, was released with the Idols in 1979; it consisted mostly of Pistols, Dolls, and Heartbreakers covers, plus the songs he had covered for The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle.
On October 12, 1978, Vicious awoke in his Chelsea Hotel room to find Spungen lying in the bathroom, dead of a stab wound. Although he could not remember the events of the preceding evening due to his drug-induced stupor, he confessed to the crime and was arrested. After Virgin Records bailed him out, he attempted suicide several days later by slashing himself with a razor, and was committed to Bellevue for two weeks. On December 9, at the Max's Kansas City club, Vicious propositioned the girlfriend of Todd Smith, Patti Smith's brother; when Todd approached him about it, Vicious broke a glass across his face and was subsequently arrested again. He was released on February 1, 1979, and immediately took some bad heroin supplied by his mother; after scoring more, he shot up again later that night and was found dead of an overdose the next morning. He was only 21.
The murder of Spungen was never conclusively solved, and several theories exist as to what really happened. Vicious' own confession told the story of a dispute over a failure to procure heroin, which escalated into violence and finally the stabbing; Spungen apparently failed to dress the wound properly, and died several hours later. However, Vicious' own condition rendered him unsure of the night's events, and those close to him doubted that he could have brought himself to murder his beloved. A team of private detectives hired by manager Malcolm McLaren turned up evidence suggesting that someone else had murdered Spungen; several friends had been in the apartment that night, one of whom was unknown to the group, and some sort of drug deal had taken place while a large cashed check from Virgin was lying out in the open.
Sadly, by that point, Vicious' all-consuming addiction had isolated him from most of the people who might have helped him conquer his problems, and at least some of his friends viewed his death as far from unexpected. However, despite a meager recorded legacy and minimal contribution to the Sex Pistols outside of their media image, Vicious' early death only served to romanticize his chaotic life and eventual downfall. To some, he represents the ultimate spirit of punk rock anarchy and nihilism for its own sake; to others, he remains a tragic figure, but more for his weaknesses than his notoriety.
Wikipedia:
Sid Vicious (born John Simon Ritchie 10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979) was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols. In 2006 he was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Sex Pistols.
Early life
Sid Vicious was born John Simon Ritchie in Lewisham, South East London, to John and Anne Ritchie (née McDonald). His mother dropped out of school early due to a lack of academic success and went on to join the RAF, where she met her husband-to-be, Ritchie's father. He was a guardsman at Buckingham Palace and a semi-professional trombone player on the London Jazz scene. Shortly after John's birth, he and his mother moved to Ibiza, where they expected to be joined by his father who, it was planned, would support them financially in the meantime. However, after the first few pay cheques failed to arrive, Anne realised that he would not be coming. Anne later married Christopher Beverley, a middle class man in 1965, before setting up a family home back in Kent. Ritchie took his stepfather's surname and was known as John Beverley.
Ritchie's stepfather died six months later from cancer, and by 1968 he and his mother were living in a rented flat in Tunbridge Wells, where he attended Sandown Court School. In 1971, the pair moved to Hackney in east London. He also spent some time living in Somerset.
Ritchie first met John Lydon in 1973, when they were both students at Hackney Technical College. Lydon describes Ritchie at this time as a David Bowie fan, a poser and a "clothes hound".
By age 17, Ritchie had begun to hang around London. One favorite spot was Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's then-little-known clothing store, SEX. There he met American expatriate Chrissie Hynde before she formed the Pretenders. Though at least five years older, she tried (but failed) to convince John to join her in a mariage blanc so she could get a work permit.
John was given the nickname "Sid Vicious" by John Lydon, after Lydon's pet hamster, Sid. The hamster had bitten Ritchie, who said that "Sid is really vicious!" The animal was described by Lydon as "the softest, furriest, weediest thing on earth." At the time, Ritchie was squatting with Lydon, John Joseph Wardle (Jah Wobble), and John Gray, and the four were colloquially known as "The Four Johns".
According to Lydon, the two of them would often busk for money with Sid playing the tambourine. They would play Alice Cooper covers, and people gave them money to be quiet. Once a man gave them "three bob" (three shillings, i.e. 15p in decimal currency) and they all danced.
According to the band's photographer, Dennis Morris, John was "deep down, a shy person." However, he did assault NME journalist Nick Kent with a motorbike chain with help from Jah Wobble. On another occasion, at the Speakeasy (a London nightclub popular with rock stars of the day) he threatened BBC DJ and Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris.
Music career
The Flowers of Romance and The Banshees
Vicious began his musical career in 1976 as a member of The Flowers of Romance along with former co-founding member of The Clash, Keith Levene (who later co-founded John Lydon's post-Pistols project Public Image Limited) and Palmolive and Viv Albertine, who would later form The Slits. He appeared with Siouxsie and the Banshees, playing drums at their notorious first gig at the 100 Club Punk Festival in London's Oxford Street. According to members of The Damned, Vicious was considered, along with Dave Vanian, for the position of lead singer for The Damned, but Sid failed to show up for the audition.
Sex Pistols
According to various publications (such as the biography England's Dreaming by John Savage) and films (namely The Filth and the Fury) Vicious was asked to join the group after Glen Matlock's departure in February 1977 due to his being present at every gig. Manager Malcolm McLaren once claimed "if Johnny Rotten is the voice of punk, then Vicious is the attitude."
McLaren also said in person and in a documentary that if he'd met Vicious before he had hired Rotten to be the singer, Vicious would have been the Sex Pistols' front man, because he had the most charisma of anyone on that stage. Alan Jones described Vicious as "[having] the iconic punk look (...) Sid, on image alone, is what all punk rests on." His nails would be painted in a sloppy manner with purple nail polish. Vicious played his first gig with the Pistols on 3 April 1977 at the The Screen On The Green in London. His debut was filmed by Don Letts and appears in Punk Rock Movie. What Sid had lacked in musicianship he made up with unmatched punk charisma, as he hurled insults at the crowd and slashed himself. On the group's U.S. tour in January 1978, although not during a show, he carved the words "Gimme a fix" into his chest. In the Longhorn Ballroom concert, he spat into the crowd and mocked and taunted the "Cowboys" in the audience.
In March 1977, Vicious had met American Nancy Spungen; they began to date. They, and with them the group, deteriorated visibly during the American tour. The Pistols broke up in San Francisco after their concert at the Winterland Ballroom on 14 January 1978.
Solo career
With Spungen acting as his "manager", Vicious embarked on a solo career during which he performed with musicians including Mick Jones of The Clash, Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, Rat Scabies of The Damned and the New York Dolls' Arthur Kane, Jerry Nolan, and Johnny Thunders. Vicious performed the majority of his performances at Max's Kansas City and drew large crowds. His final performances as a solo musician took place at Max's.
Musicianship
Vicious was not recognised as a competent bass player. In some concerts Sid's amplifier would even be switched off. During an interview for Guitar Hero III, when Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones was asked why he, instead of Vicious, recorded the bass parts of Never Mind the Bollocks, Jones responded, "Sid was in a hospital with yellow jaundice and he couldn't really play, not that he could play anyway." The only song that Sid played on in the studio was "Bodies". Sid asked Lemmy, the bassist of Motörhead, to teach him how to play bass with the words, "I can't play bass," to which Lemmy replied "I know." In another interview Lemmy stated, "Yeah. It was all uphill. And he still couldn't play bass when he died."
According to Paul Cook, in the few months between joining the band and meeting Nancy, Vicious was a dedicated worker and tried his hardest to learn to play; indeed, this period was Cook's favourite in the band. Viv Albertine went further in defence of his ability, saying that one night she "went to bed, and Sid stayed up with a Ramones album and a bass guitar, and when I got up in the morning, he could play. He'd taken a load of speed and taught himself. He was so quick." Keith Levene, a member of The Flowers of Romance with Vicious and later a member of The Clash and then Public Image Ltd, also recounts a similar story: "Could Sid play bass? I don't know, but one thing I do know was that Sid did things quickly. One night, he played the first Ramones album nonstop, all night, then next morning, Sid could play the bass. That was it; he was ready! I told you Sid did things quickly!" By the time of the last Sex Pistols gig at the Winterland in San Francisco Sid was a reasonably competent bass player, as is evident in the footage of the show.
Nancy Spungen's death
On the morning of 12 October 1978, Vicious claimed to have awoken from a drugged stupor to find Nancy Spungen dead on the bathroom floor of their room in the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan, New York. She had suffered a single stab wound to her abdomen and appeared to have bled to death. The knife used had been bought by Vicious on 42nd Street and was identical to a collector's knife given to punk rock vocalist Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys by Dee Dee Ramone. According to Dee Dee's wife at the time, Vera King Ramone, Sid had bought the knife after seeing Stiv's. Vicious was arrested and charged with her murder. He said they had fought that night but gave conflicting versions of what happened next, saying, "I never stabbed her. I loved her, but she treated me like shit", then saying that he did not remember and at one point during the argument Spungen had fallen onto the knife.
On the night of Nancys death, there was a party going on in their hotel room, she was rumoured of showing a lot of money. When they found her dead the next day the money had gone as had Sid's knife. None of the party guests have given evidence of what had happened.
On October 22, ten days after Spungen's death, Vicious attempted suicide by slitting his wrist and subsequently hospitalized at Bellevue Hospital. He was charged with assault after an altercation with Todd Smith (singer Patti Smith's brother) at a Skafish concert. Vicious was arrested December 9, 1978 and sent to Rikers Island metro jail for 55 days. He was released on bail on February 1, 1979.
Bail was originally set at $50,000. However, after court hearings and work from his lawyer, it was lowered. Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols' manager, worked to raise money, and the bond was eventually covered by Virgin Records.
One theory regarding the murder is that Spungen was killed in a robbery or drug deal gone wrong, in which one of those involved was Rockets Redglare, who would later become known as a stand-up comedian and actor. Redglare, who died in 2001, always denied any part in her death. He stated that the other dealer known to have been there that evening had left before him to obtain more heroin, and was due back after he had left the building. He said he believed that the other dealer returned, found Vicious out cold, and attempted to steal the remaining drugs, leading to a confrontation with Spungen.
Death
On the evening of February 1, 1979, a small gathering to celebrate Vicious having made bail was held at the 63 Bank Street, New York apartment of his new girlfriend, Michele Robinson, whom he had started dating the day he got out of Bellevue Hospital the previous October. Vicious was clean, having been on a detoxification methadone programme, he detoxed from heroin during his time at Rikers Island. However, at the dinner gathering, his mother (who was once a registered addict herself) had some heroin delivered, against the wishes of Sid's girlfriend. The person who delivered it, Peter Kodick, came and stayed for a while. Vicious overdosed at midnight but everyone who was there that night worked together to get him up and walking around in order to revive him. At 3:00 AM, Sid and Michele Robinson went to bed together. Vicious was discovered dead late the next morning.
A few days after Vicious' cremation, his mother found an alleged suicide note in the pocket of his jacket:
We had a death pact, and I have to keep my half of the bargain. Please bury me next to my baby in my leather jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots. Goodbye.
Since Nancy was Jewish she was buried in a Jewish cemetery. However, Vicious was not Jewish so he could not be buried with her. According to the book Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, Vicious' mother scattered his ashes over Nancy's grave. This has not been fully substantiated as fact.
