Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil Gillian McCain

Author:Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain
Language: ru
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Lower East Side, 1980s, Popular Music, USA, New York City, Interviews, Punk, United States, 1970s, America, Oral HIstory
Publisher: Grove Press, USA
Published: 1996-05-08T20:00:00+00:00

That was also the day that the Heartbreakers arrived to go on a tour with this so-called phenomenon that the media were labeling "punk rock." But, basically, the Heartbreakers and Sex Pistols were going for a ride around the country together and would never get to play a show.

Leee Childers: As Americans, we didn't realize how much power the British tabloids carry, and how intensely they can work the populace into a frenzy. On the Anarchy in the U.K. tour, we would be met at town borders by the mayor and the entire constabulary refusing to even let our bus enter the town!

In freezing-cold, blazing-winter blizzard weather, they would not even let us go to our hotel, much less let us play our show. I think we probably ended up doing six dates out of the eighteen or so that we booked.

And with the press it was cover your head and run—photographers chasing you, flashes going off.

Jerry Nolan: The Clash were on the Anarchy tour, and so were the Damned. But the Damned got thrown off after a couple of gigs, because they were such sissies. The drummer, Rat Scabies, and the guitarist, Captain Sensible, they were tough kids, but the others were a bunch of

You Should Never Have Opened That Door ... 259

poufs. They wanted to ride in their own bus. The Pistols were a little afraid of us too, but they tried hard not to show it.

Eliot Kidd: As soon as Johnny Thunders met the Pistols he called me back in New York to tell me about them. We had heard of them. We knew Malcolm was involved and the Pistols were getting some kind of a notoriety. But we didn't know what they sounded like, we didn't know what they looked like, or what their names were.

So when Johnny called, I said, "So what's the deal?" And he said, "Forget about it. These guys are awesome."

He was really impressed. I said to myself, Well, if Johnny thinks they're that great, I guess they're worth meeting.

When I first got to England, I went right to where the Heartbreakers were staying. I'm asking them what the Pistols are like, and since I was a lead singer, I asked Walter, "What's Johnny Rotten like?"

He said, "He's an asshole."

And he was an asshole, a total asshole, a jerk-off. It wasn't like I just didn't like him; no one liked him. And it wasn't like he was sitting by himself on the tour bus. He was an in-your-face type of guy.

I mean, these little fucking skinny fags, like trying to put on leather jackets and sticking fucking safety pins in their ear, trying to like tell me they're tough guys?

I used to tell them, "I'll fight your whole fucking band. Not me and my band, me myself."

Leee Childers: The Heartbreakers blew everyone away, for no more reason than that they were just more experienced—they had their roots in rhythm and blues and rock &. roll. They were able to go onstage and draw on all of that, whereas these kids couldn't draw on anything yet.

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