Backspin: Steve Jones on 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll' Swindle

The Sex Pistols guitarist talks about the punk legends' infamous mockumentary, their premature breakup, and what might have happened if the Pistols had stayed together.
Full interview with Steve Jones for Backspin: yhoo.it/2k80I1b

[@Eurotrash4367]

Steve Jones is one of my favorite guitar players. He isn't technical but his riffs are great. If not for him, the Pistols would have just been image and attitude.

[@chasbodaniels1744]

Oh yeah, absolutely right. Jonesy had the instinctive feel which few players have - even if they’re a lot better technically.

[@Monchi2006]

@@robertdownes793 where u get this info? Steves guitar is pretty characteristic

[@MultiStrickland]

Robert Downes thats correct, apart from the fact Jones played guitar and the bass parts on all of bollocks tracks except ‘bodies’ (guitar only) 🙄

[@garyjones7044]

@@MultiStrickland anarchy was Glenn

[@BuggSmasher]

John brought the voice and onstage antics with attitude. Steve played His guitar, and Um played his guitar! Cookie on drums, apparently new the lyrics when John forgot (listen to road runner . . .but probably just antics no doubt) Glen was the first lead , then there was Sid and His whole story. Loved the great rock and roll swindle movie, but how Malcolm thought he could fool everyone into thinking he was greater than the sum of his parts, we'll never know ! Thanks Steve, for your small bit ! You brought some absolute fun into my early teens !

[@user-qf6yt3id3w]

"... I wanna get it. And sell it on eBay." Never change Steve!

[@usefulvidiots7869]

LOL exactly. That grin.

[@jazzmasterjax83]

Haha that was the best part 😂

[@TheDaaazer]

And the little smirk afterwards. Ha ha ha!!!!

[@johnpolitis7929]

@@TheDaaazer Roberta Bayley Judy Vermorel KZbin Sid Vicious - The Vermorel Interview Sid Vicious - Roberta Bayley Telephone Conversation - January 20th 1978 Sid Vicious Telephone Conversation With Roberta Bayley. 20/02/78 The Gospel According To PISTOL - The Rise And Fall Of The Sex Pistols Beyond Fiction - Ziggy & Iggy In Velvet Goldmine The Real Velvet Goldmine

[@kaptinshazbat7535]

he talks great. confident, interesting, funny and totally honest. Really nice to listen to.

[@usefulvidiots7869]

I'd like to meet Jonesy.

[@JimmyChangE16]

Yeah other than Lydons Lyrics, Jones composed all the music and arrangements behind the Sex Pistols, true genius!

[@edmundkockenlocker4672]

More honest than Lydon. I've no respect for Lydon at all now. When you side with Trump, you are literally selling your soul to the devil. SMH 🙄😒😖

[@sirjellybeans1st19]

@@edmundkockenlocker4672 don't you mean Lydon?

[@edmundkockenlocker4672]

@@sirjellybeans1st19 Yeah, that is what I meant. I've only just noticed it. 🤦

[@paddycampbell576]

Steve always comes across as a nice, decent fella and his guitar sound on NMTBHTSP still gives me that backbone shiver...

[@Bob-ts2tu]

He just tells it like it was, no BS, spin or 'I am' like John Lydon. nice to hear him again

[@stevejames3775]

I recall Steve Jones saying that John was different to the rest of them because he was an "intellectual" A strange kind of intellectual but i understood what he meant by that. When you see interviews with John he is talking about the big stuff in life and he is of course confrontational. Steve just talks about how lucky he was to be in a band and wanting to get laid. That gives him a different kind of honesty. I think he & John are both honest genuine people but Steve's kind of honesty is refreshing cause it comes from a place we can all relate to.

[@tiki_trash]

I love the guy but sometimes I think John is autistic.

[@giorgikobalava7430]

I don' t find anything Lydon says "intellectual" deep or profound. I find him an annoying self-absorbed, pretentious and grumpy cunt who has bought into his own myth. They way he talks makes you want to punch his lights out.

[@MikeD-bu6hr]

Just watched an interview with Steve in 77 and the next one that played was this. What's most striking is how much more coherent and articulate he is here, no longer putting up a front trying to be cool. Top man!

[@EmmAPestilenciA]

I always wondered how people who stayed away from heroin while their friends around them slowly fall apart due to heroin use, start using it after the fact. I have a friend who watched our whole scene die off one by one over the years due to overdoses. He never did dope and thought everyone who did was really lame. After about 10 deaths of our friends over the years he starts doing heroin too. I'm not sure exactly when Steve Jones started dope but it sounds like it was after Sid died.

[@spiritualcramp8000]

"my hall of fame statue is still in Cleveland, i want to get it and sell it on ebay" hahaha punk rock will never die.

[@dukecraig2402]

I lived in Ohio right up the road from the rock hall for 11 years and would never set foot in the place, just a tourist trap bunch of crap, considering that the Boomtown Rats got in so early and some of the most influential bands like Slade have never even been nominated speaks volumes right there, plus after all the money I've dumped into rock n roll over the years with not only the music that I had to pay for in the first place but every time I've had to buy it AGAIN because of "format changes" I'll be damned if I'll pay one cent to get into the place, if you show up with a receipt for just one album or CD they should just let you in, as fans WE made those rock stars into millionaires in the first place and then they have the nerve to build a shrine to themselves and then want to charge us over $30 just to get in there, as Mr Jones would say, BULLOCK'S!!!

[@Kaesewicht]

@@dukecraig2402 i don't like the RnR-HoF either and 30$ is also way too much but they also have to pay rent for the location i guess

[@dukecraig2402]

@@Kaesewicht Far as I'm concerned the multi billionaire rock industry can pass a hat around to pay the rent.

[@tracyjacoby2382]

He deserves the right to sell it!! Love him!!

[@spiritualcramp8000]

@@dukecraig2402 that's what he meant. pure disrespect. Johnny Rotten said that he confirmed theyr presence just to to boycott the stuff and let the rich pigs ''with their 1000 $ ponch and no show

[@bluefj-wc3vz]

Jones is a guy that i could sit here and listen to his stories of the old days for hours.

[@TheUnsignedbands]

You guys are beyond the Rock and Roll hall of fame and U2. You guys are punk. Always will be. All these so called pink bands are not even in the same league. You guys lived it that's why it ended. Legends.

[@leonardpattison2816]

To this day " Never Mind the Bollocks " hasn't been bettered.

[@dukecraig2402]

Yea, it's just unbelievable, ONE album and they changed music forever. How do you even do that?

[@DanPantzig]

Ramones did it better.

[@lejlatiric7037]

Exactly, many singers have to make 5-6 albums to become popular or iconic, they just made one and changed the way of thinking of many people Also i know they weren't the inventors of punk but they are, for me.

[@nasskhan4543]

@@DanPantzig I like the Ramones but they were not a threat.

[@StevieZero]

@@DanPantzig 😂🤣

[@gunofapreacherman1340]

Ya gotta love Jonesy. Top bloke.

[@stanmonzon5788]

He told me he hates you.

[@jtwilliams8895]

Belsen was a Gas- that’s a Pistols classic

[@RossBayCult]

I liked Rock N Roll Swindle the album, more so than the film, but watching it today it feels like a piece of history. So in that sense I appreciate the film. Seeing Ronald Biggs in Brazil, Sid Vicious walking in Paris and even a young Malcolm McLaren give out his thoughts on how a young band needs to play with the media in a certain fashion, etc.. I liked all of that. The acting, well there was none, but quite a few scenes were enjoyable. Mainly the musical ones.

[@steely666]

It's just a soundtrack.

[@pastaboy9371]

I like the pfp mate

[@pauld9561]

I like him more and more with each appearance.

[@angus2016young]

I love Steve Jones!! He tells it how it is!! He's a no bullshit, down-to-Earth guy!!

[@ShaneCassidy]

angus2016young finally someone said it

[@oiyabastard7275]

angus2016young. Angus what are you thinkin? Mal is dead. Brians gone phil is.on meth cliff.said.fuck it. You havent.had any good record.since.flick of the.switch. now you think u.can still have acdc. With just.you. slade and new hires?? Go shit in.your hat

[@paulcostelloe5345]

And hung like a donkey so they say.

[@gordonaliasme1104]

'...The cabin boy was kipper, 'e was a farkin nipper, 'e stuffed 'is arse full of broken glass and circumcised the skipper ...' sings Jones on ' Friggin in the Rigging ' , proper foul mouthed sea shanty !

[@who0icu812]

Yeah a real Patsy

[@MegaChip69420]

Great video though - love listening to Steve Jones

[@cadge]

Jones, so much more interesting than Lydon!

[@thewhoman3182]

I can't stand John. He became the thing he wanted to destroy. Steve Jones always keepin it real though. Love 'im

[@nic-ci_66-77]

Believe it or not Great r'n'r Swindle was a fantastic album and it has to be valued for what it is: one of the greatest film soundtrack ever

[@paddycampbell576]

... and it's all "covers" as well. Sex Pistols covering The Who etc. and obscure acts covering Sex Pistols tracks mainly... Still play it occasionally tbh

[@Lord_Hillcrest]

I thought it was great when i bought it all those years ago but really it was just Mclaren and his ego .

[@aliaswhatever]

Sloppy or not the Swindle' a cracking album..their time was brief but what a fucking commotion they made Vive le Sex Pistols "It turns out you only get to do it once!?"

[@ericmackenzie123]

My favourite musician. For all he has been through he is pretty together. I would like to meet him.

[@JoshuaCraigStrain]

The most important thing to remember from the vid is that - Fred IS A WEIRDO !!

[@David-mg1yj]

The Swindle meant a great deal to me as a youth... Not as much as The Bollocks, but still an important part of the whole Punk movement.

[@Johnconno]

So your bollocks were swindled?

[@rejmons1]

The English man stay the English man! Even the ex-rebellion who tried to destroy the British Monarchy, in the old age looks exactly like an english, victorian gentleman. And that's why I love English people!

[@robsawalker]

I LOVE GRRS. Lonely Boy is such a brilliant track, and when GRRS came out I was just turned nine, I'd read the Vermorels Pistol's book, I had NMTB and I couldn't see the film as I was too young. I bought the double album with the insert and loved it. I love that album! Black Arabs was medley is brilliant, the live John version of Belsen is superb, their version of watcha gonna do about it is brilliant, Wanna be me is brilliant, the Anarchy version on it is brilliant, Johnny be Goode/Roadrunner is brilliant, My Way, Silly Thing, what's not to like about it? And scandalising Miss Swift (my English teacher) when I brought it in to 'show and tell', and the class open the gatefold to that naked girl who's supposed to be Soo inside 😄

[@constancebowles7253]

After listening to interviews with Glen Mattlock and Steve Jones I agree the Sex Pistols really should enter into the Hall of Fame just for the great influence they had in the whole music industry across the nation's when is teens needed their voice. God Save The Queen!

[@herbert9241]

I used to always put that album on if I went round my mate's house after boozer. It actually took up permanent residence on his turntable and was only returned to its sleeve in the event of a broader, more mixed gathering. I had another mate who was a sort of post-punk punk and oddly enough, whenever he solicited my request, I would always insist on the oldest record in his collection, a childhood gift, a cod disco exploitation compilation, all cover versions by session musicians, for the opening track - 'Theme from Shaft' in da disco stylee. If he refused I would simply decline the honour. A more obnoxious fucker was never conceived but he had a certain honesty about him which committed him to fair play on things like that - he would relent and play my request. He had the same sense of fair play in his capacity as a dealer: wholesale prices, unadulterated good gear and no interest in the H market. A dealer who had no interest in making money but purely invested for the love of the game. Never a gangsta but an outlaw of some repute. Albeit a deliberately obnoxious fucker, it's worth saying twice lest I accidentally sanctify him in eulogy.

[@ClarenceFisher]

I love John's letter to the Hall of Fame - "Urine in wine...piss stain...we're not coming". Sounds like a lyric from a missing Sex Pistol song, too.

[@Johnny.1965]

Piss stain would have been the title of their second record

[@peopleskarmasquad1042]

I loved that album!

[@thenobullshtchannel8768]

Good movie doing Generation-Sex with Billy boy singing gen x songs & Pistols,, 👍🏻🎸☠️

[@marcoliebsch668]

The album came out in 1979 ,not in 1980!! And I bought it in that time, when I was 15 years old and still have it !

[@Eleventhearlofmars]

1980 in America probably

[@chogokin666]

Lonely boy and Friggen in the Rigging were great. Jones can sing.

[@martinperotti5954]

Steve is one of the best guitar players i ve ever heard.love the sex pistols!

[@niknayme3754]

Road Runner always makes me laugh and Friggin In The Riggin, you'd be hard pushed to get less PC than that tune

[@terrymedlicott3580]

The Swindle appealed to the youth of the day and stuck with us ever since.

[@mickymac6571]

Jonesy got it right, they weren't meant to last but they left a fantastic legacy.🎸💉

[@incubism]

Legend! still..

[@johneckhart8198]

I like the swindle over bollocks. I would love to ask Jonesy What he thinks or how he thinks the pistols would of turned out if they kept Matlock in the line up and if Sid was nothing more than a "poster child" and a "half ass" musician at best?!?!

[@Eoraptor1]

The line from this movie I'll always remember, from Malcolm MacLaren: "A band that cannot play, is BETTER than a band that can". I'm certain a lot of A&R people took that to heart. JAMES

[@TheStein474]

I think steve as sold about 27 guiters on ebay each one was a original one 😀

[@steely666]

Sex Pistols are more famous for 1 album than most bands with several. People have heard of them, even if they don't like punk.

[@dskywalker3397]

No Sid and the band may have stayed around for a while.

[@tracyjacoby2382]

I could listen to him talk all day!! Typical American lady I am: " love that accent!" He's so honest, tells it like it is👍🥰

[@questionitall3053]

I love Jonseys' honesty!

[@Partoftheratpack]

Good story teller is Steve

[@saucespicy5683]

oh gosh bloody egos..humans aren't we..

[@vistalite]

I was at the Rock Hall when they gave Glen his statue. Hopefully, it made it home in one piece. I think everyone but John would be happy to have the award. I doubt if Steve would sell it.

[@ravenkahne8484]

would be honored to have a pint with Steve. :)

[@popatyourecords]

loved my swindle double album and all the singles from it i wanna be me is magic

[@Wimmles_Emily]

"But hes a wierdo anyway" steve can say things that people may call offensive but hes a laugh in the end inst he

[@wattse1]

He reminds me of Sgt. Bilko.

[@Eleventhearlofmars]

Eugene Watts only cos of the square glasses he’s wearing lol

[@Dave062YT]

All Biggs did was recruit an old bloke to drive the train up the track and turned out he couldnt drive it at all lol

[@plev10]

Fuckin' love ya Steve! Just started playing and I got your chords down, mate!

[@johnpolitis7929]

Roberta Bayley Judy Vermorel KZbin Sid Vicious - The Vermorel Interview Sid Vicious - Roberta Bayley Telephone Conversation - January 20th 1978 Sid Vicious Telephone Conversation With Roberta Bayley. 20/02/78 The Gospel According To PISTOL - The Rise And Fall Of The Sex Pistols Beyond Fiction - Ziggy & Iggy In Velvet Goldmine The Real Velvet Goldmine

[@DINKL8ERG]

With the way the band operated it was never gonna be a long term thing they made their message and bounced.

[@AFaceintheCrowd01]

Terrific book. Lots of references to places and things that are all gone now. everything all over the world is the same today, as jones points out. I really enjoyed the book.

[@ST-xg3gy]

Name of the book?

[@mht525]

One album , The Greatest album ever. 🤘✌️🏴🇦🇺

[@malcolmstirling808]

Amen

[@marklechman2225]

I could listen to Steve talk all damned day. 👍

[@chuck6033]

The movie is actually a pretty hilarious piece of Situationist Comedy. It’s a pretty good movie. Like, for real.

[@jasonladd6400]

I was a kid of about 11 when it came out and I remember it had a huge buzz because Sid's My Way was a massive number 1 in UK and every kid was in awe of them. There is some genius in it, Silly Thing, Lonely Boy, No One is Innocent and the title track and My Way. It documents an era of youth rebellion we haven't seen since.

[@DOMSKYTRANCE]

My way didn't get to Number 1 in the UK.

[@RiverRat_1977]

IMO… Me-think’s a few old used penicillin syringes would bring Jonesy a few more bob than a bloody R$RHoF statuette! Every one-hit-wonder has sold, or is trying to sell their’s!! NEver mInD thE BOlLoCks!

[@tuffgonggbUNCTION]

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN SAXA GOTHA &COBERG AND THE MAD PARADE....MARANATHA KYMRY FIAH BUN....

[@gibby6904]

Steve was a Les Paul tone monster back in the day.......that great trebley slash y sound....

[@andrewp1075]

Love the movie, love the soundtrack.

[@Mr75044]

I like the single rock n roll swindle. One of me favs No one is innocent. Class Silly thing ace NWHM Dimond Head said Watched the pistols on top of the pops.. And started a band.. Didn't need a million chords. We can do it to. And they influenced Metallica...... Who needs the hall of fame. With that CV... RESPECT STEVE.

[@mississippikid3453]

the man that made me want to play guitar when I was 12.

[@timgallegos4856]

i was in the Bands, Bad Religion, Wasted Youth, Sex Pistols were Best

[@leenwctv1]

Brilliant anyone know where Steve lives now? what a star

[@dowdallerno1]

Lee Carroll los Angeles i think.

[@WhisperVoyeur]

he does a great radio show in LA now....he's fantastic at it...the best! www.955klos.com/jonesys-jukebox/

[@kadenkarnes1031]

Imagine what Sid would look like at this age? Would he look like Steve Jones who looks amazing for his age? Such an awesome guy who is an underrated guitar player

[@hgreen8666]

Morten Harkett of A Ha, as he is now.

[@antyeardsley]

McLaren ripped the band off Big time..

[@The1913BoysFromJekyllIsland]

I randomly had coffee with this guy in LA with my friend Christiana Bauer very nice guy

[@johnforeman634]

Well Steve, it may have gone to shit, and who knows, the Pistols may have gotten bigger and lasted longer if things went differently but that single album you guys left us is one of the greatest ever made.

[@unclefoiley819]

The Great Rock n Roll Swindle was a childhood album. My juvenile delinquency would have been boring without it.

[@tinamitchell7496]

Says all this then turns around and shits on John all over again. When will you ever learn Jonesy?!?!?! Love you man, but you've got a short memory when it comes to how often you have to eat humble pie and admit John was right and here we have history repeating itself all over again.

[@arnookibeast]

Could listen to Jonesey tell pistols stories all day, top bloke.

[@tomdonahue4224]

The older Steve gets, the more he looks like Jonah Hill's dad

[@Lord_Hillcrest]

Love me a bit of jonesy .

[@jonalynpementel9179]

I love you too sir,...As friend,....❤❤❤❤🙏🙏🙏🙏🤝🤝🤝🤝👍👍👍👍

[@Scottocaster6668]

I'm in Cleveland, born and raised. I see the statue, I'll grab it for you Steve! Cleveland is only 25 miles or so from me.

[@willandrews9741]

Yet I love that album so much. I love it a ton!! Lonely boy, my way, and the great rock and roll swindle! All so great! Also friggin in the riggin.

[@marcomancini1044]

I would love to see him talking of his guitars and whether he has a place when he stores them all , for example he played a gibson firebird in the usa tour who knows if he still owns it , STEVE please make a video of your guitars you played with plenty of gibson models

[@gregdahlen4375]

it's nice when you do something new and fresh. the world pays attention. sometimes lol

[@1kurto]

The professionals where very underrated

[@pauljones7064]

I like it more than the bollocks me self steve....think it's a great album...got everything on it

[@EugeneLorey]

They should've fired Malcolm and continued on.

[@TECHNOIR]

Ronnie Biggs was surprisingly, a fantastic, bullish singer - he could have been a Las Vegas troubadour if he hadn't been a tealeaf - funnily enough I like Malcolm's shenanigans. John was very, very, very right to not attend that RNR Hall of fame bollocks - It's a swindle! God save Ronald Biggs!

[@brianbeveridge6965]

Steve jones 's account of the sex pistols seems to be the only honest , non massive ego version of the sex pistols

[@harryroberts2403]

If you've not already read 'Lonely boy' (Steve's autobiography) ...

[@jorgecabrera4961]

Great guitar player,with unique style,pure raw and nasty,good rock and roll.👌👍

[@68Warpigs]

The Sex Pistols were my first love in music, and Steve Jones helped cement that love by producing one of the single best and most recognizable riffs in rock history, pretty vacant. That riff alone is part of the fabric of everything I grew to love in music and will be in my brain until the day I die. It's like a roast dinner or a bill on the doormat, it's part of life, is anyone buying this?..

[@laurieprice535]

It was Glens riff though he created it but Jonesy like you say produced it

[@mister3566]

Glen pinched the riff from an Abba song

[@philipjones7372]

Glen Matlock's riff but Steve's touch sends it

[@martygould5114]

Lydon misspelled "You're" twice in that letter.

[@TitoYuca]

Living in LA for so long has given him a bit of an American accent

[@benkata]

"sell it on eBay" - lolz

[@TS50ER]

The Great Train Robbery was in 1963.

[@mickymac6571]

The pistols were never meant to last and it's right that they didn't so they would never end up stale and boring.

[@Johnconno]

When did Steve turn into Julian Schnabel?

[@trotshot]

Massive respect for this man , he jagged chrissie hynde

[@alejandrochavarria3059]

La mejor pelicula y l mejor grupo dl pank SEX PISTOLS LA GRAN ESTAFA DEL ROCK N ROLL!!!😎😎

[@matthewmoore5698]

Hang on he got to get near Mary millington not too shabby for a guy like jonsey

[@andylorenxx1]

The carry on films those were oldies brit comedy films