Five punk bands John Lydon hated with a passion: “Silly, rich fat kids”
If you looked up the term “punk” in the dictionary, you would be hit with a myriad of muso definitions and sub-categories that are probably not worth worrying about. But one thing is for sure, the sneering face looking back at you as the first personification of the movement would be John Lydon.
Punk rock provided the music world with a much-needed revolution, as artists everywhere began to dedicate themselves to a DIY ethos and the destruction of barriers.
At the forefront of that revolution were the Sex Pistols, manufactured by Malcolm McLaren in 1975. Over the next few years, the London band would aid in the popularisation of punk, infecting the singles charts and introducing audiences across the nation to this defiant new sound. Throughout it all, the band’s sneering frontman, Lydon, remained openly antagonistic towards his punk peers.
In contrast to its nostalgia-fueled image, the punk scene was not a united front against the evils of the music industry. Like any major musical movement, punk was plagued by ego battles, rivalries, and schoolyard insults thrown from camp to camp. Although many of the UK’s early punk outfits had to thank the Sex Pistols for paving the way, that appreciation rarely went both ways. Seemingly, Lydon was not a fan of many punk bands of the time, but then again, the frontman has insulted a plethora of bands over the years.
Everybody from U2 to his own Sex Pistols bandmates have come under fire from Lydon at one point or another. Even in his late-60s, the former punk and current Donald Trump fan continues to throw insults galore at a wide range of groups. The bulk of his bile is often directed towards his fellow punk artists, viewing himself as the ultimate authority figure on the history and development of the movement as a whole.
It must be noted, at this point, that Lydon’s schtick has long since been rooted in shock value. Therefore, it is often difficult to figure out if he actually means what he says or whether he is simply trying to get a reaction out of people. Nevertheless, the barbed comments and smirking insults he has levelled against the groups listed below have occurred with enough regularity and fury to deduce that Lydon’s feelings towards them are true. So, join us on this jaunt down punk memory lane to discover a handful of the many bands that have struck a nerve with the Sex Pistols’ volatile frontman over the years.
Five punk bands John Lydon hates:
The Ramones
New York City was vital in the development of punk rock as a genre, with a range of artists using the CBGB club in Manhattan as a means to develop their abrasive craft. Among them were the Ramones, clad in blues jeans and leather jackets, the Queens-based band were the very first group to release an out-and-out punk album with their 1976 debut. However, Lydon was not convinced of their brilliance, regularly downplaying their importance and insulting their artistic credibility.
A video uploaded to YouTube in 2013 shows Lydon signing autographs while somebody asks him about his views on The Ramones. “I was up and kicking a long time before them spastics,” he said, employing a slur to get his point across that “the Ramones were deeply unoriginal to me.” Elsewhere, he blamed the New York band for the downfall of punk as a whole, telling The Sun, “I didn’t like what it turned into with all that uniformed, studded leather jacket nonsense. I blame the Ramones!”
During punk’s heyday, The Ramones and the Sex Pistols were said to have a friendly rivalry as the premier exports of both the US and the UK. The fact that Lydon is still holding onto those grudges decades later – when all original members of The Ramones have long since passed away – is telling of his sheer dedication to slagging other bands off.
The Stranglers
One of the most enduring groups from the UK’s early pub rock and punk scene, The Stranglers were somewhat of an outlier in comparison to the rest of the scene.
Led by Jean-Jacques Burnel and Hugh Cornwell, the group consistently showed an ability to adapt and develop their sound, remaining relevant for years after groups like the Sex Pistols had imploded. Even into the 1980s, the band had mainstream success with hit singles like ‘Golden Brown’. Known to be one of the toughest bands around, JJ Burnel was a titan with lead fists, the group were an imposing figure on the scene. Unsurprisingly, though, Lydon was not their biggest supporter.
To be fair to Lydon, his issue with the Guildford band largely lies within their live performances. Once recalling an incident where Chrissie Hynde pierced his ear at one of their shows, he said, “We did it in the women’s toilet at a pub called the Red Cow while The Stranglers were playing. Terrible band live, awful.” Explaining his take on the group, he continued, “Good records, fun records, but live didn’t carry. So we had nothing better to do but go in the toilet with a safety pin and a bar of soap.”
Green Day
If your first thought upon seeing the band name of Green Day on a list of punk bands was “they’re not punk,” then you and Lydon might well be aligned.
As a leading figure within the first wave of punk rock, it should come as no surprise that Lydon did not take kindly to the young new bands attempting to follow in his footsteps. Namely, the Sex Pistols have taken umbrage with California pop-punk progenitors Green Day on numerous occasions. During an interview in 2007, he made no attempt to hide his feelings on Billie Joe Armstrong’s group, declaring, “I think Green Day fucking stink. I think they’re the biggest load of fake nonsense I have ever seen. This lot really irk me. They’re everything that’s wrong.”
Expanding upon his hatred of the 1990s punk giants, Lydon discussed the matter with his old bandmate Steve Jones on the guitarist’s radio show. “It’s hokey little silly sods like Green Day that come in and think by sucking up to that system that you’re somehow, ‘beating the system’,” he said, “You’re not. You’ve become part of it.”
The frontman also added, “We made it easy for ’em to come in and nick our things off us – which is alright, it’s nice, but they’re silly, rich fat kids”. Ouch.
Patti Smith
There are history books galore tracing the annals of punk rock, and the heart from which the many veins of this genre sprawl, and most will have Smith as a vital pitstop on that journey. Punk rock is endlessly indebted to the pioneering sounds of Patti Smith.
The adopted daughter of the New York underground scene carved out so much of that distinctive punk sound through the release of her groundbreaking 1975 album Horses – considered by many to be the first punk album. Ever the contrarian, John Lydon thinks that Smith’s importance in the development of the music and movement is severely overrated. In fact, the frontman takes issue with anyone who claims the origins of punk are linked to New York.
During an interview with The Sun, he shared, “I’ve heard an awful lot of American journalists pretending that the whole punk influence came out of New York. Well, hello? Bands like Sweet with ‘Ballroom Blitz’ and Mud with ‘Tiger Feet’ — that’s the do that, man!” Highlighting some of his own early influences, all of whom just so happened to be male, he continued, “T.Rex, David Bowie, Slade, Mott The Hoople, The Alex Harvey Band — their influence was enormous. And they try to write that all off and wrap it around Patti Smith. It’s so wrong!”
The Clash
There’s a good chance that if you loved first-wave punk rock from the comfort of the 21st century, then you will find yourself picking either The Clash or Sex Pistols as your first band to really dive into. It wasn’t quite Beatles v Rolling Stones, but it also wasn’t far off.
Alongside the Sex Pistols, The Clash were among England’s biggest punk bands during the 1970s. Formed by Mick Jones and led by the profound teachings of Joe Strummer, the group established themselves on the stage of The Roxy Club before blossoming into a world-renowned band drawing upon a diverse range of influences. In contrast, Lydon claimed that their music “didn’t have any content,” in his memoir Anger Is An Energy. “They really didn’t seem to stand for very much at all other than this abstract socialism,” he added.
For a man whose most profound political musing consisted of calling Queen Elizabeth II a fascist, Lydon’s take on the “abstract socialism” of Strummer and The Clash is pretty misplaced. After all, Strummer’s lyrics, along with the band’s key support for causes like Rock Against Racism, were essential in channelling the cultural revolt of punk into political consciousness and activity.
What’s more, Lydon claimed the band “had nothing to offer, character-development wise,” despite the fact that The Clash continuously diversified their sound, taking on added influences of styles like rockabilly, ska, dub, and were even early adopters of hip-hop. In contrast, Lydon lasted one album with the Sex Pistols, and that album certainly lacked a sense of sonic diversity. Either way, his hatred of The Clash has been fairly consistent, going so far as to tell The Guardian, “Nobody gives a toss about The Clash.” Strong words for somebody who seems to bring them up a lot.
