Listen to the Sex Pistols perform ‘Anarchy in The UK’ from a high-security prison
On September 17th, 1976, Malcolm McLaren drove with the Sex Pistols to Chelmsford Prison, where they were set to record Live at Chelmsford Top Security Prison. The album wouldn’t be released until 1990, by which time the Sex Pistols were widely regarded as one of the most influential British groups of all time. At the time of its recording, of course, The Sex Pistols were yet to release a record.
Nevertheless, McLaren thought it would be a good idea for the boys to perform to people who could feasibly break them into sacks of skin and bone. The concert took place in front of 500 unsuspecting prisoners and featured Glen Matlock on bass, who would leave the group before the release of their one and only album, Never Mind the Bollocks.
The Sex Pistols’ primal sound agitated the prisoners, with Johnny Rotten frequently berating and mocking the incarcerated audience with little quips. “Yeah, alright, about time. It took you ten minutes to work it out.” remarks such as this are some of the only authentic pieces of audio from the entire concert, much of which was taken from other performances.
As is implied from the sound of alarm bells, there was a constant sense that things were about to go very wrong. Nevertheless, the band carried on in the same fashion, seemingly unperturbed by the sight of 500 dangerous criminals being barely restrained by correctional officers. The opening number, ‘Anarchy In The UK’, was met with booing and catcalling. But by the end of the set, the crowd were asking for an encore. Lydon even found the courage to yell: “Come and see us at our next gig? The drinks are all on us!”
One of the biggest challenges for soundman Dave Goodman, who later worked on the live album, was that the recording equipment hardly picked up Matlock’s bass. He ended up recording his own bass track. But his meddling didn’t end there. In an attempt to make it sound like Lydon was trying to incite a riot, Goodman added in siren sounds and crowd noises.
Sadly, many of Lydon’s quips are the work of (bizarrely) a Johnny Rotten impersonator. It was all an attempt to manufacture a narrative that would live up to the context of the gig, one that looks as though its influenced Danny Boyle’s recent depiction of the concert in Pistol. Check out the unedited audio from the Sex Pistols concert at Chelmsford Prison if you haven’t already.
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