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Dear
World:
You cannot
separate the Sex Pistols from the real world, which is what past
publications have tended to do. In order to understand why people
do what they do, you must first understand why they've done it,
who they are and where they come from.
The trouble
with rock journalism in general is this; they settle for a narrow
point of view, completely missing out on the humanity of the subject
matter. In actuality, so-called ''rock icons" are just people.
We have family. He have people we care for. We have points of view
and prejudices, just like everybody else.
Point
#1. Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs is the
no-bullshit account of the Sex Pistols from my own point of view.
I'm not saying I'm completely correct, because in reading the book,
you'll notice more than a few contradictions. That is what makes
the book valid. Contradiction is the art form.
Point
#2. In order to be accurate, I've taken several extra months
to deliberately eliminate a single point of view format in favour
of the larger picture. Hence the use of extra voices like Billy
Idol, Chrissie Hynde, my father, best friends, worst friends, and
people I hardly know. This leaves a tapestry for you to unravel.
Point
#3. This is not just a music book. Music must reflect life,
and life must come first. As someone born in the late fifties, going
through the sixties as a child, observing the feminist movement
as a pre-teen, seeing the mistakes of others, observing drastic
political changes in youth culture and watching most of them fail,
as chance would have it, we put a band together out of the debris.
The Sex Pistols dismissed traditional sexual and racial role-playing.
Point
#4. Individuality is a major theme of the book. It is a
tragedy of modern life that individuality is perceived as, at best,
an art form, and at least, an outcast. Fashion follows individuality,
and never the other way around.
I hope you
enjoy Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs because certainly
the alternative is lies and exaggeration. This book is neither ghost-written,
nor is it a publisher's delight. My friends and I, Keith and Kent
Zimmerman, have assembled something I consider honest and real.
The written
word need not be a lie…
Enjoy or
die.
John Lydon |
©
1997
JohnLydon.Com
