Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs - John Lydon

I actually bought my copy of Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco a year ago, so this gives you some idea of how far I am falling behind on my reading list. But I am glad that I finally made time to read it.

John Lydon, notorious frontman of the Sex Pistols, has never shied away from voicing his opinions. Although he sometimes seems more interested in inciting anarchy with his statements than in advancing discussion, his remarks always spring from a well of intelligence. He is a very smart man, so I was quite curious to read his autobiography.

It is, naturally, a rather one-sided book, and in it, Lydon spares no prisoners, making it abundantly clear, time and again, his contempt for people like Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, who claim to have created the Sex Pistols, and his utter hatred for Nancy Spungen, murdered girl friend of Sid Vicious.

At other times, Lydon seems to contradict himself, from chapter to chapter. His relationship with his father is the prime example of this; at times John Lydon Sr is depicted as a harsh disciplinarian and bully, while at other times he is portrayed as a loving family man who only wanted the best for his sons. I suppose though, since many of us do have complicated relationships with our fathers, that John Lydon likely does have this dichotomy in his feelings about his father. Never about his mother, though. Eileen Lydon was everything to John. A dirt poor Irish woman living in a rough part of London, she nursed him through a year-long bout of meningitis that he suffered as a child, reteaching him to talk and to walk. And after John joined the Sex Pistols as a teenager, she supported him fully, encouraging his music and his fashion. Apparently she absolutely loved the music of the Sex Pistols.

The book is told in the form of an oral history, mostly by Lydon himself, but with regular contributions from his wife Nora, Chrissie Hynde, Billy Idol, and John Lydon Sr, among others. Near the end of the book, the narrative shifts to excerpts from affidavits of the trial in which Lydon sued McLaren on behalf of the other members of the Sex Pistols. This is the only place where we really read any viewpoints that conflict with Lydon’s, but even here, the order in which the statements appear make it evident that they were placed so deliberately, to negate those opinions that conflicted with Lydon’s. I’m not suggesting that people’s statements were edited at all, but there does seem to be an agenda behind the manner in which they are presented.

Lydon: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs is a intriguing recounting of a pivotal time in music history and youth culture by perhaps one of its most familiar and infamous figures. Whether you believe the Sex Pistols to be the first manufactured boy band or whether you view them as the most culturally relevant musicians in history, they did leave their mark.

John Lydon is a man of tremendous intelligence and wit, but also of considerable ego, and if you bear this in mind while reading the book, it helps you to remember that there are generally at least three sides to every story. Lydon’s side of the story of his life, and of the cataclysmic but culturally defining reign of the Sex Pistols, is worthy reading for any student of music or popular culture.

Just remember that it’s Johnny Rotten telling the story.