Bill Grundy Meets Sex Pistols

On this date in 1976, those who had not yet heard of The Sex Pistols got a crash course. Britain's Today show, hosted by Bill Grundy, was scheduled to interview the band Queen but they had to cancel at the last moment. EMI sent Sex Pistols instead. It got them lots of exposure since the BBC only had two channels at the time and it was on during daytime hours. And...it was live and unedited. All four Sex Pistols (Johnny Rotten, Glen Matlock, Steve Jones and Paul Cook) were there as well as Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin of Siouxsie and The Banshees. Bill Grundy tried to provoke them as best as he could...and he succeeded. The transcript can be viewed here:

Bill Grundy Meets The Sex Pistols...courtesy of www.televisionpersonalities.co.uk



Video: Bill Grundy Meets Sex Pistols - the broadcast - youtube

The incident was reported on the front page of every U.K. paper, the most famous caption being titled "The Filth And The Fury".


Steve Jones holding up a copy of Sex Pistols' "free press".

Bill Grundy was suspended two weeks for his part in the interview and his show was cancelled two months later. Sex Pistols were now a household name. Television Personalities even released a song in 1978 called "Where's Bill Grundy Now?" in memory of the incident.

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