Tulsa is less Rotten

John Lydon’s second brush with T-Town that never was

John Lydon is no stranger to controversy. As Johnny Rotten he was the irreverent front man for the pioneering punk band Sex Pistols. His antics made headlines and the lyrics to the Pistols’ most infamous song, “God Save the Queen,” were so disrespectful to the monarch that it suffered heavy censorship in the UK. The group’s short run, from 1975-78, spawned countless copycat bands and helped put the U.S. music scene, which was mired in sentimental songs and in the death grip of disco, back on track to rock and roll.

Sex Pistols did one U.S. tour. A punk blitz that hit seven cities, venues in the south were targeted specifically, depending on who you talk to, to “bring punk to the people” or to “cause controversy” (read: publicity). Already suffering strife within the group, the U.S. tour turned out to be its last performances. After leaving the stage in San Francisco the band would not perform again for nearly two decades, and then without bassist Sid Vicious, who died of a heroin overdose just a year later.

Lydon was set to return to Tulsa on June 24. He was cast as King Herod in the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” that involved a tour of more than 30 North American cities. Ahead of his anticipated return, The Tulsa Voice interviewed Lydon about his upcoming performance, slated for the BOK Center. That interview may have been the last one Lydon gave as the potential on-stage persona of King Herod; a few hours later, the entire tour was cancelled.

His stop in Tulsa would have been a noteworthy event. Of the seven concerts performed in the U.S. by the Pistols, only a few stages remain standing, and only one is primarily a music venue, and that’s Cain’s Ballroom. It was also the group’s next-to-last concert, and by that time the writing was on the wall for Rotten and company—or, rather, in the wall. A sheetrock section of one of the walls at Cain’s is framed and hangs in the manager’s office, complete with a hole Sid Vicious smashed with his fist.

The Tulsa Voice: How did you get the part of King Herod?

John Lydon: Probably from the sheer good taste on behalf of someone in the production. What would seem like an ironical move initially came to be a genius touch.

TTV: Your tour schedule looks to be brutal (30 cities, one performance a week, with few days off).

JL: It’s serious hard work but I love that. That is when you really bond, when you tour…It’s terrifying to go on stage every night, but it’s more terrifying to be suffering invalidence (sic).

TTV: You live in Los Angeles now?

JL: I became an American citizen last year. I am now a proud citizen of the US of A. It was a joy ceremony and was all very emotional. I don’t make moves like that very lightly. It took me a long time to consider, changing my nationality.

TTV: How does stage acting compare to performing on stage with a musical group?

JL: This is a hell of a lot more work…You have to relate other characters. It’s choreographed. Something the wild man that I am is not used to. But I am loving the challenge of it. You have to leave your ego at the door in order to do a thing like that.

TTV: Any tentative schedule for a new PiL album and tour (Public image Limited, Lydon’s decades-long, post-Pistols music group)?

JL: Yes, some time after Christmas. We are also involved in a PiL documentary.

TTV: What would be something outside of the box that you have not done yet?

JL: Ballet.

TTV: One of our readers had a question. What does John Lydon listen to?

JL: Everything and anything. Anybody that has had the courage and audacity to make a record instantly appeals to me.

TTV: Any favorites?

JL: I tend to steer clear of top 30…I sadly lament the demise of record stores. I used to raid local record stores to find out what the locals were listening to.

Lydon won’t be raiding any the record stores in Tulsa anytime soon. After John’s hard work at promoting and rehearsing for JCS, he never got to take the stage. His last words onstage as a Sex Pistol at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco must have been echoing in his head. After performing “No Fun” he asked the audience, “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” He then abruptly left the stage.

Editor’s note: This interview has been condensed and edited.