The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
Encyclopedia
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980
) is a mockumentary
film directed by Julien Temple
and produced by Don Boyd
and Jeremy Thomas
about the British
punk rock
band Sex Pistols
.
Guitarist Steve Jones
plays a detective who - through a series of set piece acts - uncovers the truth about the band. Drummer Paul Cook
and bass guitarist Sid Vicious
play smaller roles, and the band's manager, Malcolm McLaren
, is featured as "The Embezzler", the man who manipulates the Sex Pistols. Fugitive train robber Ronnie Biggs
, performer Edward Tudor-Pole
and actress Irene Handl
also make appearances.
The movie tells a stylised fictional account of the formation, rise and subsequent breakup of the band, from the point of view of their then-manager Malcolm McLaren. In the film, McLaren claims to create the Sex Pistols and manipulate them to the top of the music business, using them as puppets to both further his own agenda (in his own words - "chaos"), and to claim the financial rewards from the various record labels the band were signed to during their brief history - EMI
, A&M
, Virgin
, and Warner Bros. Records
.
The footage was filmed in early - mid 1978, between singer John Lydon
's departure from the band and their subsequent split. The movie was finally released nearly two years later. Lydon (who was listed in the credits as "The Collaborator") and early bass guitarist Glen Matlock
only appear in archive footage - Lydon having refused to have anything to do with the production.
The 2000 documentary The Filth and the Fury
, also directed by Julien Temple, retells the story of the Sex Pistols from the perspective of the band, thus serving as a response to and rebuttal of McLaren's insistence that he was the driving creative force of the band.
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
) is a mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
film directed by Julien Temple
Julien Temple
Julien Temple is an English film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, Absolute Beginners and a documentary film about Glastonbury.-Temple...
and produced by Don Boyd
Don Boyd
Donald William Robertson Boyd Hon D.Litt is a Scottish film director, producer, screenwriter and novelist...
and Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy Jack Thomas, CBE is a British film producer, founder of the Recorded Picture Company. He was the producer of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he received a European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World...
about the British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
.
Guitarist Steve Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
plays a detective who - through a series of set piece acts - uncovers the truth about the band. Drummer Paul Cook
Paul Cook
Paul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band Sex Pistols.-Early life and career:...
and bass guitarist Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
play smaller roles, and the band's manager, Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
, is featured as "The Embezzler", the man who manipulates the Sex Pistols. Fugitive train robber Ronnie Biggs
Ronnie Biggs
Ronald Arthur "Ronnie" Biggs is an English criminal, known for his role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, for his escape from prison in 1965, for living as a fugitive for 36 years and for his various publicity stunts while in exile. In 2001, he voluntarily returned to the United Kingdom and...
, performer Edward Tudor-Pole
Edward Tudor-Pole
Edward Tudor-Pole is an English musician, singer , TV presenter and actor.- Musical career :Tudor-Pole formed the band Tenpole Tudor in 1974, and eventually came to prominence after appearing in the film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle as a possible replacement for Johnny Rotten in the Sex Pistols...
and actress Irene Handl
Irene Handl
-Life:Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the daughter of an Austrian banker father and French mother. She took to acting at the relatively advanced age of 36, and studied at the acting school run by the sister of Dame Sybil Thorndike...
also make appearances.
The movie tells a stylised fictional account of the formation, rise and subsequent breakup of the band, from the point of view of their then-manager Malcolm McLaren. In the film, McLaren claims to create the Sex Pistols and manipulate them to the top of the music business, using them as puppets to both further his own agenda (in his own words - "chaos"), and to claim the financial rewards from the various record labels the band were signed to during their brief history - EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, A&M
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, Virgin
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
, and Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
.
The footage was filmed in early - mid 1978, between singer John Lydon
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
's departure from the band and their subsequent split. The movie was finally released nearly two years later. Lydon (who was listed in the credits as "The Collaborator") and early bass guitarist Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock is an English bass guitarist most famous for being in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Drummer Paul Cook has said that Matlock came up with much of the music for the band's songs and most of the lyrics, while lead singer Johnny Rotten made some adjustments...
only appear in archive footage - Lydon having refused to have anything to do with the production.
The 2000 documentary The Filth and the Fury
The Filth and the Fury
The Filth and the Fury is a 2000 rockumentary film about the Sex Pistols directed by Julien Temple.-About the film:The Filth and the Fury is the second movie Julien Temple made about The Sex Pistols. His first effort was The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, which was released in British cinemas on 15...
, also directed by Julien Temple, retells the story of the Sex Pistols from the perspective of the band, thus serving as a response to and rebuttal of McLaren's insistence that he was the driving creative force of the band.
VHS and DVD release
- 'The Swindle Continues in Your Own Home' was the tagline on the original 18 certificate VHS release from Virgin Video in 1982 (VVB 010). in 2005 the film was released on DVD by Sony/Shout Factory (catalogue number:2028859) with a Bonus 20min interview with Julien Temple. The VHS release gives an inaccurate running time of 104 mins, in fact both VHS and DVD versions run 100 minutes and 4 seconds; the only difference between the two is that the song 'I Thought I Saw A Puddy Tat' has been removed from the DVD soundtrack and replaced by a few sound effects, and the DVD has an additional end credit - 1980 Sex Pistols Residuals, which makes it run 10 seconds longer than the VHS.
See also
- Belsen Was A GasBelsen Was a Gas"Belsen Was a Gas" is one of the most controversial songs by the British punk rock band Sex Pistols. The song is about one of the concentration camps in Germany during World War II, i.e...
- Great Reality TV SwindleGreat Reality TV SwindleThe Great Reality TV Swindle was a con perpetrated in 2002 by Nik Russian, a British man who, at the time, was working at an entry-level position in a branch of the UK book chain Waterstone's...
- The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (album)The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (album)The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name. Although released under Sex Pistols' name, it includes performances by other artists.- Production :...
- Who Killed Bambi?