The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle [1979]: A Review Of The Film And The Album » Articles, Fast Forward Reviewer » Geek Juice Media When it comes to British Punk Rock movement, Sex Pistols is probably the most famous one even to this day. Why? They shocked everyone with their lyrics and their attitude towards society. Plus, they did lots of publicity stunts which made them became household name in UK. The most memorable one is probably their interview on Bill Grundy’s Today show. Thanks to drunken host, the band went wild on the show and they swore a lot. Next morning, the band appeared on almost every local and national newspaper while Mr. Grundy career was nailed in the coffin. During band’s popularity, Malcolm McLaren, band’s manager, eagerly wanted to make a film about them, so he contacted Julien Temple, a student who directed a film that was shown before their concert, to write and direct it. Unfortunately, there were lots of problem during production and it took about two years to release it. To me, I consider it as not only a fun and distinctive film, it’s also a mockumentary that later turns out to be a documentary. So what the film is all about?

It’s supposed to be a mixture between Comedy, Mockumentary, detective films, and musical. The story goes like this: Malcolm McLaren is a manipulator who creates Sex Pistols in order to get cash from record labels and create chaos in public, but that doesn’t stop Steve Jones, a guitarist of the band who somehow becomes detective, who tries to expose him. That’s it. That’s the whole “plot” of the film. It also tells us the story of the band before they were popular until they do barely exist. But what make this film prominent is the fact that it has interesting narrative. It has animated segments, music videos (including the famous Sid Vicious’ My Way ), and live footage of controversy stunts blend with chaotic storyline. This means that we shouldn’t take it too seriously. Another great example of this is how Malcolm Mclaren tells us the secret of Sex Pistols’ successful. Mr. Mclaren’s Lessons of SP Scheme There are 10 lessons throughout the movie about how he made the band popular. I’ll tell you later why I think this is a pure documentary instead of tongue-in-cheek joke (as filmmakers intended), but here are what Malcolm told us….

Lesson 1: How To manufacture Your Group Basically he tells us the story about how he gathered band members with different personality, but they are wild and ready to explode. Lesson 2: Establish The Name Next, he sent them to play in controversial places like jailhouse or strip club in order to avoid competition from big record companies and create distinctive look. Lesson 3: How To Sell The Swindle He contacted major record companies. Although they clearly hated the band, Sex Pistols were wanted everywhere. To quote Malcolm, “A group that can’t play effects label more than a group that CAN play”. Then signed grand old label like EMI. Lesson 4: Do not play, do not give the game away After that, he created chaos in general. He let them appeared on Bill Grundy’s TV show (as I said before). There were protests about how grotesque and evil Sex Pistols was. Then, after EMI released them because they were too hot to handle. Lesson 5: How To Steal As Much Money As Possible From Record Company After EMI fired SP, they got new bassist named Sid Vicious and signed contract with A&M Records which also gave them lots of money as well.

Immediately after signing in front of Buckingham Palace, they went to the company and wrecked everything, which means that they were free with huge chunk of money again. That’s why Malcolm called this tactic as “Cash From Chaos”. Lesson 6: How To Become The World’s Greatest Tourist Attraction They staged another publicity stunt. This time, they decided to play loud music on a boat to mock Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee celebration. Of course, it ended up not so good, but at this point they were at the height of controversy since they released God Save The Queen single few weeks ago. Lesson 7: Force The Public To Hate You Malcolm tried to provoke audience by creating confusion like spreading rumors about the band or canceling gigs. Next, the band signed another contract with Warner Bros. for US release. Lesson 8: N/A [I try to gather it, but I have no idea what’s it all about. Perhaps another “Cash From Chaos” stuffs] Lesson 9: Taking Civilization As Barbarian Sex Pistols went to the first US tour. It was disaster since they fought with audience and Johnny Rotten, lead singer, pissed off with awful management and lots of problems. He left the band immediately after the tour.

Lesson 10: Who Killed Bambi? By now, Sex Pistols has a new singer named Tenpole Tudor. He gave us awful song named “Who Killed Bambi?”. Seriously, this is shit. If you want good Tenpole song, listen to his single from early 80’s called Swords Of A Thousand Men . That song kick-ass! But wait, there’s more! The band travels to Brazil to record two songs with infamous criminal named, Ronnie Biggs, who involved in Great Train Robbery and later escaped from prison. ———————————— To be honest, Malcolm gave us interesting tips for music marketing (like being distinctive from competitors or knowing who’s the main target group), but his “Cash From Chaos” scheme later turns out to be true! In 1984 Johnny Rotten sued Malcolm for royalty issues. Two years later, the band finally gained control of everything. From album master tapes to rights of this film. This somehow tells us that Malcolm is NOT a good example of how to manage the band. Sure, he was probably not as greedy as this film depicts, but let’s face it…Sex Pistols is just a commercial boyband but has stronger selling points and different target group.

They were created just to be a fad. Of course, they were really successful, but in the end they were victims of bad management and, as I said, “Cash From Chaos” scheme. In conclusion, if you aren’t a fan of them, you should watch this film since it’s really entertaining, funny, and totally different from musical films you’ve seen before. And if you’re fan of Sex Pistols, you must watch it! Thumbs up! [Check out the review of soundtrack album in next page!] PAGES The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle - Sex Pistols | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle AllMusic Rating google+ AllMusic Review by Mark Deming When first approaching The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, it's best not to think of it as a Sex Pistols album; rather, keep in mind that it's the soundtrack to a movie that was mostly about Malcolm McLaren and only tangentially concerned the great band he managed.

Only eight of the twenty-four songs on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle feature the same band as on Never Mind the Bollocks, and most of those capture them stomping through covers in the studio, sometimes to impressive effect ( Johnny Rotten sounds positively feral on the Who 's "Substitute" and the whole band tears into "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" with malicious glee) and sometimes not ( Rotten reveals he doesn't know the words to either Chuck Berry 's "Johnny B. Goode" or Jonathan Richman 's "Roadrunner," and the band's familiarity isn't much greater). A live take of the Pistols roaring through "Belsen Was a Gas" is exciting, but sounds as if Rotten and the rest of the band were traveling in very different directions, and it's not hard to imagine why he quit the group after the show. Steve Jones and Paul Cook offer up a few tunes of their own, which lack the danger of the cuts with Rotten but confirm they were the backbone of a solid, scrappy rock band, and if Tenpole Tudor isn't much of a singer, on his numbers he delivers an impressive degree of sheer eccentricity.

But a large percentage of the album is devoted to jokey material tied into the movie -- orchestral versions of "EMI" and "God Save the Queen," a French busker performing "Anarchy in the UK" en Français, train robber Ronnie Biggs attempting to sing, and Malcolm McLaren ascending to show biz heaven with a cover of Max Bygraves ' "You Need Hands." And while Sid Vicious sounds like a good if unexceptional rock & roll shouter on a pair of Eddie Cochran covers, his inarguably remarkable version of "My Way" shows the man was incapable of comprehending the irony of his situation, and sadly sounds like the work of a kid destined to die young. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols was the sound of a hydrogen bomb being dropped on your head, and The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle collects some of the debris left after the explosion; parts are brilliant, but it's ultimately a padded and slightly depressing look at a great band in collapse.

Track Listing The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 21 out of 26 people found the following review useful: A tissue of lies from England 5 December 2006 To this day, Malcolm McLaren is telling anyone daft enough to believe him that the Sex Pistols were his idea and that the band members were his puppets to be used to make him money. There is a good reason for him doing this, namely that he is a liar. Here are some real facts. * McLaren was actually approached by the band to be manager, not the other way round. * The Pistols were a proper, organic band and not created by McLaren or anyone else. Jones and Cook were childhood friends. Rotten and Vicious went back a long way too. This is something that has led to unfair criticism of the Pistols down the years as they have been likened to manufactured boy bands. * The band and no one else wrote the songs, recorded them, played live, created the publicity and gave the interviews. * McLaren did not instigate the Bill Grundy incident. The Pistols only appeared on the programme because Queen had pulled out.

According to the band, McLaren was cowering in the back in case arrests were about to be made. * Johnny Rotten walked out of the band. He was not sacked. * Far from outwitting the Sex Pistols, John Lydon (Rotten) actually successfully sued him in the 1980s for control and a considerable sum of money. Some of the evidence used by Lydon's lawyers was from McLaren's boasting in 'The Great Rock & Roll Swindle'. This would suggest that McLaren is none too bright despite his affectations. * The sackings and subsequent pay offs from A & M and EMI were, again, not engineered, it was merely the way things panned out. * McLaren boasts about the money he made from the band. If he had been competent, he could have made a great deal more. It seems he coudn't even organise gigs properly. * McLaren's claim at the start of the film that he invented punk rock can be disproved in about ten seconds. The Pistols were not the first punk band, merely the most high profile. This is a terrible film.

The only parts worth watching are the genuine footage of the band, later put to much better use in 'The Filth And The Fury'. Was the above review useful to you? 8 out of 10 people found the following review useful: I feel swindled every time someone gives this credit...a fan speaks!. from United Kingdom 12 December 2008 It really surprises me that anyone can say this is remotely important in the pantheon of Punk Rock. It's an incoherent abomination formulated by someone so submerged in his own world he forgot to tell a story of note. The story of The Sex Pistols has now, here in the new millennium, finally been laid down to some semblance of truth, a truth that thankfully shows the manager of the band to be the oblivious money grabber he was. When you watch director Julien Temple's brilliant documentary, The Filth And The Fury, and then come back to this mess of a picture, you wonder how in gods name it has achieved cult status. Its worth (I own it) comes down to the songs and the videos of those tunes, I mean where else are you going to get to see Sid Vicious' videos?

Ones that show us he would have made a great Punk singer had he not spiralled out of control and met a foggy heroin fuelled death. The animated ending as Friggin In The Riggin plays out is enough to warrant this as a small price purchase, but please folks can we have some focus, I lived it, I still live it in fact, but it's an appalling picture, badly edited, badly told and saved purely by the music alone. Music that the band's manager had no creative input into at all, he shall forever be nameless to me, where once he proclaimed to be a puppet master, time now shows him to purely be a Muppet and most definitely not a master of anything. The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, 5/10 for the music alone. Was the above review useful to you? 5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: The Inflated God Awful Dwindle from United States 31 August 2009 As I've had the sound track for many years, I finally took the opportunity to watch the movie.

My initial response was that this movie seemed so sliced and diced, it made the editing of "Manos: The Hands of Fate" look like brain surgery by comparison. My guess is that Malcolm McLaren had multiple cans of Sex Pistols footage lying around, and was having a difficult time trying to make a film out of it. To get his creative juices flowing, he'd cut segments from every reel; roll them up; snort lines of cocaine with them, and finally tell Julian Temple "to fix that bit of film with this bit I just used". Whilst in the process, the coke inflated McLaren's ego, and he came up with the idea to make the incomplete "Who Killed Bambi" into a documentary explaining how he orchestrated everything! This movie tries so hard to be clever, instead it just seems immature and uninspired. All there is going on, is that we have band members doing dumb things; McLaren claiming credit though without any proof backing up anything he's saying, and some decent footage of Sex Pistols shows. Some many years later, the film was pretty much confirmed as a lie, in that time McLaren wasn't known to repeat the same method and end up with the same results.

These days this film is considered a tongue-in-cheek mockumentary instead of a pile of crap. So, there really was no reason to make this film, other than money. The only value this film has is that it contains archival footage, other than that it really didn't need to be told in the fictitious tale of McLaren. It would've done better if it was narrated to the audience like it was a scrapbook. But, because it's told in such a fictitious manner the audience is left possibly irritated, or numb. I'd give it a 8/10 because it contains decent live footage of a band I love. But, I'd give it 3/10 because the movie is a lie; so poorly edited, and presented to the audience that it is supposed to be an actual film. I meet in the middle at 5/10. Was the above review useful to you?

6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: A weird, disjointed, dishonest bore from Guelph, Ontario, Canada 15 July 2009 The brief existence of the Sex Pistols and the making of this film after the controversial, groundbreaking English punk band's break-up both happened before I was born. However, I started listening to their only album, "Never Mind the B*&%@#&s, Here's the Sex Pistols", in 2003, when I was a teenager, and quickly became a big fan. I didn't see "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" until 2006, but saw it a couple times that year, and thought it was pretty good (certainly not great, but pretty good), even if I could only remember bits of it, and didn't see how it all connected. Seeing it a third time, nearly three years after the second, I didn't care much for it at all. I'm not even sure what I found so good about most of it in the first place (can't remember now).

This film is a mockumentary, in which Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren tells his side of the story of the band and its members; guitarist Steve Jones, credited here as "The Crook"; drummer Paul Cook, credited as "The Tea-Maker"; bassist Sid Vicious, credited as "The Gimmick"; and John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten) credited as "The Collaborator." McLaren claims that he created the band (and even the genre of punk rock) as a scam to make money. He tells much of the story to Helen Wellington-Lloyd (a.k.a. Helen of Troy), in various places where they go together. It's basically a hodgepodge of McLaren talking, Pistols songs, live footage of the band, fictional scenes (often silly, strange ones), several cartoon sequences, etc., all put together in one film, to tell the Pistols manager's side of the story in a bizarre way! It has been well proved that McLaren is a liar, I know many have already pointed this out, including band members themselves.

He was NOT the driving force of the band, he didn't create them (nor did he invent punk rock, and the Sex Pistols weren't even the first punk band, though they were unique). The band members were the ones who made the band what it was. "The Filth and the Fury", a much more believable film about the band from Julien Temple, who made this film, is told from the point of view of the band members, who contradict McLaren's claims. However, the dishonesty of "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" is not my biggest problem with it. If it were actually entertaining (which I used to think it was to a certain extent), I would be able to overlook that, like I obviously used to be able to do. During my third viewing, apart from Sex Pistols songs, some live footage, and at least one mildly amusing cartoon sequence, it was pretty dull! I found the "Who Killed Bambi" song mildly amusing at first, but it got tiring very quickly. Is this mockumentary worth watching for Sex Pistols fans?

It seems a good number of fans would say it is, not to learn about the true story of the short-lived but groundbreaking 70's punk band, but for entertainment. That was once my opinion on "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle". After the first time I watched it, I couldn't remember a thing McLaren said, and by the time I saw it the second time, I was aware of what the Pistols manager was using this film to imply, but could still barely remember anything I heard him say! Obviously, other aspects of the film were what I found impressive. Now, after my third viewing, I can definitely remember some of the things McLaren says, but it still wasn't 100% clear. Like most of the film, I guess his words are not that memorable, probably because of the way they are presented. If you're a Pistols fan, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give "Swindle" a try, but to me, for the most part, it's just an incoherent, boring mess that tries to be funny but fails. Was the above review useful to you?

7 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Did we ever find out who did kill Bambi? from New Zealand 22 January 2009 From the epicenter of the cultural globe, four working class teenagers attempted to change the world through music and fashion. It was the final attempt to do so last century, and they failed. Before the dust had cleared, band manager and SEX shop proprietor Malcolm McLaren spent the money The Sex Pistols had earned to make a "mockumentary" about his own role in their success. The film was called The Great Rock 'n Roll Swindle (take the hint) and consists of very little footage of The Sex Pistols actually playing music, and quite a lot of footage of McLaren effectively calling the audience idiots. Cod-surrealist nonsense in which guitarist Steve Jones is a detective on McLaren's tail, soon dissolves so he and drummer Paul Cook can jet off to Rio and spend time with "great train robber" Ronnie Biggs.

Ready yourself for the spectacle of three very unappealing men dancing naked to a hideous irony-free version of "Belsen was a Gas" (a song about killing Jews for gold in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp), and another song sung in Ronnie's tone deaf whine which includes the lyrics "God save Myra Hindley, God save Ian Brady" (lyrics that Johnny Rotten would have considered distasteful). The Sid Vicious scenes are few and idiotic. Jumping out of bed in a thong with a swastika over the testicles to sing some bad boy biker song from the '50s. Playing into to the "Punk's a joke" theme of the movie, in an attempt to turn Sid into James Dean. I'm surprised McLaren doesn't take credit for Siddy's death too. The redeeming scenes are those of Sid in Paris and the infamous performance of My Way. The punk rock zeitgeist right there. Mocking an adoring audience before shooting them all. No need for an entire film, just watch that clip on YouTube.

From Julien Temple's far superior (and more enjoyable) 2001 documentary followup, The Filth and the Fury, we were given a more balanced/honest view of what transpired in '78. But there were also a number of scenes that I would have liked to have seen in Swindle (as Fury was basically a reediting of the same material). One was an animated Sid complete with Sid's voice acting; "You f*cken betta wat'ch out, alright, or I'll slice you open" - a still of which appeared on the cover of the Something Else 7 inch - a snippet was shown in Fury, but I don't know what context that originally appeared. Was it in original prints, but removed after Sid's death? Was there more? Fury also shed light on the film Who Killed Bambi, which would have been the mock Hard Day's Night movie McLaren was originally intending to make. It starred Sting(!) as a member of a gay New Romantics group, and looked a damn sight more entertaining than Swindle. Sod Swindle, t'is a swindle. If you must, rent The Filth and The Fury and revel in music's failure as a world changing polemic.

Was the above review useful to you? 11 out of 18 people found the following review useful: Useless, self-indulgent from Chicago, IL 24 February 2002 Not only is The Great Rock N Roll Swindle thoroughly inaccurate, but when it comes down to it, not much about it is interesting or even entertaining. Malcolm McLaren apparently squandered the majority of the Sex Pistols earnings on this waste of film, which makes it that much more obnoxious. The intention, from the beginning, was to create a monument to the "genius" of McLaren, who to this day takes full credit for creating punk music, creating the Sex Pistols, and at times even writing all the songs. Viewers follow McLaren to various settings, where he tells his story to his sidekick, a female dwarf, and simply takes credit for one thing after another. One particularly irritating scene has McLaren in an abandoned airplane hangar, waiting for a plane, being hounded by reporters and giving them their "big story". The most entertaining elements of the film are the animated short pieces, however, even these reek of McLaren's overbearing self-importance. Even as a farce, this film doesn't work.

Little about it is entertaining, except for Steve Jones, who is surprisingly decent as a pseudo-detective type person. 20 years later, Julien Temple, who wrote and directed this film, also directed the Sex Pistols documentary "The Filth and the Fury". While that movie is much better and more interesting than "Swindle", it still is full of Temple's "artistic flourishes" that just don't work, like interviewing band members in shadow, as if they are some kind of crime witness trying to hide their identity. An interesting bit of trivia: Film critic Roger Ebert was one of the original scriptwriters for the movie "Who Killed Bambi?", which eventually became "Swindle". Was the above review useful to you? 3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: This is the fiction, yo from New Zealand 18 May 2015 I was a 2nd-generation punk in New Zealand, selling my soul to this awesome raw-cuss r'n'r movement in 1979. I was quite excited to see this flick on the big screen, but 15 minutes into the film my friends & I started growing restless, feeling that the ones who'd been swindled were ourselves.

Oh well. This still stands as an interesting snapshot of "Talcy Malcy's" version of events,but anyone with half a brain to rub together (& had read more than one NME punk expose on punk rock) could discern it as utter bollox. So, be advised, youngsters, this is Malcolm's wet dream of himself as the king of all Svengali, whereas the truth was FAR from that. Malcolm had no major game plan beyond stirring things up, and while he should be credited for providing "the lads" with a focus in his Sex boutique (and an education in Seditionist politics), much credit must also be given to Vivienne Westwood's fashion ideas. Naturally, Johnny Rotten's contributions are shamelessly ignored (he famously impressed Malcolm by wearing a Pink Floyd tee-shirt with "I Hate" scrawled at the top before he'd even joined the Pistols), due to the fact he'd left the group in disgust by the time this sad cash-grab of a film came to fruition. So - watch 'The Filth & The Fury' for the fact, & watch this for the fiction. There ya go! :-) Was the above review useful to you?

7 out of 11 people found the following review useful: yeah, swindle. for real. rotters from me home 8 June 2004 after seeing John Lydon break down over the senseless exploitation of sid vicious when he absolutely hit bottom in Temple's other sex pistols film "The Filth and the Fury," he must have wanted to disown this little piece of trashy lucre. the finale with its spinning headlines and the anka-fueled massacre are just the tips of the iceberg on the meaty, excessive collage film assembled here. the star on board is mclaren, in full sleazeball form. to the unsuspecting eye, it seems like an act. it is, of course, until you realize that it's the same act he kept up in the public eye for years, while running his little pet project dry. mclaren cut his teeth on theater of the absurd and fancies his managerial life a kind of kaufman-esque performance. the only problem is that mclaren often-times does not have the consent of his lab rats, a bunch of naughty British hooligans that called themselves the sex pistols (no, mclaren did NOT come up with the name).

therefore, it's partially amusing to watch mclaren credit himself with inventing the wheel in punk rock, and partially disgusting when you approach the subject matter knowing he gave nary a shat about the well-being of his bandmates nor the political and social commentary they, especially rotten, were trying to convey. mclaren was more interested in assembling a forefather to reality TV- life as nihilistic, self-imploding art. the movie itself is not much. there's laughs here and there, but mostly it's a bloated and deadweight companion piece to "The Filth and the Fury," mostly wound into watchability by excellent live performances and some bizarre visual interpretations of songs (some of which seem hardly composed on a punk rock budget). "who killed bambi" (also mclaren's idea with none of the band members really interested in the idea) shows up in several parts and proves to be a quite pointless endeavor. the majority of punk rock was not known for its rock star exploits off the stage (in fact, that was kinda the point- that these werent rock stars at all).

if there had to have been a band to make a boisterous film with sex and drugs and midgets and animation and disco dancing, it's probably best that it was the sex pistols. overall, this film should be mostly reserved for hardcore fans, though others may find value in the sheer novelty of the package. but do yourself a favor and see "filth" first. Was the above review useful to you? 7 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Patch-worked movie about the Sex Pistols is a hit and miss project. from Sacramento, CA 19 November 2003 During the Sex Pistols heyday, their manager Malcolm McLaren had an idea to market the band as a noveaux Beatles. From 19776-1980, McLaren spent the band's money trying get the film off the ground. He went through several directors and writers until he finally settled on Julien Temple (a young film-maker). Temple and McLaren himself shot hours and hours of footage, sketches and concert footage.

After working on this project for almost four years and with nothing resembling anything like a coherent movie, Temple decided to make a collage out of the footage and re-shot and edited the useful film segments and made a surprisingly entertaining film (considering the tight budget and time restraints). By the time the movie was released, Sid Vicious was dead, John Lydon was in Public Image Limited and Paul Cook and Steve Jones were in a new wave band called the Professionals. Neither of them were even speaking to their former manager. So, at the last minute, Temple decided to make the movie about the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols. As for the band members, John Lydon didn't want to have anything to do with McLaren's project. Sid Vicious went along because of the money he was promised, ditto for Cook and Jones. The three former band members participated in the film without Lydon. Most of the music for the soundtrack was composed by Paul Cook and Steve Jones, Sid Vicious sang vocals on a few tracks but the music was played by Cook and Jones. Watch for Nancy Spurgen, she makes cameos in several of Sid Vicious sketches.

Several scenes from the movie that showed up on the double album soundtrack do not appear in the final cut of the film. Maybe one day they'll release a director's cut of the movie. Yes, that is the Great Train Robbery participant Ronnie Biggs playing himself in the movie. He even sings on a couple of tracks and he's not that bad of a lead vocalist. Recommended for fans of British punk and of the Sex Pistols. Was the above review useful to you? 10 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Should come as a double pack with The Filth & The Fury called "Two Sides To Every Story" 9 July 2005 *** This review may contain spoilers *** Of course this isn't the real story of the Sex Pistols, but who cares? It's still a laugh... The opening credit's theme song (Steve on drums and Paul on guitar... Eh?) gave us the wonderful and future host of TV's Crystal Maze, Tenpole Tudor (even Sid is giggling, Tenpole's such a loony), before rocketing into a ridiculously wonderful "Malcolm McLaren as God kissing his own cheeks" slice of film.

It's good fun, but if this is the only Pistols film you ever see, don't take what's said as what happened, this is purely McLaren's fantasy. Quite a bit of the live footage in this film turned up in the excellent "The Filth & The Fury", but here it uses the actual sound rather than simply overdubbing it with the album versions. Damn they were good when they were on form! Best bits? The Pistols (with John & Sid) rehearsing "No Feelings" in a studio without the unnecessary album overdub used in Filth & Fury (sounds even better here - see, Vicious can play bass, sort of...) Archive footage of people boycotting Pistols gigs in Wales: Interviewer: "Excuse me sir, can you tell me why you're here tonight?" Bloke: "Because I'm recognised as a Christian!" Bloke 2: "Ive got teenage daughters... I'd let them go and see Rod Stewart but I wouldn't let them see this rubbish!" Woman: "I think it's degrading and disgusting for our children to hear and see such things.

If I thought one of mine was in there I'd go in and drag them out; terrible I think it is, just disgusting" etc. Hilarious! No more to be said, except a few points of pub trivia to bore your friends with: Lemmy from Motorhead taught Sid to play bass as he was about to join The Pistols over 3 days, before giving up (apparently he was unteachable). Chrisie Hynde from the Pretenders was supposed to marry Sid in order to stay in the country. During the always wrongly quoted Grundy interview, Johnny says "Oh alright, so you're playing games, I'm really impressed" and not that rubbish about "Oh alright, Siegfried" that is given in every transcript. Couple this with The Filth and The Fury for an entertaining evening's viewing before you dig out Never Mind The B*llocks, play it very loud and realise how good it still sounds... Tenpole should have joined The Cramps! Would have been comedy central! The Sex Pistols: an important point in musical history. You gotta love 'em! Was the above review useful to you?

Page 1 of 3: About: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (album) About: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (album) An Entity of Type : Thing , from Named Graph : , within Data Space : dbpedia.org Property abstract The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (« La Grande Escroquerie du Rock 'n' Roll ») est la bande originale du film du même nom réalisé par Julien Temple. Bien que sortie sous le nom du groupe de punk britannique Sex Pistols, on y trouve de nombreux autres artistes. On considère parfois, à tort, qu'il s'agit du second album du groupe. Le film en lui-même est parfois considéré à tort comme la vraie histoire du groupe, c'est-à-dire une escroquerie orchestrée par le manager Malcolm McLaren. À l'origine, ce dernier avait dans l'idée de faire un film très ironique destiné à se moquer des médias qui l'accusèrent de n'avoir été le manager des Sex Pistols que pour son propre compte, son ego, et l'argent (ce qui n'est pas tout à fait faux).

En faisant réaliser ce film par Temple, McLaren a donc voulu se moquer un grand coup des médias, mais d'après Temple, au fur et à mesure que le tournage progressait, McLaren devenait de plus en plus agressif, déprimé et finit par croire à son propre rôle. Temple en témoigne dans l'excellent livre "Sex Pistols - L'Histoire Intérieure" de Fred et Judy Vermorel réédité en 2011 aux éditions Le Mot Et Le Reste. Ce qu'il faut comprendre à propos de ce film est simple: McLaren, aigri par son échec avec les New York Dolls et les Sex Pistols a voulu se valoriser et essayé de faire croire à ceux qui le voulaient bien qu'il avait tout inventé, les Sex Pistols et le Punk-Rock, ce qui est bien sûr une pure fable.

(fr) The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle è un album dei Sex Pistols prodotto nel 1979, ed è la colonna sonora di La grande truffa del rock'n'roll, film-documentario diretto da Julien Temple. Il materiale presente nell'album si presenta incoerente, ma molto spesso divertente. Tra i pezzi si possono notare molte cover, come (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone dei Monkees, Substitute degli Who, una demo di Anarchy in the U.K., presente anche in versione francese con fisarmonica, due pezzi cantati da Edward Tudor-Pole (successivamente nei Tenpole Tudor, gruppo inglese del periodo), e, forse il pezzo più conosciuto, cioè My Way di Paul Anka cantata da Sid Vicious con uno stile tutto suo. Vi si trovano anche pezzi della band dal vivo, e canzoni eseguite da altri cantanti.

Tra questi si possono menzionare sicuramente il loro manager, Malcolm McLaren, e Ronnie Biggs, famoso per essere stato uno dei componenti della banda della grande rapina al treno del 1963, avvenuta nell'agosto dello stesso anno in Inghilterra, rapina che fruttò circa 2,6 milioni di sterline. Il disco arrivò alla posizione numero 7 nelle classifiche inglesi. (it) The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle es la banda sonora de la película del mismo título, lanzado por Virgin Records en 1979. Aunque lanzado bajo el nombre de Sex Pistols, incluye grabaciones de diversos otros artistas. A menudo es erróneamente percibido como el segundo álbum de estudio de Sex Pistols.

(es) ザ・グレイト・ロックン・ロール・スウィンドル（The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle）はイギリスのロックバンド、セックス・ピストルズの企画アルバム。 1979年2月26日にヴァージン・レコードよりリリースされた。 映画『ザ・グレイト・ロックンロール・スウィンドル』のサウンドトラックとして制作されたアルバム。 (ja) The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle – drugi album zespołu punkrockowego Sex Pistols zwierający ścieżkę dźwiękową do filmu Julien Temple The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, wydany 26 lutego 1979. W trakcie przygotowywania nagrań Sex Pistols rozpadali się, a John Lydon odmówił udziału w projekcie.

W tej sytuacji w części utworów Sex Pistols wykorzystano wokal Johnny Rottena, nagrany w październiku 1976 w trakcie sesji demo oraz dograno niektóre ścieżki instrumentalne w wykonaniu Paul Cooka i Steve Jonesa. Podwójny album zawiera liczne utwory w formie pastiszu napisane i nagrane już po rozpadzie Sex Pistols, które całkowicie pomijają śpiew Lydona. Album wydano zasadniczo w dwóch różnych układach i wersjach nagraniowych utworów, przy czym prezentowana poniżej lista utworów przeważała do 1992 r. (pl) The Great Rock ‛n’ Roll Swindle (рус. Великое рок-н-ролльное надувательство) — альбом британской панк-группы Sex Pistols, саундтрек к одноимённому фильму, вышедший в 1979 году.

Диск лишь отчасти можно считать коллективной работой Sex Pistols: половина композиций исполнена посторонними музыкантами, не имеющими никакого отношения к группе, распавшейся за год до выхода альбома. Альбом занял 7-е место в британском хит-параде. (ru) The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name by the Sex Pistols. It also includes performances by other artists. (en) Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (en) The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (en) comment The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle es la banda sonora de la película del mismo título, lanzado por Virgin Records en 1979. Aunque lanzado bajo el nombre de Sex Pistols, incluye grabaciones de diversos otros artistas. A menudo es erróneamente percibido como el segundo álbum de estudio de Sex Pistols. (es) The Great Rock ‛n’ Roll Swindle (рус.

Великое рок-н-ролльное надувательство) — альбом британской панк-группы Sex Pistols, саундтрек к одноимённому фильму, вышедший в 1979 году. Диск лишь отчасти можно считать коллективной работой Sex Pistols: половина композиций исполнена посторонними музыкантами, не имеющими никакого отношения к группе, распавшейся за год до выхода альбома. Альбом занял 7-е место в британском хит-параде. (ru) The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name by the Sex Pistols. It also includes performances by other artists.

(en) The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle è un album dei Sex Pistols prodotto nel 1979, ed è la colonna sonora di La grande truffa del rock'n'roll, film-documentario diretto da Julien Temple.Il materiale presente nell'album si presenta incoerente, ma molto spesso divertente. Tra i pezzi si possono notare molte cover, come (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone dei Monkees, Substitute degli Who, una demo di Anarchy in the U.K., presente anche in versione francese con fisarmonica, due pezzi cantati da Edward Tudor-Pole (successivamente nei Tenpole Tudor, gruppo inglese del periodo), e, forse il pezzo più conosciuto, cioè My Way di Paul Anka cantata da Sid Vicious con uno stile tutto suo. Vi si trovano anche pezzi della band dal vivo, e canzoni eseguite da altri cantanti.

Tra questi si possono menzionare sicura (it) The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (« La Grande Escroquerie du Rock 'n' Roll ») est la bande originale du film du même nom réalisé par Julien Temple. Bien que sortie sous le nom du groupe de punk britannique Sex Pistols, on y trouve de nombreux autres artistes. On considère parfois, à tort, qu'il s'agit du second album du groupe.

(fr) ザ・グレイト・ロックン・ロール・スウィンドル（The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle）はイギリスのロックバンド、セックス・ピストルズの企画アルバム。1979年2月26日にヴァージン・レコードよりリリースされた。映画『ザ・グレイト・ロックンロール・スウィンドル』のサウンドトラックとして制作されたアルバム。 (ja) The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle – drugi album zespołu punkrockowego Sex Pistols zwierający ścieżkę dźwiękową do filmu Julien Temple The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, wydany 26 lutego 1979.W trakcie przygotowywania nagrań Sex Pistols rozpadali się, a John Lydon odmówił udziału w projekcie.

W tej sytuacji w części utworów Sex Pistols wykorzystano wokal Johnny Rottena, nagrany w październiku 1976 w trakcie sesji demo oraz dograno niektóre ścieżki instrumentalne w wykonaniu Paul Cooka i Steve Jonesa. Podwójny album zawiera liczne utwory w formie pastiszu napisane i nagrane już po rozpadzie Sex Pistols, które całkowicie pomijają śpiew Lydona. (pl) The Sex Pistols The Great Rock N Roll Swindle Single-Layer Stereo Japanese Import SHM-SACD-Elusive Disc This Single-Layer SHM-SACD can only be played on a Super Audio CD Player! Soundtrack Originally Released On Double LP In 1979! SHM-SACD (Super High Material SACD) is the ultimate Super Audio CD that utilizes the materials and technologies that were developed for the SHM-CD to further enhance the audio-resolution. These discs are made with polycarbonate developed for the screen of the liquid crystal display. As it has a higher transparency, players can read the signal more faithfully.

Also, it excels in fluidity, which enables you to cast a more accurate pit. What works wonders for a low resolution format such as CD should offer even greater sonic improvements in a real high resolution format such as SACD. The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, released in 1979, is actually the soundtrack to the film of the same name. The band was defunct by the time the soundtrack was being prepared and Johnny Rotten refused to participate in the project, so the 'proper' Sex Pistols tracks were done by taking Lydon's vocals from the October 1976 demo session recordings and re-recording their instrumental tracks. The album features a significant number of tracks that omit Lydon entirely; most of them written and recorded after the band broke up. The album features cover songs, two original songs, and numerous novelty tracks including French street musicians playing "Anarchy In the U.K." plus a medley of several Sex Pistols songs covered by a disco band.

Housed in a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 1/2" hinged-lid box which includes inside a Mini LP Jacket faithfully replicating the first pressing UK LP artwork, full color Mini Insert LP sleeve and booklet with English/Japanese lyrics. The obi surrounding the album replicates the one included in the Japanese first pressing LP. Features: ï¿½ Super High Material Super Audio CD ï¿½ SHM-SACD Stereo SACD Layer ï¿½ Single-Layer Stereo SHM-SACD, to secure enough reflectance and not to compress DSD file. ï¿½ Label of the disc is printed with a special green ink called 'Onsho Shiyou,' which minimizes diffuse reflection. ï¿½ Carefully selected master audio is used, from existing DSD files to newly converted from analog tapes. ï¿½ This Single-Layer SHM-SACD can only be played on a Super Audio CD Player! It will NOT play on conventional CD Players! Selections: 1. God Save the Queen (Symphony) 2. Johnny B Goode 3. Road Runner 4. Anarchy In the U.K.

/ God Save the Queen / Pretty Vacant / No One Is Innocent (performed by Black Arabs) 5. Anarchy In the U.K. 6. Substitute 7. Don't Give Me No Lip, Child 8. (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone 9. L'Anarchie Pour Le U.K. 10. Belsen Was A Gas (Live) 11. Belsen Was A Gas 12. Silly Thing 14. I Wanna Be Me 15. Something Else 16. Rock Around The Clock 17. Lonely Boy 18. No One Is Innocent 19. C'mon Everybody 21. The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle 22. Friggin' In The Riggin' 23. You Need Hands The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends.

Error The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle ( 1980 ) 1h 43min A rather incoherent post-breakup Sex Pistols "documentary", told from the point of view of Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, whose (arguable) position is that the Sex Pistols in particular ... See full summary » Director: a list of 43 titles created 21 Sep 2011 a list of 37 titles created 24 Oct 2012 a list of 29 titles created 08 Dec 2012 a list of 43 titles created 24 Jun 2014 a list of 43 titles created 15 Sep 2015 Title: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980) 6.5/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. A film about the career of the notorious punk rock band, the Sex Pistols. Director: Julien Temple A career retrospective of British punk band The Clash, featuring exclusive interviews with the entire band.

Director: Don Letts The story of the punk rock band The Ramones. Directors: Jim Fields, Michael Gramaglia Stars: Rick Rubin, Tommy Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone On October 12th 1978 New York Police discovered the lifeless body of a 20 year-old woman, slumped under the bathroom sink in a hotel room. She was dressed in her underwear and had bled to ... See full summary » Director: Alan G. Parker As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ... See full summary » Director: Julien Temple A documentary on the music, performers, attitude and distinctive look that made up punk rock. Director: Don Letts A young British punk and roadie for The Clash navigates life in socially torn 1970s England. Directors: Jack Hazan, David Mingay Stars: Dave Armstrong, Barry Baker, Terry Barry Climb in the van, buckle your seat belt and hang on tight because you're about to experience life on the road with the founding fathers of punk rock, The Ramones!

The band that started it ... See full summary » Director: John Cafiero A group of rock-music-loving students, with the help of the Ramones, take over their school to combat its newly installed oppressive administration. Directors: Allan Arkush, Joe Dante Stars: P.J. Soles, Vincent Van Patten, Clint Howard Morbid biographical story of Sid Vicious, bassist with British punk group the Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. When the Sex Pistols break up after their fateful US tour, ... See full summary » Director: Alex Cox The History of American Punk Rock 1980-1986 Director: Paul Rachman On the edge of the 30th anniversary of punk rock, Punk's Not Dead takes you into the sweaty underground clubs, backyard parties, recording studios, and yes, shopping malls and stadium shows...

See full summary » Director: Susan Dynner Edit Storyline A rather incoherent post-breakup Sex Pistols "documentary", told from the point of view of Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, whose (arguable) position is that the Sex Pistols in particular and punk rock in general were an elaborate scam perpetrated by him in order to make "a million pounds." Silly and hard to follow at times, but worth seeing for some excellent Pistols concert footage, some wickedly amusing animated sequences, and Sid Vicious' eerily prophetic performance of "My Way." Written by Marty Cassady <martyc@vt.edu> The staggering story of the group who wrung the neck of rock 'n' roll See more » Genres: 12 March 1981 (Australia) See more » Also Known As: Who Killed Bambi? See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia Sting appeared in a brief scene as the leader of a gay band, The Blow Waves, which attempts to kidnap Paul Cook , but the footage was cut. It later reappeared in the documentary The Filth and the Fury (2000).

See more » Goofs Towards the end of Sid Vicious' Punk rendition of Paul Anka/Frank Sinatra's "My Way", he pulls a revolver out of his pocket and starts shooting at the audience. He fires eight shots, which is more bullets than a revolver can hold. See more » Quotes (England) – See all my reviews To this day, Malcolm McLaren is telling anyone daft enough to believe him that the Sex Pistols were his idea and that the band members were his puppets to be used to make him money. There is a good reason for him doing this, namely that he is a liar. Here are some real facts. * McLaren was actually approached by the band to be manager, not the other way round. * The Pistols were a proper, organic band and not created by McLaren or anyone else. Jones and Cook were childhood friends. Rotten and Vicious went back a long way too. This is something that has led to unfair criticism of the Pistols down the years as they have been likened to manufactured boy bands. * The band and no one else wrote the songs, recorded them, played live, created the publicity and gave the interviews. * McLaren did not instigate the Bill Grundy incident.

The Pistols only appeared on the programme because Queen had pulled out. According to the band, McLaren was cowering in the back in case arrests were about to be made. * Johnny Rotten walked out of the band. He was not sacked. * Far from outwitting the Sex Pistols, John Lydon (Rotten) actually successfully sued him in the 1980s for control and a considerable sum of money. Some of the evidence used by Lydon's lawyers was from McLaren's boasting in 'The Great Rock & Roll Swindle'. This would suggest that McLaren is none too bright despite his affectations. * The sackings and subsequent pay offs from A & M and EMI were, again, not engineered, it was merely the way things panned out. * McLaren boasts about the money he made from the band. If he had been competent, he could have made a great deal more. It seems he coudn't even organise gigs properly. * McLaren's claim at the start of the film that he invented punk rock can be disproved in about ten seconds. The Pistols were not the first punk band, merely the most high profile. This is a terrible film.

The only parts worth watching are the genuine footage of the band, later put to much better use in 'The Filth And The Fury'. 21 of 26 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Sex Pistols Timeline | Sex Pistols | The Official Website Sex Pistols Timeline 1972 While bunking off school Steve Jones and Paul Cook – together with Wally Nightingale – decide to form a band. Steve is singer, Paul drummer and Wally guitarist. 1973 Until they can think of something better they are calling themselves either “The Strand” or “The Swankers”. 1974 Glen Matlock joins as bassist. Matlock had been working in Malcolm McLaren’s shop ‘Let It Rock’. Where Steve and Paul would often hang-out; pestering Malcolm to take an interest in their band. 1975 Malcolm McLaren finally becomes the bands manager. Wally Nightingale leaves. Steve Jones moves to lead guitar. Malcolm suggests the name “QT Jones & His Sex Pistols”. Later shortened to “Sex Pistols”.

After being spotted on London’s Kings Road – with hacked green hair and a homemade “I HATE Pink Floyd” T-shirt – John Lydon is invited to audition as singer at Malcolm McLaren’s shop. Sex Pistols, with John Lydon, play their first ever live show at St Martin’s College of Art, London, November 6th 1975. 1976 The Pistols begin to play live regularly throughout London and Britain. They also play their first shows abroad in Paris. Sex Pistols sign to EMI and release their debut single ‘ Anarchy in the UK ‘. Appear on ‘Today’ show. Interviewer Bill Grundy goads the band into swearing live on early evening TV. Due to the media furore the band find themselves banned from playing live in the UK. 1977 EMI sack the Sex Pistols. Bassist Glen Matlock leaves to be replaced by Sid Vicious . Pistols sign to A&M Records. 10 days later they sack the Pistols. Sign to Virgin Records and release 2nd single ‘ God Save The Queen ‘ during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations. Despite technically outselling the Number 1 record it only peaks at Number 2.

Members of the band are attacked in the streets. Record their debut album ‘ Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols ‘ with producer Chris Thomas. The album is released in October and preceded by 2 singles ‘ Pretty Vacant ‘ and ‘ Holidays in the Sun ‘. 1978 Pistols tour USA. They split up after last date in San Francisco. John returns to the UK. Paul and Steve head to Brazil to team up with Train Robber Ronnie Biggs. Sid overdoses and is admitted to Hospital. First post-Rotten single is released. Double A-side featuring Sid Vicious’ cover version of ‘My Way’ and ‘No One is Innocent’ with Ronnie Biggs on vocals. Sid’s girlfriend Nancy Spungen is found dead in the couple’s New York hotel room. Sid is chief suspect and is charged with her murder. He has no memory of the events. 1979 Sid Vicious fatally overdoses while released on bail from New York’s Rikers Island Prison. He is just 21. Malcolm McLaren continues work on a film of the Sex Pistols story. Several singles featuring either Sid Vicious or Steve Jones on vocals are released to fund the film.

John Lydon begins court action against Malcolm McLaren over contract rights and unpaid moneys. A receiver is appointed to control the Sex Pistols assets, and the forthcoming film. 1980 The release of ‘ The Great Rock n Roll Swindle ‘ film. Malcolm McLaren’s fictionalised satire of the Sex Pistols story. 1986 John Lydon’s case against Malcolm McLaren finally comes to the High Court in London. McLaren agrees to hand control of the band’s assets back to the Sex Pistols. 1996 The Pistols original line-up returns – Lydon, Cook, Jones & Matlock – for the ‘Filthy Lucre’ world tour. Over 70 dates throughout Europe, North and South America, Japan & Australasia. Appear live on BBC ‘Top of the Pops’. Banned from playing Northern Ireland on grounds of “blasphemous content”. Release of album ‘ Filthy Lucre Live ‘ recorded in front of 30,000 people at their homecoming show in London’s Finsbury Park. 2000 Release of ‘ The Filth and the Fury ‘ – a feature length Sex Pistols documentary containing new interviews with the band, unseen footage and archive material.

2002 To celebrate their Silver Jubilee Sex Pistols play a special show at London’s Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. They perform virtually their whole back catalogue and some surprises. Dance remix of ‘ God Save The Queen ‘ by Neil Barnes (formerly of Leftfield) and the Sex Pistols is released 25 years to the day of the original release. Pistols headline the ‘KROQ Inland Invasion Festival’ in California. Playing to 50,000 people. 2003 Pistols play North American Tour. They set up the tour themselves without the support of a record company or the music press. John Lydon offers to take the Pistols to Iraq to play for the people (not Allied troops). Red-tape eventually scuppers the project. Pistols are nominated &ndash; without their approval &ndash; for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They are turned down. 2006 Sex Pistols are finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . They refuse to attend and instead send a hand-written letter stating their contempt for the institution.

2007 Sex Pistols re-record ‘Anarchy in the UK’ and ‘Pretty Vacant’ for use in ‘ Guitar Hero ‘ video game; after it is discovered the original multi-track masters have been misplaced. 30th Anniversary of ‘Never Mind The Bollocks ‘. Limited edition vinyl replicas of the LP &ndash; together with their first four 7″ singles &ndash; are released. Pistols play 5 sold-out nights at London Brixton Academy, plus Arena shows in Manchester and Glasgow. 2008 Headline Isle of Wight Festival and set out on the ‘ Combine Harvester Tour 2008 ‘. Over 30 dates headlining various European Festivals. First ever shows in Russia. First live dates in Japan for 12 years. Release of ‘ There’ll Always Be an England ‘ concert DVD recorded at November 2007 Brixton Academy shows. 2012 Sex Pistols leave Virgin / EMI Records to sign for Universal Music Catalogue UK.

Release of Super-deluxe version of ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’ , including a previously unreleased studio take of ‘Belsen Was A Gas’ with John Rotten on vocals. Pretty Vacant is featured in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics

Question: Which band released a 1979 album entitled ‘The Great Rock and Roll Swindle’?
Answer: Sex Pistols