Now THIS is a fascinating anecdote (via Wikipedia, though suspiciously unsourced), particularly in this year of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, though I’d prefer to have a little more documentation re: that parking business, as no one from The Pistols likely possessed a driver’s license at the time, much less ever had any opportunity to park a car at A&M’s L.A. offices, since their sole U.S. tour took place in January 1978 on Virgin Records’ dime!
And let us not forget that Malcolm McLaren only had them signed to the label for about a WEEK in March 1977! LOL
The Captain and Tennille were an adult-contemporary act, and during this time disco was ruling the radio, record sales, clubs, and New Wave music was cutting edge. A&M Records was embracing these sounds and some of the label’s long-term acts felt it was at their expense. Toni Tennille would later recall that she, Daryl (Dragon, aka “The Captain”), and Karen Carpenter from The Carpenters once had a conversation in the parking lot of their label, A&M Records, after A&M had signed the Sex Pistols.
They were not pleased with the direction the top label brass were going; in their views, ignoring the label’s established acts in favor of recent signings. They even commented on how the newly-signed and unproven Sex Pistol members were all given their own parking spaces, and nobody from their respective acts had ever been given parking spaces, even after all their success.
Oh well, Wikipedia is always good for juicy effluvia, whether fictive or not!
On 10 March 1977, at a press ceremony held outside Buckingham Palace, the Sex Pistols publicly signed to A&M Records (the real signing had taken place the day before). Afterwards, intoxicated, they made their way to the A&M offices. Vicious smashed in a toilet bowl and cut his foot (there is some disagreement about which happened first). As Vicious trailed blood around the offices, Rotten verbally abused the staff and Jones got frisky in the ladies’ room. A couple of days later, the Pistols got into a rumble with another band at a club; one of Rotten’s pals threatened the life of a good friend of A&M’s English director. On 16 March, A&M broke contract with the Pistols. Twenty-five thousand copies of the planned "God Save the Queen" single, produced by Chris Thomas, had already been pressed; virtually all were destroyed.
Jamie Reid‘s "God Save the Queen" sleeve; in 2001, it was named the greatest record cover of all time by Q magazine.
Sid Vicious debuted with the band at London’s Notre Dame Hall on 28 March. In May, the band signed with Virgin Records, their third new label in little more than half a year. Virgin was more than ready to release "God Save the Queen", but new obstacles arose. Workers at the pressing plant laid down their tools in protest at the song’s content. Jamie Reid’s now famous cover, showing Queen Elizabeth II with her features obscured by the song and band names in cutout letters, offended the sleeve’s platemakers. After much talk, production resumed and the record was finally released on 27 May.
The filth and the fury, indeed!
With regard to the A&M Adult Contempo Contingent’s parking beef, has any single anecdote better captured the chasm in The Pop Music Biz at the Stateside arrival o’ Punk?!
And, assuming its veracity, could the entire “parking snafu” have been nothing more than an elaborate joke on his “stars”, courtesy of label owner Herb Alpert? If so, it was a damned good one!
TK
