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Irish Examiner
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
'Never say never': Glen Matlock on the Sex Pistols reunion, and the John Lydon spat
Sex Pistols bassist and songwriter Glen Matlock is talking about the contradictions he has lived with daily working in the music industry since he was a teenager in the seminal punk band. "For all its socialist principles and high ideals if someone doesn't buy a ticket for your gig; you're nowhere. The world doesn't owe you a living and you have to make your own luck," he explains. The 68-year-old Londoner isn't long back from touring Japan, Australia and New Zealand as part of the Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter on vocals. The lineup features three of the original Pistols that formed almost 50 years ago in August 1975. Joining Matlock on bass are guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook. Carter's punk credentials were cemented with Gallows and Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes. "I could be cynical and say we are helping everyone relive their youth but that's not true," explains Matlock. "With Frank being in the band it helps and the music we did is timeless really, we sound like we did years ago." Not surprisingly, original front-man John 'Rotten' Lydon has slammed the reunion. "I am the Pistols and they're not," is Lydon's take on it all. Equally unsurprisingly, Matlock is of a differing opinion. "It was Steve's band. We were all the songwriters and we all did our bit," he says of their string of hits including Anarchy In The UK, God Save The Queen and Pretty Vacant. "It would never have happened without any one of us. The problem is John won't give anyone else any credit which is why we are where we are now. He still can't think it through. But he can do what he likes. He comes across as bitter and twisted while we are all having a laugh, making some good money and sending everyone home with a smile on their face.' So does that mean there will never be another reunion with Johnny Rotten? "Never say never. It's sad the way it's unfolded. Life is short and the hourglass of time is dripping away for us. Who wants to sit at home thinking about what could have been?" Matlock originally left the Pistols to make way for Sid Vicious on bass. While the replacement bassist became a punk icon, especially after his premature death at the age of 21 in February 1979, the band soon imploded. Jones later expressed the opinion that if Matlock had remained in the Pistols they would have made more records. Despite the band's short lifespan, Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols (1977) remains one of the greatest long-players of all time. The ongoing public interest in the band was clear when the band played shows last August to raise money for Bush Hall in London, saving the venue from closure. Fan reaction and critical acclaim led to the Pistols continuing a live run with Carter on vocals. Matlock often sits outside with a coffee in West London, partly due to the fact he still enjoys a cigarette. "It's not big and it's not clever," he admits. Sometimes his life resembles an episode of celeb comedy show Stella Street. He regularly bumps into fellow residents such as Lulu and Rolling Stone Ron Wood, or is joined by the likes of Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher. "Yeah, I put Weller and Noel on the guest list for the [recent Pistols secret gig] at the 100 Club. I see him and Noel regularly as we live in the same area. I've known Paul since the early days, we all went to see them [The Jam] in Fulham and they came to our gigs.' Matlock has enjoyed a prolific career since originally leaving the Pistols in 1977. He first found success alongside Midge Ure in Rich Kids. Their only album, Ghosts of Princes in Towers, was produced by David Bowie's essential guitarist, co-producer and arranger Mick Ronson. Glen Matlock, left, with other members of the Sex Pistols in 1976: Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, and Paul Cook. Picture: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty. "Mick was always taking people under his wing. The music industry is so pushy with everyone trying to climb the greasy pole. Mick was never like that. I don't think he did too bad but he could have been more astute sometimes," says Matlock in reference to Ronson not being properly taken care of for his contribution to such records as Bowie's Life On Mars and Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side. The mention of Ronson does bring back a particularly fond memory of an evening out in London with the guitar legend. "We went to down the dogs at Walthamstow [Stadium for greyhound racing]. Mick was unwell and it was really to take his mind off things. We'd laid down our bets, took a seat and the race began, which doesn't take long. Mick then got up and went off; I said: 'Where are you going?' He said: 'That dog on the outside looks good'. He was trying to back it before the end of the race!" Matlock has also enjoyed stints with Iggy Pop, playing on Soldier (1980), and also with The Faces, and Blondie. In 2023-24 he toured Iggy Pop's classic Lust For Life (1977) album with the late Clem Burke. The news of the Blondie drummer's death from cancer in April was a shock. "We've been friends for 50 years," explains Matlock. "It's been weird because he would stay with me whenever he was in London and I would stay at his place in L. A when I was over there. Just wandering around the house [since his death] has been a little bit odd. Clem and I were cut from the same cloth. When Debbie Harry got covid, the dates were postponed and we ended up kicking about New Jersey where he was from and where his old man lived and worked. He had an American version of my upbringing really." Burke was that rare example of someone in the music industry that no one had a bad word to say about, while also being regarded as one of rock'n'roll's greatest drummers. "He was a fantastic showman and drummer. He would also instigate things and make them happen,' adds Matlock. Glen Matlock playing with Blondie. Picture:. 'When I went to America last year he put the band together for me and brought in people like Kathy Valentine [The Go-Gos] and Gilby Clarke [ex-Guns N' Roses].' While Debbie Harry and co have a new album ready to be released, the future is uncertain. "I knew Clem had been ill for a little while and Blondie had been put off, there's a new Blondie album in the can but I don't know what will happen and now the Pistols stuff has come up." Before the Sex Pistols play several dates in the UK and Europe in June, Matlock will be touring with his solo band. His album Consequences Coming and autobiography Triggers: A Life In Music, both released in 2023, were well received. He seems to be a man who rarely rests for long, but admits to being "knackered" after returning from the other side of the world with the Pistols. "This is a good little band. When something like the Pistols happens I have to put my solo work on hold. The Pistols songs are old and I'm always interested in having my new songs on the go," he explains. Is there a chance of new music from the Pistols? 'I don't know but nobody has said 'no',' he explains, adding that the band get along much better than before. 'On tour now we have breakfast together and get on the same flights and trains in Japan and that's quite a novelty since the days of yore. Steve Jones came around my house the other day to watch QPR. I'm a QPR fan. He likes to bet on everything. We got beat so he went home with £10 of mine in his pocket!"
Telegraph
09-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook: It's not so punk on the terraces at Chelsea any more
Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook is talking about the band's infamous television appearance on the Today show in December 1976, alongside host Bill Grundy. 'I think he met his match, he was an establishment sort of figure and very condescending; he got what he deserved.' The incident which saw Grundy goad the band into swearing live on air caused a national scandal and the London four-piece became an immediate sensation, changing popular culture overnight. 'There was nothing cultural at the time', explains Cook, 'we had Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test. I like to think we had a hand in changing all that.' Anarchy In The UK soon became the political anthem for a disenfranchised generation. 'It was a violent time of strikes and football violence and that spilled over naturally into the punk movement,' adds Cook. 'Everyone was a bit angry in the 70s and it spilled over into all walks of life.' Chelsea is very much in the bones of Cook. There's even proof of him as a young fan in the Loft behind a yawning policeman under a helmet. When I remind him, Cook raises his boot out to illustrate that he is the smiling teenager facing the camera with his Dr. Marten sticking out. 'It was QPR v Chelsea in the FA Cup in 1970 at Loftus Road and we beat them 4-2. I'm from Shepherd's Bush, I should be a Rangers supporter but I grew up supporting Chelsea. 1970: A bored Policeman in the Loft #QPR v Chelsea FACup 6th Rd. Pre Sex Pistol Paul Cook in the Docs looking at the camera. — BushmanQPR ⚽️ (@BushmanQPR) October 14, 2021 'My family is from Fulham but my mates would drag me to Stamford Bridge. I've still got a soft spot for Fulham but I ended up supporting Chelsea around 1965-66.' Cook does not miss a beat when I ask him his favourite player of the era. 'Charlie Cooke, he was a real entertainer like George Best. At that time we signed a lot of players from Scotland. I even wanted an e on the end of my name to be like him.' Today we are in The Green public house not far from the Shepherd's Bush Empire where the band played in 1996. Cook has brought with him a selection of programmes from his collection, perhaps the stand out is for an FA Cup final replay, the first in 58 years, of Chelsea versus Leeds United at Old Trafford in April 1970. 'I never got to the first game as I messed up my tokens. That game and the rivalry was something else, especially when you're a young kid. The away games were pretty scary.' Violence was common, particularly with the Chelsea-Leeds rivalry, did Cook ever get caught up in the chaos? 'If you went, it was a dangerous place to be and if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I had a knack of walking into trouble, I wasn't a fighter and I got badly beaten up not far from here by a bunch of Teddy Boys for looking like a punk. There was a reaction against the punks that was so far out there. We were public enemy number one and front-page news but a lot of it was caused by us I must admit.' How does Cook feel about the shifts in the game during his lifetime? 'I do get fed up, I'm not in love with it in the way I was but I try not to be one of those old guys saying; 'back in my day it was great'. And yes it was but the state of the grounds, the violence and facilities has all changed. The British game was run down but now it's corporate boxes. You get a lot of tourists from Japan and so on – it's different people around me each week, which is great but I don't know if it's all necessarily for the better. 'The violence and racism has not totally gone but it is so much better.' Asked to harken back to the reign of Roman Abramovich, Cook is honest, revelling in the glory of the time. He never expected Chelsea to win the league in his lifetime, let alone the biggest prize in Europe – twice. He does not regret the ride, and on having a supremely wealthy backer, Cook queries whether Newcastle United or Manchester City fans have moral quandaries. 'It's like that until you get your own sugar daddy,' he says. The Sex Pistols returned last August minus John Lydon to raise money for Bush Hall, attempting to save the venue from closure. Relations between Lydon and Cook along with guitarist Steve Jones and bassist Glen Matlock have been strained after a court case over the band's legacy and now they perform with Frank Carter on vocals. 'I don't diss John', adds Cook. 'He was iconic but the band won't happen again with John. Relationships in the band became so toxic. Now it's just been so much fun, we are not trying to say Frank is the new Johnny Rotten or anything like that but it's clear now there is an audience for it and that people want to hear the songs, they want to hear Never Mind The Bollocks.' Matlock is a QPR fan, and Cook and Steve Jones have remained close, especially through support of Chelsea since the guitarist moved to America in 1982. Cook adds: 'Steve was not into football at the time, he would go to QPR for the hell of it and for the chaos. He would bunk in, cause some trouble and nick all the hot dogs.' It was in LA that Jones and Cook would pull on the jersey for Hollywood United. 'They don't get it, bless them, but they've had a good team over the years. They are super fit and really hard to play against. We've had a few knock-about friendly games with Vinnie Jones and Frank Leboeuf… they take it very seriously by the way.' For the drummer also known as Cookie there's a clear link between the terraces he grew up in and the punk movement. 'The chants on the terraces come from the music hall tradition, originally everyone would go there and sing and that transferred to terraces and the punk rock choruses. There's nothing like 5,000 people singing a song, it's so uplifting. It's not so much like that any more [at Chelsea] – maybe in places like Liverpool or Newcastle where they still have that working-class support, but not down at Chelsea.
