He described himself at the time as “a lost soul”, strung out and unhappy. A couple of mediocre solo albums didn't help. Sure, he did some great stuff with Iggy Pop, providing guitar on the much underrated Instinct album, but for every hit their were numerous misses. The Pistols imploded in San Francisco, in January 1978, and amongst other things Steve formed The Professionals with Paul, before eventually ending up in LA, addicted to heroin and generally wasting his talent on the Sunset Strip's glam rock scene.
He was known, rather unfairly, as Fatty Jones, because he wasn't rake-thin, like the majority of punks. Steve, meanwhile, had a dodgy-looking perm and a hankie on his head. Paul Cook was the cute, quiet one at the back.
Certainly, he had some stiff competition: Johnny Rotten was the voice of the band, acerbic and outspoken, while Sid Vicious was the cartoon punk, his attitude making up for his lack of ability.
Not bad for a self-taught guitarist, alleged to have been playing for just three months before forming the band, on equipment he'd stolen from the back of a truck at Hammersmith Odeon when David Bowie was performing.īut, hey, we were making the case for Steve Jones being the coolest Sex Pistol, and perhaps that comes with the benefit of hindsight. As studio engineer Bill Price put it, “Steve Jones was, and still is, about the tightest lead guitarist I've ever heard in my life.” Incidentally, Steve he played bass on the album due to Glen's replacement Sid Vicious being in hospital (not to mention being a shit bassist). Granted, the Sex Pistols would have been nothing without the snarling vitriol of frontman Johnny Rotten (named by Steve on account of his poor dental hygiene), the powerhouse drumming of Paul Cook, or the songwriting skills of bassist Glen Matlock, but imagine the classic Never Mind The Bollocks (also named by Steve) with another guitarist, any other guitarist, and it would be, well, bollocks. The filth and the fury! And now, for better or worse, everyone knew about this thing called punk rock.īut while Steve has stated that the Bill Grundy show was “the beginning of the end” for the band, later regretting the incident that caused all but three of the 27 Anarchy In The UK tour dates to be cancelled, it's not just swearing on the telly and making punk a household name that we should be thankful to him for. “You dirty old man!”Īt which point Bill goaded him to “say something outrageous”, to which our hero responded by calling the host a “dirty bastard”, a “dirty fucker”, and in a moment of sheer comedy genius, a “fucking rotter!” Cue end credits. “We fucking spent it, ain't we,” Steve retorted, dropping his first F-bomb just 35 seconds into the interview.Īpparently, this went unnoticed by the host, but Bill Grundy continued to poke at the band, before turning to their entourage – including Siouxsie Sioux of the Banshees – whom he appeared to be attempting to hit on, suggesting that they meet after the show.
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