The Pistols, unpeeled

I can't get enough of a VH1 Classic series called "Classic Albums." I haven't seen a bum episode yet but the study of The Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks" is the only one that repeatedly pulls me back in whenever I run across it. 

YouTube has the episode posted in seven separate clips, and I've posted Part 3 above. I singled out this third segment because its interviews with the original quartet, producer, engineer and manager  capture the magic behind an album that still packs a wallop 35 years later. 

There's a telling quote from singer Johnny (Rotten) Lydon, about midway in the clip: "We controlled the energy. Our songs are not raging fast, they're real slow-tempoed. But they come over blistering."

I've never heard a more apt description of the Pistols' sound. Engineer Bill Price, a punk legend, re-creates the tight layers of "Anarchy in the U.K" at about 1:20 into this clip, and it still gives me chills every time I hear the breakdown of the individual audio tracks. Give close attention to the bits about Lydon's diction, subtle tricks that gave his snarl a little extra bite. 

Update on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 10:42 PM by Logan Molen

Ran across this detailed piece from Sound On Sound that dissects the recording of "Anarchy in the UK."

Couple highlights:

• Studio layout from Sound On SoundEngineer Bill Price worked with some of the biggest names in music before tackling the Pistols and other punk bands. I had thought he just kind of surfaced in the punk craze but he in fact was a staff engineer with serious chops, working with Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Mott the Hoople, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney.
• Much of "Never Mind the Bollocks" was recorded on a cash-first basis, despite all the money being tossed around by competing labels.
• Paul Cook was still learning to play the drums, so many of the drum tracks were composites from repeated takes. And in a reverse of most live studio set-ups, the drums were placed in the center of the studio without isolation glass, allowing the sound to carry throughout the room, while the guitars were isolated behind sound walls.