The former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has lashed out at rockers Green Day, accusing them of stealing the term "punk". The singer -- who performed as Johnny Rotten -- claims the American band has reduced a political movement into a simple musical style.

He says, according to Contactmusic: "Don't try and tell me Green Day are punk. They're not, they're plonk and they're bandwagoning on something they didn't come up with themselves. I think they are phony."


Referring to his band's battle with the police and censors during its heyday, Lydon adds, "The government's against you, the police are on you.

"So there we are fending off all that and it pisses me off that years later a wank outfit like Green Day hop in and nick all that and attach it to themselves.

"They didn't earn their wings to do that and if they were true punk they wouldn't look anything like they do."



Im not trying to speak for anyone but myself....





I didn't mention Keith Levene by name, but thought refering to him as "some guy that used to be in the clash" would have been a nudge toward his recognition.

And Jah Wabble was PIL's bass player first and didn't have any albums of his own untill he left PIL, so saying that PIL would have gotten noticed because of him doesnt have near the weight of saying that it was Lydon that got the band noticed in the first place...


I wouldnt say that not liking a band means I am ignorant of them. I dont really like PIL.....sorry.....

Ha Ha...is what he said really controversial at all?





There's a big difference saying between saying the band was noticed because of Lydon & Levene's ties to the Pistols and the Clash and saying they never would have been noticed if not for those ties.

Wobble's a phenomenal bass player. People would have noticed.

Didn't Johnny Rotten once have a show on VH1?

please keep in mind that I am just trying to be conversational here and not trying to be a dick....

i'm not saying that what he said was controversial. i am simply replying to your statement:




as to your second statement in the post directly above this, we are both really just speculating and doing so from our own biases....while it could be a fun pissing match, im not sure either of us would be able to present anything concrete...

NO THERE MUST BE OBJECTIVE TRUTH TO YOUR ARGUMENT.

i agree with billy on on the bass-playing front.

Ahhh, Mrs. Haq.

is this why half of their first albums didnt get released in the states for quite some time after they were released?

Yeah, I figured that was what you were doing. But his saying a band isn't punk doesn't imply that he speaks for or thinks he speaks for all of punk rock. Its simply expressing his own opinion and one that I think is not even particularly controversial.

Hmmm, The Clash's first album didn't appear in the States until quite some time after it's UK release. What's your point?

ah semantics....

but how can he decide if a band is punk or not if he doesnt presupose just what is "punk"?

and his statements that he was/is "punk" also lends itself to the idea that he has a set definition for "punk".

are you puting PIL on the same level as the clash?

Lots of things didn't get released in the states for quite some time. Are only American bands and bands that mainstream America immediately embraces considered important? Is Joy Division an unimportant band because they were only available as an import for many years?

I don't get your point at all other than that you don't like 'em which has come across loud and clear. You seem very incapable of being objective.

Why is so difficult to accept that he can have an opinion about what is and is not punk without that meaning that he presupposes that he speaks for everyone on the subject?

Scotty, I recommend you pick up the book "England's Dreaming" if only to get a better idea of the punk movement in England during the 70s.

(billy otm)

calm down bro

I agree with him rejecting the idea. The whole canonical basis of the RNR HOF is stupid, why does it even exist? The bands inducted become historical ideas, relics of a past age. It's where bands go to die.

Yes, and it was awesome. I find Lydon to be so damn entertaining, because he's such a raving dickhole to anything and everything.

way too much analyzing going on here.
so, he told them to get fucked.
cool.

it's only rock n roll.

The best was when he called Siouxie Sue "that old cow". I believe it was on 120 Minutes.

It makes sense. They belong on the Hall list but have no business prancing around on stage during the 'all star jam' led by a tuxedoed Paul Shaeffer, Robbie Robertson, etc. If you saw Rotten TV, he absolutely railed on the worship of rock artifacts and putting clothing and memorabilia in an actual museum. To prove his point, he destroyed some valuable items on camera. So I doubt he makes any major donations to the rock museum. He's been against the concept of it long before induction.

He's against the canonization of the Hall, and yet bars Green Day from his bitter geezer club.

See? He just wants us to argue about this.

Yeah, that was funny.

Though I bet Sue gets laid a hell of a lot more often than Johnny does.

I saw a picture of her from a concert last year, and damn. Staying out of the light and in corsets for decades did not do the woman's face and figure the least bit of harm. Hott.

I can't stand the Sex Pistols. Of all the albums I've ever clamored to buy their debut was never one of them.

I do however own 2 PIL albums.

Johnny Rotten is the Gene Simmons of the Hot Topic generation. Seriously. If you bash Gene Simmons and not JR, yr pretty hypocritical.