Sid Vicious - Life History Part 1 (original) (raw)

John Simon Ritchie better know as Sid Vicious was born May 10th 1957, lived for 21 years and died from a heroin overdose following release from Riker's prison. A long way from the formative years he spent with his mother in Ibiza that took in being in the worlds most infamous band and a doomed love affair that is now part of music folklore. Returning to London from Ibiza in 1961 John ended up in a private school after trying various other academic establishments, but it was obvious to Anne that John was not a scholar and by age 15 he had left. Having an aptitude for art his only real choice was to go to art college, and so the renamed Simon John Beverley (His mother Anne remarried in 1965) enrolled in Hackney College to study art and photography, it was here he met and found someone he could actually relate to; that person was John Lydon. John Lydon had red hair and according to Anne was incredibly introverted and shy. Simon at this time was a Bowie fan who spent time spiking his hair and dying the front red. His new friend John described him as a poseur and noted that he could laugh at anything, and had a kind of innocence about him. Simon was initially renamed Sid Vicious by John as reference to his hamster and Syd Barrett ex guitarist of Pink Floyd. Sid and John were joined by John Wardle (Jah Wobble) and John Grey, all collectively known as the 4 Johns.

Sid or Syd Barrett?

During this time Sid was living between squats and his mother's home where he found food and a comfortable bed. Then when Sid was 17, he was made effectively homeless following an argument with his mother and lived full time in a squat. Squats were a breeding ground for the first wave of Punk bands, without them we may have never seen the Clash, the Slits or the Damned. Sid's main source of income at this time was turning tricks under the name "Hymie"; for a pretty boy in London this was not difficult. It was during this period that Sid came across a shop at the wrong end of the Kings Road called "Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die." This was not what could be described as a normal shop selling as it did Teddy Boy and Fetish gear with rock 'n' roll blaring from the Juke Box all the time.

The Shop at Kings Road was re-launched as 'Sex', concentrating on rubber and BDSM gear. Glen Matlock who worked there on Saturdays played bass and before long was introduced to two regular shop visitors who had formed a group; these were Steve Jones and Paul Cook. The band known as the Swankers were pressurising the shops manager Malcolm McClaren (who had recently returned from New York following an ill fated attempt to manage the disintegrating New York Dolls) to manage them. Before long they had been rechristened the Sex Pistols and the hunt was on for a singer. Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm's partner had noticed a tall lanky young man in the shop and he was suggested as a possible singer. This was Sid Vicious. However another member of the Johns who was by now sporting green hair, bad teeth and a self made 'I hate Pink Floyd' T Shirt beat him to it. Following a hastily arranged audition miming to I'm Eighteen on the shops juke box, John Lydon was rechristened Rotten, and the line up was complete.

Paul Cook, Wally Nightingale & Steve Jones

In the meantime Sid had been considered as singer for the new group the Damned but failed to arrive for the audition. He had also formed the infamous squat band the Flowers of Romance which contained future members of the Slits. Sid loved the Ramones in particular their Bass player Dee Dee, a leather jacketed junkie from New York. Punk legend tells that one night, Sid speeding his head off took a bass guitar and the Ramones first album to bed. By the morning Sid was able to pump out a rudimentary bass line, not good enough for any boring Prog rock band, but sure as hell good enough for a burgeoning punk band. Sid had always been a bit of a loner. Now he was at the centre of this scene as yet un-christened. He was now someone, and he was not going to miss this opportunity. Sid was 'punk' before the word was used, and from this point on Sid lived the life which, as we now know, led to his untimely death and perhaps arguably inevitable.

The Sex Pistols were now gigging. Having played their first gig at Saint Martin's College of Art in November 1975 they were gaining a growing reputation. Glen's music and John's words came together in a way that could not have been predicted. Once Steve took the songs and made them fit to his self taught method of guitar playing a unique and never repeated source of energy and emotion was created. The Sex Pistols were becoming something even Malcolm McClaren could not have reckoned with - a credible creative force which had worth and credibility outside of him. Not only that the Sex Pistols captured the feelings of youngsters growing up in the mid 70s and became their spokesmen. Out of the Blank Generation came a means of self expression and creativity - stop complaining about things, get of your arse and do something about it.	Classic Pistols line up with Glen Matlock on bass
Simon Barker, Marco Pirroni, Soo Catwoman & Sid in 'Sex'	Sid was now to have his chance to get on stage for the first time. Ron Watts music promoter and manager of the 100 Club, always with a keen eye on what was current and with the potential for some profit, organised and promoted the first ever Punk Festival in September 1976. Headline band was the Sex Pistols. Two members of the Sex Pistols following known as the Bromley Contingent, always on the look out for ways to get noticed grabbed their opportunity for fame when it was noticed a gap existed in the running order for the first day. Immediately Siouxsie Sue offered her band to fill the gap. Unfortunately no band actually existed and they did not have long to form one. Initially the line-up was to be Sioux, Steve Spunker (Severin), Sid on drums and Billy Idol on guitar. Billy however not wanting to undermine his own drive for stardom dropped out. Marco Pirroni, Sid's friend through Soo Catwoman, who could actually play the guitar was drafted in and Sid found himself on stage at the 100 Club playing a loose version of what became known as the Lord's Prayer.

The Sex Pistols were now gigging. Having played their first gig at Saint Martin's College of Art in November 1975 they were gaining a growing reputation. Glen's music and John's words came together in a way that could not have been predicted. Once Steve took the songs and made them fit to his self taught method of guitar playing a unique and never repeated source of energy and emotion was created. The Sex Pistols were becoming something even Malcolm McClaren could not have reckoned with - a credible creative force which had worth and credibility outside of him. Not only that the Sex Pistols captured the feelings of youngsters growing up in the mid 70s and became their spokesmen. Out of the Blank Generation came a means of self expression and creativity - stop complaining about things, get of your arse and do something about it.

Classic Pistols line up with Glen Matlock on bass

Simon Barker, Marco Pirroni, Soo Catwoman & Sid in 'Sex'

Sid was now to have his chance to get on stage for the first time. Ron Watts music promoter and manager of the 100 Club, always with a keen eye on what was current and with the potential for some profit, organised and promoted the first ever Punk Festival in September 1976. Headline band was the Sex Pistols. Two members of the Sex Pistols following known as the Bromley Contingent, always on the look out for ways to get noticed grabbed their opportunity for fame when it was noticed a gap existed in the running order for the first day. Immediately Siouxsie Sue offered her band to fill the gap. Unfortunately no band actually existed and they did not have long to form one. Initially the line-up was to be Sioux, Steve Spunker (Severin), Sid on drums and Billy Idol on guitar. Billy however not wanting to undermine his own drive for stardom dropped out. Marco Pirroni, Sid's friend through Soo Catwoman, who could actually play the guitar was drafted in and Sid found himself on stage at the 100 Club playing a loose version of what became known as the Lord's Prayer.

� OldPunkGit 2007 -OldPunkGit MySpace