Public Image Ltd.- Poptones & Careering (American Bandstand 1980)

[Loshia2002]

I had a friend who worked with Dick Clark Productions and she'd told me that despite opinions to the contrary, this was one of Clark's favorite appearances. He was surprisingly open minded about music and really liked the irreverent way bands during this time represented themselves.

[dropd29]

This a textbook example to bands. Do it like this.

[pigcopeland]

heh heh heh ;@)



[miamiwax]

this has to be one of the most incredible and memorable performances ever on american banstand

[ManilaSyndicate]

The biggest Fuck You to lip-syncing.

"Careering" sounds great, doesn't it?

[menchitty11]

Taking audience participation to the next level!!!

[deftones311100]

yes!! this is so brilliant! john lydon is a rock god

[oHelmslyoRisesAgain]

pil on american bandstand. anarchy.

[ronbo11]

Chaos on the set! DC did handle it pretty well and this is definitely one of the most interesting/entertaining "performances" on that venerable TV show.

[sooper2dooper3]

this is awesome

[sooper2dooper3]

once a ponce...always a ponce

[strtnochaser1984]

Whats funny about this is how PIL and Dick Clark are on complete opposite ends of the entertainment spectrum. And neither party wanted anything to do with each other. Of John Lydon, Dick Clark said "What can I expect from this asshole?" But the executive producer wanted it to go down, and the result is pretty much the coolest example of culture jamming Ive ever seen

[MrMedusaLvamp]

BRILLIANT!!!!!....ONE OF THE BEST MUSICAL GUEST APEARANCES I'VE EVER SEEN ON AMERICAN TELEVISION!!!

[tuskedbeast]

Along with every other second of this- love that great sour synth wash going into Careering and everyone getting ready to get down... sublime!

This really shows the clash between the new thing and the old ways, and how positive it was. Also a great "acid" moment... hooray, so cool to see this again!

[kathy197778]

The best part - 9:04, Levene hits Atlkins' cymbal with his guitar then starts dancing with John!! (:)

[tomstickland]

I like the contrast of the chaos with the dullness of

"what's your name?"

"Martin Atkins?"

[bps3013]

Guy with poofy hair, sunglasses and Battlestar Galactica viper pilot jacket doing the robot dance FTW!!!

[kingjojothegreat]

john is really a whore, he was just very good in the beginning pretending that he wasn't. Although, PIL's music was uncompromising at least in the beginning.

[USDJ2722]

Dick Clark objected to these guys being on his show. But there was a high, high powered producer that basically said F.U, to Dicky and put them on. Once Dicky saw the crowds reaction he changed his tune. ABC did not want to air this but were pressured into it. PiL also went against the Lip-Sync policy of the show.

My Dad (Who was a programming Exec for ABC in L.A.) always brought home video tapes of shows taped that day unedited for us to see before they aired. This one was the coolest!

[djscotty1111]

@USDJ2722 Big Thnx for sharing !! Johnny as Mad as a shit house rat ;) still a fan after All these years ;)

[acinemajunkie]

@richardkarn1 Really? You're actually getting that worked up over one guy's opinion on a youtube video? If that's not pretentious I don't know what is. Live and let live, or take your anger elsewhere than a PiL video.

[futuristfood]

he is a wonder. i do love him.

[katoklzmk]

I saw them in adinky club around '80-'83? on Hallowe=en; John was tripping asd was most o the audience.....he hid behind the speakers or about hal the time....too unny! :D

[PostPunkFan]

LOVE it! John is so EPIC in this!

[gahloot]

Clark did lose it after this taping!He was an asshole!

[StudlyCuddlyBuddy]

so this is what the Dead Milkmen were talking about when they said "you'll dance to anything by Public Image Ltd." Still love PIL though.

[BMo2xl]

I remember seeing this at my barber shop! The guys there were saying, "What the hell is this shit?!" I was digging every moment of it!

[fendermac]

I always thought that that was what American Bandstand was....loads of people dancing.JL obviously thought the same...

[MrsSyck]

Wow, this is like the most interesting musical performance that I've ever seen. John rocks!

[rottenparts]

Oh man that was freaking hilarious! Johnny just taking the piss out of the whole thing.

[CONSIDERABLYMORE1]

THE most revolutinary moment n rock history. What is clear here is that Americans are easily lead, and not the root of all evil. Here in the UK we find the root of all evil, dont we, Mr Blair, dont we Mr Clegg, dont we Mr Cameron. Oh, and no forgetting Mr Tony Benn, I mean, after all, your sad sack mate's protege is now in charge of the Labour Party and what the f**k is he doing ????

[johnsain]

The cavernous contrast between Lydon and the pathetically plastic and clueless, terminally conformist L.A, Trendies is hilarious and sad........nothing has changed since, except there are no new Lydons.

[rocknjac58]

I so remember this!. DC was such a good sport. This was classic AB

[TorgeistLLN]

Man, Dick Clark is a legend and as classy as one can get. I really feel for him after his stroke. My heart goes out to him and his family.

[motleycrue24]

years later we dont even know who that band is

[jholbax1]

just fantastic. saw PIL again about 4 months ago, great great show

[godozo]

Of all the songs they could have done...poptones? Careering? Strangest stuff ever to go on that show.

[theultimohombre]

This is outstanding. Lydon never gets credit for being MORE human than everyone else, instead of his over-hyped and ridiculous rep of being inhuman. He's exactly the opposite. Must be frustrating for him most of all. And Clarkie DOES deserve much credit for allowing it, even encouraging it, to happen. Excellent fake performance. Too bad they were'nt playing 'Death Disco; that wouldve really lit those kids up. Seems like we're going backwards. Thanks for posting.

[ELRANDON20]

05:32  -Cocaine?????

[stankler]

jesus.that was pushing the envelope.respect everyone including d.clark.hed have made a good teacher.

[markgraham190665]

classic

[Thathoodwink]

There was a time in 1980 when American Bandstand had Public Image, The Jam, and Madness on in the space of about a month and a half. It was unreal. They were actually cool for a brief time!

[FallopianY0UTUBE]

cool

[glassineheart]

thank you so much for reposting this oh my fucking god i love to watch this

everyone fucking dance! so cool.

[brandoncipelle]

Public image limited what a band. J Poast punk grovve machine funky gods of music. still gothem on vinyl ahh the days of goodmusic.

[kdeviljay]

To the video uploader's description: American Bandstand did not air in prime time. The show ran on Saturday mornings or early afternoons.

[kdeviljay]

@kdeviljay AB was always noted as a show where white kids dance to non-dance music. Where as Soul Train there were black kids dancing to actual dance music. Both shows were wonderful and I miss them both. Got to love the fashions on Soul Train in the 70s and early 80s.

[otacon17x]

How the hell are they dancing to Poptones???

[richartrod]

@sygo7g

So did I. For the 1977-78 season ABC moved "Bandstand" from Saturday afternoons, where it aired before "Wide World of Sports", to the Saturday morning kids schedule, and apparently it thrived at that new slot for a few years with the disco era in full swing and the MTV era afterward. Clark thought the shows from the disco era were the best of the entire series.

[simonpenum]

Dick Clark exploits the poor.

[miamiwax]

damn they couldn't give him a copy of metal box??? hehehehe...

[Stube437]

Anyone else listening to Suggs on 6music? ha ha

[brandoncipelle]

Ha Ha Ha What agreat show that had to be wish i was there

[richartrod]

Also, the video's description needs to be corrected. "American Bandstand" aired on ABC, not NBC. It ran on ABC from 1957 to 1987, a continuous run that will probably never be repeated, unless "The Simpsons" stays on for another ten years. :)

[furrycanuck]

@richartrod SNL has broken that record.

[richartrod]

@furrycanuck Yes it has, and so has "The Price is Right", which has been on CBS since 1972.

[richartrod]

In his 1997 picture memoir "Dick Clark's American Bandstand", Clark said that this performance was "controlled chaos", and let John do whatever he wanted, as long as he didn't hurt anyone. This is hilarious, and Clark rolled with it. It's very obvious the kids loved it. But then, what would you expect from a guy better known as Johnny Rotten? LOL. It's even funnier when John forgets to lip-sync and suddenly jumps back into it. Then there's his refreshing his sinuses on camera. A real scream!

[oa]

The fact that Public Enemy will only be remembered for their stupid childish antics -- and not about the music says a lot

[jukejoint65]

@oa ..and you'll only be remembered for getting the name of the band wrong on You Tube and not having a sense of humour.

[furQ]

@oa says a lot about what?

[simonpenum]

@oa the fact you dont know the bands name says alot more

[griffinchalk]

@oa Getting the name wrong is pretty careless or just ignorant, but I agree with you. PIL and the Sex Pistols are almost better known for their publicity stunts as for their music. They were better performance art projects than anything else. Somebody else said Lydon was like Andy Kauffman and I would have to agree.

[Mongo61]

To the best of my memory, AB used to air around noon time on Saturday, right after the cartoons, despite the description of the subby.

John is like the Andy Kaufman of post-punk; the audience is there to entertain HIM.

Love it, love it, love it.

[UltimateVenom]

argh, this makes me more in love with early PIL. their attitude, what they do on tv, their music.

[Boulevard07]

I saw that show that Dick Clark was referring to.

[havertrace]

Hello Johnny alright, feeling OK? LOL

[v1m]

The ten minutes that redeem 47 years of American Bandstand!

[exwhyyou]

before the performance, wobble saw mr Clark in backstage, and he didnt know who the hell Clark is. ah maybe Clark expected to hear some flattery or something from Wobble!

when Wobble introduces himself, he says "The" Jah Wobble. funny.

I LOVE PiL

[032gavmal]

this is pure art

[willerror]

I don't think regular kids of the '70s understood punk/post rock. Well done Lydon, and Dick Clark for his sense of humor about the whole thing.

[acinemajunkie]

he turns entire group of faces in the crowd, robots basically into actual people-- dancing, grooving to the beat. In the process he shatters all the myths that had been built up about the show-- and rock and roll.

and good on you, dick clark, for handling it the way you did.

[glassineheart]

@acinemajunkie it is brilliant--but i had always read that dick clark was not pleased at all by what took place.

[CraigMcDerm0tt]

@acinemajunkie This has to be the most astute youtube observation I've ever seen. Scratch that, one of the most astute critical appraisals of a musical performance I've ever seen. Never looked at it that way before, thanks man.

[JONNYJAMES1000]

Absolutely brilliant that, never seen it before. I saw Pil in Leeds 4 weeks ago and they rocked the house down, even on a revival tour. On for 2 hours an all, great value. Ol' John boy's still got plenty of fire in him make no doubt about it !

[braveone2u]

It's funny to watch this clip again after so many years, just to see the kids trying so desperate to groove to the beat. Ah, precious memory.

[couscoustv]

Brilliant

[TorgeistLLN]

Dick Clark had a good sense of humour. Rating this so highly and having such a good attitude towards these guys while most hosts would have lost it.