Holidays In The Sun - Sex Pistols

"Holidays in the Sun" was the fourth single by the British punk rock band Sex Pistols. It was released on October 14, 1977, and proved to be the last single from the group as a whole for 30 years (Steve Jones and Paul Cook would record one more single, "No One Is Innocent" with Ronnie Biggs as the band imploded, and Vicious would record solo covers of "My Way" and "Somethin' Else" under the Pistols name. The Pistols would not record another single until 2007, when the original lineup recorded covers of "Anarchy in the UK" and "Pretty Vacant" for two video games).

The song was inspired by a trip to the Channel Island of Jersey, "We tried our Holiday In The Sun in the isle of Jersey and that didn't work. They threw us out", followed by a couple of weeks spent in Berlin. Although they described the city as "raining and depressing", they were relieved to get away from London. Says John Lydon, "Being in London at the time made us feel like we were trapped in a prison camp environment. There was hatred and constant threat of violence. The best thing we could do was to go set up in a prison camp somewhere else. Berlin and its decadence was a good idea. The song came about from that. I loved Berlin. I loved the wall and the insanity of the place. The communists looked in on the circus atmosphere of West Berlin, which never went to sleep, and that would be their impression of the West."

"Holidays In the Sun" was later featured as the opening track on the group's debut album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. The single's B-side was "Satellite", a song about the band's early performances in "satellite towns". The Sex Pistols had enjoyed playing away from the capital, because they were the only occasions on which they could play away from their manager, Malcolm McLaren, and his group of associates.

The song's main hook, a simple descending figure, bears a resemblance to the bassline of The Jam's "In the City", which was released a few months previously in April 1977. The two groups did play at least one show together (at Queensway Hall in Dunstable on October 21, 1976), at which point The Jam had already been in the studio to record demos of "In the City". Bruce Foxton, bass player for The Jam and later the Stiff Little Fingers alleged in a 1994 book that the riff had indeed been stolen from this song.[1] By one account, Sid Vicious and Foxton got in a fight over this, with Foxton the clear victor.

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Music

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• Jon
• lydon
• john
• jonny
• rotten
• johnny
• sid
• vicious
• sucks
• hes
• poser
• glen
• matlock
• punk
• british
• :P

[Geisttanzer]

Commercial music and posers is nothing new, you definitely won't find punk if you look for it on MTV

[EverDownward]

The music industry is seriously lacking one crucial element since the seventies: Punk.

The fire and attitude that punk artists like Johnny Rotten and Jello Biafra brought to the authority and public is now extinguished under the wet and soggy grain of mass-produced commercialism such as Paramore, Tokio Hotel, Fall Out Boy, etc. We NEED that fire back, we NEED that passion in the industry again. Until then, the music scene is going to be bland, dull, simple, and stagnant.

[boskobadass]

WANKERS

[phddddd]

no Cream, no Blind Faith, no Crazy Horse, no Attractions, no Beatles, no Beach Boys ... I like your list, but it is tough to ignore some others. I put Blind Faith #1 and Sex Pistols #2, two groups lasting about the same length of time and producing only one album. Ramones are a very close #3. If you put in "Doors" and Jim Morriosn, you just have to put in "Love" and Arthur Lee. Yes?

[lankyGigantic]

Absolute truth.

[lincoln0karlsson]

absolutlie the best punk band and song ever and it will stay that way

[FEAR1818]

for rock bands 1 nirvana 2 Jimi Hendrix 3 Rolling Stones 4 Ramones 5 Sex Pistols 6 Metallica 7 Disturbed 8 Slipknot 9 Doors 10 Black Sabbath

[scaleshort]

I remember first single of The JAM - In the city. Very good punk rock BUT - very quickly guys goes on commercial POP way. Sold band.

[scaleshort]

THAT's the Rock'n'Roll!

It's NO band like SEX PISTOLS!

Fantastic Fender P-bass sound!

Can't be better!

[roddy76to86]

I think you've got the wrong song pal !

[kingalaricI]

Hahah i luv that line 'IVE HAD ENOUGH OF THATCHER' brilliant

[Geisttanzer]

Indeed, but they ripped it for good.