Glen Matlock
Encyclopedia
Glen Matlock is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 bass guitarist most famous for being in the original line-up of the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...

. Drummer Paul Cook
Paul Cook
Paul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band Sex Pistols.-Early life and career:...

 has said that Matlock came up with much of the music for the band's songs and most of the lyrics, while lead singer Johnny Rotten
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...

 made some adjustments. Matlock is credited as a co-author on 10 of the 12 songs on Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols is the only studio album by the highly influential and controversial English punk rock band The Sex Pistols...

. He also continues to make his own records and tour with various bands, including the Sex Pistols.

Biography

Matlock left the Sex Pistols in late February 1977, the legend being that he was 'thrown out' because he "liked The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

." Although Matlock has said that one of his biggest influences is The Faces, the Beatles anecdote is fictional. A claim made by the Pistols guitarist Steve Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...

, regarding how he thought it was bizarre that Matlock was "always washing his feet", has also been misquoted and misinterpreted as the cause of Matlock's firing from the group. In his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

, I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol, Matlock stated that he left the band of his own volition as he was "sick of all the bullshit". In the 2000 documentary The Filth and the Fury
The Filth and the Fury
The Filth and the Fury is a 2000 rockumentary film about the Sex Pistols directed by Julien Temple.-About the film:The Filth and the Fury is the second movie Julien Temple made about The Sex Pistols. His first effort was The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, which was released in British cinemas on 15...

, the band members generally agree that there was tension between Matlock and Rotten, which Matlock suggests was exacerbated by Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...

's attempts to pit the two men against each other. Matlock was replaced by Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...

, and went on to form The Rich Kids
The Rich Kids
Rich Kids were a short-lived, seminal new wave band from London, founded in 1977 by Glen Matlock following his departure from The Sex Pistols. The band also included future Ultravox member Midge Ure, and Rusty Egan, who later went to found Visage.-Career:...

, a New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...

 band, with himself as bass guitarist and singer, Midge Ure
Midge Ure
James "Midge" Ure, OBE is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter...

 (guitarist, singer and keyboard player), Steve New
Steve New
Stephen Charles New, later known as Stella Nova, was an English guitarist and singer, known for his work with a number of punk and new wave bands in the late 1970s and early 1980s...

 (guitarist and singer) and Rusty Egan
Rusty Egan
Rusty Egan was the drummer for the British new wave band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, lead...

 (drummer). After The Rich Kids he formed The Spectres with Tom Robinson Band
Tom Robinson Band
Tom Robinson Band were a British rock band, established in 1976 by singer, songwriter and bassist Tom Robinson...

 guitarist Danny Kustow, and then Hot Club with guitarist James Stevenson
James Stevenson (musician)
James Stevenson is a UK punk / rock guitarist, at one time appearing with The Alarm, Gene Loves Jezebel, Generation X and Chelsea.-Music career:...

 and singer Steve Allen.

In John Lydon
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...

's autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

, Rotten: No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish, Lydon claimed that Matlock worked on later Sex Pistols material (including their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols is the only studio album by the highly influential and controversial English punk rock band The Sex Pistols...

) as a paid session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...

 (Jones played bass on all of the songs recorded after Matlock's departure, with Vicious also contributing to the song "Bodies"). Matlock later played bass with Vicious in the short lived band Vicious White Kids
Vicious White Kids
The Vicious White Kids were a punk rock band from London that formed for one concert on August 15, 1978, at the Electric Ballroom in London. Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious was the lead singer...

. Matlock also played bass on the Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...

 album Soldier
Soldier (album)
Soldier is a 1980 album by proto-punk musician Iggy Pop. David Bowie and Simple Minds provide backing vocals on "Play it Safe"....

and the Damned album Not of This Earth
Not of This Earth (The Damned album)
Not of This Earth is the eighth studio album by The Damned. It is often called I'm Alright Jack & The Beanstalk.The album has a convoluted history...

.

Matlock rejoined the original Sex Pistols members for reunion tours in 1996, 2002 and 2003, 2007 and 2008. He played bass guitar and sang for a time in the bands The Philistines and The Flying Padovanis. He toured with a loose collective of punk and post-punk stars, Dead Men Walking, which included Mike Peters
Mike Peters (musician)
Mike Peters is a Welsh musician, best known as the lead singer of The Alarm. He currently lives in Dyserth, North Wales with his family. After The Alarm split up in 1991, Peters wrote and released solo work, which he has been releasing under the name "The Alarm" since 2000...

 of The Alarm
The Alarm
The Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from North Wales in the late 1970s. They started as a mod band and stayed together for over ten years. As a rock band, they displayed marked influences from Welsh language and culture...

, Kirk Brandon
Kirk Brandon
Kirk Brandon is an English musician.-Musical career:Brandon's music career started in 1978, in Clapham, South London, with the formation of punk group The Pack, in which he was the singer/songwriter....

 of Theatre of Hate
Theatre of Hate
Theatre of Hate were a post-punk band formed in Britain in 1980.Led by singer-songwriter and ex-member of punk band The Pack, Kirk Brandon, the original group also consisted of: guitarist Steve Guthrie, bassist Stan Stammers , saxophonist John Lennard and drummer Luke Rendle from Crisis/The...

 and Spear of Destiny, and Pete Wylie
Pete Wylie
-Studio albums:- Extended Plays :-Singles:-External links:***...

 of Wah! He now is a member of Slinky Vagabond with Earl Slick
Earl Slick
Earl Slick is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, Jim Diamond and Robert Smith, although he has also worked with other artists , John Waite, and even released some solo recordings.In the early 1970s, Earl Slick gained his...

, Clem Burke
Clem Burke
Clem Burke is an American musician who is the drummer for the band Blondie. Recruited by Chris Stein and Debbie Harry when they were first forming Blondie, Burke remained with the band through its first stage and later returned for its late 1990s reunion and then its extensive 2009 tour.Following...

, and Keanan Duffty. Slinky Vagabond played their debut concert at the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash in May 2007. One newspaper wrote, comparing the current lifestyles of the Sex Pistols: "Only original bassist Glen Matlock remains touring with his own band, an irony given that he was sacked for being too conservative..."

In January 2010, Glen Matlock reformed the Rich Kids, for a one-off benefit concert in aid of Steve New
Steve New
Stephen Charles New, later known as Stella Nova, was an English guitarist and singer, known for his work with a number of punk and new wave bands in the late 1970s and early 1980s...

. He was joined on stage by original members Rusty Egan
Rusty Egan
Rusty Egan was the drummer for the British new wave band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, lead...

 and Midge Ure
Midge Ure
James "Midge" Ure, OBE is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter...

, as well as Mick Jones
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...

 of The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

 and Gary Kemp
Gary Kemp
Gary Kemp is an English pop musician and actor who is the guitar player and chief songwriter for the 1980s Synthpop band Spandau Ballet. His brother, Martin Kemp, plays bass guitar in the band...

 from Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles...

. New died of cancer on 24 May 2010.

Matlock joined a reformed Faces, playing at the Vintage at Goodwood
Vintage Stakes
The Vintage Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 7 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late July or early August.-History:...

 festival near Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...

 in August 2010. In April 2011 he stood in for Mani
Gary Mounfield
Gary Manny "Mani" Mounfield , is an English rock bassist of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. He has a distinctive playing style that combines a fast moving rock style with a dance rhythm or dub groove...

 playing bass for Primal Scream
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...

 at the Japan Tsunami appeal concert at Brixton Academy in London.

November 27, 2011 the International Swingers [Glen Matlock, Clem Burke {Blondie, Romantics}, James Stevenson {Gene Loves Jezebel, Chelsea, The Alarm}, Gary Twinn {Supernaut, 20th Flight Rockers}] played a warmup gig in LA before a 10 date tour of Australia.

External links

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