In late 1976, the punk rock band, Sex Pistols, still relatively unknown to most of the public, appeared on British television. Their appearance resulted in one of the biggest uproars in British television history.
Queen Scheduled to Appear on Today With Bill Grundy
On December 1, 1976, the rock band Queen was set to appear on a program called Today, a regional show on Thames Television. It was a live program so profanity was forbidden. The program was hosted by 53-year-old anchor Bill Grundy, but the band had to bow out of the appearance after frontman Freddie Mercury developed a toothache. Mercury wasn’t a big fan of dentists but the pain became so unbearable he booked an appointment – his first one in 15 years.
Sex Pistols Offered Up As Queen Replacement
The band’s label EMI, instead offered up a new group they had signed named Sex Pistols. The band had just released their first single, “Anarchy in the UK”. The band was also in rehearsals for their 1976 Anarchy Tour at the time.
Bassist Glen Matlock recalled how the interview nearly never happened, according to Far Out Magazine, “We very nearly didn’t do it. This big limousine turned up outside this place. Being punk rockers, we were like, ‘We’re not getting in that thing’. Then this phone call came through from band manager Malcolm McLaren saying, ‘If you don’t do it, your wages will be stopped this week.’ We were all in the car like a shot.”
While the punk scene in the UK was getting a lot of coverage in the music press, the mainstream media hadn’t really paid attention yet. The interview couldn’t have come at a better time.
In 1976, it wasn’t common to hear the f-word spoken on tv. In fact, it had only happened twice up until this point and both instances caught the attention of the parliament.
Sex Pistols’ Alcohol-Fueled Interview
The interview was partially fueled by alcohol on the Sex Pistols’ part, according to Johnny Rotten who said, “They made us wait a real long time in what they jokingly call the green room, which was just free drink.”
Guitarist Steve Jones recalled drinking a lot ahead of the appearance while bassist Glen Matlock claimed the band didn’t drink that much ahead of their appearance on the show. Another thing that may have provoked the profanity-laden interview was that Siouxsie Sioux was on the air with the band that night. Grundy had apparently been flirtatious with her before the band went live and Johnny Rotten called Grundy out on it.
‘Well, not much can go wrong…‘ – Mike Housego
Studio producer, Mike Housego recalled the incident in 1992, “They were only allotted 90 seconds, and I thought, ‘Well, not much can go wrong…‘”
Classic Rock Magazine obtained documents from the Thames Television show about the aftermath of the incident. Mike Housego was in charge of the live broadcast and wrote a memo after the appearance that revealed that after the interview the band was taken to the green room where they were harassing studio employees.
The studio had 12 phone lines, which were not enough to handle all the angry calls from the public. The phone calls that couldn’t be handled by the studio’s phone system redirected the calls to the green room, which the members of the band answered. Unsupervised in the green room, the band launched into more profanity at the angry callers.
In the years following the appearance, there were several theories brought forward as to what happened. Some pointed the finger at host Bill Grundy for being under the influence, a charge he has long denied. The internal documents that Classic Rock uncovered make no mention of this. Others claimed that the whole thing was planned to boost the band’s profile as Thames Television was partly owned by EMI.
“The Filth and the Fury”
Today was limited to London and the surrounding areas but the interview made national headlines. The tabloids had a field day. The Daily Mirror wrote on their front page, “The Filth and the Fury” with politicians weaponizing the incident and vowing not to let the group perform for young fans in their cities.
Of course, any publicity is good publicity. The band’s manager, Malcolm McLaren wrote in 2007, “I knew the moment the autocue lady threw up her hands and her bag, her make-up cascading through the air, that we had smashed the deception. It was live tv and the Sex Pistols were front-page.”
Guitarist Steve Jones’ had a different recollection of McLaren, “He was terrified”.
The television station wasn’t happy with Bill Grundy’s behaviour during the interview, as they blamed him for antagonizing the band. He was suspended for two weeks. The station’s program director Jeremy Isaacs described the incident as “a gross error of judgment” leading from “inexcusably sloppy journalism”.
The Today program was cancelled several months after the incident and Grundy was never seen on prime-time tv again. He passed away at the age of 69 in 1993 following a heart attack.
In 2008, a survey showed the Grundy interview as the most requested clip in UK television history.
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