Sex Pistols

thumb|right|320px|Anarchy In The UK. A four-time [[Festive Fifty #1.]]

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. Although their initial career lasted just two-and-a-half years and produced only four singles and one studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, they are regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music.... (Read more at Wikipedia.)

God Save The Queen
Main article: God Save The Queen

The Pistols' second single was due to be released on the A&M label, but the company fired the band with a £75,000 pay-off and destroyed nearly all of the 25,000 copies that had already been pressed. It was subsequently issued on Virgin and caused controversy due to its release in the Queen's Jubilee Year. Peel regarded it as "fuss about nothing" and continued to play the song. It reached the Festive Fifty on numerous occasions.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * Anarchy In The UK (1978, #1; 1979, #1; 1980, #1; 1981, #2; 1982AT, #1; 2000AT, #4)
 * EMI (1978, #48)
 * God Save The Queen (1977, #61; 1978, #3; 1979, #13; 1980, #25; 1981, #38, 1982AT, #25)
 * Holidays In The Sun (1977, #11; 1978, #18; 1979, #14; 1980, #12; 1981, #17; 1982AT, #37)
 * Pretty Vacant (1977, #51; 1978, #6; 1979, #16; 1980, #23; 1981, #59; 1982AT, #44; 2000, #29)

Sessions
No sessions.

Other Shows Played
(The following list is compiled only from the database of this site and references in Ken Garner's The Peel Sessions and is certainly incomplete, not least because of the relative lack of available show tracklistings from the period when the band were most active. Please add further information if known.)


 * 1976
 * 19 November 1976: 'Anarchy In The U.K. (7")' (EMI) (first play)
 * 26 November 1976: 'Anarchy In The U.K.' (day of release)
 * 10 December 1976: Anarchy In The UK (single) EMI


 * 1977
 * 13 May 1977: 'God Save The Queen (7")' (Virgin )
 * 16 May 1977: 'God Save The Queen'
 * 24 June 1977: 'Pretty Vacant (7")' (Virgin) (first play)
 * 29 August 1977: Pretty Vacant (single) Virgin
 * 29 August 1977: Anarchy In The UK (single) EMI
 * 03 October 1977: God Save The Queen (single) Virgin
 * 24 October 1977: LP-'Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols' (Virgin) played complete
 * 22 December 1977: God Save The Queen (LP – Never Mind The Bollocks) Virgin (1977 Festive Fifty #61)
 * 22 December 1977: Pretty Vacant (LP – Never Mind The Bollocks) Virgin (1977 Festive Fifty #51)
 * 27 December 1977: Holidays In The Sun (LP – Never Mind The Bollocks) Virgin (1977 Festive Fifty #11)


 * 1978
 * 17 August 1978: Anarchy In The UK (single) EMI
 * (JP: “And life was never quite the same again. What a great band they were.”)


 * 28 August 1978: Problems (album - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols) Virgin V 2086
 * 26 December 1978: E.M.I. (LP - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#45
 * 28 December 1978: Holidays in the Sun (LP - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#18


 * 1979
 * 01 January 1979: Pretty Vacant (LP - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#6
 * 01 January 1979: God Save The Queen (LP - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#3
 * 01 January 1979: Anarchy In The UK (LP - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#1
 * (JP: "Got nearly twice as many votes as ‘Complete Control’ and five times as many votes as ‘Stairway to Heaven’ did two years ago when it became number one.")


 * 18 January 1979: Anarchy In The UK (7”) EMI (one-year anniversary of band split)
 * 03 April 1979: Silly Thing (single) Virgin
 * 28 May 1979: Holidays In The Sun
 * 18 June 1979: C'mon Everybody (single) Virgin
 * 16 August 1979: Holidays In The Sun (single) Virgin
 * 29 August 1979: Holidays In The Sun (single) Virgin
 * 30 August 1979: Anarchy In The UK (7 inch) EMI
 * 27 December 1979: Pretty Vacant (LP-Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#18
 * 27 December 1979: Holidays in the Sun (LP-Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#14
 * (JP: "My theory is, you see, that say in about five year's time, people will regard that as having been the best of the first four Pistols singles and the fact that it's gone from #18 to #14 indicates that I may be actually right or partially right anyway in this belief [...] And don't forget that "Pretty Vacant" went down from #16, er, from #6 to #16. This goes down from #3 to #13.")


 * 27 December 1979: God Save The Queen (LP-Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols)' (Virgin) FF#13


 * 1980
 * 01 January 1980: Anarchy In The UK (LP-Never Mind The Bollocks) (Virgin) FF#1
 * 05 February 1980: I Wanna Be Me (album - Flogging A Dead Horse) Virgin V 2142
 * 06 February 1980: Pretty Vacant (LP - Flogging A Dead Horse) Virgin
 * 24 December 1980: God Save The Queen (LP - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#25
 * 24 December 1980: Pretty Vacant (LP - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#23
 * 29 December 1980: Holidays in the Sun (LP - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, 1977) Virgin FF#12
 * (JP: "At #18 in 1978 and #14 in 1979 and #12 this year, and possibly giving some impetus to my theory - which I think I hold alone, actually - that this may be ultimately the most durable of the four classic Pistols singles.")


 * 30 December 1980: Anarchy in the UK (LP - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols) Virgin FF#1


 * 1981
 * 24 December 1981: God Save The Queen (LP-Never Mind The Bollocks) Virgin FF#38
 * 29 December 1981: Holidays In The Sun (LP-Never Mind The Bollocks) Virgin FF#17
 * 30 December 1981: Anarchy In The U.K. (presumably from LP-Never Mind The Bollocks) Virgin FF#2
 * (JP: "Number one for the last three years, and number two this. End of an era, or what? I don't know.")


 * 1982
 * 16 December 1982: Pretty Vacant (LP-Never Mind The Bollocks) Virgin ATFF#44
 * 20 December 1982: Holidays In The Sun (LP-Never Mind The Bollocks) Virgin ATFF#37
 * (JP: “Although you obviously don't agree, I still think that's their best record.”)


 * 23 December 1982: God Save The Queen (LP-Never Mind the Bollocks) Virgin ATFF#25
 * 30 December 1982: Anarchy In The UK (LP-Never Mind The Bollocks) Virgin ATFF#1


 * 1985
 * 20 February 1985: Anarchy In The UK (LP - The Mini Album) Chaos


 * 1990s and 2000s
 * 30 December 1998: Anarchy in the UK
 * 31 August 1999: Anarchy In The UK
 * 13 January 2000: Pretty Vacant (7 inch) Virgin ATFF#29
 * (JP: There was quite an interesting article, well, interview really, question and answer session with Malcolm McLaren in the Guardian, was it yesterday, or the day before, linked to his candidature as Mayor Of London. It all made you feel quite sympathetic to him, by and large, but he repeated the old canard about 'God Save The Queen' not being played on the radio at all. Well, that's complete bollocks, because it was played at least a dozen times on these programmes.)


 * 26 January 2000: Anarchy In The UK (7") EMI ATFF#4

;Other
 * Peel 006 (BFBS): Satellite (LP-The Mini Album)' (Chaos)
 * Peeling Back The Years 4 (Transcript): Anarchy In The UK
 * Staying Single: Anarchy In The UK
 * Punk Fiction: Anarchy In The UK
 * Punk Fiction: Submission