Steve Jones Believes Sex Pistols Were ‘Meant to Implode’
Steve Jones said the Sex Pistols were “meant to implode” as he looked back at the punk icons’ two-year wild ride in the ‘70s.
The guitarist – whose memoir formed the recent Pistol miniseries – maintained that making their album Never Mind the Bollocks was the best part of the experience.
“When Glen [Matlock] was in the band, we were definitely focusing more on music,” Jones told BBC Radio 5 in a recent interview. "You know, that was a big part of it. Then it … just got silly. ... I think we might have been a bit naive at first, but that was the charm about it. Because, you know, we didn't have any record company saying, ‘I don't hear any singles.’ We [were] just writing how we heard it.
"And it was all innocent, the writing process back then," he added. "And then it was all over in two years, really. It was one album, it was a great time – there was luck in there, there was talent, and it was a destiny that was meant to happen. And I think it was meant to implode."
He described the recording experience as “the most fun I had in the Sex Pistols,” noting that "there was no one around. We were all pretty much sober at the time, we just focused on doing that and experimenting."
Soon afterward, Jones argued, the hype surrounding the band became too much, especially its notorious appearance on Bill Grundy’s evening TV chat show. “I wasn't a fan of that,” the guitarist said. “It was all right for a little while. But I think that, after the Grundy thing, as much as it was great when he was a household name the next day - I think I've said this a lot - it was just the beginning of the end. … And then we went to America and then it just got really dark and horrible, and I just had enough.”