Malcolm McLaren's Grave.

Описание: Intro music by Jory Nash www.jorynash.com
October 1971, McLaren took over the back part of the retail premises at 430 King's Road in Chelsea, West London, and sold rock and roll records, refurbished 1950s radiograms and dead stock clothing as In The Back Of Paradise Garage. With the assistance of art-school friend Patrick Casey, McLaren converted the entire ground floor into Let It Rock, with his girlfriend Vivienne Westwood repairing original clothing and making facsimiles.

To part-fund the business, in February 1972 McLaren was paid £50 to marry a former Goldsmiths fellow student, Jocelyn Hakim, so that she could achieve British citizenship. Hakim took the surname Edwards and subsequently gave birth to Jodhi May (later an actress) in 1975. There is no truth in the rumour that McLaren was May's father, which is based on the fact that May's birth surname was her mother's married name.

Let It Rock was patronized by teddy boys and McLaren and Westwood's designs also appeared in such theatrical and cinematic productions such as The Rocky Horror Show and That'll Be The Day. In spring 1973, new clothing based on 40s and 50s tailoring and a range of leather garments with studs inaugurated a new manifestation at the address under the name Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die. Among commissions were costumes for Ken Russell's film Mahler.

In August 1973, McLaren and Westwood visited New York to participate in the National Boutique Fair, where they began an association with the New York Dolls supplying them with stage wear and joining the glam-punk group on tour in the UK and France.

In October 1974, McLaren renamed the outlet SEX to reflect a growing preoccupation with fetish wear and provocation.

In January 1975, McLaren and Westwood designed red patent leather costumes for the New York Dolls and used a Soviet-style hammer and sickle motif for their stage shows in the US as a provocative means of promoting the band. This ploy was not successful and the Dolls soon broke up. Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders blamed McLaren for the band's demise, stating that he was "the reason why we broke up" when in fact it was Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan's drug addiction which forced the split. In May 1975, McLaren returned to Britain.

Sex Pistols

From 1974, McLaren had advised SEX customers Paul Cook and Steve Jones on their musical aspirations, having proposed that one of his shop assistants, Glen Matlock, join them as the bass-player in a group McLaren named Kutie Jones and his Sex Pistols. In the summer of 1975, McLaren ejected the bespectacled guitarist/singer Wally Nightingale from the line-up because he lacked visual appeal.

McLaren's one-time associate Bernie Rhodes (later manager of the Clash) has claimed he spotted a new frontman in another customer Johhn Lydon, then sporting green hair and torn clothes with the words "I hate" scribbled on his Pink Floyd T-shirt. Lydon, dubbed "Johnny Rotten", joined and McLaren shortened the name to Sex Pistols, stating that he wanted to give the impression of "sexy young assassins".
In May 1977, a few months after Sid Vicious had replaced Matlock, the band released "God Save the Queen" during the week of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. McLaren organised a boat trip down the Thames in which the Sex Pistols would perform their music outside the Houses of Parliament. The boat was raided by the police and McLaren was arrested, thus achieving his goal to obtain publicity.

The band released their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols in October 1977 and played their last UK gig before embarking upon a U.S. tour in January 1978. During his time managing the band, McLaren was accused by band members (most notably by Lydon) of mismanaging them and refusing to pay them when they asked him for money. McLaren stated that he had planned out the entire path of the Sex Pistols, and in the film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle he set this plan out.

The contractual rights to the Sex Pistols' name rights were disputed in a case brought by Lydon, Jones, Cook and the estate of Sid Vicious in 1979 against McLaren's management company Glitterbest. In 1986 the High Court awarded the rights to the group's name, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, the artwork, master tapes and the group's income to Lydon and the others. In the 2000 film The Filth and the Fury, the surviving members of the Sex Pistols gave their version of events.

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