''Spunk'' is a
bootleg
Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to:
* Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially
* Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence:
** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...
demo album by the English
punk rock band The
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
. It was originally released in the United Kingdom during September or October 1977.
The album comprises
studio demos and talking recorded with
Dave Goodman during 1976 and early 1977, while original bass player
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock (born 27 August 1956) is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols' only alb ...
was still a member of the band. Most of the songs would later be re-recorded and officially released on the group's album, ''
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'' is the only studio album by English punk rock band the Sex Pistols, released on 28 October 1977 by Virgin Records in the UK and on 11 November 1977 by Warner Bros. Records in the US. The album ...
''.
The alternative debut album
Several parties, including some journalists in the British music press, immediately suspected that the band's manager,
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English impresario, visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, notable for combining these activities in an inventive and provoc ...
, was responsible for the original ''Spunk'' bootleg. This would have been in breach of the band's record contract with
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
, which was readying the release of ''Never Mind the Bollocks'' when ''Spunk'' appeared. An October 1977 ''
Sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
'' article by Chas de Whalley discussed ''Spunk'' and made reference to this conveniently coincidental timing.
In the Sounds article, Chas de Whalley makes reference to buying a copy in a record store on the Portobello Road. It was in fact a tiny little record store (ACME Records) in the back of the now famous ACME Attractions. The shop assistant who dealt with de Whalley, identified in his article simply as "The Punk," was Doug McArthur, bassist for Killerhertz and Kid Rogers and the Henchmen. McArthur maintained the bootleg was a better quality record and claims to have sold many copies through that little record store.
The evidence for McLaren's involvement is speculative, although it can be noted that his company, Glitterbest, retained the rights to the demo recordings as well as the master tapes – and the demos appearing on ''Spunk'' were presented in excellent quality. Also, as evidenced by the original album's "LYN-" matrix number
A matrix number is an alphanumeric code (and on occasion, other symbols) stamped or handwritten (or a combination of the two) into the run-out groove area of a phonograph record. This is the non-grooved area between the end of the final band o ...
prefix, the record had clearly been pressed in the UK by Lyntone, a legitimate independent pressing plant that would presumably not handle anything that appeared to be a bootleg, and would certainly allow the bootlegger in question to be traced if enquiries had ever been made by the genuine copyright owner. McLaren always publicly denied responsibility for ''Spunk'', but said that he preferred it to ''Never Mind the Bollocks''.
During a BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
interview with rock journalist John Tobler
John Hugen Tobler (born 9 May 1943) is a British rock music journalist, writer, occasional broadcaster, and record company executive.
With Pete Frame, he was one of the founders of ZigZag magazine in April 1969. The magazine focused on the " un ...
on November 12, 1977, shortly after the release of ''Never Mind The Bollocks
''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'' is the only studio album by English punk rock band the Sex Pistols, released on 28 October 1977 by Virgin Records in the UK and on 11 November 1977 by Warner Records, Warner Bros. Records in th ...
'', both Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious criticized the bootleg release and claimed that they hadn't received a free copy. Rotten, in particular, criticized the idea of people making money out of his efforts and commented that the material on the album was 'substandard, and should be kept unreleased'. When asked if he knew who was responsible for releasing the album, Rotten replied, "Yes...I'm not going to say...but I'll see him in court." When pressed further and asked if he was, in fact, going to sue, Rotten countered, "How can you? How can you catch them? How can you prove it?"[
A week later, during a ]Radio Forth
Radio Forth is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Edinburgh, Lothians and Fife. Radio Forth is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Edinburgh and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio network and Greatest Hits Radio n ...
interview on the November 19th edition of the ''Edinburgh Rock Show,'' Johnny Rotten further criticized the bootleg release saying, "I don't like it. They were tapes that were never meant to be released, right? They were just us messing about in the studio and the fact that some #$%@ goes in and releases them on an album, makes me sick!" However, Rotten went on to contradict the statement he made the week prior, regarding the album's origins, by saying, "And I hope to find out who he is". When asked if he was receiving any royalties from the release, Rotten replied, "I'm getting not a penny! The music business is probably the most corrupt business in the world".[
Some Sex Pistols fans concur with McLaren] – and producer Goodman[ – that the raw versions of the songs on ''Spunk'' are superior to the officially released ones, particularly since ''Spunk'' approximates a faithful reproduction of the original Sex Pistols line-up's live sound. The album also features the bass-lines of Glen Matlock, which were not reproduced when guitarist ]Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist
*Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...
took over bass duties for the recording of ''Never Mind the Bollocks''.[
''Spunk'' is therefore often cited as the Sex Pistols' de facto alternative debut album. Certainly a tape of part or all of ''Spunk'' had been played to Tony Parsons as early as March 1977, and became the subject of his '']NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' article, "Blank Nuggets in the UK", which described the recordings as if they represented an imminent debut album release.
Reissues
The original ''Spunk'' was itself copied and bootlegged immediately upon release. The tracks have since been re-bootlegged countless times in many different formats, including a widespread variant called ''No Future UK?'',[ which added three extra tracks, and many releases by Dave Goodman, which often feature evidence of remixing.]
''Spunk'' has also been the subject of several official releases.
Virgin Records released the whole of ''Spunk'', without the talking between tracks, along with several other early Sex Pistols demos as part of a limited edition double-CD reissue of ''Never Mind the Bollocks'' in 1996 called '' Spunk/This Is Crap''.[
''Spunk'' was released on 17 July 2006 by ]Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...
in its original vinyl format (CMQLP1395, limited to 1,000 copies).[ The CD version (CMRCD1376) included the three bonus tracks from the original ''No Future UK?'' bootleg.][
A Venezuelan bootleg album, ''Smilin' Ears'', features the same tracks, except additional track of intro to "No Future" at the beginning of album.][ It is unnamed, consisting of "Nookie" backing speech of band members. The words spoken by ]Johnny Rotten
John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and agai ...
are "I don't have any heroes, they're all useless. I don't need a Rolls Royce, I don't need a house in the country, I don't need a villa in the south of France. I'm happy as I am an' I'm gonna carry on". The recording was taken from a 1976 edition of the London Weekend Show hosted by Janet Street-Porter
Janet Vera Street-Porter (''née'' Bull; born 27 December 1946) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career as a fashion writer and columnist at the ''Daily Mail'' and was later appointed fashion e ...
, which documented the rise of punk rock.
''Spunk'' was included as a bonus disc in the Sex Pistols box set ''76-77'', a four-CD set of all of the band's pre-''Never Mind The Bollocks'' demo recordings as well as various alternate versions (rough mixes, alternate vocal takes, etc.) of ''Never Mind The Bollocks'' session tracks and later Dave Goodman remixes of some of the original demos. The box set was released by Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
in 2021.
Track listing
All songs written by the Sex Pistols, all songs on the original bootleg album were simply credited to "Spunk". Several songs were presented with early or incorrect titles (actual titles noted in parentheses below).[
]
Side one
#"Lazy Sod" ("Seventeen") – 2:08
#"Satellite" – 4:10
#"Feelings" ("No Feelings") – 2:51
#"Just Me" ("I Wanna Be Me") – 3:11
#"Submission" – 4:17
#"Nookie" (" Anarchy in the U.K.") – 4:07
Side two
#"No Future" ("God Save the Queen
"God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...
") – 3:37
#"Problems" – 4:19
#"Lots of Fun" ("Pretty Vacant
"Pretty Vacant" is a song by the English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released on 2 July 1977 as the band's third single and was later featured on their only album, ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'', released during t ...
") – 3:09
#"Liar" – 2:44
#"Who Was It" ("EMI") – 3:15
#"New York (Looking for a Kiss)" ("New York") – 3:08
Bonus tracks on the original ''No Future UK?'' bootleg and official Sanctuary ''Spunk'' CD
#"Anarchy in the UK"
#"Pretty Vacant"
#"No Fun"
Bonus tracks on ''Spunk/This is Crap'' CD
#"Problems"
#"No Feelings"
#"Pretty Vacant"
#"Submission"
#"No Feelings"
#"EMI"
#"Satellite"
#"Seventeen"
#"Anarchy in the UK"
Notes
* Recorded at the band's Denmark Street rehearsal room (mixed & overdubbed at Riverside/Decibel Studios), London, 13–30 July 1976.
* Recorded at Lansdowne/Wessex Studios
Wessex Sound Studios was a recording studio located at 106a Highbury New Park, London, England. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there, including Sex Pistols, King Crimson, the Clash, Theatre of Hate, XTC, the Sinceros, Queen, Talk Tal ...
, London, 10–12 October 1976.
* Recorded at Gooseberry
Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance. The berries of those in the genu ...
/Eden Studios
Eden Studios was a commercial recording facility in west London. It opened in 1967, originally at 11 Eden Street in Kingston upon Thames (now under the Eden Walk shopping centre), before moving to 20-24 Beaumont Road in Chiswick in 1972. It was ...
, London, 17–28 January 1977.
* Recorded at Chris Spedding
Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his st ...
sessions, Majestic Studios May 1976
* Recorded at Chris Thomas ''Never Mind the Bollocks…'' sessions, Wessex, summer 1977[
]
Personnel
* Johnny Rotten
John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and agai ...
– lead vocals
* Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist
*Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...
– guitar, backing vocals
* Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock (born 27 August 1956) is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols' only alb ...
– bass, backing vocals
* Paul Cook
Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He was also called "Cookie" by his friends on the punk music scene.
Early life and career
Cook was raised in Hammersmith and atte ...
– drums, backing vocals
* Dave Goodman – producer
References
* Jon Savage
Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage; 2 September 1953 in Paddington, London) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'', published in 1991.
...
. ''England's Dreaming'' (Faber & Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
, 2001; )
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spunk
1977 albums
Sex Pistols albums
Albums produced by Dave Goodman (record producer)
Bootleg recordings
Demo albums