Sid and Nancy - who has not heard at least once about this pair? Few people know, but the story is not as romantic as it might seem - a member of the Sex Pistols Sid Vicious and drug addict Nancy Spangen embodied the motto of that time - live fast and die young. But what do we know about the seventies punks symbol? What kind of person was he?
No chance for happiness
Sid Vicious was born on May 10, 1957 in the family of security guard John Ritchie and Anne, a woman with hippie tendencies and who had been using drugs for many years. Sid's real name is John Simon Richie. One of the then friends of the guy Ja Wobble recalled how his mother gave him a dose of heroin when the guy was barely 16 years old.
Youth
Naturally, Sid did not show any interest in studying and at the age of 15 left school. However, at age 16, under the name John Beverly, he enters Hackney College and begins to study photography. His classmate, John Lydon, later gave him the famous nickname to this day. Legend has it that John's hamster, nicknamed Sid, bit John Richie's finger, and he exclaimed “Sid is really vicious!” ("Sid, this is disgusting!"). Some sources say that this nickname stuck to John because of his passion for the work of Sid Barrett and because of Lou Reed's song “Vicious”. Later, John Wardle (who performed under the pseudonym Jah Wobble), John Gray, John Ritchie and John Lydon joined the band The 4 Johns. As the mother of Sid Ann said, unlike Lydon, who was modest and shy, Sid dyed his hair in bright colors and imitated the then idol of youth David Bowie. Lydon later recalled that the two of them often performed on the street and earned money by singing Alice Cooper songs: John performed vocals, and Sid Vishes accompanied him.
Sex pistols
Sid Vicious's place of residence was constantly changing - he lived either with squatters, or with his mother, with whom he had a tense relationship. In the end, having finally quarreled with the latter, he stayed with the squatters, at the same time joining punk culture. Presumably during this period, Sid first found himself in a store on King's Road with the unusual name “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die” (which was soon renamed “SEX”) and began to communicate well with Glen Matlock (who worked in the store and playing bass in the evenings), and a little later with Steve Jones and Paul Cook. The latter recently organized their punk band Swankers and did their best to persuade store owner Malcolm McLaren (who traveled to America to manage the affairs of the New York Dolls group) to run their business and become the group’s manager. After some time, the group was renamed to Sex Pistols. Another vocalist of the store was John Lydon. Initially, McLaren’s wife, Vivienne Westwood, sympathized with Sid Vicious, but the choice was not made in favor of the latter.
Happy chance
In January 1977, Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock left the band for family reasons, and it was decided to replace him with a person who best suits the image of a typical punk rocker. In the hands of Sid Vicious, the guitar looked spectacular, but he played rather mediocre. Despite his sincere desire to master the instrument, his play was rather weak and unstable. Some friends of Sid believed that he never learned to play until his death. Even Lemmy, from whom Vicious took lessons, had the same opinion. Very often at concerts, his guitar was disconnected from the amplifiers so that other musicians would not be confused. For the first time, Sid performed as part of the Sex Pistols on April 3, 1977. The debut took place in the famous London club Screen of Green. The performance was filmed and included in Don Letts's Punk Rock Movie. In the video, Sid Vicious at the very beginning of the video.
Fatal or happy accident?
Vicious got into the group almost by accident, but, nevertheless, he managed to become its brightest character. His manners and behavior, characterized by sharpness and extravagance, attracted the attention of the press. But in fact, he did not contribute practically anything to the group’s work - one song by Sid Vicious and several rehashings of others was all that was left after him. Although the most famous Sex Pistols "chips" belonged to Sid - he invented the famous Pogo dance. By his own admission, he did this solely to knock down visitors to the club in which he played. The contingent there, in his opinion, left much to be desired. Sid Vicious quotes: "I wanted to stir up those damned drug addicts from the club."
Nancy
Sid Vicious's biography would be incomplete without Nancy Spangen. This is a drug addict-dancer from New York who came to London with a rather dubious but clear goal - to sleep with members of the Sex Pistols. Pamela Rook, one of Sid's friends who worked in a clothing store, spoke of her: “John and Steve took advantage of her, and she went over to Sid. It was an instant passion. Nancy was for Sid not only the love of her life, but also the personification of the culture of New York, where his favorite band "Ramones" was so popular. The couple in love is located in Pamela’s apartment not far from Buckingham Palace. All three slept on the same mattress in the dining room. According to Pamela, Vicious became an easy prey for Nancy. All of London dreamed of him, and for him, light wedged on a drug addict from New York. Surrounding noted that this woman was rather pachyderm and unpleasant, everyone saw her through and through, except for Sid in love.
Against the whole world
Meanwhile, Sex Pistols blithely lost a contract with a major record company A&M Records. The reason for this was, as usual, Sid, regularly falling into all kinds of brawls. This was a man who simultaneously increased the hype around the group, and pulled it down. Nevertheless, the guys signed a contract with Virgin Records, but at the time “God Save the Queen” was released, Sid's condition left much to be desired: it turned out that he had hepatitis. In his life there were two drugs - this is Nancy and heroin, dependence on them increased every day.
Meanwhile, the group returned from Scandinavia to the UK, played several sets, and some members began to realize that Nancy was becoming a dangerous burden and began to adversely affect Sid. They tried to send her back to New York by force, but no one succeeded - Sid and Nancy fell in love even more and confronted the whole world alone. Sometimes the couple looked quite presentable - for example, during charity concerts for miners, Sid and Nancy made a most pleasant impression on the public, talking with children and the public. At this time, Sid tries himself in the role of the vocalist of the group - at a charity concert he sang “Chinese Rocks” and “Born to Lose”.
Forced slavery and free swimming
Meanwhile, producer Sida McLaren made it clear to him and his girlfriend that if they refused to participate in the filming of his new film, they would be penniless. Sid returned to Paris to record Frank Sinatra's song “My Way”. Due to the artist’s complex nature, the recording was rather difficult, Sid kept refusing work. The finished recordings were sent to London, where they were made a typical punk rock version of the famous hit. The song began to rise rapidly in the charts. For participating in the film, Vicious received the long-awaited freedom from his hated manager. To replace him came Nancy Sponge, who immediately took up the organization of his tour. The Vicious White Kids, along with Sid, gave one concert in London and immediately received a fee and returned to New York. Just after arriving, the couple rented the hundredth room at the Chelsea Hotel, which was known no longer as a hotel, but as a drug stadium. Nancy organized the concerts pretty well - along with Sid and his new band, wards from McLaren's disbanded groups performed on stage. At Max's, Mick Jones, guitarist for The Clash, appeared as a guest. But Sid, as always, managed to go to hell - on April 7, 1978, he went on stage and was unable to utter two words - he simply fell intoxicated. After that, many musicians refused to cooperate with him. After this incident, the couple decided to go to Nancy’s parents, but the visit was a failure - the finished drug addicts, whom they were, made a very negative impression on Nancy’s parents. Below in the photo is Sid Vicious with his sweetheart.
Nancy's death
In October, Sid received a fee of 25 thousand dollars from his ex-manager McLaren. He was sent to the bottom drawer of the hotel desk. On October 11, a lover urgently needed a dose of heroin. A rumor spread in their environment that they were ready to pay any amount for the dose, since they have money. that night 2 drug dealers visited the hotel room of Sid and Nancy. Of course, after receiving the dose, the couple fell out of life. On the morning of October 12, Sid found Nancy killed in the bath with his own knife. He called the police and an ambulance, and soon he was arrested on suspicion of murder. A large amount from the bottom drawer of the table disappeared and was never found. Sid, heartbroken, was finished off by the most severe alcohol and drug withdrawal, he did not understand what was happening and completely denied his guilt.