Public Image Ltd
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Public Image Ltd.: The Odd Combo
Interview by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 16 June 1979
Danny Baker goes on the PiS with PiL ...
Public Image Limited: The Flowers Of Romance (Virgin)
Review by Jon Savage, The Face, April 1981
A typically caustic, sardonic title: the thorn in the rose. If much of the current chart has much of the grace and flow of 1966 ...
Audio interviews
Interview by Kris Needs, Rock's Backpages audio, 1981
John Lydon, Keith Levene and (a barely audible) Jeanette Lee on: the Flowers of Romance album; what was wrong with Wobble; Satin tour jackets; the Futurists & Steve Strange; problems with Virgin Records and more.
File format: mp3; file size: 41.2mb, interview length: 45' 01" sound quality: **
Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages audio, August 1988
Live Aid? Bollocks! Mat Snow battles the airport tannoy to hear pearls of wisdom from John Lydon and band.
File format: MP3 File size: 16.1 mb<br> Interview length: 23 minute 47 seconds Sound quality: ***
Interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages audio, September 1990
John Lydon, eco-warrior, talks about — among many things — rap, NWA, and the Moral Majority; Malcolm McLaren and Bernie Rhodes; ex-bandmate Steve Jones; living in Los Angeles; punks becoming the new establishment; football and his beloved Arsenal; his take on fashion; liking Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour and offending Joni Mitchell; the current PiL and the band's previous members; on being involved in film... and being very rude about the Clash.
File format: mp3; file size: 104mb, interview length: 1h 48' 20" sound quality: ***
Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 5 August 2015
The venerable (post)punk talks about how he writes, from the Pistols days through PiL: his influences, motivation and about specific songs.
File format: mp3; file size: 31.3mb, interview length: 34' 09" sound quality: ** (phoner)
List of articles in the library
Singles: PiL, Cabaret Voltaire, X-Ray Spex, Chris Bell, The Cars et al
Review by Hugh Jarse, ZigZag, November 1978
PUBLIC IMAGE: 'Public Image' (Virgin) 'ELLO, A LOW-key re-emergence which grows on ya. I know everybody was expecting another anthem but here ya go, this ...
Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 4 November 1978
Donning his sardonic mask, BARRY CAIN lurches into Sloane Ranger territory (Chelsea to you) and tracks down one J. Lydon and his mate Jah Wobble; ...
Public Image Ltd.: We Only Wanted To Be Loved
Interview by Robin Banks, ZigZag, December 1978
THE ENIGMATIC Johnny Lydon. Dubbed "The Messiah of Punk" by those who only thought in clichés, he was catapulted into a situation that left him ...
Public Image Ltd.: Public Image Ltd. (Virgin)
Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 9 December 1978
"THE PUBLIC Image is Limited", or so claimed John Lydon in a recent interview with his customary flair for a good, splenetic quip. Well, so ...
Public Image Ltd: Public Image
Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978
"I don't agree with bands who make records to please audiences." (Johnny Rotten.) ...
Public Image Ltd: Public Image (Virgin)
Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 9 December 1978
AND THE BOY looked at Johnny. And he shouted: "Look, ma, the Emperor's got no clothes." ...
Public Image Ltd: Johnny's Immaculate Conception
Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 23 December 1978
Putting The Nation On The PiL ...
Public Image Limited; Linton Kwesi Johnson: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Penny Reel, New Musical Express, 6 January 1979
ON THE FIRST day of Christmas bondage bretheren and neon siteren children of the Rainbow – pace Aswad – left their parents' turkey tables en ...
Public Image Ltd.: Public Image Ltd. (Virgin)
Review by Kris Needs, New York Rocker, February 1979
THE EAGERLY-ANTICIPATED debut offering by Public Image Ltd. landed like a depth charge in the mire of self-congratulatory entrenchment that unfortunately bogs down much of ...
Report by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979
AS JOHNNY Rotten savours his first victory in the Lydon-Glitterbest case, Public Image Ltd. prepare to record a second album with a new drummer, the ...
Live Review by Mick Middles, Sounds, 3 March 1979
ALL PRAISE must go to John Cooper Clarke for transforming the freezing, bored alcohol-starved Mancunians into a warmly responsive audience. ...
Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 3 March 1979
RACE TODAY magazine/organisation, acknowledging the central importance of Manchester in the struggle of black people, launched their northern campaign with a fund raising "Creation For ...
Public Image Ltd.: Public Image (Warner Bros.)
Review by Robot A. Hull, Creem, April 1979
NEVER MIND the Sex' Pistols, here's the rotting corpse of Johnny Rotten, stinking to high heaven like some maggot brain from the Bryan Ferry School ...
Public Image Ltd.: The Factory, Manchester
Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 18 June 1979
A Quick One While No-One's Thinking ...
The Rise And Fall Of Malcolm McLaren Part Three: Last Tango In Paris — 'Je Ne Regrette Rien...'
Retrospective and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 30 June 1979
WHEN HE WAS LYING, HE WAS MORE INTERESTING THAN MANY MEN TELLING A STORY TRULY. ...
Joy Division, Pil et al: Futurama '79 Festival — Set The Controls For The Squalor Of Leeds
Live Review by Andy Gill, Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 15 September 1979
The World's First Science Fiction Music FestivalWords: Ian Penman and Andy Gill. Pix: Kevin Cummins ...
Public Image Ltd.: Metal Box (Virgin)*****
Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 24 November 1979
PiLled to the gills ...
Public Image Ltd: Metal Box (Virgin Metal 1)
Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 24 November 1979
Confessions of a pop performer ...
Public Image Ltd.: The Metal Box
Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1979
FRIDAY EVENING in Chelsea and I'm looking for a house, panning the street on the odd numbers side. Nearly there and a door opens. Down ...
Lydon: Rock & Roll is Dead and He Don't Care
Interview by Kris Needs, New York Rocker, March 1980
AN HOUR of music served in a round metal tin, the twelve-inch form giving depth and punch. Once again, Public Image Ltd. have jabbed music ...
Public Image Ltd.: Metal Box (Virgin import); Sid Vicious: Sid Sings! (Virgin import)
Review by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, March 1980
PIL'S METAL BOX: THE TIN CAN HAS A HEART ...
Public Image Ltd.: Is there any rust in the metal box?
Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 9 March 1980
The king is gone but he's not forgotten This is the story of a Johnny Rotten It's better to burn out Than it is to ...
Public Image Ltd.: Lydon The Exorcist
Report by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 29 March 1980
John Lydon's back in America, as cynical as ever. He wants to forget the memories, do away with the past and rock 'n'roll. MARK COOPER ...
Lydon In New York: The Image Goes Public
Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, May 1980
IT IS TWO O'CLOCK in the afternoon, and John Lydon has just popped his third or fourth Heineken of the day. ...
Public Image Ltd.: PiL in Hollywood
Report and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 24 May 1980
HUDDLED ROUND the side with a crowd of disco dancers waiting for their fifteen minutes of fame, watching a fake Doobie Brothers run through their ...
Public Image Ltd: Market Cultural Center, San Francisco
Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 24 May 1980
PUBLIC IMAGE in a cultural centre — sounds arty enough to make you wonder if they've gone over the top. ...
Public Image Limited, James "Blood" Ulmer: Palladium, New York NY
Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 14 June 1980
NOBODY EXPECTS Public Image Limited to sell massive amounts of vinyl to the American public. So to see the "Sold Out" sign on the Palladium ...
Public Image Ltd: Corporation Executive Report to Shareholders
Report and Interview by Chris Bohn, New Musical Express, 5 July 1980
PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED and America hardly seemed made for each other. Yet having successfully defied Britain's star caste systems and ugly myth makers, earlier this ...
PiL: Rotten's Public Image is on the Mend
Interview by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 26 September 1980
A former Sex Pistol is trying to make it as plain John Lydon. Mary Harron reports ...
Image Publique S.A.: Paris Au Printemps (Virgin)
Review by Vivien Goldman, New Musical Express, 15 November 1980
Lydon says he hates live albums. Paris Au Printemps – PAP – the best of two nights recorded in Paris this spring, is a consumer ...
The Fugitive: John Lydon at Large
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, December 1980
IT SEEMS POETICALLY APPROPRIATE that John Lydon has chosen Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange as the film to insert into the video-cassette deck at Virgin's Townhouse ...
Company Lore and Public Disorder: The PiL Memorandum
Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 14 March 1981
WHILE ENGLAND GOES down the plughole, the firm of Lydon, Levene and Lee set up to prove that enterprise is not dead. They press boldly ...
Public Image Ltd.: Flowers of Romance (Virgin, import LP)
Review by Julie Panebianco, Boston Rock, 30 April 1981
FLOWERS OF Romance reminds me of this old Sid Caesar joke. He introduces a jazz musician as being "...on radar, to let us know if ...
Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, September 1981
The Entertainer as Servant of the People. Chris Salewicz talked to the former Public Image bass player. ...
Interview by Julie Panebianco, Boston Rock, 22 September 1982
A GUITAR is being tuned, loudly, in the studio. Keith Levene strikes a familiar chord which quickly becomes a theme. Public Image Ltd.'s theme. ...
Keith Levene: The Bitterest PiL
Interview by Julie Panebianco, Boston Rock, 11 October 1983
THE URGENT guitar playing that cuts through the rumble of 'The Public Image Theme' isn't just the sound of a guitar going through an amp. ...
The Tube: Ready... Steady... Um...
Report by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 5 November 1983
Helen FitzGerald has a nightmare... and finds herself at the first night of THE TUBE. ...
PiL: This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get (Virgin)
Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, July 1984
JUST when you thought you had the bugger pinned down as a spent force, a wasted opportunist and black and white photocopy of a colourful ...
Public Image Ltd.: This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get (Virgin)
Review by Biba Kopf, New Musical Express, 4 August 1984
DEAR JOHN, the big kiss off: ...
Overview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, January 1986
TO PUT EVERYTHING INTO PERSPECTIVE, AS TO WHERE THE ORIGINALS FROM '76 HAVE GONE; BE IT A WAYSIDE DITCH OR A MAJOR RECORD COMPANY WATER ...
John Lydon: This Is What You Get
Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 8 February 1986
THIS IS the beginning of an interview with the John Lydon who has drunk seven cans of Red Stripe lager, after breakfasting on oysters. ...
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 8 February 1986
THE WEST Coast News Dateline 2030 AD: ...
Profile and Interview by Howard Johnson, Kerrang!, 20 February 1986
WHAT WERE YOU doing ten years ago, huh? Kicking coke cans in the street? Working in a factory? Going to university? Putting on a blazer ...
Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 24 May 1986
SOMEBODY told me John Lydon liked a drink. And this was indeed a large crumb of comfort. Suddenly, it was possible to establish some common ...
Review by Roy Trakin, Creem, June 1986
I READ THE other day where Lee Abrams, the esteemed market research expert who brought us AOR radio, said he knew "snivelling Johnny Rotten would ...
A Private Hour with John Lydon's Public Image
Interview by Toby Goldstein, Creem, August 1986
A SHAME YOU can't hear the belches with which John — but you can also call him Johnny Rotten — Lydon punctuates his conversation. Great ...
Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 10 October 1987
DAY-GLO PINK mini-dreads erupt from his scalp like antennae made of candyfloss. Iceberg blue eyes stare from cigarette ash skin. A smirk. A belch of ...
Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 10 October 1987
HITLER'S SEXY DAUGHTER ...
Public Image Limited: Happy? (Virgin)
Review by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 11 February 1988
TEN YEARS ago he was burying Led Zepplin; now he's praising it. Such are the artistic swings from Johnny Rotten (ne Lydon), professional iconoclast. Not ...
Interview by Mat Snow, Sounds, 17 September 1988
"I LOVE MOANING. That's what I live for!" cackles John Lydon as he surveys a pickled herring with an even fishier eye. "I'm going to ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, July 1989
IN THE BAR OF the North London rehearsal studio complex, John Lydon, wearing a typically loud shirt, a pair of unorthodox dark spectacles and the ...
Public Image Limited: Life's A Beach
Interview by Neil Perry, Select, December 1990
In Public Image Limited's 12 years at pop's outer limits — a career now highlighted on a compilation LP — John Lydon's lifestyle has become ...
Public Image Ltd: D'Ya Ken John PiL
Interview by Richard North, Siren, March 1992
John Lydon refuses to go away, even though it seems the decent thing to do. Somehow he remains a thorn in the side, an anti-hero ...
Memories of a Freezing Festival… James/PiL: Alton Towers, Staffordshire
Live Review by Betty Page, New Musical Express, 10 July 1992
IT WAS NEVER really on the cards, was it, after a perfect Glasto, all sun and good vibes. There, James were last-minute bridesmaids; this was ...
No Future? At Least Lydon Isn't Hung Up On The Past
Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 22 August 1999
JOHN LYDON – once (and probably forever) known as Johnny Rotten – does not stomp around the world in a bad mood, contrary to popular ...
Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2000
David Stubbs takes a shine to the mesmerising remorselessness of PUBLIC IMAGE LTD's post-punk Metal Box... ...
Post-Punk: Lubricate Your Living Room
Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 2001
FORGET ABOUT THE NOSTALGIA-MONGERING AND KITSCH REVIVALISM – THE POST-PUNK PERIOD OF 1979-81 WAS AN ASTONISHINGLY FERTILE TIME FOR BRITISH MUSIC, WHEN INDIE LABELS FLOURISHED ...
Post Punk's Not Dead!: ATTACK!
Retrospective by Mark Paytress, MOJO, January 2004
The avant-garde post-'77 post-punk sound was a revolutionary amalgam of funk, punk, disco and reggae. Mark Paytress explains the battle plan. ...
Public Image Ltd.: Full Metal Jacket – Metal Box
Retrospective by Kris Needs, Fact, January 2004
With the curtain closed on the Sex Pistols pantomime, in 1978 a still-searing John Lydon teamed up with Jah Wobble and Keith Levene to form ...
Simon Reynolds: Rip It Up and Start Again – Post-Punk 1978-84 (Faber)
Book Review by Andy Beckett, London Review of Books, September 2005
IN JANUARY 1978, the Sex Pistols, then and now the most famous punk band in the world, split up. Johnny Rotten, the band's singer, most ...
Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Frieze, November 2007
As a new book on Public Image Ltd shows, the influence of their 1979 album Metal Box stretches far and wide ...
PiL: The Making Of 'Public Image'
Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2008
With old scores to settle, John Lydon kicked off his post-Pistols career with an explosive first single. "Some say it's dub, but we all loved ...
John Lydon: 'PiL lets me express proper emotions'
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 6 September 2009
ON CHRISTMAS DAY 1978, almost exactly a year after the implosion of the Sex Pistols while on tour in San Francisco, the artist formerly known ...
Public Image Ltd: Academy, Birmingham
Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, December 2009
EVEN IN A YEAR overstuffed with middle-aged rockers milking cash-in comebacks, the return of Public Image Ltd feels like a genuine cultural event. ...
Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, 3 December 2009
Landmark post-punk album remastered for its 30th anniversary. Plus, 1999 4-CD box set re-issued. ...
Public Image Ltd, O2 Academy, Birmingham****
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 16 December 2009
Difficult, honest and angry, Lydon pushes at the limits ...
Interview by John Doran, The Stool Pigeon, March 2010
IN CALIFORNIA WE MEET a traveller from an antique land. On two scrawny legs – KFC issue – he stands. He has a shattered look. ...
Interview by Ken Scrudato, Filter, May 2010
WAY BACK in 20th Century England, a gang of four insurrectionist-minded punk motherfuckers were to be found causing such an anarchic, subversive uproar as to ...
Dennis Morris: "Suddenly we were black, not coloured"
Retrospective and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 25 March 2012
Dennis Morris is celebrated for his iconic photographs of the Sex Pistols and Bob Marley. But few knew that in that pivotal era he was ...
Review by Johnny Sharp, bbc.co.uk, 28 May 2012
Rotten returns with a curious mixture of rage and nostalgia. ...
Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 13 August 2012
NOW THAT JOHN Lydon, né Rotten, is no longer being targeted, feared and beaten in the street as a folk devil, it's possible to see ...
Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 1 November 2016
PIL'S SECOND ALBUM, Metal Box, is a near-perfect record that reinvents and renews rock in a manner that fulfilled post-punk's promise(s) to a degree rivalled only ...
see also John Lydon
see also Sex Pistols
see also Jah Wobble
see also Keith Levene
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