49 Years Ago, a Groundbreaking Punk Band Signed to Their Third Label in 9 Months, but One Finally Stuck
· Vice
In May 1977, the Sex Pistols finally found a record label that would stick with them through their more unsavory antics. The U.K. punks signed with Virgin Records, which quickly released their first and only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols.
Before finding their home at Virgin, the Sex Pistols were kicked off two different labels within nine months. In October 1976, they signed a two-year deal with EMI. This produced the single “Anarchy in the U.K.”, which was met with both commercial success and public controversy. They were working on “God Save the Queen” as well, but EMI didn’t take kindly to the offensive image the band was curating.
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The label dropped them in January 1977. By March, they finalized a deal with A&M Records that lasted about a week before yet another label dropped them. “God Save the Queen” had already been pressed and awaited distribution. But the terminated contract resulted in their destruction instead.
The Sex Pistols Signed With Virgin Records, But Several Other Deals Forced a Rushed Release of the Album
In between A&M and the deal with Virgin Records, the band’s manager, Malcolm McLaren, signed a deal with French label Barclay Records in May 1977. Also during this time, labels like CBS, Decca, Pye, and Polydor rejected the band as well. Meanwhile, work continued on the Sex Pistols’ debut album.
Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records, struck a deal with Malcolm McLaren in May 1977. The Sex Pistols finally found a home for their debut album, and Branson’s business venture received increased attention. But the deal wasn’t as straightforward as it may have seemed.
McLaren and Branson negotiated constantly, with McLaren ultimately wanting to get the Sex Pistols on a larger label. But, of course, no one would have them. Eventually, the deal with Virgin was finalized, and so was the album. They rushed-released the single “God Save the Queen” two weeks later, and then the final touches were put on the album.
Once again, McLaren tried to negotiate the contract with Virgin when the album was set to release in the U.S. While the deal stated that Virgin would distribute the album in the U.S., McLaren wanted separate contracts for each territory the album was released in.
Warner Bros. signed the Sex Pistols in October 1977. Alongside this, it came to Virgin Records’ attention that two other Sex Pistols releases were threatening the album.
Turns out, ‘Never Mind the Bollocks…’ was great for independent record stores
Blank Records, founded by Glenn Danzig, was releasing a bootleg album of demos titled Spunk. Additionally, Barclay Records was gearing up to release a version of Never Mind the Bollocks with a bonus track just a week before the U.K. version.
This could potentially tank the Virgin Records release of the album. So Richard Branson rushed Never Mind the Bollocks and released it a week earlier than planned. The French label release still made its way to the U.K., as imports tended to do.
Virgin still had 125,000 advance orders for the album, however. When it was banned from major retailers for obscenity, independent record stores got a boost from its incredible popularity.
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