Everything about Sid Vicious totally explained
Simon John Ritchie (
May 10,
1957 –
February 2,
1979), better known as
Sid Vicious, was an
English punk musician, the bass guitar player of the
Sex Pistols (replacing
Glen Matlock).
Early life
Sid Vicious (born Simon John Ritchie, although later became known as John) was born in
London to John and
Anne Ritchie. Shortly after his birth, John Ritchie left the family. John ("Sid") and his mother moved to the island of
Ibiza. She married Christopher Beverly in 1965 before setting up a family home back in
Kent.
His stepfather died six months later, and by 1968 Ritchie and his mother were living in a rented flat in
Tunbridge Wells where he attended Sandown Court School. In 1971 the pair moved to
Hackney in East London. He also spent some time living in Somerset where he was a pupil at
Clevedon Secondary Modern.
According to the band's photographer,
Dennis Morris, Ritchie was "deep down, a shy person". However, he did
assault NME journalist
Nick Kent with a motorcycle chain, and with help from
Jah Wobble. On another occasion, at The Speakeasy (a London nightclub popular with rock stars of the day) he threatened
BBC DJ and
Old Grey Whistle Test presenter
Bob Harris, which in turn resulted in Harris threatening him with legal action. However, Vicious was a poor fighter, at various times being beaten up by
Paul Weller,
David Coverdale, and
Thin Lizzy man
Brian Robertson, who battered him with a clog inside a boat! Bouncers and audiences also assaulted Sid at times.
Ritchie was given the nickname "Sid" by
John Lydon, after Lydon's pet
hamster. The animal was described by Lydon as "the softest, furriest, weediest thing on earth". At the time, Ritchie was
squatting with Lydon,
John Wardle and John Gray.
Music career
The Flowers of Romance, and The Banshees
Vicious began his musical career in 1976 as a member of
The Flowers of Romance along with former co-founding member of
The Clash,
Keith Levene (who later co-founded John Lydon's post-Pistols project
Public Image Limited) and
Palmolive and
Viv Albertine, who would later form
The Slits. He appeared with
Siouxsie & the Banshees, playing drums at their notorious first gig at the
100 Club Punk Festival in London's
Oxford Street. According to the Documentary
Final Damnation, Sid, along with Dave Vanian, was considered for the position of lead singer for the Damned, but failed to show up for the audition.
Sex Pistols
Before joining the band, Sid had associations with
The Bromley Contingent, the fashion
avant garde that followed the Sex Pistols. He also created the "Pogo" as a way to see the stage. According to various publications (such as Lydon's autobiography, England's Dreaming by John Savage) and films (namely
The Filth and the Fury) Ritchie was asked to join the group after
Glen Matlock's departure in
February 1977 due to his being present at every gig. Manager
Malcolm McLaren once claimed "if Rotten is the voice of punk, then Vicious is the attitude". Alan Jones described Sid as "[having] the iconic punk look (...) Sid, on image alone, is what all punk rests on." Ritchie played his first gig with the Pistols on April 3, 1977, at the
Screen on the Green in London. His debut was filmed by
Don Letts and appears in
Punk Rock Movie.
In November 1977, Ritchie met American
groupie Nancy Spungen, and they immediately began a relationship (Spungen had come to London looking for
Jerry Nolan of
The Heartbreakers). She was a
heroin addict, and Ritchie, who already believed in his own "live fast, die young" image, soon shared the dependence. Although they were deeply in love, their often violent and rocky relationship had a disastrous effect on the Sex Pistols. Both the group and Ritchie visibly deteriorated during their 1978 American tour. The Pistols broke up in
San Francisco after their concert at the
Winterland Ballroom on January 14, 1978. With Spungen acting as his "manager," Ritchie embarked on a solo career during which he performed with musicians including
Mick Jones of
The Clash, original Sex Pistols bassist
Glen Matlock,
Rat Scabies of
The Damned and the
New York Dolls'
Arthur Kane,
Jerry Nolan, and
Johnny Thunders.
Musicianship
Sid wasn't recognized as a competent bass player. During an interview for
Guitar Hero III, when Sex Pistols guitarist
Steve Jones was asked why he instead of Vicious recorded the bass parts of
Never Mind The Bollocks, Jones responded "Sid was in a hospital with
hepatitis so he couldn't really play, not that he could play anyway". At times during performances, other band members would unplug Sid's bass because his playing was so bad. Sid asked
Lemmy, the bassist of
Motörhead, to teach him how to play bass with the words, "I can't play bass," to which Lemmy replied "I know." In another interview Lemmy stated "Yeah. It was all uphill. And he still couldn't play bass when he died." Much later that night, the couple fell asleep together. Vicious was discovered dead the next morning. As New York Chief Coroner
Michael Baden explained at the time, when a person has a heroin overdose, and then falls asleep, their heart slows with every
REM phase. Sid Vicious died at around 10:00 AM, after the repeated REM phases throughout the night.
Forensic experts subsequently found the heroin was 80 percent pure, as opposed to the 5 percent that was normal for the time and because he hadn't been using since October his tolerance was greatly lowered. On HBO's
Autopsy: Post Mortem, Dr. Baden claims Vicious' lungs were filled with fluid and water, which is common for someone who has overdosed on heroin. Ultimately, Vicious drowned in his own fluids.
Alex Cox's 1986 movie
Sid and Nancy portrays Vicious's career and love affair with Spungen.
Gary Oldman plays Vicious.
Discography
Singles
Albums
Sid Sings (December 15, 1979)
Various pressings and bootlegs
My Way/Something Else/C’mon Everybody (1979, 12”, Barclay, Barclay 740 509)
Live (1980, LP, Creative Industry Inc., JSR 21)
Vicious Burger (1980, LP, UD-6535, VD 6336)
Love Kills N.Y.C. (1985, LP, Konexion, KOMA)
The Sid Vicious Experience – Jack Boots and Dirty Looks (1986, LP, Antler 37)
The Idols with Sid Vicious (1993)
Never Mind the Reunion Here’s Sid Vicious (1997, CD)
Sid Dead Live (1997, CD, Anagram, PUNK 86)
Sid Vicious Sings (1997, CD)
Vicious & Friends (1998, CD, Dressed To Kill Records, Dress 602)
Better (to provoke a reaction than to react to a provocation) (1999, CD, Almafame, YEAAH6)
Probably His Last Ever Interview (2000, CD, OZIT, OZITCD62)
Better (2001, CD)
Vive Le Rock (2003, 2CD)
Too Fast To Live... (2004, CD)
Naked & Ashamed (7”, Wonderful Records, WO-73)
Sid Live At Max’s Kansas City (LP, JSR 21)
Sid Vicious (LP, Innocent Records, JSR 23)
Sid Vicious McDonald Bros. Box (3CD, Sound Solutions)
Sid Vicious & Friends
(Don’t You Gimmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye) No Lip/(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone (1989, 7”, SCRATCH 7)
Sid Vicious & Friends (1998, CD, Cleopatra, #251, ASIN: B0000061AS)
Sid Vicious/Eddie Cochran
Sid Vicious v’s Eddie Cochran – The Battle Of The Rockers (LP, Jock, LP 7)
Sid Vicious/Elvis Presley
Cult Heroes (1993, CD)
Films that include Sid Vicious
Sex Pistols Number One (1976, dir. Derek Jarman)
Will Your Son Turn into Sid Vicious? (1978)
Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979, dir. Michael O'Donoghue)
The Punk Rock Movie (1979, dir. Don Letts)
The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle (1980, dir. Julien Temple; Julien Temple's The Great Rock N' Roll Swindle features famous Sid Vicious footage, such as his videos for "My Way" and "Something Else", along with various live Sex Pistols footage. There is also a video for "C'mon Everybody", of which only snippets are shown in the film; VHS/DVD)
DOA (1981, dir. Lech Kowalski)
Buried Alive (1991, Sex Pistols)
Decade (1991, Sex Pistols)
Bollocks to Every (1995, Sex Pistols)
Filth to Fury (1995, Sex Pistols)
Classic Chaotic (1996, Sex Pistols)
Kill the Hippies (1996, Sex Pistols, VHS)
The Filth and The Fury (2000, dir. Julien Temple, VHS/NTSC/DVD)
Live at the Longhorn (2001, Sex Pistols)
Live at Winterland (2001, Sex Pistols, DVD)
Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols (2002, Sex Pistols, VHS/DVD)
Punk Rockers (2003, Sex Pistols, DVD)
Blood on the Turntable: The Sex Pistols (2004, dir. Steve Crabtree)
Music Box Biographical Collection (2005, Sex Pistols, DVD)
Punk Icons (2006, Sex Pistols, DVD)
Chaos! Ex Pistols Secret History: The Dave Goodman Story (2007, Sex Pistols, DVD)
Pirates of Destiny (2007, dir. Tõnu Trubetsky, DVD)
Rock Case Studies (2007, Sex Pistols, DVD)
A fictionalized film about the relationship between Vicious and Spungen, Sid and Nancy, was made by director Alex Cox in 1986, starring Gary Oldman as Vicious, although this film is often criticised for containing many historical inaccuracies.
Adrian Edmondson played Vicious in The Comic Strip Presents: Demonella. He is shown in Hell, accompanied by Oscar Wilde, Genghis Khan, Marie Antoinette, and Adolf Hitler.
The Foo Fighters music video for "Everlong" includes Dave Grohl impersonating Sid and Taylor Hawkins impersonating Nancy.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sid Vicious'.
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