Sid Vicious (born
John Simon Ritchie; 10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979)
was an English
musician
best known as the bassist of the influential
punk rock group Sex
Pistols.
Early life
Sid
Vicious was born John Simon Ritchie in London
to John and
Anne Ritchie. Anne was a hippie,
whereas his father was a guard at Buckingham Palace
. Shortly after Simon's birth, John Ritchie
left the family.
John ("Sid") and his mother moved to the
island of Ibiza
.
She
married Christopher Beverley in 1965 before setting up a family
home back in Kent
. Sid
had taken his stepfather's surname and became John Beverly.
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 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.
Ritchie was given the nickname "Sid Vicious" by
John Lydon, after Lydon's pet
hamster. The hamster had bitten Ritchie, who said
that "[Rotten's] Sid is really vicious!" The animal was described
by Lydon as "the softest, furriest, weediest thing on earth." At
the time, Ritchie was
squatting with
Lydon, Jah Wobble, and John Gray.
According to John Lydon, the two of them would often busk for money
with Sid playing the tambourine. They would play
Alice Cooper covers, and people gave them money
to be quiet.
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 members of
The Damned, 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. According to various publications
(such as the biography
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."
McLaren also said in person and in a documentary that if he'd met
Sid before he had hired Johnny to be the singer, Sid would have
been the Sex Pistols front man, because he had the most charisma of
anyone on that stage. Alan Jones described Sid as "[having] the
iconic punk look (...) Sid, on image alone, is what all punk rests
on." His nails would be painted in a sloppy manner with purple nail
polish . Ritchie played his first gig with the Pistols on 3 April
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 14 January
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.
Ritchie
performed the majority of his solo performances at Max's Kansas
City
and drew large crowds. His final
performances as a solo musician took place at Max's.
Musicianship
Sid was not 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." 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."
According to
Paul Cook, in the few months
between joining the band and meeting Nancy, Sid was a dedicated
worker and tried his hardest to learn to play; indeed, this period
was Cook's favorite in the band.
Viv
Albertine went further in defense of his ability, saying that
one night she "went to bed, and Sid stayed up with a Ramones album
and a bass guitar, and when I got up in the morning, he could play.
He'd taken a load of speed and taught himself. He was so quick."
Keith Levene, a member of
The
Flowers of Romance with Sid and later a member of
The Clash and then
Public Image Ltd, also recounts a similar
story: "Could Sid play bass? I don't know, but one thing I do know
was that Sid did things quickly. One night, he played the first
Ramones album nonstop, all night, then next morning, Sid could play
the bass. That was it; he was ready! I told you Sid did things
quickly!"
Nancy Spungen's death
On the
morning of 12 October 1978, Vicious claimed to have awoken from a
drugged stupor to find Nancy Spungen
dead on the bathroom floor of their room in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan
, New
York
. She had suffered a single stab wound to her
abdomen and apparently bled to death. The
knife used had been bought by Sid on 42nd Street and was identical
to a collector's knife given to punk rock vocalist
Stiv Bators, of the
Dead
Boys by
Dee Dee Ramone. According
to Dee Dee's wife at the time, Vera King Ramone, Sid had bought the
knife after seeing Stiv's.
Sid was arrested and charged with her murder. Vicious said they had
fought that night but gave conflicting versions of what happened
next, saying "I stabbed her, but I didn't mean to kill her. I loved
her, but she treated me like shit", then saying he didn't remember
and at one point arguing Spungen had fallen onto the knife. When
asked why he left the deceased in the bathroom, wounded, and went
out to get his methadone, he said "oh, I am a dog", or similar
words.
The
bail of $50,000 was covered by his record
company.
On 22
October, ten days after Spungen's death, Vicious attempted suicide
by slicing his wrist and subsequently became a patient at Bellevue
Hospital
. He was charged with assault after an
altercation with Todd Smith (singer
Patti
Smith's brother).
Vicious was arrested 9 December 1978 and
sent to Riker's
Island
jail for 55 days. He was released on bail on
1 February 1979.
One theory regarding the murder is that Spungen was killed in a
robbery or drug deal gone wrong, in which one of those involved was
the later comedian
Rockets
Redglare. Redglare steadfastly denied any involvement in the
murder of Nancy Spungen throughout his life. He stated that the
other dealer known to have been there that evening had left before
him to obtain more heroin, and was due back after he had left the
building. He said he believed that the other dealer returned, found
Vicious out cold, and attempted to steal the remaining drugs,
leading to a confrontation with Spungen.
Also unusual was that Neon Leon had Vicious' leather jacket and two
gold records in his room. He said he had been given them by Vicious
for "safe keeping" the night of October 11–12, 1978.
Death
On the
evening of 1 February 1979, a small gathering to celebrate his
having made bail was held at the home of his new girlfriend,
Michele Robison, with whom he'd started living the day he got out
of Bellevue
Hospital
the previous October. Vicious was clean,
having been detoxed from
heroin during his
time at Riker's Island. However, at the dinner gathering, his
mother had some heroin delivered, against the wishes of his
girlfriend. The person who delivered it, Peter Kodick, came and
stayed for a while. Sid
overdosed later
that night. Robison revived him, though she had never seen an OD
before nor had any experience in that area. Much later that night,
the couple fell asleep together. Vicious was discovered dead late
the next morning. An autopsy confirmed that Vicious died from an
accumulation of fluid in the lungs that was consistent with heroin
overdose. A syringe, spoon, and heroin residue were discovered near
the body.
A few days after Vicious' cremation, his mother found a suicide
note in the pocket of his jacket:
"
We made a death pact, and I have to accomplish my part of the
deal. Please bury me next to my baby. Please bury
me with my leather jacket, my jeans and my biker boots.
Goodbye. With love, Sid."
A television documentary titled "Biography: The Sex Pistols" on the
Biography Channel made the following statement, based on an
apparent confession from Vicious' mother Anne Ritchie.
Discography
Singles
Albums
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)
- Vicious White Kids
(1991, CD)
- 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 Gimme) 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
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 (1979, 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)
- American Hardcore (2007, 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)
- Sid and Nancy (1986, dir. Alex
Cox, DVD)
- Who killed Nancy? (2009, dir. Alan G. Parker)
In popular culture
- A fictionalised film about the relationship between Vicious and
Spungen, Sid and Nancy, was
made by director Alex Cox in 1986, starring
Gary Oldman as Vicious.
- In the movie Goodfellas, the
end credits roll to his version of "My Way".
- 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.
- Ben Garant portrayed Vicious in a
skit on the MTV sketch comedy series The State.
- The Foo Fighters music video for
"Everlong" includes Dave Grohl impersonating Sid and Taylor Hawkins impersonating Nancy.
- In an episode of The
Simpsons called "Love, Springfieldian Style" tells
a fictionalised tale of Sid and Nancy as a Valentine's Day spoof,
starring Nelson Muntz as Sid and
Lisa Simpson as Nancy.
- Vicious's version of "My Way" also appears at the end of the
Buffy the
Vampire Slayer episode "Lovers
Walk", with the character of Spike singing along. The
character of Spike was modeled after Sid Vicious and Billy
Idol.
- Vicious's relationship with Nancy was referenced in the song
"Butterfly" by Crazy Town with the lyric, "Girl, it's me and
you, like Sid and Nancy."
- Many references to Sid Vicious and his relationship with
Nancy are mentioned in the popular
manga and anime series Nana. Also the character Ren is
based on Sid in appearance as well as having the same career,
wearing a pad locket and both having an untimely death.
- In the movie Days of
Summer, Tom and Summer both compare their relationship to
that of Sid and Nancy.
- In the 2009 stage play Kurt and
Sid, Sid Vicious appears before Kurt Cobain as a vision, on the day of his
suicide.
- The song ice cream by
New Young Pony Club
references the infamous couple in the line "...sick like Sid and
Nancy..."
References
- The Filth and The Fury, St. Martin's Press, 2000, pg. 13
- Sid Vicious Biography - hotshotdigital.com
- The Guardian
- The Filth and the Fury, St. Martin's Press, 2000, pg. 90
- Lydon, John, "Rotten," Plexus Publishing (1993), p. 57. ISBN
978-0859653411.
- The Filth and The Fury, St. Martin's Press, 2000, pg. 41
- The Damned
- Amazon.com: Punk: The Definitive Record of a Revolution:
Stephen Colegrave, Chris Sullivan: Books
- The Filth and The Fury, St. Martin's Press, 2000, pg. 39
-
http://www.sexpistolsofficial.com/index.php?module=features&features_item_id=88
- The Filth and The Fury, Julien Temple, 2000; "The best time in
the band of all was when Sid first joined - he was really
determined to learn the bass and fit in and be part of the
band"
- England's Dreaming, Jon Savage, Faber & Faber, 1991,
P.194
- .
-
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/sid_vicious/5b.html
Robbery, drug deal or revenge?
- "The Death Proclamation of Generation X: A Self-Fulfilling
Prophesy of Goth, Grunge and Heroin" by Maxim W. Furek.
i-Universe,2008. ISBN 978-0-595-46319-0 . Pg. 101.
Further reading
- Anne Beverley, The Sid Vicious Family album (1980,
Virgin Books)
- Gerald Cole, Sid And Nancy (1986, Methuen)
- Alex Cox & Abbe Wool, Sid And
Nancy (1986, Faber and Faber)
- Keith Bateson and Alan Parker, Sid’s Way (1991,
Omnibus Press)
- Tom Stockdale, Sid Vicious. They Died Too
Young (1995, Parragon)
- Malcolm Butt, Sid Vicious. Rock‘n’Roll Star
(1997, Plexus) ISBN 978-0859653732
- David Dalton, El Sid (1998, St. Martin’s Griffin)
- Sid Vicious, Too Fast To Live...Too Young to Die
(1999, Retro Publishing)
- Alan Parker, Vicious. Too Fast To Live...
(2004, Creation Books)
- Spungen's mother, Deborah, wrote
a book about her daughter and her involvement with Vicious in
And I Don't Want
to Live This Life.
- Ed Hamilton, "Legends of the Chelsea Hotel: Living with the
Artists and Outlaws of New York's Rebel Mecca" (2007, DeCapo
Press)
External links