Ongoing History of New Music

Ongoing History Daily: The Sex Pistols strike again

Back in 1977, the Sex Pistol, then a brand-new band from this brand-new scene, released “God Save the Queen” just in time for Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, which commemorated 25 years of her on the throne. The song was promptly banned all over the UK, including by the BBC. Even then, it made it all the way to number two on the UK singles chart—and even now, there are rumours that the charts were manipulated that week to prevent it from hitting the top spot. Some retailers even blanked out the title of the song on their charts so as to not cause offense to supporters of the monarchy.

Now that the queen is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee, which means 70 years on the throne, the Pistols have reissued “God Save the Queen” as both the rare A&M version and the more common Virgin Records edition. Funny how there doesn’t seem to be the same controversy as 1977…

The previous Ongoing History Daily was about Black Pumas facts.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37987 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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