Difference between revisions of "Sid Vicious"

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Simon John Beverley; formerly Simon John Ritchie (May 10, 1957 – February 2, 1979), better known as Sid Vicious, was a punk rock musician, the bass player of the Sex Pistols (replacing Glen Matlock), and a Rock'n'Roll singer. He was deeply involved in the birth of the British punk scene, along with close friend Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols vocalist). He died of a drug overdose at the age of 21.

Life[edit]

Early life[edit]

Sid Vicious was born in London to John and Anne Ritchie. Shortly after his birth, John Ritchie left the family.^[unverified] During his early years, Ritchie moved with his mother to the Spanish island of Ibiza. The pair later moved back to England, where Anne married Christopher Beverly in 1965 before setting up a family home in Kent, England.

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 Community School or Clevedon Secondary Modern as it was then known.

According to Lemmy in an interview in Mojo, Ritchie was selling LSD at Hawkwind concerts at age 14.

By 1974 he had already begun using drugs intravenously with his mother, particularly amphetamines.^[unverified] By 1975, he had started to practice self harm and exhibited antisocial tendencies; some accounts of his life relate that he assaulted a pensioner around this time, others that he worked as a rent boy.

Sid Vicious[edit]

Described by peers as 'slender and likeable', Beverley took the name "Sid" from John Lydon's hamster, described by Lydon as "the softest, furriest, weediest thing on earth" ^[1] until it bit his father's hand after which the "Vicious" was added. This name was then given to Ritchie and taken on as his stage name. At the time, he was squatting with John Lydon, John Wardle (Jah Wobble) and John Gray (the four were sometimes referred to as The Four Johns). Sid also gave Jah Wobble his name since he could not pronounce his real name. Sid reportedly made a deliberate effort to match the media myths that grew up around him and his name, although John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) reportedly commented, "Sid couldn't punch his way out of a bag of crisps!"

The Bromley Contingent, Flowers of Romance, and the Banshees[edit]

Vicious began his musical career 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). He had loose associations with The Bromley Contingent, the fashion avant garde that followed the Sex Pistols, and 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 band's photographer Dennis Morris, Vicious was "deep down, a shy person," but he was renowned for a violent streak. Punk legend has it that at the 100 Club punk festival, a beer glass thrown at a pillar shattered and hit a young girl, who subsequently lost her sight in one eye. Vicious was widely believed to have been responsible, but this was never proven. Subsequently there is no evidence in either police or press files of such an incident actually occurring, and the young lady in question has never been found. Steve Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees was quoted as saying: "Sid did throw the glass. Siouxsie and I were standing right next to him. He was aiming at the Damned, so he had my full support." However, at the same event Vicious did assault NME journalist Nick Kent with a motorcycle chain. On another occasion, at a London nightclub popular with rock stars of the day, The Speakeasy, he threatened BBC DJ and Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris, which in turn resulted in Harris threatening Vicious with legal action.

Sex Pistols[edit]

Already known as "the ultimate Sex Pistols fan," and a close friend of vocalist Johnny Rotten, Vicious was asked to join the group after Glen Matlock's departure in February 1977. Manager Malcolm McLaren once claimed "if Rotten is the voice of punk, then Vicious is the attitude". His punk character was considered far more helpful than any knack for playing, as he was not renowned for his playing skills, though he did have some composing ability, as was later shown when he composed the track "Belsen Was A Gas" entirely by himself. Jon Savage's biography of the Sex Pistols, England's Dreaming, recounts that most of the bass parts on the band's later recordings were played by guitarist Steve Jones and at later live performances Vicious' amplifier was sometimes switched off. Vicious is said to have asked Lemmy from Motörhead to teach him how to play bass with the words, "I can't play bass." Lemmy's reply was (according to Lemmy himself) "I know." In his autobiography No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, Lydon writes, "he wasn't too bad at all for three-chord songs." Sid 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.

Nancy Spungen and the end of the Pistols[edit]

In November 1977 Vicious 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 Vicious, 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 Vicious 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," Vicious 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.

Deaths of Sid and Nancy[edit]

Meanwhile, Vicious and Spungen had become locked in their own world of drug addiction and self-destruction. Interview footage shows the couple attempting to answer questions from their bed: Spungen is barely coherent while Vicious lapses in and out of consciousness. He also came very close to death following a heroin overdose and was in hospital for a time.

On the morning of October 12, 1978, he allegedly awoke from a drugged stupor to find Spungen crumpled dead on the bathroom floor of their room (room 100) in the Hotel Chelsea in New York. She had received a single stab wound to her abdomen and apparently bled to death. He was arrested and charged with her murder although he said he had no memory of having done so. There are several theories that Spungen was murdered by someone else, usually said to be one of the two drug dealers who visited the apartment that night, and involving a possible robbery as certain items (including a substantial bankroll) were claimed to be missing from the room. In his book, Pretty Vacant: A History Of Punk, Phil Strongman names Nancy's killer as Rockets Redglare.

When he had appeared in court over Spungen's death, he was briefly interviewed by a television journalist (the footage appears in The Filth and the Fury). He was shaking slightly and appeared sober, morose, and withdrawn:

Interviewer: Are you having fun at the moment?

Vicious: Are you kidding? No, I am not having fun at all.

(long pause)

Interviewer: Where would you like to be?

Vicious: Under the ground.

Interviewer: Are you serious?

Vicious: (quietly, and sad) Yeah.

Bail of USD $30,000 was put up by Virgin Records at McLaren's request. The plan was for Vicious to record an album with fellow Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook in order to raise funds for his defense. This was to be a collection of standards including (according to McLaren) White Christmas and Mack the Knife. It is also possible, according to Paul Cook, that the album was to be a selection of Sid's favourite songs and would have included tracks from The Stooges, the Ramones, the New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers ^[unverified]. On February 2, 1979, a party to celebrate his release was held at the home of his new girlfriend Michelle Robinson. During his time at Rikers Island prison, Vicious had undergone drug rehabilitation therapy and was supposedly clean. However, at the party he obtained some heroin from his mother, and was discovered dead the following morning, having taken a large overdose. Speculation has persisted that Vicious, unable to live without his beloved Nancy, committed suicide. He wrote the following poem about her:

You are my little baby girl,

We share all Our fears.

Such joy to hold you in my arms

and kiss away all your tears.

But now you're gone, there's only the pain

and nothing I can do about it.

And I don't want to live this life any more,

If I can't live for you.

To my beautiful baby girl.

Our love will never die...

Another theory forwarded by police investigator Richard Houseman and writer Alan Parker in the recent Discovery Channel documentary Final 24 suggests that Vicious' mother was responsible for administering the fatal overdose of heroin. As a regular heroin user herself, this theory holds that the administration of a lethal dose was intentional. It has also been claimed by the band's photographer Dennis Morris that Vicious had been raped in prison, which made him unwilling to serve a full sentence.[1]

Phil Strongman also contends that Redglare, dealt the fatal dose of heroin; knowing who it was for, he ensured it was 98% pure rather than 22% (which itself was considered strong at the time).

After Vicious's death, his mother phoned Deborah Spungen, Nancy's mother, to request that he be buried next to her, but Deborah Spungen declined. There are several myths about what happened to Vicious' remains but one of the most persistent is that late one night, "Sid's mother jumped the graveyard fence where Nancy was buried and scattered his ashes over his beloved for them to be together for all time."

According to The Guardian, "It's more likely that Ma Vicious arrived back at Heathrow with his remains. Malcolm McLaren claims she knocked them over in the arrivals lounge; hence the fanciful myth that Sid's essence still circulates, wafting through the air vents and moving among the travellers." [2]

Sid Sings was released posthumously by Virgin Records. This was a collection of mostly cover versions recorded live at his gigs at Max's Kansas City in September 1978. Tracks included "C'mon Everybody" and "Something Else" by Eddie Cochran along with material by Iggy Pop and Johnny Thunders and a rendition of the Paul Anka / Frank Sinatra standard "My Way". Striking footage of Vicious performing this song in Paris provides the closing sequence for Julien Temple's film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. Also included on Sid Sings was a cover of the The Heartbreakers' "Born to Lose", which was recorded at the Sex Pistols last British gig at Ivanhoe's in Huddersfield on Christmas Day 1977, with Vicious on vocals.

Discography[edit]

Singles[edit]

• "My Way" (June 30, 1978)
• "Something Else" (February 9, 1979)
• "C'mon Everybody" (June 22, 1979)

Albums[edit]

• "Sid Sings" (December 15, 1979)

Various pressings and bootlegs[edit]

• 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, CD, Last Call Records, LC22289)
• 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

• Cult Heroes (1993, CD)

Films that include Sid Vicious[edit]

• Sex Pistols Number One (1976, dir. Derek Jarman)
• Julian Temple'sThe 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.
• Will Your Son Turn into Sid Vicious? (1978)
• The Punk Rock Movie (1979, dir. Don Letts)
• Dead on Arrival (1981, dir. Lech Kowalski)
• The Filth And The Fury (2000, dir. Julien Temple, VHS/NTSC)

A somewhat 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.

Adrian Edmondson played Vicious in The Comic Strip Presents: Demonella. He is shown in Hell, accompanied by Oscar Wilde, Genghis Khan, Marie Antionette, and Adolf Hitler.

Further reading[edit]

• 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)
• 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)
• Mark Paytress, Sid Vicious. The Art of Dying Young (2004, Sanctuary Publishing)
• 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.
• Dee Dee Ramone, bassist for the punk band The Ramones was a friend of Sid's. Dee Dee, who died of heroin toxicity in 2002, penned a novel entitled Chelsea Horror Hotel in which Dee Dee and his wife move into the Chelsea Hotel and believe they are staying in the same room where Sid killed Nancy. In the book, Dee Dee is revisited by the ghost of Sid as well as other dead punk rock friends Johnny Thunders and Stiv Bators.

Sid Vicious in pop culture[edit]

• Professional wrestler Sid Eudy used the name Sid Vicious as one of his wrestling names.
• In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, the character Danny wears a shirt with a picture of Sid Vicious on it.
• A co-founder of American hacker group Cult of the Dead Cow used the name Sid Vicious.
• The hit song "Butterfly" by Crazy Town contains a line which refers to Sid and Nancy's relationship. "Whatever tickles your fancy Girl it's me and you like Sid and Nancy"
• The Finnish old-school punk band Karanteeni made a song about him in 1979 following his death, called "Sid Vicious".
• The hit Japanese song "Koko de Kiss Shite" by Shiina Ringo refers to Sid Vicious: "I'm the only one who could put handcuffs to a modern Sid Vicious." She also titled one of her songs "Daydreaming with Sid," another reference to him.
• Japanese band Dir en grey's songs "Jessica" and "Hydra" both reference Sid Vicious in the lyrics.
• In the movie Repo Man (also directed by Sid & Nancy director Alex Cox), the character Duke is seen wearing a t-shirt with Sid Vicious on his first appearance.
• The Japanese band BUCK-TICK has a song called "Sid Vicious ON THE BEACH."
• The Ramones' songs "I Don't Want to Live This Life (Anymore)" and "Love Kills" are about Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. The latter is sung by Dee Dee Ramone.
• The song "Chickenshit Conformist" by the Dead Kennedys contains the line "Imagine Sid Vicious at 35".
• The Joe Strummer song "Love Kills" is also about Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.
• Japanese rocker Tomoyasu Hotei references Sid and Nancy in his song "Psychobilly and Pussycat".
• In the anime, Beck, all the band members have a dream where Sid Vicious and other deceased rock stars clean up after a concert. He also appears in the end credits.
• Bon Jovi's song "Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen From Mars" has a line "We're Sid and Nancy".
• British artist Gavin Turk cast himself in a sculpture as Sid.
• The Exploited wrote a song called "Sid Vicious Was Innocent" about Vicious and Spungen's deaths.
• Johnny Thunders song "Sad Vacation" is about Sid Vicious, the lyrics contain lines relating to Sid's songs. The two were friends and planned to form a band together, though it didn't work out because Thunders "couldn't put up with his girlfriend (Spungen)".[3]
• In the manga Nana by Ai Yazawa, there are many similarities between Sid and the character Ren Honjo. He even wears a padlock, given to him by his girlfriend Nana Osaki, that is identical to that worn by Vicious.
• Chinese rock band Silver Ash made a song called "Feeling Dizzy" which refers to Sid Vicious as the sad punk.
• In the episode "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" of the Canadian TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation, Craig Manning dresses as Sid Vicious for an eighties-themed dance, even though Sid's death predates the decade by almost an entire year.
• In the pilot episode of Mission Hill, Andy mentions that Sid Vicious was rumored to have thrown up in his bathtub.
• In Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas, Sid's cover of "My Way" plays over the end credits.
• In season 6 of Dawson's Creek, Pacey and Audrey dress up as Sid and Nancy for a Halloween party.
• In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, at the end of the episode "Lover's Walk", Spike is singing along a cover by Gary Oldman of Sid Vicious' version of "My Way". Spike was frequently compared to Sid Vicious, and he was one of the inspirations for Spike's character.
• In the reality series for Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker Meet the Barkers Travis had a poster of Sid's Mugshot in the frontroom of his house that he lived in during season 2.
• In Gangster No. 1, there is an episode of retrospection, the main character talking about his history, where Sid appears as a symbol of the year 1977.
• In the computer game Stunts - 4D Sports Car Driving, the top AI driver's name is "Skid Vicious".
• In the song "Junk Story" by Japanese musician hide his name appears in the lyrics.
• Mezco Toyz' Living Dead Dolls line includes a 2-pack set named "Romeo and Juliet" which features a Romeo with a t-shirt stating "Love Kills" and a death date of 2-2-79.
• Zack de la Rocha (Frontman of Rage Against the Machine) once said Sid Vicious would be the bassist of his "Band of Dreams".
• Episode 5 in season 2 of American TV series Gilmore Girls is titled "Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy", "Sid & Nancy" referring to a fight between Luke and Lorelai.
• John B's track "Take Me Home" Ft. Stareyes, has a line "Dirty panties, Sid & Nancy".
• The song "Ice Cream" by New Young Pony Club references the couple with, "Fantastic flavor fancies / Sick like Sid and Nancy".
• On the LP Never Mind The Opened Minds, U.S. Bombs have a tribute song titled "Ballad of Sid".
• When booked to record In Utero at Pachyderm Studios, Nirvana used the pseudonym "The Simon Ritchie Bluegrass Ensemble".
• Famous Polish poet Jacek PodsiadÅ‚o wrote a poem under the title "Sid Vicious writes and then tears into a little pieces the letter to Nancy Spungen" (in original: "Sid Vicious pisze a potem drze na strzÄ™py list do Nancy Spungen").
• Mike Dirnt, bassist of Green Day, is featured in the video for "Holiday" dressed as Sid
• The song "Riot" by Swedish band The Sounds refers to Sid and Nancy with the lyrics 'Sid was not that vicious/He killed his little mistress/Oh yeah/And Johnny's not that rotten in case you have forgotten/Oy
• Dar Williams' song "Alleluia" begins with the line, "Ron and Nancy got the house but Sid and Nancy rule"

See also[edit]

• Johnny Rotten

External links[edit]

• Vicious' confession to the NYPD and other documents
• Site with pictures of the murder scene
• Sid Vicious' Photo & Death Certificate
• The Life and Death of Sid Vicious @ Ward's Book of Days
• Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog
• Sid Vicious @ "Hot Shot Digital Rock Tributes"

1. ↑ Lydon, John, "Rotten", Plexus Publishing (1993), p. 57. ISBN 978-0859653411.