Movies - The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

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	Movies - The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is a 1980 documentary film directed by Julien Temple featuring The Sex Pistols.

About the film

The film tells the story of the rise and fall of The Sex Pistols from the viewpoint of their manager Malcolm McLaren. This is done by footage shot by director Julien Temple of the band from their beginnings, animated sequences, as well as scenes featuring McLaren explaining his own personal philosophy behind the band.

As the film was made after the break up of the band, no participation from Johnny Rotten occurred (he only is represented in archival footage, as is original bassist Glen Matlock) and the film has been accused by Rotten as being a personal attack on himself by McLaren. The other members of the band, Sid Vicious, Steve Jones and Paul Cook did participate in the making of the film and appear throughout with Jones acting the part of a detective trying to piece together the story of the band.

The film was heavily criticised at the time for being too skewed towards McLaren's view and although some critics considered it to accurately show the Punk scene of the time, it was considered to be a failure at making a Sex Pistols film which really represented the band.

The film was part of the legal battle between the remaining members of the band and McLaren which started in 1986. The case was an attempt by the band to regain the legal ownership of their music as well as everything bearing the name of The Sex Pistols. Rotten and the others won the case and they regained the trademarks to their name and images from McLaren and formed a new business partnership called Sex Pistols Residuals (a collective d/b/a for Rotten, Jones, Cook, Matlock, and the estate of Sid Vicious). This allowed the film to receive a home video release in 1993 and a DVD release in 2005. Among the extras on the DVD is a commentary by Temple explaining the making of the film.

The Sex Pistols made The Filth and the Fury
in 2000, a similar film also directed by Julien Temple, but this time it was told with the full participation of the band (McLaren never took part and his footage in the film is taken from The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle and its outtakes) and is seen as telling a more accurate version of the history of The Sex Pistols.

The term "Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" was also used by Jello Biafra referring to his former Dead Kennedys bandmates' "reunion" tour with singers other than Biafra. This outraged some fans, and Biafra called the newly dubbed "DK Kennedys" the "greediest karaoke band ever".

Soundtrack

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle was also the name of the Sex Pistols' second album (and a song from that album). Though billed as a Sex Pistols album, it is actually the soundtrack of the film, and also includes performances by several other artists.

Soundtrack listing

Version 1 #"God Save the Queen" (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten) #"Johnny B. Goode"/"Roadrunner" (Berry)/(Richman) #"Disco Medley" (aka Black Arabs): "Anarchy in the UK"/"God Save the Queen"/"Pretty Vacant"/"No One is Innocent" (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten) #"Anarchy in the UK" (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten) #"Substitute" (Townshend) #"Don't Gimme No Lip" (Thomas/Richards) #"(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" (Boyce/Hart) #"Anarchie Pour Le U.K." (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten) #"Belsen Was a Gas" (Cook/Jones/Vicious/Rotten) #"Einmal Belsen War Wirflich Bortrefflich" ("Belsen Vos A Gassa") (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten) #"Silly Thing" (Cook/Jones) #"My Way" (Anka/Francois/Revaux) #"I Wanna Be Me" (Matlock/Cook/Jones/Rotten) #"Something Else" (Cochran/Sheeley) #"Rock Around the Clock" (Myers/Freedman) #"Lonely Boy" (Cook/Jones) #"No One is Innocent" (Cook/Jones/Biggs) #"C'mon Everybody" (Cochran/Capehart) #"EMI" (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten) #"The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" (Cook/Jones/Temple) #"Friggin' in the Riggin'" (Traditional; arranged by Jones) #"You Need Hands" (Bygraves) #"Who Killed Bambi" (Tudor/Westwood)

Version 2 #"God Save the Queen" (Symphony) #"Rock Around the Clock" #"Johnny B. Goode" #"Road Runner" #"Black Arabs" #"Anarchy in the U.K." (New Version) #"Watcha Gonna Do About It?" #"Who Killed Bambi?" #"Silly Thing" #"Substitute" #"Don't Give Me No Lip Child" #"I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" #"Lonely Boy" #"Something Else" #"Anarchie Pour Le U.K." #"Belsen Was a Gas" (live in San Francisco) #"Belsen Was a Gas" (with Ronnie Biggs) #"No One is Innocent" #"My Way" #"C'mon Everybody" #"EMI" (Orchestra) #"The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" #"You Need Hands" #"Friggin in the Riggin'"

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