8th midterm Conference of the European Research Network Sociology of the Arts

4 6 September 2014, Cluj Napoca, Romania

I've seen you in the mirror when

the story began . Legacy and
authenticity of the Sex Pistols in
Portugal
Paula Guerra | IS-UP, CEGOT, GCCR, KISMIF
Tnia Moreira | IS-UP, KISMIF

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

OBJECTIVE: To understand the impact, influence and legacy of the Sex Pistols in the line
of work of Savage (2002) or Marcus (2000).
BUT to understand the importance and impact of a phenomenon confined to a global
mediascape in their local, non-anglo-saxonic, aspects.

- Focus on the Portuguese case WHY SEX PISTOLS? Sex

Pistols are rooted in the
concept of punk, they mean
the punk in its globalized
cultural form.

Punk is not only English, but

Portuguese, Spanish or Taiwanese.

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

We try to understand the following questions:

The current and previous representation of the
Pistols

The legacy of the Sex Pistols in punk and in

Portuguese society
The importance of the band in the question of
authenticity and market
The Pistols and the spreading of the Do It Yourself
(DIY) concept
The importance of the Pistols in the ever unfinished
construction of mainstream and underground

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Methodology
110 in-depth interviews to key punk actors
- different social classes, geographical dispositions, ages, professional
categories and gender
Classical content analysis - nVivo
Elaboration of clusters of connection to the Sex Pistols by our interviewees
- Social Network Analysis

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Who are our interviewees?

Gender
Female
Male
Age
17-22
23-28
29,34
35-40
41-46
47-52
53-58
Academic Degree
Second Cycle of Primary Education
Lower Secondary Education
Incomplete Upper Secondary
Education
Upper Secondary Education
Incomplete Bachelor Degree
Bachelor Degree
Master Degree

%
12,73
87,27
%
7,27
10,91
29,09
20,00
12,73
12,73
7,27
%
3,77
11,32
11,32

33,96
20,76
16,98
1,89

Local of residence
Ave
Baixo Mondego
Cvado
Grande Lisboa
Grande Porto
Oeste
Pennsula de Setbal
Tmega
Out of Portugal

%
1,82
3,64
1,81
50,91
18,18
1,82
10,91
7,27
3,64

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Sex Pistols in Portugal

1976 | Through the radio and voice of Antnio Srgio
Compilation Punk rock 77, New Wave 77
Antnio Srgio edits The Sex Pistols (with the track God
Save the Queen) in Portugal for the first time
1979 | Official release of the album Never Mind the
Bollocks Heres The Sex Pistols

Antnio Srgio (1950-2009) was an

important radio host, radio
producer, DJ, record editor and
specialist who gave relevance to
leading and innovative pop and rock
music artists.

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Sex Pistols in Portugal

Late 70s and early 80s | punk started being publicized

in the Portuguese media:
- radio shows of Antnio Srgio
- periodical publications (Msica & Som, Rock Week,
and the newspaper supplement Se7e)
Spreading the movement | Concerts of punk bands at
bars and discotheques
- important moments of trade in cassettes and fanzines
Pistols in Portugal | new universe of possible musical,
aesthetic, juvenile and ideological ways

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Sex Pistols punk or punk as Sex Pistols?

Talking about Sex Pistols is therefore speak of a triad which includes:

(a) music: the punk of the Sex Pistols was:

- very simple, direct style of music
- sought to go against the technical mastery of prog-rock
- brought the music back to the streets, to little rooms and stages and gave back to
music its reason of being: the attitude, communication and simplicity.

(b) aesthetic: the punk of Sex Pistols was:

- nihilistic and shocking, attempting to break rules and barriers. Thus, it was usual to find
people with dyed hair, extravagantly colored clothes, cut up ties, spikes, Doc Martens, and
with certain habits namely alcohol and drugs.

c) attitude: the punk of Sex Pistols was:

- punk who wanted to counter the hippie philosophy of life, a philosophy of not-acting.
- which did what they liked and contested what they did not. It was a mainstream band in the
midst of the underground, some say.

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Sex Pistols - Positions and conceptions

Far from being a consensual, universally acclaimed band

Among our interviewees one can find a wide array of positions and conceptions of
the band
This categorization includes positionings not only related to the music or the
clothes, but to the band as a creator of collective and subjective identity in punk

Like (77,5%)
True
Admirers
(50%)

The Critics
(22,5%)

The
conquered
(2,5%)

Dont like (22,5%)

The ashamed
admirers
(2,5%)

Declared
dislikers
(17,5%)

Faster and
younger
(5%)

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

The True Admirers (50%)

Sex Pistols stands out from the rest and

brought something new to music
They opened the door to what would be
their long journey in punk, as fans or
musicians

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

The Conquered (2,5%)

At a starting point, when they were

younger, they did not like the band, but
as time passed they started expressing
sentiments of respect and admiration for
it considering the Sex Pistols a
cornerstone of the punk movement

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

The Critics (22,5%)

The second most representative among
the actors of portuguese punk
Liking the Sex Pistols is a complex limbo
of love and hate
They appreciate the band and its musical
work but they condemn their attitudes
Contradiction, a feeling of duality which
so perfectly adequates with the band!

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

The Ashamed Admirers (2,5%)

They feel a certain shame in expressing

to their friends and peers their liking of
the band, because Sex Pistols are often
associated with mainstream and
commercial ideals, being sometimes
questioned as truly belonging to the
punk movement

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

The Declared Dislikers (17,5%)

What leads some to like the Sex Pistols,
makes others detest them
Several interviewees who state they had
no influence whatsoever from the group,
and, thus its a band which they do not
like particularly
Its a band which was moved for
commercial and economic interests,
being ambiguous
As time passed they got further
disillusioned with the band, and what
they are today

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

The Faster & Young (5%)

Younger interviewees, who refer to not liking the

Sex Pistols because they are looking for faster
sounds, musically speaking they are fans of
hardcore
Acknowledgement and respect of all that the band
meant and created inside the punk movement

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Sold out sell-outs?

- a constant debate between what is authentic and
what has sold-out
Punk
The Sex
Pistols
What is
authentic?

What is has
sold-out?

The very foundations of the movement are called into question

Sex Pistols are seen as an incorporated product of the mainstream?

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Sold out sell-outs?

IN PORTUGAL:
1. Most of the interviewees (73%, including the true admirers) talk of the Pistols as a mainstream
and commercial band, which contributed to the banalization of punk.
1.1. Some (50%) consider that the selling out was something which started with band itself,
with some (17%) arguing it was the manager who created the product, and others (22%), in
a reading of autonomy of the band, that it was the Sex Pistols themselves who played the
record labels. Others (11%) even see the connection between the Sex Pistols and the labels as
an inevitability, since in those days the record labels held a tremendous amount of power, and
any band with any sort of fame would be swallowed by them (some say, as a say of
controlling anti-system bands).
1.2. Other interviewees (22%) consider that the Sex Pistols only surrendered to the
mainstream after signing with EMI, or after the death of Sid Vicious, in the sense that they do
not see as right that they continued to make money with a project that, for them, had already
finished, and had only released one album.
2. Some (28%), however, understand and respect the reasons which led the Sex Pistols to connect
to the music industry (in the sense that everyone seeks to have their work recognized),
considering even that their signing with the label did not mean a loss of authentiticy.

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Sold out sell-outs?

The majority of the interviewees (80%) believe that if the Sex Pistols had not signed
with a major label, punk would not have had the impact it did
- The band reachs more countries (including Portugal), and more people

The connection of The Sex Pistols to the major labels was crucial for the unraveling of
the punk movement

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Life, dead and metamorphosis: Sex

Pistols as landmark
As the years went by, the importance of the Sex Pistols has changed.
- Depletion of the punk of the Sex Pistols: the defense of a self which is different
from the rest loses its sense when the self stops being self and becomes a us;
when the us comes to be, there is the need for a they society which is
necessary to transform.

Sex Pistols end in the 70s!

Sex Pistols are a sort of explosion, so they could not last forever. Its a logical process:
an explosion doesnt last forever.
The Sex Pistols could only last if they had had an evolution, in musical and content
terms
To continue to be creative and critic, it is necessary to be connected to what is
happening in society; otherwise the project can only last for so long

I've seen you in the mirror when the story began

Legacy and authenticity of the Sex Pistols in Portugal

Life, dead and metamorphosis: Sex

Pistols as landmark
But...
opinions seem to converge when
talking about the maintenance of the
Sex Pistols as a reference and historical
marking

Sex Pistols are regarded as a

mythical band, an essential
band, and a reference to those
about to be initiated on the
punk world

Thank you!
kismif.geral@gmail.com
http://www.punk.pt/pt/