The Sex Pistols were a 1970s punk rock band that caused major controversies in Britain through their confrontational style and anti-establishment lyrics. They were frequently portrayed negatively in British tabloids but gained fans and positive press through rock magazines. While their appearances often caused outrage, the band also increased punk's mainstream exposure through incidents like swearing on live TV. Reception of the Sex Pistols varied greatly between dominant, oppositional, and negotiated readings due to their provocative image and messages.

1. How The Sex Pistols Were Portrayed In The Media -
Planning
Charlie Watson

2. History Of The Sex Pistols
• The sex pistols were a mid 70s punk rock band, they were at the forefront of the British punk
movement, with some saying they created it. They were originally created by Malcolm McLaren
to promote his new clothing store, Sex, but they quickly became more than a promotional tactic,
with their song, God Save The Queen becoming a symbol of 70s Britain. The original 4 members
were Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock, who was later replaced by Sid
Vicious.
• 'By the summer of 1976 the Sex Pistols had attracted an avid fan base and successfully updated
the energies of the 1960s mods for the malignant teenage mood of the ’70s. Heavily stylized in
their image and music, media-savvy, and ambitious in their use of lyrics, the Sex Pistols became
the leaders of a new teenage movement'.
• The Sex Pistols were frequently featured in the British tabloids, leading to their first record label,
EMI, dropping them in January of 1977. A brief stint at A&M Records was terminated in March of
the same year for the same reasons.

3. History Of The Sex Pistols (cont.)
• After they released God Save The Queen in 1977, they were quickly branded “public enemy's
number one,” by the press resulting in a lot of physical and verbal harassment towards them.
• Despite having two top ten hits with Pretty Vacant & Holiday In The Sun they were banned by the
British Government from playing in the UK because of their anti-establishment lyrics and their
image of drug use, which was worsened by Sid Vicious public heroin addiction.
• Following Vicious fatal heroin overdose and murder of his current girlfriend, combined with
Rotten's lawsuit against McLaren, the band went into receivership at the end of 1979, although
they have reunited for various tours since, negative press attention and changes in views from the
members has meant they have been rejected by the modern punk community.

4. Representation In The Media
• 'Daily Mirror’s notorious headline ‘The Filth & The Fury’'
• '‘Filthy Rich!’ screamed the Daily Mirror on 18 March 1977 after A&M announced they’d sacked
Sex Pistols, allegedly “for doing nothing”'
• '“punish the punks”, the Daily Mirror launched a moral crusade against both the band and punk in
general, publishing a “disturbing report on the amazing new cult”'
• 'The tabloid press ensured Sex Pistols were constantly in the public eye after their sackings from
EMI and A&M, and the post-Jubilee ‘God Save The Queen’ furore'
• 'Unlike the UK tabloids, the rock weeklies supported Sex Pistols, with the NME saying, “Don’t look
over your shoulder, but the Sex Pistols are coming,”'
• 'Sex Pistols regularly infuriated the tabloids on an almost daily basis and even irked the odd
broadsheet during their notorious prime'

5. Representation In The
Media
• Despite the British tabloids constantly trying to tear the
Sex Pistols apart for the most part of their career with
incredibly negative front-page articles about them, there
was still a lot of positive representation with them making
the front covers of magazines like NME and Melody
Maker, still being featured on NME as recently as 2017
• Record Mirror, Melody Maker, NME & Sounds all voted for
God Save The Queen as their album of the month giving
the band a lot of positive exposure in the press.
• 'NME famously granted Sex Pistols a memorable feature,
trailed with the headline ‘Four Pages Of Fun’ and a
classic image of the band on the cover of their 6 August
issue.'

6. Representation In The Modern
Media
• The band itself doesn't get a lot of recognition in the
mainstream media anymore, but lead singer Johnny Rotten, or
John Lydon occasionally gets shown for his still controversial
opinions.
• The band have been featured on the front page of NME in 2017
for a 30-year anniversary special but apart from that there has
been very few pieces about the band itself.
• 'Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten says he'd be 'daft as a brush not to'
support Donald Trump.'
• 'Sex Pistols star Johnny Rotten, who ‘doesn’t like the idea’ of
same-sex parents.'

7. The Bill Grundy Show
• 'In December 1976, a sweary, televised incident made
Britain gasp and the Sex Pistols front page news'
• In early December, The Sex Pistols appeared on The Bill
Grundy Show, as a last-minute replacement for queen. A
drunk Grundy started provoking the band to start
swearing on live, prime time British TV. 'When Steve
Jones responded to Bill Grundy’s dare that he say
“something outrageous” with the words “What a
fucking rotter”, he fundamentally altered British
broadcasting and took punk into the mainstream.' This
wasn’t a thing at the time with the word 'fuck' only being
heard on TV twice before.
• This incident took The Sex Pistols and punk into the
mainstream, before it was a barely heard of genre,
struggling to reach any chart with no mainstream media
exposure

8. Stuart Halls Reception Theory
• 'Reception theory as developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and
decoded.'
• The person encoding the text includes their messages and values in the text, which are then
decoded by the reader, although sometimes the reader dosnt understand the message the way
the writer intended, twisting the message.
• There are many factors that can lead to the message being decoded differently such as:
• Age
• Gender
• Beliefs
• Culture
• Life Experiences
• Current Mood

9. Stuart Halls Reception Theory (cont)
• There are 3 main ways the veiwer can decode the information they are veiwing.
1. Dominant Reading – This is taking in the information the way the producer intended. If the information is
relavent to the audience and gives a clear, consice message this is how they will take the information in.
2. Oppositional Reading – This is when the message is rejected by the veiwer. This can happen when the
message is controvertial or something the reader disagrees with, so they create their own meaning of the
message that suits their ideologies. It can also happen when the message is confusing, targetted at the
wrong demogaphic or not dealing with current issues.
3. Negotiated Reading – This is a compromise between the first 2 ways of decoding information. The
audience mixes their views and ideas with the producers. This occurs when the message is possibly
confusing but it appeals to the correct demographic.

10. Bibliography
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• Universal Music Group. (2020). Sex Pistols Bio. Available: https://www.sexpistolsofficial.com/bio/. Last accessed 9th Oct 2020.
• Savage, J. (Oct 25, 1999). The Sex Pistols. Available: https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Sex-Pistols. Last accessed 22nd Oct 2020.
• Peacock, T. (2019). FEATURESThe Filth And The Fury! How Sex Pistols Sparked A Media Outrage. Available: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/sex-pistols-media-outrage/.
Last accessed 9th Oct 2020.
• Alexander, H. (2020). Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten says he'd be 'daft as a brush not to' support Donald Trump. Available: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8832819/Sex-
Pistols-Johnny-Rotten-says-hed-daft-brush-not-support-Donald-Trump.html. Last accessed 9th Oct 2020
• Milton, J. (2020). https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/10/13/sex-pistols-johnny-rotten-donald-trump-presidential-election-joe-biden-maga/.Available:
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/10/13/sex-pistols-johnny-rotten-donald-trump-presidential-election-joe-biden-maga/. Last accessed 20th Oct 2020.
• Kugelberg, J (2016). God Save The Sex Pistols. London: Rizzoli. 320.
• Bennett, J. (2016). What happened when the Sex Pistols appeared on the Bill Grundy show. Available: https://www.loudersound.com/features/in-december-1976-the-sex-pistols-
appeared-on-the-bill-grundy-show. Last accessed 23rd Oct 2020
• ?. (2016). Reception Theory. Available: https://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/media-studies-level-revision/reception-theory. Last accessed 23rd Oct 2020.