On Monday night, the Quietus was lucky enough to see Public Image Limited play a short set in a tiny venue to launch this year’s Record Store Day. As well as blasts from the past like ‘Albatross’, ‘This Is Not A Love Song’, ‘Rise’ John Lydon and his excellent group aired two new songs including forthcoming single ‘One Drop’, the reggae-tinged track that’s arguably one of the best pop tracks he’s ever done. After a slightly bizarre Q&A between Lydon and 80s radio DJ Mike Read, we took Lydon up on the roof to ask him some questions…
…except Lydon (a gent if ever there was one) is still a fantastic raconteur, and a planned conversation about the different forms of music he discovered growing up in Finsbury Park and whether his musical education was based more in record shop or soundsystem culture became a fantastic sermon that took in anything from the reason why the Sex Pistols never covered The Beatles but did The Monkees, the joy multiculturalism, immigration, his love of The Sound Of Music and Julie Andrews, Guy Fawkes, the London riots… and generally lots of Righteous Stuff.
PiL’s One Drop EP is released for Record Store Day. Visit the Record Store Day website here.
