Malcolm McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and former manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls.
The Sex Pistols
By 1976, McLaren had started to manage The Strand, the band who would later become the Sex Pistols.[1] He soon convinced them to kick guitarist/songwriter Wally Nightingale out of the band and also introduced them to bassist Glen Matlock (who worked in SEX). His assistant, Bernie Rhodes (soon to be manager of The Clash), spotted John Lydon who was then sporting green hair, and torn clothes with the words “I hate” scribbled on his Pink Floyd shirt. His appearance and attitude impressed McLaren, and Lydon, now dubbed “Johnny Rotten”, was brought in to audition as a new frontman. Rotten joined, and the band was renamed The Sex Pistols (McLaren stating he wanted them to sound like “sexy young assassins”)[10].
In May 1977, the band released “God Save the Queen” during the week of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. McLaren organised a boat trip down the Thames where the Sex Pistols would perform their music outside Houses of Parliament. The boat was raided by the police and McLaren was arrested, thus achieving his goal to attain publicity.
The band released their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols in October 1977 and played their last UK gig before embarking upon an American tour in January 1978. This tour saw the band split up after a series of arguments.[citation needed] During his time managing the band McLaren was accused by band members (most notably by John Lydon) of mismanaging them and refusing to pay them when they asked him for money. McLaren stated that he had planned out the entire path of the Sex Pistols, and in the film, The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, he set this plan out. The film was criticised for allegedly being too skewed towards McLaren and for being a launchpad for McLaren’s future career in music as a performer (he performs the Max Bygraves song “You Need Hands” in the film) as well as a manager.
McLaren kept the Sex Pistols’ contract rights until Lydon took him to court in the 1980s to win the rights and unpaid revenues from McLaren. Lydon won and gained complete control from McLaren in 1987. McLaren and Lydon refused to speak to each other after the band split. In the 2000 film, The Filth and the Fury, the surviving members of the Sex Pistols put their version of events on film.
hip-hop
In 1983, McLaren released Duck Rock, an album which mixed up influences from Africa and the Americas, including hip-hop. The album proved to be highly influential in bringing hip-hop to a wider audience in the UK. Two of the singles from the album (“Buffalo Gals” and “Double Dutch”) became top-10 hits in the UK. He then turned to electronic music and opera in the 1984 single “Madame Butterfly”, based on the opera. The track is arranged with drum machines, atmospheric synthesizers and spoken verses. It reached #13 in the UK and #16 in Australia. The producer of the single, Stephen Hague, became a much sought after producer in the techno pop genre following his work with McLaren on the following full length LP, Fans.
McLaren’s 1989 album Waltz Darling, was a funk/disco/vogueing inspired album. Waltz Darling incorporated elements of his former albums, i.e. spoken verses, string arrangements and eclectic mix of genres but featured such prominent musicians as Bootsy Collins or Jeff Beck with a glitzy, Louisiana-style production aimed at the US market. The singles, “Waltz Darling” and “Something’s Jumpin’ in Your Shirt” became top-20 radio hits in Europe, with the single “Deep in Vogue” bringing voguing to the attention of the world long before Madonna.