Triggers - A Life In Music - Glen Matlock

 TRIGGERS - A LIFE IN MUSIC - GLEN MATLOCK

If you know your punk rock history then you'll know the sleevenotes to Honey Bane's 'You Can Be You' EP on Crass Records where Honey wrote (to paraphrase it a little) 'Do you know the difference between reality and fantasy? No you don't because you're still buying the Sex Pistols'. The year was 1979. Today getting on to almost 50 years later, I obviously still don't know the difference because here I am still buying.

Is there anything really left to learn from the Pistols? Well no, of course not. Or is there really anything left to learn about them? Well, there's always more than one way to skin a cat as shown by Steve Jones' autobiography 'Lonely Boy' a few years ago and even by John Lydon's stand-up speaking tours he's been doing. And now we have Triggers - A Life In Music by Glen Matlock.

An interesting thing about the Sex Pistols' legacy nowadays is that it's Steve Jones who has ended up being the most likeable member due in no small part to his radio show in America and his Tik-Tok videos. Steve has ended up as a very chilled-out guy possessed of a really good sense of humour. John Lydon on the other hand has ended up as being untrustworthy and conservative to boot, not helped in the slightest by his endorsement of Trump, MAGA, Brexit and even to a point, Nigel fucking Farage.

This is where Glen Matlock now comes in. In his book when talking about God Save The Queen, he says about how a couplet such as 'God save the Queen / The fascist regime' was impactful and powerful stuff and how still to this day it rings true. 'Anything that embarrasses the royal family,' he writes 'or exposes their hypocrisy and brings them to account, can only be a good thing.' He points then at the irony in Lydon now subscribing to the Trumpian MAGA bollocks as it's 'just fascism under a red cap'. 

Matlock also tells us about his television interview with BBC Breakfast that went semi-viral after he slammed Brexit and the loss of freedom of movement that it entailed. Online he received a lot of positive feedback and people thanking him for saying what they were thinking but alongside this came the negative feedback also, particularly on Twitter where people would post comments such as 'Glen, you don't understand. The Right is the new Left'. On clicking on their profile, Matlock says you would find the Brexit supporters to be Public Image Ltd fans.

There's no love lost between Lydon and Matlock and even more so now following the Danny Boyle film palava and the replacing of Lydon with Frank Carter, but where does it all stem from? Lydon has always been notoriously difficult to get on with, which can be seen by even Jah Wobble's disintegrated relationship with him nowadays but Lydon's and Matlock's relationship has historically always been fraught. What was it about Matlock that Lydon didn't like because going by Triggers, Matlock is a really good, very amiable bloke.

Lydon has always proclaimed himself as being working class and indeed, the issue of class has always been an important factor in regard to the whole Sex Pistols project. Matlock, for some reason, was cast as the middle class member of the band but this seems to have been based on him going to art school which is something Matlock suspects Lydon was resentful about, what with Lydon being a talented painter himself.

'Not that it should matter, but I wasn't middle class.' Matlock tells us 'I'm a working class guy who just managed to make it work somehow.'

In fact, when talking about the time when he, Jones and Cook first met Lydon and his gang he says 'They weren't anything like us. We were more working class, like the hoi polloi, and they were kind of druggy types. They struck me as a bit weird, but in a contrived way.' Lydon's gang, of course, included John Gray, John Wardle (Jah Wobble) and John Beverley (Sid Vicious).

There's also the whole thing about Matlock liking the Beatles and this being the reason why he was 'kicked out' of the Pistols. Matlock is almost at pains to point out that this is all 'total bollocks'. He was never sacked, he walked out.

'Can't you just pretend you like John?' he quotes Paul Cook as saying, to which he replies 'Like you two? Never saying boo to him?'

Lydon had always wanted his friend Sid in the band, something he obviously regrets to this day, given what happened to Sid. In fact, Matlock confirms it was Sid whom Malcolm McLaren first had in mind when it came to auditioning for the lead singer role, but it was Lydon who auditioned instead.

Matlock tells it straight and he acknowledges that everyone involved with the Pistols had a part to play in their success. That it wasn't just McLaren being the puppet master and it certainly wasn't all just down to Johnny Rotten. He even acknowledges the role that Freddie Mercury played in him having to attend an emergency dentist's appointment and subsequently enabling the Pistols to appear on the Bill Grundy show instead of Queen.

A whole series of events, in fact - or 'triggers' as Matlock calls them - led from one thing to another. The letting go of Wally Nightingale in their very early days, for example. Or Matlock taking McLaren along to the Hammersmith Odeon (pre-managing the Pistols) to see The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and McLaren when there and looking around and asking how much the tickets cost? About 75p, Matlock tells him, to which McLaren then asks how many people does the Odeon hold? About 3,000 Matlock tells him. To which McLaren does some quick maths - so that's 3,000 x 75p for a night's work - and the cogs in his brain begin turning. Kerching! 'Tell you what,' McLaren says to Matlock 'Let's have a little chat tomorrow about this band of yours.'

Life for Matlock didn't just stop on him leaving the Pistols, of course, which means a large chunk of his book is also devoted to the rest of his career and the countless anecdotes in regard to the Rich Kids, Iggy Pop, Blondie and all the other bands he's played with. 

Apparently he was approached by Paul Weller at one point to potentially join The Jam as a second guitarist but balked at the idea after realising he'd have to wear one of those horrible, cheap-looking suits they used to wear in their early days. From working at McLaren's shop, Matlock knew a bit about good fashion and those suits were most definitely not it.

Matlock also let's us know that on being nominated for entry into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, Steve Jones was left a message on his answering machine by Cliff Richard singing 'Congratulations'.  Can you imagine?

Unusually for a book such as this, there are no photos included in it though it must be said, the picture of Matlock on the cover is a good one and that's a beautiful guitar he's holding. Triggers is a good read and is probably an important addition to the Sex Pistols story and their oeuvre because it's coming from the horses mouth. Matlock was there whilst hundreds of other writers on punk weren't. So who to believe? Who to sort out the myths from the truth? Well, Matlock comes across as a really decent, forthright and sincere person so more than most he's probably your man for the job.

John Serpico