Artist:Sid Vicious
Song:My Way
Album:The Original Punk Album
Most music fans are familiar with Sid Vicious as bassist for the pioneering punk band The Sex Pistols and his drug abuse and self destructive behavior in the popular film Sid and Nancy. His one solo album Sid Sings was released after his death so we don't really know if he could have been a star. I doubt it because he probably would have sabotaged himself. This punk cover of My Way is probably his best known recording. He was born John Simon Ritchie May 10, 1957 in Lewisham, London, England. His father was a guardsman at Buckingham Palace and he played trombone on the local jazz scene. Ritchie moved with his mother to Ibiza. The father was supposed to send her money and arrive later. But he never did. Her second husband died of cancer in 1968. He met John Lydon in 1973. Lydon gave him the nickname Sid Vicious after Ritchie's hamster Sid bit Lydon. They busked in the streets of London and people gave them money to stop. He joined The Flowers of Romance in 1976. That didn't last and Vicious failed to show up at audition to be the lead singer of The Damned. He blamed His competition Dave Vanian for giving him the wrong location for the audition. High on drugs, Vicious attacked the band at a gig and accidently blinded a girl in the audience. He was arrested and thrown in jail. Meanwhile Vicious replaced bassist Glen Matlock in The Sex Pistols in 1977 because he hung around with the band. Of course he couldn't play so guitarist Steve Jones played bass on the Sex Pistols album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols. His girlfriend Nancy Spungen got him hooked on heroin. Needless to say, The Sex Pistols' brief career was chaotic and they split up in 1978. Vicious performed three songs including My Way for the film The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle. Vicious moved to New York and formed a band with Glen Matlock, Rat Scabies of The Damned and Arthur Kane, Jerry Nolan and Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls. They played gigs at Max's Kansas City that were very successful. Then Nancy Spungen died and that drove Vicious even deeper into heroin. Sid Vicious died on Feb. 1, 1979 at age 21 during a drug fueled party with some friends. His mother found his body the next day. The album Sid Sings was released in 1979. It is taken from Max's Kansas City shows with the exception of My Way which was recorded in Paris in Apr. 1978. It was released in England and was a hit single. You can get My Way on this various artists budget comp. Here's Sid vicious performing My Way in the 1978 film The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle.
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