Special vinyl pressings of albums by Sex Pistols to Spice Girls added to White Label Auction

Geri Horner, aka Ginger Spice, prepares to turn 50 this summer, her old bandmate Victoria Beckham is stepping up to help organise a truly epic party. In fact, the fashion designer has suggested they turn the event into a mini Spice Girls reunion…“Vic is taking full control of organising Geri’s birthday,” says an insider close to Posh, who’s known Geri since 1994.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe late, legendary BBC DJ John Peel had a one-of-a-kind music collection, and the items from it that were auctioned off by Bonhams in London on Tuesday brought in more than $566,000.Surprisingly, the Sex Pistols led the charge, with a test pressing of the group’s controversial debut single, “Anarchy in the U.K.,” going for just under $25,000 (£20,400). It had been estimated pre-auction to go for not more than £8000.Other top-priced albums from the collection — which is a music geek’s dream — included an original 1983 demo cassette recorded from the Smiths in 1983 with a handwritten letter from the band (£17,850), an autographed copy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s controversial “Two Virgins” album (£15,300), a copy of Queen’s 1973 sophomore album with a personal letter from Freddie Mercury (£16,575), a copy of U2’s rare 1979 “Three” EP with a note written on it by Bono (£14,025), a copy of the rarest known Rolling Stones album signed by all five bandmembers in 1969 (£11,475), a copy of the Beatles’ white album signed by Lennon and Ono (£10,200) and Nirvana’s 1988 debut single “Love Buzz” (£8,925).

Sex Pistols single that were owned by the late DJ and broadcaster John Peel have sold at auction for £20,400.A sale of 200 items from the John Peel Archive, including rare records, personal correspondence and memorabilia, took place at Bonhams in Knightsbridge, London, yesterday (June 14), with total sales reaching £465,783.Peel’s pair of 1976 test pressings of the Pistols’ ‘Anarchy In The UK’ / ‘I Wanna Be Me’ single was the top-seller, going for a final price of £20,400. It had been estimated pre-auction that the lot would not sell for more than £8000.Other items that were sold at auction yesterday included an original demo cassette recorded by The Smiths in 1983 which contained a handwritten letter from the band (sold for £17,850), a signed LP copy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono‘s ‘Two Virgins’ (£15,300), and a 7″ copy of Nirvana‘s 1988 single ‘Love Buzz’ / ‘Big Cheese’ (£8,925).All of the items that were sold at auction yesterday were selected by the Ravenscroft family (Peel’s real name was John Ravenscroft), who said in a statement: “By virtue of the role he played in it, John/Dad was in a position to have access to many of the most celebrated people and events in the history of popular music.

Spice Girls star Geri Horner will receive an honorary doctorate award from Sheffield Hallam University for her work championing children, young people and women’s rights. The 49-year-old singer, known to fans as Ginger Spice, will collect her award at a degree ceremony in November, where more than 12,000 students will be graduating from the university this year.

John Lydon has criticised his former Sex Pistols bandmates’ new Danny Boyle-directed biopic series in a new interview.Pistol premiered on Hulu and Disney+ on May 31. It stars Anson Boon as Johnny Rotten, Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook and Christian Lees as Glen Matlock among a cast line-up that also includes Maisie Williams.

With all the renewed interest in the Sex Pistols – thanks to that new Disney+ series ‘Pistol’ and the Queen’s platinum jubilee – talk has understandably returned to whether or not the band will ever perform together again. Not likely, you’d probably quite correctly say, but what if they did it Abba-style and didn’t actually have to get in the same room together?Asked on Rolling Stone’s Music New podcast about the possibility of another Sex Pistols reunion – the last having been in 2008 – guitarist Steve Jones references Abba’s new ‘Abba Voyage’ show in London, which sees the band members represented by digital avatars.“Seeing that Abba can do it without being there, I’d be down for doing that thing – they’re there but they’re not really there”, he says.

Sex Pistols‘ Steve Jones says he would be “down” for an ABBA-style hologram reunion for the punk idols.The Swedish pop heroes are currently hosting an ‘ABBA Voyage’ residency in London, where ‘ABBAtars’ perform alongside a live band. It’s expected to run for five years.Speaking on Rolling Stone’s Music Now podcast, Jones was asked about the idea of a Pistols reunion in the future, with the band having last played together in 2008.“Seeing that Abba can do it without being there, I’d be down,” Jones said in response.Listen to the podcast below.Last weekend (June 4), Sex Pistols‘ ‘God Save The Queen’ was the biggest-selling single in the UK. The 1977 hit was reissued on Friday (June 3), and hit the top spot exactly 45 years after it was notoriously denied Number One.

Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock says he is relieved to not currently be in the UK due to “terrible, turgid Tories”.Matlock is currently touring as part of Blondie’s live band, and was speaking to mark 45 years of his band’s notorious anti-monarchy hit ‘God Save The Queen’ as well as Danny Boyle’s new biopic Pistol.He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I think one of the things is that, you know, how worse off we would be if [Boris] Johnson was a president, that would be even worse.“I’m really quite pleased to be out of England at the moment, the terrible, turgid Tories have just been getting on top of me.”He added: “So to be touring, as I have been, I got asked very last minute to play with Blondie, we’ve been touring over here (in the US) and I just not long got back from Mexico, it’s been really quite refreshing to do something different and step outside and see how other people see us.”On Saturday (June 4), Sex Pistols‘ ‘God Save The Queen’ was the biggest-selling single in the UK. The 1977 hit was reissued on Friday (June 3), and hit the top spot exactly 45 years after it was notoriously denied Number One.

Sex Pistols‘ notorious anti-monarchy anthem ‘God Save The Queen’ was the biggest-selling single in the UK.The 1977 hit was reissued on Friday (June 3), and hit the top spot exactly 45 years after it was notoriously denied Number One. The protest song was officially released by the band via Virgin in May 1977.

With its unusal-yet-captivating premise of teams solving cryptic puzzles in make-believe worlds, The Crystal Maze has long been regarded as a real diamond of a game show. Launched in 1990, this family-favourite series proved a real hit, with us all gathering around the telly to cheer on players tasked with unlocking the titular crystals.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJohn Lydon — a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. — has written a brief and to-the-point editorial for the U.K.’s Times that ranges from his thoughts on the royal family to his wife’s struggle with Alzheimers, from Danny Boyle’s new biopic “Pistol” (which he fought legally) and his early struggles with fame.While the London-born Lydon, who has lived in Los Angeles for decades, courted controversy in recent years with statements in support of former President Trump, the editorial finds him as direct and unsentimental as ever.Yet the most striking statements are him effectively contradicting the world-shattering statements he made in the Sex Pistols’ first two singles, which laid the template for much of punk rock’s ethos: In it, he says “anarchy is a terrible idea” (defying the group’s first single, “Anarchy in the U.K.”) and “God bless the Queen,” which reverts the withering sarcasm of the group’s second single, “God Save the Queen” (“and the fascist regime”) as Britain observes Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.

John Lydon has said that “anarchy is a terrible idea”, in contradiction to the Sex Pistols‘ debut 1976 single ‘Anarchy In The U.K.’.The former Pistols frontman, who has led the band Public Image Ltd. since 1978, said in a new article that he’s “not an anarchist”. It’s an allusion to protest single ‘Anarchy In The U.K.’ and its lyrics: “I wanna be anarchy“.“Anarchy is a terrible idea,” he wrote in a piece for The Times.

Sex Pistols, saying that his tastes have long moved on from punk rock.The Sex Pistols guitarist was promoting Pistol, the Danny Boyle-directed biopic series based on his memoirs about the band, in interviews when he made the comments.He told The Telegraph: “I never really listen to the Pistols’ music anymore. I’m fucking tired of it, to be honest with you.

This week 45 years ago, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Silver Jubilee and as Her Majesty begins celebrations for her record-breaking Platinum Jubilee, our eyes turn to the Official Singles Chart of 1977...and one of the most controversial chart races in the history of the Official Charts. 

The Queen has a long history with the Sex Pistols.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticSome of the most exciting filmmaking in “Pistol,” FX’s new Danny Boyle-directed limited series, happens onstage. In concert scenes featuring the Sex Pistols — the real-life punk pathbreakers at the center of this story — the camera toggles between performer and spectator, moving so rapidly that it seems to eliminate the distance between the two.

Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebration. A new music video was cut using footage from the performance video shot by Julien Temple at the marquee in May 1977 and clips of the Thames riverboat party on the Silver Jubilee day in June that same year. It also features exclusive footage of some of the earliest, most important and influential female fans of the band including Vivienne, Jordan, Debbie and Tracey, Catwoman and Helen of Troy.The song, with the same title as the British national anthem, was originally released in 1977 during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.

Adele, Sex Pistols, Wet Leg and more acts have been added to the White Label Auction next Tuesday (June 7).Buyers will have the chance to get their hands on white label pressings of Adele’s ’30’, the Sex Pistols’ single ‘God Save The Queen‘, a signed pressing of Wet Leg‘s self-titled debut and a white label pressing of Robbie Williams’ ‘I’ve Been Expecting You’.Also in the additions are: Mark Knopfler’s ‘Sailing To Philadelphia’, signed by the artist; the Human League’s ‘A Very British Synthesizer Group’, and Tom Speight’s ‘Everything’s Waiting For You’, which is also signed.The new collectible lots join previously announced test pressings by The Cure, Spice Girls, Coldplay, The Police, Eric Clapton, Simple Minds, Muse and many more.The Cure LP’s include the band’s albums ‘Disintegration’, ‘Pornography’, ‘Seventeen Seconds’, ‘Head On The Door’ and ‘Acoustic Hits’. You can view images of the signed copies by frontman Robert Smith below.Net profits from the auction will go to support the work of music industry charity The BRIT Trust, which since 1989 has donated around £28million to charities and causes that promote education and wellbeing through the power of music and the creative arts, such as the BRIT School and Nordoff-Robbins music therapy.

Sex Pistols have released their ‘Pistol Mint Commemorative Coin’ today (May 30) ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee on Friday (June 3).The nickel-plated coin features artist Jamie Reid’s Union Jack flag design on the front, with a high quality decal of his depiction of the Queen sporting a lip piercing on the back.It comes days after the band reissued their controversial 1977 single ‘God Save The Queen’, which includes the lyrics “God save the queen / She ain’t no human being / And there is no future / In England’s dreaming.” The single was seen as an anti-monarchy protest song, released around the time of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in the summer of ’77.Despite being banned by the BBC at the time, the song reached Number One on the NME chart and Number Two on the UK’s singles chart (the track was listed as a blank on the latter to avoid causing offence).The commemorative coin (available here until the end of June), which marks the Queen’s 70th year on the throne, comes in a cushioned sapphire velvet presentation box with the front face design embossed in silver.