Shakespeare ---> Olivier ---> John Lydon ---> me ---> my dad

Dad'll love it!

the idea was taken from a (much better) punk doc made by paul tickell (which used clips from the TV version of quatermass and the pit)

Lydon talks about this in his book, so I don't think the idea originated with either of them.

The influence of people like Max Wall & Wilfred Bramble on Lydon's style is missed by those such as Greil Marcus who want to place them in the Situationist tradition. Hear also Peter Cook singing "Bedazzled" - could almost be JL

"The influence of people like Max Wall & Wilfred Bramble on Lydon's style is missed by those such as Greil Marcus who want to place them in the Situationist tradition." The two kinds of stuff aren't at all incompatible: the Sits were often very funny; Max Wall and Wilfred Bramble were also pretty scary sometimes. This merely assumes the Sits are some Great Pompous Unreachable High Art Dealio, as opposed to a bunch of angry kids having fun throwing stuff around. The Marcus book is an assault on lame-ass theories of "influence" anyway (arguably a not a successful assault, since people who've read it end up using phrases like "those such as Greil Marcus who want to place them in the Situationist tradition" — ie pretty much missing the point): oddly enough Temple's error-filled and dishonest suck-up job assaults no lame-ass theories of "influence".

Yes! Watching 'Bedazzled' over xmas I was struck again by how Lydonesque Cook is in that film - even down to those natty square hipster glasses - especially at the end when he is raging against God.

(GM must be aware of Wilf Brambles as punkah-precursor, presumably, cos he edited the Lester Bangs anthology where LB says that WB is the punkest thing about 'Hard Day's Nite'.)

(the piece ran into the sand a bit bcz i felt heartless giving JS any kind of a harsh going-over in the circs, even tho the ONLY genuinely punk-respectful acknowledgment wd be an argument, a fightback...)