The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
LP by the Sex Pistols
Released	February 26, 1979
Recorded	1978
Genre	Punk rock
Length	75 min
Record label	Virgin Records
Producer	? (No Lip, Stepping Stone, and Substitute produced by Dave Goodman)
Sex Pistols Chronology
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977)	The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1979)	Flogging a Dead Horse (1980)

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is a documentary film directed by Julien Temple. The film chronicles the peak of the Sex Pistols' career -- a time when they were considered by some to be "the most dangerous band in the world". The film was made on a low budget in 1980, and is derided by critics as being of poor quality. Created following the band's break-up, it tells its story from the perspective of the Sex Pistols' manager, Malcolm McLaren, and aggressively criticizes lead singer Johnny Rotten.

The band regained the trademarks to their name and images from McLaren after a court battle in the late 1980's, and their newly-formed business partnership, Sex Pistols Residuals (a collective d/b/a for Rotten, Jones, Cook, Matlock, and the estate of Sid Vicious), permitted the home video release of the movie in 1993 by Warner Reprise Video in the US and Virgin Music Video elsewhere. In 2005, the partnership licensed the DVD rights to Shout! Factory; the DVD features commentary by Temple.

Temple would later direct The Filth and The Fury, a similar film, but one made with more resources, and showing the actual band members' sides to the story.

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle was also the name of the Sex Pistols' second album (and a song from that album). Though billed as a Sex Pistols album, it is actually the soundtrack of the film, and includes performances by several other artists.

Track listing

Version 1

1. God Save the Queen (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten)
2. Johnny B. Goode/Roadrunner (Berry)/(Richman)
3. Disco Medley: Anarchy in the UK/God Save the Queen/Pretty Vacant/No One is Innocent (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten)
4. Anarchy in the UK (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten)
5. Substitute (Townsend)
6. Don't Gimme No Lip (Thomas/Richards)
7. (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone (Boyce/Hart)
8. Anarchie Pour Le U.K. (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten)
9. Belsen Was A Gas (Cook/Jones/Vicious/Rotten)
10. Einmal Belsen War Wirflich Bortrefflich (Belsen Vos A Gassa) (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten)
11. Silly Thing (Cook/Jones)
12. My Way (Anka/Francois/Revaux)
13. I Wanna Be Me (Matlock/Cook/Jones/Rotten)
14. Something Else (Cochran/Sheeley)
15. Rock Around the Clock (Myers/Freedman)
16. Lonely Boy (Cook/Jones/)
17. No One is Innocent (Cook/Jones/Biggs)
18. C'mon Everybody (Cochran/Capehart)
19. EMI (Cook/Jones/Matlock/Rotten)
20. The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (Cook/Jones/Temple)
21. Friggin' in the Riggin' (Traditional; arranged by Jones)
22. You Need Hands (Bygraves)
23. Who Killed Bambi (Tudor/Westwood)

Version 2

1. God Save The Queen (Symphony)
2. Rock Around The Clock
3. Johnny B. Goode
4. Road Runner
5. Black Arabs
6. Anarchy In The U.K. (New Version)
7. Watcha Gonna Do About It?
8. Who Killed Bambi?
9. Silly Thing
10. Substitute
11. Don't Give Me No Lip Child
12. I'm Not Your Stepping Stone
13. Lonely Boy
14. Something Else
15. Anarchie Pour Le U.K.
16. Belsen Was A Gas (Live In San Francisco)
17. Belsen Was A Gas (With Ronnie Biggs)
18. No One Is Innocent
19. My Way
20. C'mon Everybody
21. EMI (Orchestra)
22. The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
23. You Need Hands
24. Friggin' In The Riggin'

Though most of the songs were performed by the Sex Pistols in some form, there are notable exceptions. "God Save the Queen" was an orchestral rendetion with Malcolm McLaren speaking over the music about how he "invented" punk rock and the Sex Pistols. EMI is done in the same manner, but with Steve Jones speaking the lyrics. The four song medley was a disco adaptation performed by a group called Black Arabs. "Anarchie Pour Le U.K." was done by a trio of French street musicians, with accordion and fiddle. "Who Killed Bambi", one of Edward Tudor-Pole's creations, was performed by himself and an orchestra.

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The term was later used by Jello Biafra referring to his former Dead Kennedys bandmates' "reunion" tour with a singer other than Biafra. This outraged fans, and Biafra called the newly dubbed "DK Kennedys" the "greediest karaoke band ever".ja:グレイト・ロックンロール・スウィンドル