Well, were they? (You can comment at the bottom of the page)
Here they are, below, live in Brighton 1972. At their height, apparently.
But were they punk? They were a part of the counter culture, but they were the opposite of the stripped-down 3-chord thing. What’s more important – flares and slippers or year zero? Was punk a continuation of hippy or its antithesis? Would you trust ’em?
What’s it all about Alfie? Answers on a postcard. Or, if you can’t afford a stamp, comment below.
Vegetable Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7e1RUXUx7o
No.
Just found some pics of the Pistols wearing the ‘I hate Pink Floyd’ t-shirt.
http://www.feelnumb.com/2011/07/05/the-sex-pistols-shared-the-famous-i-hate-pink-floyd-shirt/
Which leads on to a Situationist [or Letterist to be pedantic] style detournement of the original question – which gives:
“Were the Sex Pistols punk?”
Lyrically, and, perhaps to lesser degree, musically, Floyd was somewhat dark, cynical, and nihilistic; they did not reflect any of the ‘party and get laid’ ethos evinced by other ’70s bands like Zepplin or Aerosmith. In this sense you might say hey were punk, although I would argue that darkness, cynicism, and nihilism are part and parcel of the folk traditions that spawned rock and roll. One should also consider how their generally downtempo, barbituated aesthetic and elaborate stage sets comport themselves with whatever it means to be “punk.”