Today marks 43 years since the release of The Great Rock and Roll Swindle - a 1980 mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple that tells the story of British punk band, the Sex Pistols, through the eyes of their manager, Malcolm McLaren.
Naturally, McLaren turned to long-term collaborator Jamie Reid to create artwork for the film and subsequent soundtrack. And as an Enter Gallery favourite, we thought it only fitting to honour this punk anniversary by offering 30% off framing on any Jamie Reid artwork for one day only.
Here’s everything you need to know about the film, and how you can secure today’s discount…
The Great Rock and Roll Swindle
The Great Rock and Roll Swindle is a mockumentary that charts the tumultuous rise and fall of the Sex Pistols. Released two years after the Sex Pistols split, true to controversial form, the film divided critics, and even divided the band itself.
While Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Sid Vicious all participated (apparently motivated by the cash), Johnny Rotten refused to have anything to do with the picture, stating that it was 'a pile of rubbish' and 'Malcolm's vision of what he believed - not true in any form.'
Who Killed Bambi was a Sex Pistols track, and also the title of McLaren’s first iteration of The Great Rock and Roll Swindle.
By the time of release, Sid Vicious was dead, Johnny Rotten was in Public Image Limited, and Paul Cook and Steve Jones were in the Professionals. No one was speaking to their former manager.
Widely-considered to be McLaren’s version of events, the flick begins with him clad in leather S&M gear, telling the story of punk rock while sitting in a bathtub filled with green water. Via Pistols concert footage, animated sequences and scenes featuring Jones as a detective called ‘The Crook’, and Vicious as ‘The Gimmick’, the film presents the perspective that the Sex Pistols and punk rock in general were an elaborate scam perpetrated by McLaren (‘The Embezzler’) in order to further his agenda (‘cash from chaos’) and to ‘make a million pounds’.
Punk History
Despite its criticisms, the film is essential viewing for punk fans, with the brash statements and divides it caused only further confirming the disruptive power of punk rock.
Alongside the wild claims and fictionalised sequences, the film sees cameos from Nancy Spungen, who appears in several of Sid Vicious sketches. More bizarrely, Great Train Robbery mastermind, Ronnie Biggs, makes an appearance playing himself and singing a few numbers.
Interestingly, The Great Rock and Roll Swindle was reportedly screened at the wake of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis after his 1980 suicide.
Julien Temple
The mockumentary is directed by Julien Temple – a now lauded director, who began his career directing music videos for the Sex Pistols, including the infamous God Save the Queen.
Temple has directed music videos for everyone from The Kinks and The Rolling Stones, to David Bowie and Iggy Pop, and directed documentaries about Glastonbury and Joe Strummer.
Years later, the Sex Pistols worked with Temple again to create The Filth and the Fury – a film which told the story of the band from the perspective of Jones, Cook and Lydon. This documentary is considered a rebuttal to McLaren’s insistence that he was the driving creative force of the band.
Use code SWINDLE30 at the checkout to apply your 30% framing discount on all Jamie Reid prints.
