Without the Sex Pistols there would be no punk. And without Steve
Jones there would be no Sex Pistols. It was Steve who, with his
schoolmate Paul Cook, formed the band that eventually went on to become
the Sex Pistols and who was its original leader. As the world celebrates
the 40th anniversary of punk -- the influence and cultural significance
of which is felt in music, fashion, and the visual arts to this
day--Steve tells his story for the very first time.
Steve Jones's modern Dickensian tale began in the street of Hammersmith
and Shepherd's Bush, West London, where as a lonely, neglected boy
living off his wits and petty thievery he was given purpose by the glam
art rock of David Bowie and Roxy Music. He became one of the first
generation of ragamuffin punks taken under the wings of Malcolm McLaren
and Vivienne Westwood.
In Lonely Boy, Steve describes the sadness of never having known his
real dad, the abuse he suffered at the hands of his stepfather, and how
his interest in music and fashion saved him from a potential life of
crime spent in remand centers and prisons. He takes readers on his
journey from the Kings Road of the early '70s through the years of the
Sex Pistols, punk rock, and the recording of Anarchy in the UK and
Never Mind the Bollocks. He recounts his infamous confrontation on
Bill Grundy's Today program -- the interview that ushered in the Filth
and the Fury headlines that catapulted punk into the national
consciousness. And he delves into the details of his self-imposed exile
in New York and Los Angeles, where he battled alcohol, heroin, and sex
addiction but eventually emerged to gain fresh acclaim as an actor and
radio host.
Lonely Boy is the story of an unlikely guitar hero who, with the Sex
Pistols, transformed twentieth-century culture and kick-started a social
revolution.
