Jaggy Jam

Is the Queen to confer a knighthood on John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of the legendary 70s punk band, The Sex Pistols, in the New Year’s Honours List?  Lydon/Rotten and his Sex Pistols associates wrote punk anthem ‘Anarchy in the UK’!

The UK Honours System* informs us:
This is the first Honours List recommended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Its aim is to reflect and pay tribute to outstanding achievement and service across the entire community.

The demise of The Sex Pistols triggered Johnny Rotten’s transmogrification, and John Lydon emerged with a new band, Public Image Ltd.  Rumour of a knighthood for Britain’s greatest punk icon is not as strange as it first appears.

In 2004, John Lydon appeared on British TV in “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here” and the show became unmissable viewing.  At the same time, it won the former ‘enemy of the establishment’ a legion of new fans.

Generally, I’m not keen on this type of television programme, but it became must-see TV when it featured John Lydon venting his frustrations with, and contempt for, his fellow contestants and the state of the world in general.

But my jaw hit the deck the first time I saw Lydon’s latest appearance on TV — promoting a particular brand of British butter

I was transfixed as I watched scenarios that include Lydon:

• ~ attempting to relax in a stuffy ‘establishment-style’ gentlemen’s club;
• ~ patriotically waving a little Union Jack at a royal cavalcade;
• ~ cavorting with cows and sheep in the great British countryside.

And all the while he’s doing these things, he extols the virtues of eating British Butter — not because he’s patriotic, he says, “nah, it’s cos I like the taste.”

Of course, it’s all very tongue-in-cheek and the advertising is assuring us that John Lydon wouldn’t say something is good if it wasn’t true, because he isn’t a sell-out.  Hmmm.

It makes me wonder what would have happened to other icons of the music industry had they survived the frenetic, drug-fuelled lifestyle.

If Sid Vicious hadn’t self-destructed at the height of his notoriety, would he still generate a ‘blip’ on our celebrity radar?  Might he feature as the front man in a TV commercial for Grecian 2000 or denture cleaner?

To date, John Lydon has advertised butter, but could this be an embryonic new trend?  Will we see Iggy Pop appearing in TV commercials to promote pension plans?  Ozzy Osbourne advocating the life enhancing qualities of a Stannah Stair Lift? Or perhaps Sham 69 reviewing Saga Holidays?

Deceased celebrities who subscribed to the convoluted philosophy, “live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse”, enjoy the luxury of remaining forever youthful and beautiful.  Death has ensured that the legend survives… intact.

So, we return to my original question, “Is the Queen to confer a knighthood on John Lydon in the New Year’s Honours List?”.

Nope.  Regardless of my whimsical Christmas wish, it’s highly doubtful that we’ll ever witness the creation of ‘Sir’ John Lydon, but it isn’t so far removed from the realms of possibility as it was in the 70s, when he ranked as Britain’s best loved and loathed anti-establishment, working class hero.

Life needs legends, magic, love and… laughter.

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