Punk is a four-part documentary series coming to EPIX on March 11, produced by John Varvatos and Iggy Pop. To celebrate, there was a screening and panel at SIR Studios in West Hollywood, CA on Monday night (3/4).
The panel included Johnny Rotten, Marky Ramone, L7’s Donita Sparks, Duff McKagan, Henry Rollins and John Varvatos. Rolling Stone's Kory Grow was moderating the panel and offered this description:
First, things got heated between Lydon and Rollins. “Henry, we ain’t never met before, have we?” Lydon said, as seen in a clip. “You’ve said silly things but excellently good things, too.”
“And you called Black Flag a bunch of suburban rich kids and we wanted to tear your ears off,” Rollins said.
“Yes, I did, but I didn’t like the fucking music,” Lydon said. “It was boring.”
And then Lydon went on to assert that a big difference between the Pistols and Black Flag was that Lydon sang clearer. “Don’t talk Black Flag, Pink Flag, White Flag,” he said.
Later, in the panel, Lydon and Marky Ramone came to blows, reviving a rivalry that has lasted decades. After the drummer spoke to how the Ramones blazed a trail for punk in New York and took that to London, Lydon said that he was “not even an original Ramone.” “But I did the Blank Generation album with Richard Hell, and you took his image,” Ramone replied. “All you guys took Richard Hell’s image. That’s all you did.”
“And Sid Vicious was the star,” Ramone said, prompting Lydon to smile and stick his tongue out. “That’s right, he was,” Lydon replied. “He was the star for asshole fake idiots like you. Enjoy your drugs and fuckin’ have a happy death.”
Lydon then continued his attack on the drummer. “Punk music for me was positive, proof positive, that we could change our lifes by music, meaning what we said, attack the political systems,” he said. “This daft cunt is into fucking drugs.”
“You talk the talk, but you didn’t do the walk, just like the MC5,” Ramone said. Lydon then stood up and danced around, “Hello, Johnny Rotten never did the walk?” Then as Ramone continued, Lydon looked at him and said, “Look at you, you look like a heavy-metal fucking reject.”
“Sit the fuck down,” Ramone said.
“This is fucking punk rock right here,” L7’s Sparks then offered. “Unpolished, unrehearsed, off the fucking rails.”
To be honest, the description does not do these video clips justice. Take a look:
Punk features interviews with Johnny Rotten, Marky Ramone, Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Duff McKagan, Wayne Kramer, Jello Biafra, Flea, Dave Grohl, and Harley Flanagan, among others.
[youtube=https://youtu.be/fRLKONHu0qg][/youtube]
[via Brooklyn Vegan]
