The Anarchy Tour

by Mick O'Shea

Illustrated throughout with rare photographs and memorabilia, The Anarchy Tour tells the story of why the 'Anarchy in the UK Tour' was so important, examining along the way punk rock’s impact on the nation in the Seventies. In December 1976, a coach drove off down a London street. On board were the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Heartbreakers and their respective management, while The Damned, who were also on the bill, were travelling separately. The 'Anarchy in the UK Tour' should have been just another rock ‘n’ roll tour, and surely would have been, had it not been for the Sex Pistols’ anarchic antics on the Today show two days earlier. What should have been an inconsequential three-minute interview to hopefully plug the new single, and the accompanying promotional tour, descended into farce when the show’s host Bill Grundy goaded the Sex Pistols’ guitarist Steve Jones into saying something outrageous. The Anarchy Tour explains why many local councils banned the tour resulting in only seven out of a scheduled twenty gigs taking place. One London councilor “Most of these groups would be vastly improved by sudden death”. Author Mick O' Shea has interviewed members of the band’s involved, managers, roadies and audience members to tell the story of why this was such an important tour.

Genres: Music

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2012

Reviews

[Jim Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully printed book with some great photos of the main bands in the UK punk movement (but no photo credits, shame!). The story is familiar for any one interested in what happened musically in 1977 and the author adds only a few interesting tidbits I did not know (Wire played one show on the Anarchy Tour!). Definitely for collectors only.

[John Morton · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fascinating read and it certainly took me back. It seems the UK media were just as trashy in 1976 as they are today.

[gaminette · Rating 4 out of 5]

***Kindle Edition***

A fast-paced, well-written and comprehensive story of the Anarchy Tour which took place (more or less) (mostly less) in December 1976, in the wake of that Sex Pistols' appearance on that TV program where the host goaded them into cussing and caused a sh!tstorm in the press. The press painted them as dangerous hooligans and most venues opted to cancel their shows.

Also on the bill were: The Clash, The Damned (for some of it), Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers from NYC and Buzzcocks from time to time. The author gives good background on the other bands and showed how the infighting and jealousy between all the bands and their managers exacerbated the extreme difficulty with the press.

I like this author too - not only he is a fine writer/journalist, he's also a Sex Pistols stan. haha.

[Robert Monk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Mostly a pretty picture book, but interesting enough to actually read. And it spends a bit of time with the other bands on the tour as well. But, again, you get this for the pictures. It's certainly not the place to begin an education in the Sex Pistols.