Sid Vicious
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For the professional wrestler, see Sid Eudy.
John Simon Ritchie (May 10, 1957 – February 2, 1979), better known as Sid Vicious, was an English punk musician, the bass player of the Sex Pistols (replacing Glen Matlock).
Early lifeJohn Simon Ritchie (born Simon John Ritchie) was born in London to John and Anne Ritchie. Shortly after his birth, John Ritchie left the family. John ("Sid") and his mother moved to the island of Ibiza, where his mother became a drug dealer.[citation needed] She later married Christopher Beverly in 1965 before setting up a family home back in Kent. His stepfather died six months later, and by 1968 Ritchie and his mother were living in a rented flat in Tunbridge Wells where he attended Sandown Court School. In 1971 the pair moved to Hackney in East London. He also spent some time living in Somerset where he was a pupil at Clevedon Community School or Clevedon Secondary Modern as it was then known. According to the band's photographer, Dennis Morris, Ritchie was "deep down, a shy person". However, he did assault NME journalist Nick Kent with a motorcycle chain in retaliation for Kent's domestic assault on former girlfriend Chrissie Hynde (who remained a close friend). On another occasion, at a London nightclub popular with rock stars of the day, The Speakeasy, he threatened BBC DJ and Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris, which in turn resulted in Harris threatening him with legal action. Ritchie took his nickname "Sid" after the hamster of his friend John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), described by Lydon as "the softest, furriest, weediest thing on earth".[1] At the time, he was squatting with Lydon, John Wardle (Jah Wobble) and John Gray (the four were sometimes referred to as The Four Johns). Music careerThe Flowers of Romance, and The BansheesVicious began his musical career in 1976 as a member of The Flowers of Romance along with former co-founding member of The Clash, Keith Levene (who later co-founded John Lydon's post-Pistols project Public Image Limited) and Palmolive and Viv Albertine, who would later form The Slits. He appeared with Siouxsie & the Banshees, playing drums at their notorious first gig at the 100 Club Punk Festival in London's Oxford Street. Sex PistolsBefore joining the band, Sid had associations with The Bromley Contingent, the fashion avant garde that followed the Sex Pistols, and had become a friend of vocalist Johnny Rotten. Ritchie was asked to join the group after Glen Matlock's departure in February 1977. Manager Malcolm McLaren once claimed "if Rotten is the voice of punk, then Vicious is the attitude". Alan Jones described Sid as "[having] the iconic punk look (...) Sid, on image alone, is what all punk rests on."[2] Ritchie played his first gig with the Pistols on April 3, 1977, at the Screen on the Green in London. His debut was filmed by Don Letts and appears in Punk Rock Movie. In November 1977, Ritchie met American groupie Nancy Spungen, and they immediately began a relationship (Spungen had come to London looking for Jerry Nolan of The Heartbreakers). She was a heroin addict, and Ritchie, who already believed in his own "live fast, die young" image, soon shared the dependence. Although they were deeply in love, their often violent and rocky relationship had a disastrous effect on the Sex Pistols. Both the group and Ritchie visibly deteriorated during their 1978 American tour. The Pistols broke up in San Francisco after their concert at the Winterland Ballroom on January 14, 1978. With Spungen acting as his "manager," Ritchie embarked on a solo career during which he performed with musicians including Mick Jones of The Clash, original Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, Rat Scabies of The Damned and the New York Dolls' Arthur Kane, Jerry Nolan, and Johnny Thunders. MusicianshipIn his time with the Sex Pistols, Sid was renowned for his lack of ability to play the bass. When Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones was asked why he instead of Vicious recorded the bass parts of Never Mind The Bollocks, Jones responded "Sid was in a hospital with hepatitis so he couldn't really play, not that he could play anyway". At times during performances, other band members would unplug Sid's bass because his playing was so bad.[3] Lemmy, the bassist of Motörhead, was asked by Sid to teach him how to play bass with the words, "I can't play bass," to which Lemmy replied "I know." In another interview Lemmy stated "Yeah. It was all uphill. And he still couldn't play bass when he died."[3] Spungen's murderMeanwhile, Ritchie and girlfriend Nancy Spungen had become locked in their own world of drug addiction and self-destruction. Interview footage shows the couple attempting to answer questions from their bed: Spungen is barely coherent while Ritchie lapses in and out of consciousness. He also came very close to death following a heroin overdose and was hospitalised for some time. On the morning of October 12, 1978, he awoke from a drugged stupor to find Spungen dead on the bathroom floor of their room (room 100) in the Hotel Chelsea in New York City. She had suffered a single stab wound to her abdomen and apparently bled to death. He was indicted November 22 1978, arrested and charged with her murder although he said he had no memory of the event. There are several theories that Spungen was murdered by someone else, usually said to be one of the two drug dealers who visited the apartment that night, and involving a possible robbery as certain items (including a substantial bankroll) were claimed to be missing from the room. In his book, Pretty Vacant: A History of Punk, Phil Strongman names Spungen's killer as Rockets Redglare. Also unusual was that Neon Leon had Sid's leather jacket and two gold records in his room he said given to him by Sid for "safe keeping" the night of October 11/12, 1978. Source, Police report. Bail of US$50,000 was put up by Sid's mother. The plan was for Vicious to record an album with fellow Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook in order to raise funds for his defense. This was to be a collection of standards including (according to McLaren) "White Christmas" and "Mack the Knife". On October 22, 10 days after Nancy's death, Sid attempted suicide cutting his arm extensively and was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he remained a time. Out again, he was charged with assault for smashing a beer mug in Patti Smith's brother Todd Smith's face and arrested December 9 1978 and sent to Riker's Island jail for 55 days, and was bailed out Feb 1-2, 1979. DeathOn February 2, 1979, a small gathering to celebrate his bail was held at the home of his new girlfriend, Michelle Robinson, with whom he'd started living the day he got out of Bellevue Hospital the previous October. During his time at Rikers Island jail, he had been weaned off heroin, and was clean. However, at the dinner gathering, he obtained some heroin from his mother and overdosed that night. Robinson revived him.[4] Much later that night, the couple fell asleep together. Ritchie was discovered dead the next morning. New York Chief Coroner Michael Baden explained at the time, when a person has an accidental heroin overdose, and then falls asleep, their heart slows with every REM phase. Ritchie died at around 10:00 AM, after the repeated REM phases throughout the night. Forensic experts subsequently found the heroin was 80% pure, as opposed to the normal for the time: 5%. This could also explain Vicious' overdose since his tolerance to the drug had been lowered during his time in prison. On HBO's Autopsy: Post Mortem, Dr. Baden claims Vicious' lungs were filled with fluid and water, which is common for someone who has overdosed on heroin. Ultimately, Vicious drowned in his own fluids. Others say Sid's death was a suicide, as he had overdosed more than once. DiscographySingles
AlbumsVarious pressings and bootlegs
Sid Vicious & Friends
Sid Vicious/Eddie Cochran
Sid Vicious/Elvis Presley
Films that include Sid Vicious
A fictionalized film about the relationship between Vicious and Spungen, Sid and Nancy, was made by director Alex Cox in 1986, starring Gary Oldman as Vicious, although this film is often criticised for containing many historical inaccuracies.[citation needed] Adrian Edmondson played Vicious in The Comic Strip Presents: Demonella. He is shown in Hell, accompanied by Oscar Wilde, Genghis Khan, Marie Antoinette, and Adolf Hitler. In the Simpsons episode "Love, Springfieldian Style" Sid Vicious was played by Nelson and Nancy Spungen played by Lisa. Instead of the usage of heroin abuse, chocolate was used. References
4. In an episode of Mission Hill(1999), Andy French mentions to Gwen that it was rumored that Sid Vicious once threw up in his bathroom at a party. Later in the same episode, Andy's brother Kevin gets sick on the bathroom floor after a party, and Gwen remarks that he "outdid Sid Vicious". Further reading
External linksWikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
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