Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Jon Savage

‘Johnny Rotten tore my record off the deck’: the superfan at the centre of disco and punk

Notorious … the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones, Danielle Lewis, Alan Jones, Chrissie Hynde, Jordan and Vivienne Westwood.
Notorious … the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones, Danielle Lewis, Alan Jones, Chrissie Hynde, Jordan and Vivienne Westwood. Photograph: David Dagley/Shutterstock

In the mid-70s, Alan Jones was performing a particularly exquisite balancing act. A habitué both of Vivienne Westwood’s London boutique Sex and the gay clubs, he was on the frontline of two seemingly opposed cultures: punk and disco. Each camp might have thought the other completely incomprehensible – tuneless noise or vacuous hedonism – but for him it was quite natural: as he says, “They blended together in my mind. It was all about going out and having a good time; the music was interchangeable. And once Vivienne began her fetish clothing lines, it fitted both arenas.”

Nevertheless, there were pinch points. In April 1976, Jones DJed for the Sex Pistols when they played a Soho strip club, El Paradise. Arriving with his “new best friend” John Paul Getty III – fresh from his kidnapping in Italy – Jones decided on a disco set.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.