A Vicious Christmas. Sid Vicious that is.
by digby
Here’s something I did not know, from Kathy Geier:
Cast your mind back to December 1977, At that time, the Sex Pistols were the most reviled rock band in English history — banned by the BBC and from most performing venues, sensationalized by the British tabloids (“The Filth and the Fury!” screamed an infamous Daily Mirror headline), even investigated by the MI5, Britain’s central intelligence domestic counter-intelligence and security agency.
At the same time, as Christmas approached in Huddersfield, in the north of England, firefighters were heading into the sixth week of a strike. The website Dangerous Minds fills in the background:
For two years, the fire fighters had waited for the Labour government to negotiate a pay raise, but nothing had happened. As the cost of food, fuel and taxes skyrocketed, the pay-in-the-pocket of the average worker was worthless. Therefore, a ballot of the 30,000 strong Fire Brigades Union was held, which received 97.5% support for strike action. On the 14th November, 1977, the fire fighter’s strike began.
It was looking like the striking workers and their families weren’t going to have much a Christmas that year. Workers were earning no wages and couldn’t even pay their bills, so how were they going to pony up the money for Christmas presents? One of the firefighters’ children remembered, “our parents were struggling and there were arguments, bills weren’t getting paid…”
This is where the Sex Pistols came in.
Click through to read the rest of the story. You won’t be disappointed. Even punks can be Santa Claus.
