I've Been Playing Sex Pistols, the Ramones, and Zodiac Midwarp

By Duff McKagan Mon., Feb. 22 2010 at 8:53 AM

Categories: Duff McKagan

Sex Pistols

Duff McKagan's column runs every Thursday on Reverb. He writes about what music is circulating through his space every Monday.

Next week I will be playing a show in Phoenix with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols. He is probably my all-time favorite guy to play with, and, really, just to hang out and joke around with and get wisdom from. Here is a short list of some of the songs that I have had to learn this week for that show.

Zodiac Mindwarp, "Prime Mover": Does anyone remember this band? In 1988 and on our first-ever headlining tour, GN'R took Zodiac out as our opener. A great fucking rock band from the UK. Check them out.

Sex Pistols, "Pretty Vacant": Yes, I get to play a Sex Pistols song with, well, a Pistol. Steve Jones wrote the most classic guitar riffs that really informed a generation or two of rock following Never Mind the Bollocks.

Ramones, "Blitzkrieg Bop": I can't believe that I have yet to mention the Ramones in my writings yet. Kick ass. Kick butt. Loud and fast!

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Duff McKagan, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Zodiac Midwarp

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Duff playing at Club Red in Tempe AZ with Steve Jones on March 1st. See you there!!
i hope if ever Guns do get back with the Orig 5..that u will put back on the Sid lock!!.. PS: anybody who has a prob with Duff speakin his mind,,,,ret in the ring muthaf***ers!!!.. LAMF
i hope if ever Guns get back.u will put on the Sid lock again!!! LAMF!!
I didn't say he was born with it and didn't earn it, I said he grew up and got it. Earning it was implied and not really the point. Try reading with your brain and not your vagina... Either way, he's been a rich guy for over half his life. I don't know about you, but that would just keep me pissed off at the world 24/7, must be rough. He's not a bad guy or a total phony, he's just an entertainer. And about as punk as Green Day...
@Keep it real Um....I don't think Duff started out a rockstar.... Duff can lead the way and be an inspiration for ameture musicians, people who just like to rock and also read his column . Duff is not a phony. He has a heart of gold from what I can tell. I don't know him personally, but thats the feeling I get.Being nasty and stoning him based on the fact that he has become sucessful in this lifetime, is wrong. Hard work landed Mr. Duff into the spot he is in, he was not born a big baller silly.
...rekcoR ttuB
Yeah, but if you've grown up and got pretty much everything you've always wanted in life, it's just harder to believe the sincerity behind the outrage so important to punk sometimes. Especially if you're sober. It can be like listening to a white blues singer from the suburbs... in the back of your mind you're saying "yeah, right..."
Send Duff a super bill. Ive never been a real big fan of psychologist. Nothing wrong with being a 46 year old punk rocker.Art is an outlet and wether you have money or not has got nothing to do with rockn out or punk rockn out in this case.
I'm just wondering why at age 46, you're still obsessed with being identified as "punk"... How can you still be that angry when you're also a rich financial advisor and family man? You've got to forgive your father, Duff. He's only human...
Dude...Zodiac Mindwarp...those were the days. Excellent list--all three. Believe I'll go finish that annual eval to a similar soundtrack--should make it a FAR better experience!
Steve Jones is the shit.
Yeah! I Remember Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction, I was in a band that opened for them back in 1989. AND ... THE BINGES Rock! The Best New Band Around, Those Sisters From Japan Kick So Much Ass!!! Duff You Rock Man! ~Cheers!~
Hey Duff, never was a greta fan of punk Blondie is about as punkie as I get!But I can cope with "Pretty Vacant" Its been a week of Loaded, Marillion and GNR for me on the ipod. K @stephanie I think its a case of the pronunciation helped it to sound worse than it was for the shock value back then. It would be said Vacnt as if the a was missing
I learnt to play guitar through Ramones albums. Loco Live was always a favorite of mine, great value for money.
You covered 'Silly Thing' @ a show, one night. Great tune; cool cover.
Hey Stari Iggy Pop doing Frank Zappa can't you just see it...Whoa Jackie
Hey Sohpia If you get a moment , check out City and Terrace Field Manual...Sesshu Foster (Book) and Vallum Contemporary Poetry..Luck Upcoming issues REnegades ...its on line...don't dare here ...There is a Seventh Edition From Abacus to Zeus a handbook of art history..James Smith Pierce...and then add your own lines, with the process comes reading..Music is so much more... Jackie
Lovin it! Today my shuffle kept hitting songs by The Damned, Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, and The Ramones (as well as some early Gn'R)-helps me shelve books faster. And yes, I'm one of the people that remembers Zodiac Mindwarp-killer sound.
Sex Pistols will be always a great band! i'm loving the columm! thanks Duff!
RAMONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gabba Gabba Hey!
The Sex Pistols are awesome. When I was 13, I went through a whole phase where I'd only listen to three bands - U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Sex Pistols. An unlikely combination! My favorite song of theirs has always been "Bodies". Fucking brutal stuff. That Zodiac Mindwarp song is pretty awesome, thanks for mentioning it! LOVE The Ramones! I had a whole phase with them as well. Being a NYC girl, I used to walk by CBGBs as a kid before it closed in '06. Because I was little, I never got to go inside though.
Wondering...I first came across you on a booked mark site...Fender, checking what was new...You ever thought more to more than just articles..Your creative processes, shared with viewer's ...purely spoken...found that commercial for fender..Quite captivating..Just a random thought...thought I would express it to you and others can archive the fender sight.!
Smiling the Ramones...Enjoy yourself...off topic as usual but what are you wearing?...sounds more like a gem..! Have a great week...Jackie
Are they gonna hear all those songs? Lucky, lucky! Don't remember Zodiac Mindwarp (alright, I wasn't even born then) but I'm totally going to check them out. This week I've been listening a lot to everyone who's announced to play at Sweden Rock Festival. That means Aerosmith, GN'R, Billy Idol, Nazareth, Gary Moore, Danzig, Steel Panther, W.A.S.P. and more.
I prefer Anarchy In The U.K. I love it�s chugging belligerence. And I hope that one day you can tell the story of the Neurotic Outsiders. I can�t imagine how that band came about. Ahhhh the Ramones...me too this week but more just Joey. On someone's recommendation I listened to Ronnie Spector singing You Can�t Put Your Arms Around A Memory (just beautiful THANK YOU xxx) however I love, love, love your end to the song on the Spaghetti Incident. So then I listened to more of the divine Ronnie (I don�t particularly care for many chic singers) and then Ronnie and Joey sing Bye Bye Baby. Which naturally lead to listening to all Joey�s girlie angsty songs. Perhaps not the Ramones for the purists. Hearing Joey sing these songs breaks my heart. I feel so sad about him because the tall, skinny geeky weird guy didn�t get the girl AND he died! Tears. I love that he and Dee Dee particularly were influenced by the Bay City Rollers- genius:) Way back I had a group of boyfriends who worshiped them, but it was like being in an exclusive little club. WHY were the Ramones not HUGE (except in south America, why there?). Maybe, now with the freedom of the internet they would have been. Any week is a good week with The Ramones. Big smiles and much aroha!
where are u and steve playing in phoenix more info please on that date
Prime Mover is hot, it's like Lucifer jumps through the stain glassed window and is the catholic school girls Knight and shinning armor:)
"Prime Mover" and the whole first half of that Zodiac Mindwarp Records "Tattooed Beat Messiah" are just unstoppable" everyone should check it out.
pretty vacant is excellent, especially the way john prononces va"cant"like "cunt". Irish accent he said ... or is it on purpose ?