Welcome to another chapter of the blog!

Today we are going to dive into my always-growing record collection and talk about one that is very near and dear to me. Out of all the music I have, this special record may be the most interesting, controversial, and dare I say-rare. It is my pleasure to introduce to you: The Sid Vicious “My Way” Single.

Paul Anka famously wrote lyrics to the song “My Way” in 1968, specifically with Frank Sinatra in mind to sing them. The words, which Anka set to the music of the French song “Come d’habitude” (written and composed by Claude Francois and Jacques Revaux), suited Sinatra perfectly. Released a year later in 1969, the song spent 75-weeks on the UK Top 40, and is still revered today as one of the best tunes by ‘Ol Blue Eyes’.

For those living under a rock, listen to the classic Sinatra track, here.

Since then, a lot of people have covered the closing-song to the 1990 crime-biopic GoodFellas. Elvis did it a bunch live, notably in 1973 for his Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite show. Despite Anka personally suggesting the song did not fit him, The King would go on to cover it again anyway in 1977 (the year he died) and the live-recording would be released as a single. Nina Simone transformed the song with energetic percussion and soul on her 1971 album Here Comes The Sun, and Willie Nelson made his tender version the title track of his Sinatra cover album in 2018. And while there are more (Michael Bublé, Andy Black from the Black Veil Brides, and Sammy Davis Jr. have versions worth checking out), there is one artist who does it the best, in my opinion. And that is Sid Vicious.

In 1980 the British mockumentary The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle was released in the United Kingdom, and with it Sid’s unforgettable rendition of the crooner-ballad. The movie tells a fictionalized version of the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols from the perspective of their manager, Malcolm McLaren. At the time of filming, the band had already broken up, and Sid’s life was near its unfortunate, cataclysmic-end.

Despite the struggles, director Julien Temple managed to get Sid to record three tracks for the movie: “C’Mon Everybody, “Something Else,” and “My Way,” the last of which arguably being the most memorable. These songs would later go on the official soundtrack to The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle: a double-album of rehearsal demos, miscellaneous covers, and B-sides.

Recorded in 1978, Sid took to covering “My Way” rather literally as he changed many of Anka’s original lyrics to better suit himself.

Adding words like “cunt” and “queer” to the ballad, Sid sets the tone straight away with a whiney and explicit off-key mockery of the original tune (and likely Sinatra.) The orchestra swells to an epic crescendo behind Vicious as he repeats the opening lines of the song, which (if you’re me) you’ve heard countless times before.

But suddenly, the words take on new meaning when “sung” from such an opposite perspective, such as Sid’s.

Distorted guitars and driving drums push the waltz into a mosh-pit as Sid snarls over the chugging power-chords. From referencing drug-use (“When there was doubt, I shot it up or kicked it out”), violence (“To think, I killed a cat, and not in a shy way), his attitude (“I’ve laughed, and been a snide”) and his ego (“I faced the wall, and the world”) Sid gives the listener a unique perspective into his life and the genre that he embodied.

In the video for “My Way” (appearing in The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle), Sid concludes his energetic performance by pulling a pistol from his jacket and opening fire on the adoring audience. Roses rain down on him as he fires aimlessly into the crowd, striking and scaring the trapped spectators. Before tossing the gun onto the stage, he flips the bird to the screaming witnesses, and saunters back up the staircase from which he came from.

It’s a shocking scene to watch unfold, and in-turn makes Sid’s cover that much darker and all the more his own. Fun fact: Actor Gary Oldman reenacts Sid’s performance quite well, “My Way” rendition and-all, in the major motion-picture Sid & Nancy (1986). The mockumentary The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle is still widely available today, along with the infamous music video to Sid’s cover.

If you’d like to watch the NSFW video to Sid’s “My Way,” I’ll spare you some clicking. But be warned – viewer discretion is advised: “My Way” Music Video from The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle

Since his passing, Sid has remained an icon of the punk-rock subculture, and for good measure. His bad behavior with the Sex Pistols cost them their record contract with EMI. He was notorious (and now famous) for his signature-style, which was a simple combination of spiked, jet-black hair, an abused leather jacket, biker-boots, and a padlock, chain necklace. He is often associated as being a sloppy, aggressive bass-player. And of course, he is widely suspected of killing beloved girlfriend Nancy Spungen in 1978.

Despite Sid’s toxic relationships, he was and will always be the star of the Sex Pistols to me. And while I must admit I’m not the biggest fan of the group, I would be lying if I said that their impact on music – the genre of punk specifically – was anything short of profound.

I love this record for so many reasons. To start, it’s an original first-pressing from the United Kingdom, which is beyond cool. I always like finding the original releases or first-pressings of albums when I’m antiquing. It’s fun to think about all the listeners who have held the same album over all these years, and over however many miles.

In 1978 a variety of these singles were released by Virgin Records leading up to the premiere of The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle, the most common format of which being this UK 7-inch (pictured below.)

Another version of the single exists as a 12-inch record, which I have. The barcode “VS 220-12 B1” is etched-in near the center label of the vinyl, and when searched tediously through Google comes up as a Virgin Records New Zealand branch, 1980-release (model variant #1 to be specific.) Other countries that received the single in either a 7 or 12-inch format were: Australia (1978), France (1978), and Italy (2012).

Side A “The Biggest Blow” (A Punk Prayer by Ronnie Biggs), features ex-Sex Pistols bandmates Paul Cook and Steve Jones, as well as vocals by notorious British-criminal Ronnie Biggs. While it isn’t my favorite side of the single (“My Way,” the obvious choice, is labeled as Side AA on the single), the song – originally titled “No One Is Innocent” – is a nihilistic-headbanger equally worth listening to.

Sid’s original 1978-version of “My Way” (which is believed to feature vocal takes from multiple recording sessions) surprisingly won the amusement of Paul Anka, who originally wrote the English lyrics to the song exclusively for Frank Sinatra. When asked what he thought of Sid’s cover for his 2013 auto-biography Anka responded positively, saying that he felt Vicious’ cover “was sincere.” And I couldn’t agree more.

While there have been many notable singers and songwriters who have paid homage to “The Chairman” over the years by covering “My Way,” there are none who were as impactful and as unique as Sid. His rendition has been re-released in a variety of formats since ’78, and can be heard today where ever you get your music.

Watch the full video on my Sid Vicious “My Way” Single here: Episode 2

Thanks for reading, and happy hunting.

-G