By 3 April, they were playing 'No Feelings' in concert,[9] and on 20 July, debuted 'Anarchy In the U.K', which was seemingly influenced by Vivienne Westwood and Jamie Reid,[10] the latter of which had begun creating publicity material for the group that spring.

In February of 1977, founding member and original bassist Glen Matlock quit, [14] reportedly over the lyrics to God Save The Queen.

[19] Four tracks—writer Clinton Heylin suspected they were "God Save the Queen" (Thomas stated he and Price "gave up" trying to use Vicious' bass track[16]), "Pretty Vacant", "E.M.I."

and possibly "Did You No Wrong"—were recorded during the two days at Wessex, with "God Save the Queen" and "Pretty Vacant" receiving vocal tracking from Johnny Rotten and final mixing during the period.

[citation needed] As a result of these sessions, Thomas and Price began work in earnest on what would become the Sex Pistols' full-length album.

[20] Four days after recording was completed, the Sex Pistols signed with A&M, yet on 16 March the label terminated the contract, and several thousand pressed copies of the forthcoming "God Save the Queen" single were destroyed.

[23] Meanwhile, the Sex Pistols had been rejected by labels including CBS, Decca, Pye and Polydor, leaving only Virgin's offer.

McLaren still hoped to sign with a major label, and posited issuing a one-off single with Virgin to increase the band's appeal to the larger record companies.

That night after visiting a nearby pub, Rotten, Thomas and Price were attacked by a group of men, and the incident made newspaper headlines the following Tuesday.

At this point, Rotten maintained that the forthcoming album would include no cover songs, and none of the Sex Pistols' previously released singles bar "Anarchy in the U.K.", which was out of print.

[28][29] "Bodies" contained a second bass track played by Steve Jones, with the final version of the song "leaving Sid's down low".

[30] Jones spent many hours doing guitar overdubs with producer Chris Thomas and—repudiating punk's occasional embrace of musical sloppiness—has stated that both he and drummer Paul Cook "weren't just having a laugh" and were "really dedicated in the studio".

[33] Richard Branson spent the night deciding the track list and which versions to use, and included all the hits on the record, despite the objections of the band, McLaren's management company Glitterbest and most of Virgin.

[34] Due to the album's long completion time, the Sex Pistols and McLaren decided to release "Holidays in the Sun" backed with "Satellite" as the band's fourth single.

"Holidays in the Sun" was not as successful as past singles—it charted at number eight and dropped out of the top 20 after four weeks—which Heylin attributed to the group's announcement that their album would be released on 4 November and that the single would be included on the LP, despite previous statements to the contrary.

However, McLaren wanted to negotiate separate deals in every territory, regardless of what the contract stipulated, which angered Branson, as the clause for American distribution was an important one he had fought for.

[37] Meanwhile, the French pressing of Never Mind the Bollocks on Barclay had added "Submission" to the slated 11-song track list, and was due for release a week before Virgin's edition.

As McLaren's separate deal with Barclay meant that the French release could not be halted and given the Virgin head was aware of how easy it was for import records to arrive in Britain, Branson rushed production of Never Mind the Bollocks to ensure it would come out a week earlier than intended.

[36] Even with the availability of Spunk, the release of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols was eagerly awaited in the United Kingdom.

With advance orders of 125,000 copies, Never Mind the Bollocks debuted at number one on the UK Album Charts the week after its release.

Jamie Reid's cover concept refrained from including a picture of the group and instead was dayglo red and yellow in colour with cutout lettering and a finish resembling crude screen-prints while the US version was pink with a green Sex Pistols logo.

[16] In the United Kingdom, the album was subject to what Heylin described as "blatant acts of censorship exercised by media and retail outlets alike".

After Seale's arrest, Branson announced that he would cover the manager's legal costs and hired Queen's Counsel John Mortimer as defence.

Meanwhile, advertisements for Never Mind the Bollocks appearing in music papers attempted to politicise the issue, showing newspaper headlines about Sex Pistols controversies that were underlined with the message "THE ALBUM WILL LAST.

During his cross-examination of the arresting officer, he asked why the newspapers The Guardian and Evening Standard (which had referred to the album's name) had not been charged under the same act.

When the overseeing magistrate inquired about his line of questioning, Mortimer stated that a double standard was apparently at play, and that "bollocks" was only considered obscene when it appeared on the cover of a Sex Pistols album.

[46] The chairman of the hearing concluded: Much as my colleagues and I wholeheartedly deplore the vulgar exploitation of the worst instincts of human nature for the purchases of commercial profits by both you and your company, we must reluctantly find you not guilty of each of the four charges.

The chief limitation on their power is the music, which can get heavy occasionally, but the only real question is how many American kids might feel the way Rotten does, and where he and they will go next.

[67] In 1997, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols was named the 24th greatest album of all time in a Music of the Millennium poll conducted in the United Kingdom by HMV Group, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM.

[77] All tracks are written by Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Johnny Rotten except where notedNotes Sex Pistols Production