With Public Image Ltd. coming to town this weekend, we've been thinking about John Lydon and all the crazy weird things he's done. If you haven't seen many interviews with him, you're going to quickly notice a theme in many of these, namely a slight air of pretension, curse bleeps and an attitude. You've got to give it to the man, though; if nothing else he's consistent about a couple of things: A) his absolute hatred of pop music that isn't his own, and B) his love for himself.
10. South Today (1989): We're going to kick this list off slowly with a look at Lydon being calm, collected and reasonable throughout the majority of the interview. Sure, he's wearing a bizarre version of a bolo tie, and talks himself up a bit and contradicts himself several times, but, well, that's the Lydon we've come to love or hate, isn't it?
09. The Punk Rock Movie: Hey, what the hell is he doing ripping on us Americans? We're not interested in technology and ... hey, you guys see that new iPhone? So cool. Oh, right, anyway, lookie here, a semi-coherent interview with Lydon.
08. Check it Out: Hey look at that, Lydon gets pissed off at a stupid question and walks off. Hilariously, the interviewer ends up being as much of a dick back for a change.
07. Jimmy Kimmel (2006): Man, that suit ... oh, right, the interview ... uh, sass is involved, then some bitching about rock and roll. Standard John Lydon here, but with an air of -- my god look at that suit!
06. Finnish Broadcasting Company (1987):Oh were do we start? The jacket? Sure, let's start at the jacket. Then we can move into the blowing of the nose at the beginning, then OMG what the hell is with the quote: "I'm as relevant now as I was then. You need me I don't need you." Immediately followed by the fake farting sound. Don't worry, the pretention continues throughout.
05. Tom Snyder Show (1980): One of the first quotes here, "We ain't no band, we're a company, simple, nothin' to it, rock and roll -- doo-da," pretty much sets up the ludicrous nature of the rest of this interview. Poor Keith Levene looks rather uncomfortable throughout the whole thing as John Lydon just weirds everyone out.
04. ITN: There's a somewhat hilarious long beep in the middle as John Lydon pretends like he's still a meaningful and legitimate rocker. Now, we're all well aware nothing says punk rock like doing butter commercials right? Right?
03. Unknown: Here's a bit of a shocker -- curse words are involved in this interview. Luckily this was still new in 1977. Lydon is super badass and important sounding here; he even does some voices, then ends with the eponymous line, "Why do you ask all these silly questions, do you really expect me to answer them?"
02. Politically Incorrect:This is one of the most sincere public appearances we've seen John Lydon make. He's still rather over-the-top and spotlight hogging, but he seems a bit less confrontational about topics like artistic integrity and whatnot than usual.
01. London Weekend Show (1978): What the hell is with that hat? Oh right -- he bitches about Malcolm McClaren within one minute of the interview. We like this one for a few reasons, first off it's a young, less disgruntled John Lydon. Second, he doesn't show off so much as he just has a little fun. This is perhaps the closest we'll get to a real look at Lydon. Bonus points to the kids that follow them for the second half of the interview./blockquote>
