Sex Pistols | A signed recording contract with Warner Bros., 10 October 1977

Sex Pistols

Signed recording contract with Warner Bros. Records, 10 October 1977

Two mimeograph typescript leaves, signed by John Lydon, John Beverley, Steven Jones, and Paul Cook, with a contemporary Warner Bros. promotional photograph, matted together (overall 596 x 496 mm); some discoloration to the photograph. Framed and glazed; not examined out of frame.

A signed record deal regarding prospective albums and Who Killed Bambi? In 1977, the band's manager Malcolm McLaren wanted to make a film about the Sex Pistols in order to help them achieve recognition in the United States—a punk Hard Day's Night. Seeking to illustrate the cultural context for the band and punk writ large, he sought out a screenwriter to bring his vision to light. As members of the band were fans of Roger Ebert's bizarre 1970 satire Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, McLaren sought him out. Ebert agreed, despite never having heard of the band, and Russ Meyer—who directed Beyond the Valley of the Dolls—was brought on to direct alongside Jonathan Kaplan. The film started shooting in October 1977, but the project was quickly canceled, most likely due to McLaren making false financial promises to the crew.

The present contract from Warner Bros. Records (the band's American label) outlines the funds they're entitled to recoup from their advances for the Sex Pistols' prospective second, third, and fourth albums, with the provision that the band would be permitted to pay Russ Meyer the first $77,000, for his role as director in the movie, prior to any payments to Warner Bros. It is here signed by all four band members. Of course, the albums outlined here would not come to fruition, with Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols being the band's only studio album.