42 years ago, the Sex Pistols wrecked San Antonio in one of the wildest shows in punk rock history

Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols perform at Randy's Rodeo Nightclub in San Antonio on Jan. 8, 1978. Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols perform at Randy's Rodeo Nightclub in San Antonio on Jan. 8, 1978. Photo: Richard E. Aaron, Redferns Via Getty Images Photo: Richard E. Aaron, Redferns Via Getty Images Image 1 of / 96 Caption Close 42 years ago, the Sex Pistols wrecked San Antonio in one of the wildest shows in punk rock history 1 / 96 Back to Gallery

It's one of the great moments in San Antonio rock 'n' roll lore: Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious bashing an audience member on the head with his guitar at the British punk band's riotous Randy's Rodeo gig 42 years ago.

The only problem is, it never happened. At least, not the way most folks think it did.

The Sex Pistols played just seven shows on their only U.S. tour. Vicious, along with singer Johnny Rotten, guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook, made sure the S.A. stop on Jan. 8, 1978 — the third on the legendary tour — was the wildest.

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Even if the show wasn't as raucous as popularly remembered, there was so much more to the night and the times than Vicious hitting a fan, looking like punk's answer to the Tin Man wielding his ax in "The Wizard of Oz."

In the mid-'70s, punk rock was a violent rejection of disco, prog-rock and the status quo. When the Sex Pistols rolled into town, the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love" topped the charts.

The Sex Pistols' sound wasn't entirely new. Not unlike the Ramones, the Sex Pistols were recycling the early '70s sounds of the New York Dolls and the Stooges' Iggy Pop but with a nihilistic attitude. Rock critic Dave Marsh dubbed it "punk rock."

New York's CBGB, a small bar in the Bowery, was punk's epicenter with bands such as Television, Talking Heads, Blondie, Patti Smith, the Dead Boys and the Ramones; in London, punk's elite included the Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Buzzcocks, the Damned, the Stranglers, Generation X and Elvis Costello.

Sex Pistols' manager Malcolm McLaren purposely booked the band through the U.S. South to provoke confrontation. That's how they ended up at the Bandera Road dive.

Concerts were chaotic. Performers screamed and spit at fans (the Sex Pistols were notorious for drunken vomiting). Audiences were encouraged to act out, stage dive, pogo and slam dance. At Randy's Rodeo, many threw full and empty cans of beer, hamburgers, trash and at least one pie at the band.

The Sex Pistols, who broke up a few days after the S.A. gig, are best remembered for their sole album, 1977's "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" and songs "Anarchy in the U.K.," "God Save the Queen," "Holiday in the Sun" and "Pretty Vacant."

Their style — a fetish 'n' safety pins fashion sense with an outrageous, defiant attitude — was partly created by U.K. fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and influenced the Rolling Stones' "Some Girls" and the Who's Pete Townshend. It even was reflected in Madonna's earliest incarnation.

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Some at the show sported torn T-shirts, punk hairdos and safety pins through their noses and ears (the majority purchased at the gig for $1; the pins were split in the middle).

At the time, San Antonio Express columnist Roddy Stinson couldn't resist a politically incorrect jab, calling them a Siamese twins freak show.

"They're a singing version of a freak show," Stinson wrote in a piece structured as a conversation between two old men. "Only they sell puking and safety pins through the ears instead of two-headed cows and Siamese twins."

Others came to feel differently.

Anarchy in S.A.

Dodging flying beer cans and debris during the Jan. 8, 1978, show, Vicious looked like the male incarnation of Joan Jett, sneering at the front row all night, curling his lip. To his left, Rotten looked like a crazed marionette.

Then at one point in the show, Vicious quit playing his electric Fender bass after a song, grabbed it by the neck and swung it down like an Alamo defender, albeit half-heartedly.

A blurry snippet of archival video from that night captured a portion of the incident.

Vicious completely missed his intended target on the front row: one taunting, pogo-dancing audience member named Brian Faltin of Comfort who came to the concert specifically to make "an anti-point."

Legend has it that the gangly Sex Pistols' heroin-addicted bad boy badly bloodied the unruly fan's head. Vicious' left arm was partly bandaged that night, and his torso and right arm revealed several scars and fresh, self-inflicted cuts.

It's part of the Sex Pistols' mythology.

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What really happened is that the body of the guitar, most fortunately, glanced off the shoulder of a roadie holding back the crowd of about 1,800 who paid $3.50 a ticket to see the raucous show.

A solid-body Fender Precision Bass such as the one Vicious played weighs more than 10 pounds and, if swung like a weapon, might kill someone.

Faltin almost was arrested at the show for his taunting antics. Police briefly placed him in handcuffs, but he was never charged. Released backstage, he simply re-entered the building and finished watching the concert, which also included local bands the Vamps and Ultra.

That night, Faltin told an Express reporter why he was so agitated: "I don't like what they stand for. I don't like the way they look. They're just sewer rats with guitars," he said.

Thirty-five years later, Faltin barely has mellowed.

Vicious-ness debunked

"He did not hit me!" Faltin insists now. His slam-dancing presence at Randy's Rodeo that night was "a college boy dare."

Faltin was a student, avid record collector and aspiring actor-musician at Schreiner University. Self-described as "a little hippie-ish" and the black sheep of a Comfort ranching family, his musical tastes ran to the Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and the Who.

To him, punk was vulgar and offensive.

"The Sex Pistols just rubbed me the wrong way," he said. "I was there as a protestation."

But he was curious and had bragged to friends that he was going to "go and hassle the band." "I was gonna go start a fracas," Faltin explained.

"I really wanted to start it with Johnny Rotten. I really wanted to get to him and hassle him, but I couldn't. There was a lot of stuff being thrown at the stage."

Instead, he focused his anger at Vicious. He admits to throwing half a can of beer. For his part, Rotten glared, cursed out the crowd, hunched over and blew snot out of his nose.

Eventually, a roadie had enough of Faltin's antics. So had the bassist, who targeted the long-haired college kid. That's when Vicious swung his guitar, missing Faltin but grazing the roadie's shoulder.

"Thank goodness," Faltin recounted. "If it had hit him squarely, it could have really hurt him. We were face to face there, and I was always really thankful that he missed me. And thankfully, he didn't hit him squarely. It was a little scary."

But the legend persists. Even show organizer Joe Pugliese (who played in the opening band the Vamps with brother Frank) still vividly recounts "all the tussle-bustle started when Sid whacked that guy with his guitar."

"They were just pimply-faced kids," Pugliese added. "Sid was gregarious, talking to everybody."

In October 1978, Vicious, born John Simon Ritchie, was arrested and charged with murder in the death of girlfriend Nancy Spungen. She died of a single stab wound. Several days later he attempted suicide. He died of a heroin overdose Feb. 2, 1979.

Another myth is that Faltin was carrying a Bowie knife at Randy's Rodeo. Not true. And while never under arrest, he did mouth off to TV and print reporters.

Now in his mid-50s and a rancher, he's not particularly proud of the incident.

"In retrospect, I wish I'd never gone there that night," Faltin said. "I stooped to their level by going there and acting that way. I helped fan the flame. They spawned many bands I cannot stand. They were too extreme for me. But they probably did give music a kick in the pants."

hsaldana@express-news.net