On February 28th of 1977, the manager of the Sex Pistols, Malcolm McLaren, sent the following telegram to the NME. In it, he confirmed the sacking of Glen Matlock from the band as a result of his constant talk of Paul McCartney and The Beatles, and then officially announced the introduction of Sid Vicious to the line-up; a man who, as McLaren was keen to point out, badly assaulted critic and musician Nick Kent with a bicycle chain the previous year, during a gig at 100 Club.

Transcript follows. Image courtesy of Jamie Colt.

Image: Jamie Colt

Transcript

28 FEB 77

DEREK JOHNSON NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS KINGSREACH TOWER STANFORD ST 5E1

YES DEREK GLEN MATLOCK WAS THROWN OUT OF THE SEX PISTOLS SO IM TOLD BECAUSE HE WENT ON TOO LONG ABOUT PAUL MCCARTNEY STOP

EMI WAS ENOUGH STOP

THE BEATLES WAS TOO MUCH STOP

SID VICIOUS THEIR BEST FRIEND AND ALWAYS A MEMBER OF THE GROUP BUT UNHEARD AS YET WAS ENLISTED STOP

HIS BEST CREDENTIAL WAS HE GAVE MICK KENT WHAT HE DESERVED MANY MONTHS AGO AT THE HUNDRED CLUB LOVE AND PEACE

MALCOLM MCLAREN