PiL on American Bandstand, 1980 (video)

In our ongoing series of subversive American Bandstand performances, here's a video clip of Public Image, Ltd. performing Poptones and Careering on American Bandstand in May, 1980 (97 mb of mpg goodness). It's the best lip-synching I've ever seen, if you like your lip-synching honest - which is to say that John Lydon's microphone rarely comes within 18 inches of his mouth.

I'm surprise he even bothered to pick up the mic at the start of the clip. Also of note: Dick Clark confusing Jah Wobble and "Johnny" (with Lydon's able assitance), not to mention Lydon's lethargic enthusiasm in the midst of the confused disco chaos. The clip is really poor quality, as is befitting such a sarcastic performance. Now if we only had a video clip of their famous show/riot at The Ritz in 1981.

Download American Bandstand Video Clip. Thanks Listener Chad!

Comments

[Krys O.]

VH1 actually aired the entire show about six or seven years ago. Dick Clark was presenting the Best of the Bandstand and he said that the PiL show was the one that had the most requests to re-air.

[Chardman]

I remember seeing Devo on Bandstand and they totally messed with Dick, giving out the wrong names for bandmembers, etc...
Wall of Voodoo did a similar thing too.

[Shawn]

That Geocities site about the riot bellied-up. Try this one: http://www.furious.com/perfect/pil.html

[Krys O.]

I was there at the Ritz show and saw it all unfold from the balcony area. My friends and I could see PiL behind the screen and we also saw the tension rise amongst the flannel-shirted boozers in the audience who came to see Johnny Rotten not PiL. They swirled around pushing people then someone threw bottles at the screen. Next thing you know the bouncers are pummelling some guys and others are pulling the tarp from the stage. The band scrams and the screen goes up. Dang! My pals and I made our way downstairs and danced on the broken glass to 'Flowers of Romance.' Years later, I came to find out that my future partner, R. Stevie Moore, and a few others of WFMUers were also there that night.

[RSTV]

Dearest Ken,

Here's my webpage of said event, complete with tittilating screen captures!

http://www.geocities.com/rstevus/pil1.html

I have the entire VH-1 reairing in superb quality, if you'd like a DVD-R to convert to an improved cyberfile, just yell.

Also posted is my gathered accounts of the Ritz antigig:

http://www.geocities.com/rstevus/pil2.html

Doubtful if any video exists or survived. Never saw it referred to anywhere.

What I am REALLY dying to get is vid of the infamous Tom Snyder TV appearance (as also documented on above webpage).

Not a band, a company.
Partner RSM

[PMC]

I was at the Ritz gig as well, on the floor, and not a flannel shirt to be seen, tho' boozers aplenty. I don't think the Ritz served bottles again after that night. I too remember dancing on broken glass afterwards. Truth be told, the AB lip-synch was a better gig.

[Steven]

I saw this footage once in good resolution with the complete follow up interview. I actually thought Dick Clark seemed pretty charmed and amused by the whole affair....under the circumstances, I remember thinking he rolled with it all suprisingly well.
Oh yeah one more thing...
BEST. PERFORMANCE. EVER.

[SM]

youtube has part of the infamous tomorrow show chit chat... not the supposedly best part where the interview ended in a curseout throwdown between Tom and Johnny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc3KDmX96jw

[aloysius]

I would recommend to any hardcore PIL fan is to watch them perform CAREERING on the OLD GREY WHISTLE from 1980. This performance is pretty memorable, plus it's scary to imagine how good they were when they weren't completely fucked up on drugs. I think tension in a band is a good thing until it explodes and disentigrates.

[John Lydon]

Bollocks. All of you are full of shit. Just fitting my performance and life experience into your own agenda, as usual.

[Skip]

WOW! I haven't seen this clip since it originally aired! I stayed home that Saturday afternoon just to see PIL. I had a work collegue call me while it was being aired and ask "This has to be one of YOUR bands, right?" HILARIOUS. "Metal Box" is one of my desert-island records. I bought the 12" tin the day it came out and learned to play bass via listening to that record. I'm so happy to see it again after ALL these years.

[Jim]

This is brilliant. First saw it on a Film Threat magazine pirated VHS (FT pirated the stuff, that is) in the '80s. Much more entertaining than the opiated and obstinate appearance on Tomorrow, which was an embarassment and waste of time.

[Matt Jicha]

I don't know if Johnny Lydon of Public Image Limited was drunk, stoned, or who knows what? Dick Clark said on the Best of American Bandstand that episode was nearly canceled. If it did got canceled, it would've ment Robbie Dupree TV debut with his hit"Steal Away"(which was on in the second half of show) would'nt be on TV. That was Robbie Dupree biggest hit.