The UK is preparing to help Queen Elizabeth II celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, 70 years after she first took the crown.
Queen Elizabeth has lived through some momentous moments, from the Second World War to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But while she may be massively respected as a Head of State, there are more than a few people who aren’t too fond of the Monarchy – one of them being punk band the Sex Pistols.
As the Platinum Jubilee rapidly approaches, we’re reminded of another Jubilee where there was a bit of controversy – the Sex Pistols releasing their (almost) number one hit God Save The Queen.
Sure, it sounds like the National Anthem, but while the title may be the same the similarities stop there.
When did the Sex Pistols release God Save The Queen?
The Sex Pistols released God Save The Queen in May 1977, aka Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.
As the Queen was celebrating 25 years on the throne, musicians Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious, Paul Cook and Steve Jones were dreaming of the Monarchy coming to an end.
Originally titled No Future, God Save The Queen made waves when it was released on May 27, 1977, and despite its popularity on the charts was instantly mired in controversy.
The lyrics appeared to suggest there was ‘no future’ for the Monarchy and said the Queen was ‘no human being,’ which, unsurprisingly, raised some hackles.
Why was God Save The Queen banned?
Despite repeating the phrase ‘God save the Queen’ throughout, well, it was pretty obvious that the Sex Pistols’ track wasn’t pro-Monarchy.
The opening lyrics appear to refer to the institution as ‘a fascist regime’, making the Sex Pistols adored and despised by different factions of society almost overnight.
Four days after God Save The Queen’s release, on May 31 the BBC issued a total ban on radio airplay oontheir channels, because it was, in their words, ‘gross bad taste’.
But with the song being an anti-establishment anthem, this had the opposite effect (or the desired effect, for the band themselves).
While several mainstream supermarkets declined to stock the record, copies flew off the shelves in shops that did stock God Save The Queen, with History.com reporting that up to 150,000 copies a day were being sold in the days following its release.
The controversy even made it to parliament, where MPs threatened to ban all sales of the track- to which a Virgin spokesman said: ‘It is remarkable that MPs should have nothing better to do than get agitated about records which were never intended for their Ming vase sensibilities.’
So strong was the ban on God Save The Queen that, even as it flew up the charts, the official UK pop charts would not even print the song’s name, and it showed up as a blank space.
God Save The Queen hit number one on the NME charts but conspicuously stalled at number 2 on the official UK charts, underneath a track from Rod Stewart.
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