No Sex Pistols in Manchester? ‘No Smiths, Nirvana, indie rock.’ Discuss!

Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley read a review of the Sex Pistols in February 1976, borrowed a car, drove to London, asked the NME where they’d find the band and were told ‘try a sex shop in the King’s Road’. The events that followed changed both the culture of Manchester and the course of rock history, a story mapped out in David Nolan’s excellent ‘I Swear I Was There’, a book as much about the audience as the band. His theory: “If the Pistols hadn’t played the Lesser Free Trade Hall … no Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Factory Records, ‘indie’ scene, Smiths, Fall, Nirvana, Blur, Oasis, Radiohead or Prodigy.’ As the 50th anniversary looms, he talks to us here about … … those who claimed to be there and the ones who actually were … the contrast between myth and reality … the letter Morrissey sent the NME: “Maybe the Pistols will be able to afford some clothes which don't look as though they've been slept in” … punk metaphor: Howard Devoto asking a tailor to narrow his trouser legs and being told, “there’s no going back” … North/South crowd violence: “a battle with a gig breaking out in the middle” … the three reels of home-movie and the photos that turned up 36 years later … Sister Rosetta Tharpe, ‘Judas’ at the Free Trade Hall, Stones In The Park and other landmark Manchester moments ... the pioneering impact of Granada TV … “if you look at Manchester now, its media, its skyscrapers, its cultural prosperity, none of that would have been happened without those Pistols gigs” … “Sheffield would have admired them, Manchester thought: we can do better!” … and various bit-part players – Tony Wilson, Peter Hook, Paul Morley, Jordan and Jon the Postman. Order ‘I Swear I Was There’ here: Book promotions at Walthamstow Rock & Roll Book Club, London - 25 May (link below); Nudie, Manchester – 28 May; Central Library, Manchester - 11July: Help us to keep the conversation going: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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No Sex Pistols in Manchester? ‘No Smiths, Nirvana, indie rock.’ Discuss! is an episode from Word Podcast by Word In Your Ear.

This episode is 38:15 long.

This episode was published on Apr 10, 2026.

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