http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0knFHyDD150
THE BILL GRUNDY INTERVIEW
Often misquoted, this is an accurate transcription of the interview which went out live on 1 December 1976.
The original Sex Pistols line-up are seated - from left to right as the camera sees them - Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook. Bill Grundy sits to their left. Standing behind the Pistols are the punk hangers-on from the Bromley Contingent, Siouxsie Sioux, Steve Severin, Simon Barker and 'Simone'.
Grundy introduces the band to the cameras.
GRUNDY (To camera) They are punk rockers. The new craze, they tell me. Their heroes? Not the nice, clean Rolling Stones... you see they are as drunk as I am... they are clean by comparison. They're a group called The Sex Pistols, and I am surrounded by all of them...
JONES (Reading the autocue) In action!GRUNDY Just let us see The Sex Pistols in action. Come on kids...[Film of The Sex Pistols in action is shown; then back to Grundy.]GRUNDY I am told that that group (hits his knee with sheaf of papers) have received forty thousand pounds from a record company. Doesn't that seem, er, to be slightly opposed to their anti-materialistic view of life?MATLOCK No, the more the merrier.GRUNDY Really?MATLOCK Oh yeah.GRUNDY Well tell me more then.JONES We've fuckin' spent it, ain't we?GRUNDY I don't know, have you?MATLOCK Yeah, it's all gone.GRUNDY Really?JONES Down the boozer.GRUNDY Really? Good Lord! Now I want to know one thing...MATLOCK What?GRUNDY Are you serious or are you just making me, trying to make me laugh?MATLOCK No, it's all gone. Gone.GRUNDY Really?MATLOCK Yeah.GRUNDY No, but I mean about what you're doing.MATLOCK Oh yeah.GRUNDY You are serious?MATLOCK Mmm.GRUNDY Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and Brahms have all died...ROTTEN They're all heroes of ours, ain't they?GRUNDY Really... what? What were you saying, sir?ROTTEN They're wonderful people.GRUNDY Are they?ROTTEN Oh yes! They really turn us on.JONES But they're dead!GRUNDY Well suppose they turn other people on?ROTTEN (Under his breath) That's just their tough shit.GRUNDY It's what?ROTTEN Nothing. A rude word. Next question.GRUNDY No, no, what was the rude word?ROTTEN Shit.GRUNDY Was it really? Good heavens, you frighten me to death.ROTTEN Oh alright, Siegfried...GRUNDY (Turning to those standing behind the band) What about you girls behind?MATLOCK He's like yer dad, inni, this geezer?GRUNDY Are you, er...MATLOCK Or your granddad.GRUNDY (To Sioux) Are you worried, or are you just enjoying yourself?SIOUX Enjoying myself.GRUNDY Are you?SIOUX Yeah.GRUNDY Ah, that's what I thought you were doing.SIOUX I always wanted to meet you.GRUNDY Did you really?SIOUX Yeah.GRUNDY We'll meet afterwards, shall we? (Sioux does a camp pout)JONES You dirty sod. You dirty old man!GRUNDY Well keep going, chief, keep going. Go on, you've got another five seconds. Say something outrageous.JONES You dirty bastard!GRUNDY Go on, again.JONES You dirty fucker! (Laughter from the group)GRUNDY What a clever boy!JONES What a fucking rotter.GRUNDY Well, that's it for tonight. The other rocker Eamonn, and I'm saying nothing else about him, will be back tomorrow. I'll be seeing you soon, I hope I'm not seeing you [the band] again. From me, though, goodnight.
The cheesy signature tune plays [later copied and incorporated into the beginning of Television Personalities 'Where's Bill Grundy Now?' song]
Where's Bill Grundy Now? LyricsHe knew they would be on the show, ooh ooh ooh
But I guess that he wasn't to know. ooh ooh ooh
We would be asking this question now.
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
He got his photo in the news, la la la
but he had to suffer their abuse. la la la la
He led them on now he must go.
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
la la la la la la la la la
la la la
Poor Bill Grundy!
They said he had too much to drink, eh eh eh eh eh
They said that he just could not think straight. Ah ah ah ah
He set them up then they knocked him down.
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
And all the newspapers did smile. e-e-e-eh
They spread the story out for miles. e-e-e-eh
Till Richard and Liz get married again.
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
Where's Bill Grundy, now?
Well I ain't seen him......and the credits roll. Rotten looks at his watch, Jones starts dancing to the music, and Grundy mutters an off-mic 'Oh shit!' to himself.
more grundy after the expletive
Bill Grundy
(1924-1993)
Bill Grundy was for many years a well known television presenter and broadcaster around Manchester networks in the 1960s and 1970s. But he is probably best remembered as the presenter of the Thames Television's "Today" programme and a notorious interview with the recently emerged Sex Pistols in December 1976.
His confrontational interviewing technique, like a red rag to a bull, egged the punk musicians on to utter their now famous four-letter ' f ' word, live, before an estimated audience of several million viewers, at a time when such language was not heard in braodcasting - it was to become the TV interview from hell. Grundy's intended probing investigation of Punk Music quickly degenerated into a vicious and outrageous slanging match of expletives. Switchboards became jammed with protesting calls and the following day saw the tabloid newspapers describing the show as "The Filth and The Fury". There were also accusations of drunkenness.
In the event, Grundy was suspended for two weeks. Though he was later reinstated, his contract was not renewed in 1977, and Grundy is commonly thought to have been "sacrificed" by Thames Television as a sop to placate an outraged public opinion. Bill Grundy's career virtually ended as a result of the infamous interview, the former Granada Television star saw fewer and fewer jobs being offered, and his hosting of "What the Papers Say" in the early 1980s marked the end of his television career.
Despite numerous erroneous reports that Bill Grundy died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident, we are reliably informed by Tim Grundy, his son (see below), that Bill Grundy passed away from a heart attack, his wife and eldest daughter at his bedside, in a nursing home in Rose Hill, Marple on 9th February 1993 at the age of 69.
The story made the front pages of the following morning's newspapers, amidst howls of outrage, including the now infamous Daily Mirror headline - 'THE FILTH AND THE FURY!'. The Pistols had cemented their place in television folklore.
The son of a factory owner, William Grundy was born in Manchester in 1923 and educated at Manchester University, where he read geology. Grundy began his career as a geologist and as a part-time journalist. When Granada Television began broadcasting in 1956, Grundy auditioned for the post of newsreader, which at first he held in-tandem with his geological work. He was the first television presenter to present The Beatles on Granada Television on October 17, 1962. He appeared on several TV shows, including People and Places and Man About the House, but his greatest claim to fame was as host of the Today show.The Today show incident
Grundy became notorious in a matter of two minutes owing to an incident that occurred when the punkSex Pistols and their entourage appeared at short notice on the Today show of December 1, 1976. They were a last minute stand-in for Queen, who were forced to cancel. The Today show was broadcast live and uncensored during daytime hours at a time when obscenities were forbidden. band
The interview began when Grundy proceeded to introduce and provoke the band, with tongue firmly in cheek. He joked that he was under the influence as he introduced them - "...they are as drunk as I am!" Initially he received mocking but polite responses from Glen Matlock. However, Steve Jones, when asked by Grundy what the band had done with the £40,000 given to them by their record company, said: "Fuckin' spent it" which was apparently not noticed by Grundy at the time. This was followed by two more uses of the word "fuck" by Jones (only the fourth and fifth occurrences of this on British Television at the time[citation needed]). Following this, Johnny Rotten muttered the word "shit" under his breath, but when asked, said that it was nothing but a "rude word." Grundy insisted that Rotten repeat what he had said, which he did loudly, and then responded mockingly when Rotten complied.
Next, Grundy jokingly made advances on Siouxsie Sioux, who appeared as part of the band's entourage, by saying "let's meet afterwards shall we?" Steve Jones responded by calling Grundy a "dirty sod" and a "dirty old man." Grundy further goaded Jones to "say something outrageous", a challenge Jones was ready to meet. He called Grundy a "dirty bastard" and a "dirty fucker" (to which Grundy mockingly responded "what a clever boy") and finally proclaimed "what a fucking rotter." As the show ended, Grundy could be seen muttering what some people believe to be "oh shit" as the credits rolled and as the band began dancing to the closing theme.
Although Today was only shown in the London ITVtabloid press. As a result, Grundy was suspended for two weeks and Today was cancelled region, it became a national story due to coverage and comment by the
two months later.What Gets Me Hot
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