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NEWSMUSIC NEWS

Irish investigation against Sex Pistols

revealed
Punks were a cause for official concern in 1978
ByNME
31st December 2008
The Sex Pistols were once considered such a threat to the fabric of
Irish society that legal action was considered at the highest levels, it
has emerged.

State papers released yesterday reveal how the band were targeted in
a 1978 investigation aimed at protecting the country’s Catholic
morals.

Law enforcers the Garda Síochána were particularly concerned by

the title and content of their album ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’.
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According to the Guardian, an official garde memo questioned
whether the band’s debut broke the country’s once rigid censorship
laws. It read: “The title on the sleeve… would indicate that the
contents of the record is obscene.”

On referral to Ireland’s censorship board, the Irish Deputy

Assistant Chief State Solicitor suggested that the album might
contravene the Indecent Advertisements Act, which could have
resulted in a fine for any record stores carrying it.”

But the officer advised the garda to be lenient: “However, the

penalty on conviction cannot exceed IR£2 and in all circumstances
you may feel that prosecution is not called for.”

In the end, the threat was not carried out after Virgin

Records successfully defended a British obscenity charge.

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