Sid Vicious
Although I am not a Sex Pistols fan, the story of its bassist Sid Vicious has really fascinated me. He seems to be the most popular among the band member. When I looked at his picture for the first time, there it was, a natural punk. The punk attitude seemed intrinsic in him. ‘Sid Vicious’ if not remembered for his musical talent is certainly remembered for the tragic ending of his and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen’s life. One of the most flabbergasting ending to the most fast paced, rock and roll life ever lived.
Here’s what I got after a small research.
Nancy was the most influential person in Sid’s life. They had a crazy relationship. They used to beat each other but always said they couldn’t live without each other. They were both flying in heavens riding on heroine. They were always high either by love or heroine until the night of October 12, 1978.
Nancy Spungen was mentally ill; she was a schizophrenic. She was out of control since the very beginning of her life. At the age of 3, she was given her first sedative and the next year she saw her first psychiatrist. She attacked her mother with a hammer because she didn’t take her to the museum. She was 11 at the time. She tried drugs for the first time when she was 13. Her parents couldn’t take it any longer. She was always heard screaming “I want to die”, a phrase which seemed to best represent her life. When she reached 17, the limits were reached, her parents asked her to leave home so she did. To fulfill her drug habits she became a prostitute. She later became the Saddam Hussein of Sid’s life. She dictated his life. They were made for each other; they both had a common bond, drugs, which was all that mattered. They became inseparable; their relationship destroyed the Sex Pistols and the relationship of Sid with loved ones. Sid Vicious became a merger of heroine and Nancy Spungen.
Rocket Redgalre, a punk hairdresser was called by Nancy at 2:30 am in October 12 pleading him for D-4’s and hypodermic needles. D-4 is a kind of drug. He couldn’t find any D-4’s and went to Nancy empty handed. They were already high on Tunial but it couldn’t satisfy their need for D-4’s. She was so desperate that she was ready to pay any money. Neon Leon Webster, who was living in a nearby room, heard loud knocks at around 4:15am and half an hour later he heard something metallic drop n the ground.
A bellboy at Hotel Chelsea was sent to Room 100 after an unidentified male told the clerk that there was trouble there only to find a dead 20 year old woman soaked in blood. She was stabbed by the knife bought by Sid Vicious to protect himself when he went out to buy drugs. Then he called an ambulance and police arrived shortly after that to arrest Sid. He was high at that time as well. He was later accused of murder of homicide but the court never declared him guilty or innocent. There are several theories about Nancy’s death. One is that she asked Sid to kill her so he did. The other is that it was a part of a robbery. Sid was believed to be knocking out by a power sedative that he couldn’t have killed Nancy even if he wanted to. A film was released in the 30th anniversary of the murder which was titled Who Killed Nancy? This documentary showed that Nancy was killed by a British named Michael who was another resident of the hotel who spent that last night with the couple. He robbed and murdered Nancy. Sid slept during the whole incident. A friend named ‘Michael’ was being suspected, he disappeared after the murder but no efforts to track him were made. This is the most convincing theory proving Sid’s innocence.
Sid was released in bail for 50,000$ and later served two months in Riker Island Jail after glassing a man in New York. He was again released on bail. Vicious had a new girl friend, Michelle Robson, an actress. On the day of his release February 1, 1979, Sid, his mother and his girl friend were together for a celebration meal. Sid’s mother was herself a drug addict. Sid was clean for 2 months but asked his mother to provide him heroine. He complained that the heroine he got first was not good enough and dispatched another friend to get the next batch. Unfortunately, the next batch of heroine was 95% pure and three times more powerful than the first one. After taking this Sid was knocked out. His mother and girl friend revived him but didn’t call an ambulance fearing that he would be thrown back to jail. Later that night he administered more of the heroine to be found dead next morning. The police announced that they were looking for nobody else in connection of Nancy’s murder.
Sid’s mother found a suicide note in her son’s pocket. This discovery showed signs that the Nancy murder was a suicide pact gone wrong and that Nancy committed suicide. Ten days after Nancy’s murder Sid had tried to cut his wrist and a month earlier to that the couples had told a magazine about their plans to take their own lives. Sid had written that he wanted to be buried alongside Nancy but her parents refused so Sid’s ashes were sprinkled over Nancy’s grave. His mother committed suicide in 1996 believing her son’s innocence till the very end.
So it was a tragic end to the Romeo and Juliet of punk rock.
