10 Most Devious Punk Rock Tricks And Hoaxes

Despite being a name now largely forgotten, this London-based band was fast becoming one of the most infamous groups in the world by the time they embarked on their Winter 1976 tour headlining above The Damned, The Clash, and Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers.

Their title, The Spots, was in fact an acronym standing for the ‘Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly’, which had become a necessity invented because, by that time, word had spread of their outrageous music, lyrics, chaotic stage performances and nihilistic moral turpitude, and they were banned from playing by self-righteous local councils across most of the UK. Parents and Christian groups hounded them outside every performance and did their very best to ensure that even where a local council had given them permission, the police would be called to cancel the show.

Even with their ruse, where gigs would be announced under the false name and word-of-mouth meant kids in the loop would hopefully find out even if their parents and local councils did not, the Sex Pistols’ notoriety meant they were still only able to play three of their planned nineteen shows during that tour.