Glen Matlock is an English musician, and the original bass guitarist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols; having been introduced to guitarist Steve Jones, and drummer Paul Cook while working in Let It Rock – the precursor to SEX, Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s clothing boutique in London. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols’ only album, Never Mind The Bollocks.
Matlock left the band in late February 1977, with contemporary reports (given to news outlets by manager Malcolm McLaren) stating that he was “thrown out” because he liked the Beatles. The claim was fictional, with Steve Huey of AllMusic claiming that Matlock “was even more enamoured of The Faces and the mod groups prominently featured on London pirate radio in the late ’60s, as were Steve Jones and Paul Cook.” In his self-penned book ‘I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol’ Matlock stated that he left the band of his own volition as he was “sick of all the bullshit.” In the 2000 documentary film ‘The Filth and the Fury’, the band members generally agree that there was tension between Matlock and vocalist Johnny Rotten, which Matlock suggests was further aggravated by Malcolm McLaren in an attempt to generate chaos within the band as a creative mechanism. In the 2002 Classic Albums documentary about ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ *Jones stated that in retrospect, pushing Matlock out of the band was a mistake, and that the group would have recorded more albums if Matlock had stayed in the band.
After leaving the Sex Pistols, Matlock went on to form the ‘Rich Kids’, with himself as bass guitarist and singer, Midge Ure (guitarist, singer and keyboard player), Steve New (guitarist and singer) and Rusty Egan (drummer). They released three singles and one album entitled ‘Ghosts Of Princes in Towers’.
Also during this time, Matlock and New would play with Sid Vicious along with Rat Scabies in the one-off band ‘The Vicious White Kids’,as part of a benefit performance in London, to help pay for Sid’s travel expenses back to America.
After The Rich Kids, Matlock would go on to form the short-lived ‘Spectres’, and then ‘Hot Club’. Prior to this, Matlock toured Europe and North America with Iggy Pop, and played bass and co wrote material for his album ‘Soldier’.