Wally Nightingale - Nightingale and The Sex Pistols

Nightingale and The Sex Pistols

There are few known details of Nightingale's life. In the documentary The Filth and The Fury, drummer Paul Cook said "I think it was Wally, the famous Wally Nightingale, who had said 'Well, let's start a band' ," accompanied by pictures showing the early band, which consisted of Nightingale on guitar, Steve Jones on vocals, and Cook on drums. No name for the band is given in the film, but Gerald Kean says that it was called "The Strand", after Do the Strand by Roxy Music.

The band was formed in 1972. They rehearsed quite a lot, mostly upstairs at Nightingale's house on Hemlock Road in East Acton during the day when his parents were working, and may have played a few gigs in the area although no verifiable reports exist. The band had a very fluid line-up; at some point Paul Cook's uncle handled the bass guitar duties., at some point Steve Hayes played bass guitar with the outfit. Jimmy Mackin played organ with the band from 1974 to early 1975, and the band also had a conga player, Cecil.

By 1975 the band was rehearsing at Crunchy Frog, a studio near the London Docklands. They were at the time managed by Bernie Rhodes, who tried to set up gigs for the band. The only reported gig during the entire existence of the band was in early 1975 at a birthday party for one of Cook's friends above Tom Salter’s Café on Kings Road in Chelsea, London. At the short, three-song gig, The Strand consisted of Steve Jones on vocals, Wally Nightingale on guitar, Del Noones on bass and Paul Cook on drums. The band had changed their name to The Swankers prior to the gig. Nightingale recorded the performance on a cassette tape, but accidentally erased the tape two years later. Noones, despite being married to Cook's sister and thus being Cook's brother-in-law, was ejected from the band shortly afterwards, due to his unreliability and unwillingness to rehearse. In the early summer of 1975, Glen Matlock stepped in as a permanent bass player at the suggestion of McLaren.

After persistent requests by Jones, McLaren agreed to become manager of The Strand. However, McLaren thought Nightingale was "too nice", and by early 1975 Nightingale and Jones were in disagreement over the direction the band should take. Having been after McLaren to manage them for some time because of his previous connections in the music business (primarily as a very brief manager for The New York Dolls), Cook and Jones eventually decided to take McLaren's advice. Jones switched to guitar and the band continued on as The Swankers, without founder Nightingale. Nightingale was informed of the decision upon his arrival to a rehearsal. In interviews he has stated he "was so gutted that I didn't say anything. I even went for a drink with them that evening.".

With the personnel changes, the band initially changed their name to "QT Jones & his Sex Pistols" at McLaren's suggestion, but the name was later shortened to Sex Pistols. McLaren considered Jones's singing unsuitable and John Lydon was recruited in August. Sex Pistols played their first gig on 6 November the same year, a little over six months after Nightingale had left. When Nightingale saw them at the 100 Club, "they wouldn't even talk to me. In hindsight I suppose I'm proud to have been involved in the punk scene though I don't go around telling everyone. After I left, Steve and the others slagged me off in the music press really badly. I never really knew why; I never did them any harm." About the person who got him fired, he simply stated "McLaren was devious but clever. He'd see things which other people didn't see and I suppose that's what gave him his edge. Malcolm made the Sex Pistols."