MAN OF THE YEAR JOHN LYDON

For John Lydon, 1978 was a pivotal year, leaving the Sex Pistols and forming Pil

Nineteen seventy-eight was a transitional year for you, going from the Pistols to PiL – one of the greatest transformations in rock history. Or is that too overblown? 

I never thought about it like that at the time. It was no great intellectual statement that I was making. I was bored with what I’d already done, and I wanted to do something else. I didn’t like to be pigeonholed. Formats are all well and interesting, but when you’ve done that, move on. Categories are criminal. Before categories record stores used to be just piles and piles of interesting covers and many a time, I would buy a record just because I loved the artwork. It was an art collection before it was a record collection.

You must have been aware of the intense level of scrutiny you were under as you decided how to follow the Pistols? 

I was just looking for an opportunity to get into the studio and see what we could come up with. The trepidation of not knowing how it was going to turn out was the thing that made it exciting. All the best laid plans are for mice, not men.

You spent some time in Jamaica in early 1978 with Richard Branson, while he was scouting for acts for the Virgin Front Line label. Given your love of reggae, that must have been a great time...