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Sex Pistols' Steve Jones On World Cafe

Steve Jones' new memoir is <em>Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol</em>.
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Courtesy of the artist
Steve Jones' new memoir is Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol.

Note: The audio version of this interview touches on sensitive topics, including Steve Jones' experiences of drug addiction and sexual abuse.

Before he tied off the vein of rock 'n' roll and changed music forever with the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones was a young, sticky-fingered punk who stole everything from strangers' cars to David Bowie's gear. By the time he found a home (and his future bandmates) among the freaks and misfits at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's clothing shop, Let It Rock, he had spent years donning what he calls the "Steve Jones Cloak of Invisibility." He says it was a metaphoric armor that helped him cope with the lingering trauma of his stepfather's abuse.

Jones relates all those stories and more in his raw, honest and heartfelt new memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol. Listen above as he details his path from childhood trauma to punk-rock infamy to heroin addiction to sobriety — and the music that got him through it all.

Copyright 2017 XPN

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.