Sweet, obnoxious, disjointed, defensive, offensive, conceited, suicidal…all of these adjectives could be used for Johnny Rotten at different points during the course of this interview with Lisa Robinson. He had been through with The Sex Pistols for over 5 years by the time of this recording and was still working with Public Image, Ltd. (PiL), his first post-Sex Pistols band. But regardless of which band or personality the questioning is about, the answers are generalized enough to capture Rotten's attitude on life and rock & roll. It's an attitude with unpredictable manifestations but which can be described in general terms as 'punk.'
00:00 - Johnny Rotten vs. John Lydon
01:40 - Public Image, Ltd. as a corporation (not a band)
02:12 - The music that Public Image makes
02:55 - Respect as the foundation for Public Image
03:17 - The Sex Pistols: the last rock and roll band
04:30 - "Touring" in Japan instead of the US
04:52 - How touring should happen
05:51 - Progression from The Sex Pistols to PiL / similarities with Keith Levene
06:46 - What happened to the rebelliousness of rock and roll
07:17 - Not feeling like a star / brains over muscles