Public Image Ltd.: We Only Wanted To Be Loved
Robin Banks, ZigZag, December 1978
THE ENIGMATIC Johnny Lydon. Dubbed "The Messiah of Punk" by those who only thought in clichés, he was catapulted into a situation that left him very little room to move. The popular media's concept of Lydon and co. (disgusting, depraved, subversive and devoid of all talent) ultimately became too restrictive. Trapped within this "public image", which only occasionally extended further than the colour of his barnet or the nature of his attire, Lydon became a monstrous figment of the public imagination.
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