This weekend, a rare pressing of The Sex Pistols “God Save the Queen” 7″ single will be up for sale at London’s Music Mania record fair. Previously, sales of this rare vinyl have fetched up to £13,000.
Only nine copies of the vinyl pressing are thought to exist, as the rest were destroyed after a contract dispute with A&M Records. The legend of the rare records’ history is that the band was dropped from A&M Records only six days after signing to the label due to some very Sex Pistols-like behavior.
After the band announced their new label and upcoming single “God Save the Queen,” they reportedly returned to the A&M offices, totally obliterated, and proceeded to wreak havoc. Sid Vicious, new to the band at the time, is said to have destroyed a toilet bowl and dragged his bloodied foot across the office while John Lyndon allegedly mouthed off to A&M office staff. Lyndon then allegedly followed his outburst with another diatribe a few days later that included a death threat to a good friend of A&M’s English director. Apparently A&M had decided that they had seen enough and cut ties with the band, breaching their contract and destroying the majority of the 25,000 7″s of “God Save the Queen.”
The nine pressings that reportedly remain are obviously extremely valuable due to their rarity, and often make the list of most expensive vinyl records, up there with Elvis Presley’s earliest known acetate and rare releases from pre-Beatles group The Quarrymen. Fans can bid on one copy of the “God Save the Queen” 7″ at the Music Mania fair this weekend, which will be held in the Olympia exhibition space in London on November 18 and 19. Find out more information about the record fair here.
