Editing Sex Pistols (section)

===Lydon joins===
[[File:RotJonesMatCook.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|The Sex Pistols, early 1976; from left: Rotten, Jones, Matlock and Cook]]
Describing the social context in which the band formed, [[John Lydon]] said that mid-seventies Britain was "a very depressing place{{spaces}}... completely run-down, there was [[Winter of Discontent|trash on the streets]], total unemployment, just about everybody was on strike{{nbsp}}... if you came from the wrong side of the tracks{{nbsp}}... then you had no hope in hell and no career prospects at all."{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=97}}

In August 1975, Rhodes spotted Lydon, then 19 years old, wearing a [[Pink Floyd]] T-shirt with the words 'I Hate' handwritten above the band's name and holes scratched through the Floyd members' eyes.{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=74}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=114}}{{sfn|Young|1977}} Soon after, either Rhodes or McLaren asked Lydon to audition.{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=74}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=110–111}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=120}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=98}} During the session, Lydon improvised to [[Alice Cooper]]'s "[[I'm Eighteen]]" on the [[Sex (boutique)|Sex]] jukebox. According to Jones, "he came in with green hair. I thought he had a really interesting face. I liked his look. He had the 'I Hate Pink Floyd' T-shirt on...held together with safety pins... he was a real arsehole—but smart."{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=74}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=120–121}}{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=71}} Jones renamed Lydon as "Johnny Rotten" as a joke, apparently because of his particularly bad teeth.{{sfn|Young|1977}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=112}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=105}}

Cook had a full-time job and was threatening to quit the band. ''[[New Musical Express]]'' journalist [[Nick Kent]] occasionally played second guitar with the band but left acrimoniously when Lydon joined.<ref>[[Sean O'Hagan|O'Hagan, Sean]]. "[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/09/nick-kent-unstable-boys-novel-interview Nick Kent: 'I was in the right place at the right time, on the wrong drugs'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108234155/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/09/nick-kent-unstable-boys-novel-interview |date=8 November 2023 }}". The Guardian,  9 January 2021  Retrieved 8 November 2023</ref> An advertisement was placed in ''[[Melody Maker]]'' looking for a "whizz kid guitarist&nbsp;... not older than 20&nbsp;... not worse looking than [[Johnny Thunders]]."{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=86}} As [[Steve New]] was the most talented guitarist to audition, he was asked to join. However, Jones' playing had greatly improved, and New left a month after joining the band.{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=87}}

[[File:Sex Pistols, August 1975.jpg|thumb|August 1975, from left: Rotten, Matlock, Jones, and Cook]]
After considering band name options such as Le Bomb, Subterraneans, the Damned, Beyond, Teenage Novel, Kid Gladlove, and Crème de la Crème, they decided on Sex Pistols.{{sfn|Evans|2006|p=190}}{{sfn|Matlock|1990|pp=64–65}} Matlock said the band decided on the name while McLaren was in the United States before Rotten joined. Jon Savage says the name was not firmly settled on until just before their first show in November 1975. McLaren later said the name derived "from the idea of a pistol, a pin-up, a young thing, a better-looking assassin". Not given to modesty, false or otherwise, he added: "[I] launched the idea in the form of a band of kids who could be perceived as being bad."{{sfn|Molon|2007|p=76}} The group began writing original material: Rotten was the lyricist and Matlock the primary melody writer (though their first collaboration, "[[Pretty Vacant]]", had all lyrics by Matlock, which Rotten tweaked a bit); official credit was shared equally among the four.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=99–100}}{{sfn|Reynolds|2007|p=89}}

Their first gig was arranged by Matlock, then studying at [[Saint Martin's School of Art]]. The band played at the school in November 1975,{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=22}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=114}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=129}} supporting the [[Pub rock (United Kingdom)|pub rock]] group [[Bazooka Joe (band)|Bazooka Joe]]. They performed several covers including [[the Who]]'s "[[Substitute (The Who song)|Substitute]]", the [[Small Faces]]' "[[Whatcha Gonna Do About It]]", and [[the Monkees]]' "[[(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone]]".{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=106}}