Editing Public Image Ltd (section)

===''Metal Box'' (1979) and ''Paris au Printemps'' (1980)===
[[File:PiLposterforWikipedia.jpg|thumb|right|A PiL promotional poster, 1980.]]
{{listen|filename=Memories PiL 35 Sc Ogg.ogg|title="Memories"|description="Memories"}}
The departure of Jim Walker made way for a series of new drummers. Auditions were later held at Rollerball Studios in [[Tooley Street]], [[London Bridge]]. David Humphrey was their second drummer, who went on to record two tracks at [[Manor Studios]] in Oxford,  "Swan Lake" and "Albatross", for ''[[Metal Box]]''. "[[Death Disco]]" (a.k.a. "Swan Lake") was released as a single in 1979 and reached No.&nbsp;20 in the charts.<ref name="Jr.McClure2017">{{cite book|author1=Kenneth L. Shonk, Jr.|author2=Daniel Robert McClure|title=Historical Theory and Methods through Popular Music, 1970–2000: "Those are the New Saints"|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=taMxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|date=17 August 2017|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-1-137-57072-7|page=161}}</ref> The majority of the drumming on the album was provided by [[Richard Dudanski]] (formerly of [[the 101ers]]), PiL's drummer from April to September 1979. He was replaced by [[Karl Burns]] (of [[The Fall (band)|the Fall]]), who in turn was replaced by [[Martin Atkins]]. The recording and practice sessions were chaotic; Atkins said in 2001 that his audition was playing "Bad Baby" during a recording session--a take which was taped and released on ''Metal Box''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fodderstompf.com/INTERVIEWS/martint.html |title=Martin Atkins Interview |publisher=Fodderstompf.com |access-date=17 August 2010}}</ref> Atkins was PiL's drummer from 1979 to 1980 and 1982 to 1985.

''Metal Box'' was originally released as three untitled [[Phonograph record|45-rpm]] 12-inch (30-cm) records packaged in a metal box resembling a film canister with an embossed PiL logo on the lid (it was later reissued in more conventional packaging as a double LP set, ''[[Second Edition (album)|Second Edition]]''), and features the band's trademark hypnotic [[dub music|dub reggae]] bass lines, glassy, [[arpeggio|arpeggiated]] guitar, and bleak, paranoid, [[stream of consciousness]] vocals.{{cn|date=January 2023}}

PiL had a series of contentious live shows and behind-the-scenes controversies during their first American tour in 1980. Their appearance at the [[Grand Olympic Auditorium]] in Los Angeles was fraught with hostile exchanges between Lydon and the audience. Tensions offstage mounted as well. PiL demanded that they work only with local promoters, bucking the promotional machinery of [[Warner Records|Warner Bros. Records]], their American label. For both the Los Angeles and San Francisco appearances, PiL agreed to work with [[David Ferguson (impresario)|David Ferguson]] and his independent [[CD Presents]] label. This business arrangement pitted the band and CD Presents in a pitched battle against San Francisco-based promoter [[Bill Graham (promoter)|Bill Graham]], who negotiated with concert venue owners and San Francisco government officials to deprive PiL of a concert location. Fearing public outbursts if the show was cancelled, San Francisco city officials instead opted to allow the CD Presents-sponsored event to proceed.<ref name="Emperors">Wechsler, Shoshana. "Emperor's New Clothes: Public Image in San Francisco". Damage, Vol. 1, No.&nbsp;7. July 1980. pp. 8–10</ref>

On 17 May 1980, the group appeared on the teenage music show ''[[American Bandstand]]'' at the invitation of host [[Dick Clark]].<ref name="tg01">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/apr/19/dick-clark-underground-champion|title=Dick Clark: the underground's unlikely champion|last=Hopper|first=Jessica|date=19 April 2012|work=The Guardian|access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref> PiL's performance was chaotic; they abandoned lip-syncing, invited the audience onto the stage while the music played and Lydon clowned. Clark named the performance among his top 100 AB favorites.<ref name="avc01">{{cite news|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/john-lydon-pil-drinking-todd-rundgren-and-singing--221774|title=John Lydon on PIL, drinking with Todd Rundgren, and singing for Edie Brickell|last=Harris|first=Will|date=14 July 2015|work=A.V. Club|access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref>

In June 1980, Lydon and Levene were interviewed on [[NBC]]'s ''[[The Tomorrow Show]]'' by host [[Tom Snyder]]. The interview was awkward (and combative at times). At one point, Snyder asked Lydon if PiL was a band to which Lydon replied with, "We ain't no band, we're a company. Simple. Nothing to do with rock and roll. Doo Da." The segment ended with Snyder apologising to the audience: "The interesting part is, is that we talked to these two gentlemen a couple of weeks ago, a pre-interview, apparently that went all just fine and it made great sense, and what I read about them this afternoon, but somehow it got a little lost in translation tonight. But that's probably my fault."<ref>{{citation |title=Tomorrow Show |work=NBC |date=27 June 1980}}</ref> Lydon re-appeared on Tom Snyder's show in 1997, and Snyder apologised about what happened that night. Lydon shook it off by saying "it's just entertainment", and the completely normal interview proceeded without difficulty.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

1980 also saw the release of PiL's first live album, ''[[Paris au Printemps]]'' – also the group's last album featuring Jah Wobble. On this release's album sleeve, the band's name and all of the track titles were translated into French. The album cover was a painting by John Lydon depicting himself, Keith Levene and [[Jeannette Lee]].

In May 1981, PiL appeared in New York at [[The Ritz (rock club)|The Ritz]], playing from behind a projection screen. Lydon, Levene and Jeanette Lee were joined by a new drummer, 60-year-old jazz player Sam Ulano, who had been recruited for the gig from a bar, having apparently never heard the band before. While something reminiscent of but clearly different from PiL improvised behind the screen, PiL records were played simultaneously through the PA. Lydon taunted the audience, who expected to hear familiar material (or at least see the band), and a melée erupted in which the audience pelted the stage with bottles and pulled on a tarp spread under the band, toppling equipment. The promoters cleared the hall and cancelled the next night's show, and a local media furore ignited in New York.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fodderstompf {{!}} PiL Gigs {{!}} New York, Ritz, USA, May 15th 1981|url=http://www.fodderstompf.com/GIG%20LIST/rit81.html|access-date=2021-10-20|website=www.fodderstompf.com}}</ref>