Punk rock takes on the Palace – where were you?

The date: June 7 1977.The location: River Thames. The occasion: The Queen’s Silver Jubilee.

It was a day overshadowed by drunken behaviour and insults of the four-letter word variety - and the perpetrators had only one intention in mind: to cause chaos. What began as a Thames riverboat trip turned into a symbolic assault on Britain’s figurehead and the protagonists quickly found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Needless to say, the press had a field day.

God Save The Queen

The nation was pre-occupied with preparations for one of the most anticipated events of the year - the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. Commemorative mugs and coins were handed out to kids at school and union jacks decorated the landscape. On the day itself some hung up banners and held street parties, others simply stayed glued to their TV sets.

But one group of working class twenty-somethings had another idea that would shake the foundations of the establishment to the core. Proclaiming ‘Stuff the Jubilee’, they stood for controversy, nihilism and had a blatant disregard for the establisment of which the royal family ranked top of the list. They were the Sex Pistols.

Anarchy on the Thames

In a plan masterminded by the band’s outspoken manager Malcolm MacLaren, the band along with two hundred fans and ‘those on the list’ piled upon a boat known as the ‘Queen Elizabeth.’ The vessel left Charing Cross Pier at 6.30pm and sailed downstream, passing Tower Bridge and Battersea, and, on reaching the Houses of Parliament the Pistols let rip with a blistering two-fingered musical salute against the system.

Punctuated by snarling vocals, raw energised guitars and fearsome attitude, ‘Anarchy in the UK’ blasted out across the Thames. “It was a great moment,” gushed passenger and journalist Jon Savage. “Until the police came.” Scared by the raucous booze-induced partying going on, the boat’s captain wired for the police. A power cut brought The Pistols’ set to an abrupt end and police forced the boat to return to shore where MacLaren and ten others were arrested.

Fury In the UK

Intense public outrage swept through the country. Talk centred fervently around the day’s events that had marked the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations Who did these snotty kids led by a sneering young upstart calling himself Johnny Rotten think they were?

The establishment may have won this round but it proved to be a pyrrhic victory. The Sex Pistols held the daily headlines hostage and, despite the combined efforts of radio, TV and record shops having nothing to do with the single, ‘God Save the Queen’, reached number two. Ironically, now twenty-five years on the single could well reclaim its rightful glory at the top of the charts when it is re-released in time for the Golden Jubilee.

What were you doing on the day of the Jubilee? What do you remember of the day itself? Did you know or were you one of the 200 people on the boat? Did you witness the Sex Pistols boat trip - or just hear about it?