This week Dan Renton Skinner launches his first solo show on Channel Four. However, we never actually see 'Dan' because his public profile is the fictitious character Angelos Epithemiou, a lisping, unhinged burger van owner. In this, Skinner is following a long tradition which includes Dame Edna Everage, Keith Lemon and John Lydon.
Of course, John Lydon isn't a comic creation - at least not intentionally - but like Edna, Keith and Angelos, we don't often see the real man.
Lydon never intended to be a rock star. Had McLaren, Jones, Matlock and Cook not lured him to an impromptu audition before a jukebox in a shop on the King's Road, he would never have become Johnny Rotten, scourge of a nation and frontman of Sex Pistols. He may well have succeeded in another field, but he wouldn't have created the permanently disgruntled, hunched over, Lord of the Sneer we have known since 1976.
Of course, John Lydon isn't a comic creation - at least not intentionally - but like Edna, Keith and Angelos, we don't often see the real man.
Lydon never intended to be a rock star. Had McLaren, Jones, Matlock and Cook not lured him to an impromptu audition before a jukebox in a shop on the King's Road, he would never have become Johnny Rotten, scourge of a nation and frontman of Sex Pistols. He may well have succeeded in another field, but he wouldn't have created the permanently disgruntled, hunched over, Lord of the Sneer we have known since 1976.
This persona possesses Lydon. Our expectations and his nervousness ensure he is cloaked by an alter-ego, long before any cameras roll or microphones open. Which is the reason his speaking voice is indistinguishable from his vocals on 'Pretty Vacant'. Although he jettisoned the 'Rotten' handle at the birth of Public Image Ltd. he never parked the vaguely Dickensian character which accompanied it. With diminishing returns, we're still watching it today.
Incidentally, I don't believe this is a cynical PR stunt, plotted and planned to maintain the Lydon mythology, rather a psychological defence mechanism, which allows any criticism or confrontation to assail 'Rotten', leaving Lydon unscathed. This is understandable.
Through his life, John has been assaulted. By meningitis, by nationalistic razor thugs, by minor politicians, by the press and by a thousand critics. He probably needs a shield more than most.
Unfortunately this other self never does Lydon any favours. Once we relished this youthful urchin's anger and bile, directed at the monarchy, the apathetic and the hypocritical. But now, encased in the body of a middle-aged man, the personality is all too familiar, rather frustrating and a little embarrassing. As if Rik Mayall has come for dinner as 'Rik' from The Young Ones.
Incidentally, I don't believe this is a cynical PR stunt, plotted and planned to maintain the Lydon mythology, rather a psychological defence mechanism, which allows any criticism or confrontation to assail 'Rotten', leaving Lydon unscathed. This is understandable.
Through his life, John has been assaulted. By meningitis, by nationalistic razor thugs, by minor politicians, by the press and by a thousand critics. He probably needs a shield more than most.
Unfortunately this other self never does Lydon any favours. Once we relished this youthful urchin's anger and bile, directed at the monarchy, the apathetic and the hypocritical. But now, encased in the body of a middle-aged man, the personality is all too familiar, rather frustrating and a little embarrassing. As if Rik Mayall has come for dinner as 'Rik' from The Young Ones.
Lydon's tendency to sabotage himself with pantomime was all too apparent on Question Time this week. John is an intelligent man and certainly one of the most interesting figures in popular culture. So, I'm convinced he could have surprised and impressed, simply by unleashing sceptical, considered opinions and countering the line-toeing politicians. He does have that in him, but so overwhelmed is he by the ghost of his former self that, predictably, he defaults to infantile rudeness and incoherent rant. On Thursday, he missed the opportunity to shock with the strength of his intellect, choosing instead to bore with another tired performance from Rotten.
I don't know John Lydon, and some who do say he is just a 'nuisance'. Others suggest he is so used to nodding sycophancy, he fails to listen or take the trouble to build concise arguments. Both these observations may well be true, but I do believe there is another man behind the gingery spikes and psychotic stares. Surely he doesn't discuss, debate and converse with his wife Nora as though he is wailing and drawling a version of 'Holidays In The Sun'?
I don't know John Lydon, and some who do say he is just a 'nuisance'. Others suggest he is so used to nodding sycophancy, he fails to listen or take the trouble to build concise arguments. Both these observations may well be true, but I do believe there is another man behind the gingery spikes and psychotic stares. Surely he doesn't discuss, debate and converse with his wife Nora as though he is wailing and drawling a version of 'Holidays In The Sun'?
John is entitled to his mask. And we have no right to demand he drop the alter-ego and bare his authentic soul. Nevertheless, if he ever chooses to, I imagine we'll find a bright, sensitive and compassionate human being, slightly hampered by insecurity and shyness.
I do have a shred of evidence for this. Watch Julien Temple's outstanding Sex Pistols documentary 'The Filth and the Fury' and you'll find a section where John Lydon is interviewed about the death of his friend John Ritchie (Sid Vicious). He speaks with sincere, bitter regret and weeps. In a fleeting moment we catch a glimpse of truth - of Lydon, not Rotten.
Wouldn't it be fascinating to see more?
I do have a shred of evidence for this. Watch Julien Temple's outstanding Sex Pistols documentary 'The Filth and the Fury' and you'll find a section where John Lydon is interviewed about the death of his friend John Ritchie (Sid Vicious). He speaks with sincere, bitter regret and weeps. In a fleeting moment we catch a glimpse of truth - of Lydon, not Rotten.
Wouldn't it be fascinating to see more?
