Not currently on display at the V&A

Jamie Reid archive

Record Cover
1977 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This record sleeve is for the last single from the Sex Pistols while Johnny Rotten was still singer with the band. Released two weeks before the Never Mind the Bollocks... album, Rotten would leave the band less than four months later. The artwork was based on a real Belgian tourist brochure, with the speech bubbles edited to include the lyrics of the song.. The travel company later sued the Pistols resulting in a court case, and the single was re-issued in a plain white sleeve.

Jamie Reid's cut-and-paste aesthetic developed from his interest in radical politics. His artistic style developed while at art college in Croydon, where he was influenced by the ideas of the avant-garde political group, the Situationist International. The political slant to his art was aroused by the May 1968 Paris student riots, which inspired fraternal protests organised by Reid at the Croydon College of Art. These were directed with fellow student Malcolm McLaren, later to become the manager of the Sex Pistols.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleJamie Reid archive (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithographic print on paper
Brief description
Cover for Sex Pistols' single 'Holidays in the Sun', designed by Jamie Reid, 1977. Jamie Reid archive
Physical description
Printed paper record sleeve for a 7" phonographic record. Illustrated cartoon strip on front cover of holidaying family, original speech bubbles replaced with the lyrics for the Sex Pistols' song "Holiday in the Sun". Back cover of record sleeve features a photograph of a 1970s family sitting around a dining table, with text added.
Dimensions
  • Height: 18cm
  • Width: 18.3cm
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • 3&4 days / from / £39.00 / 5 Days~ / from / £59.00
  • HOLIDAYS / in The SUN
  • I DONT WANT A / HOLIDAY IN THE SUN / I WANNA GO TO THE NEW BELSEN / I WANNA SEE SOME HISTORY / COS I GOT A / REASONABLE / ECONOMY
  • NOW I GOT A REA- / SON. AND I'M STILL / WAITING AT THE / BERLIN WALL
  • .N SENSUR-/ROUND SOUND / IN A TWO / INCH WALL / I WAS WAIT-/ ING AT THE / COMMUNIST / CALL
  • DIDN'T ASK FOR / SUNSHINE AND I / GOT WORLD WAR 3 / I LOOKED OVER THE / WALL AND THEY / LOOKED AT ME / THEY'RE STARING / ALL NIGHT AND / STARING ALL / DAY I HAD NO / REASON TO / BE THERE / AT ALL
  • BUT NOW I GOT / A REASON NO / REAL REASON / TO BE AT THE / BERLIN WALL / PARANOIA - WHEN / WILL WE FALL / CLAUSTROPHOBIA / TOO MANY / CLOSETS
  • CHEAP / DIALOGUE / CHEAP / ESSENTIAL / SCENERY
  • I WANNA GO OVER / THE BERLIN / WALL
  • A CHEAP HOLIDAY / IN OTHER / PEOPLES MISERY
  • SeX PiSTOLS
  • © SEX PISTOLS / (P) 1977 VIRGIN RECORDS (Back cover)
  • vsi9i
  • nice image / nice photo / NICE middleage lady / NICE ROOM / nice people / NICE middle aged man / NICE young lady / NICE little girl / NICE young man / nice food / NICE furniture / nice gesture / nice sleeve
  • SATELLITE
  • dp delga press limited
  • Transliteration
Subjects depicted
Summary
This record sleeve is for the last single from the Sex Pistols while Johnny Rotten was still singer with the band. Released two weeks before the Never Mind the Bollocks... album, Rotten would leave the band less than four months later. The artwork was based on a real Belgian tourist brochure, with the speech bubbles edited to include the lyrics of the song.. The travel company later sued the Pistols resulting in a court case, and the single was re-issued in a plain white sleeve.

Jamie Reid's cut-and-paste aesthetic developed from his interest in radical politics. His artistic style developed while at art college in Croydon, where he was influenced by the ideas of the avant-garde political group, the Situationist International. The political slant to his art was aroused by the May 1968 Paris student riots, which inspired fraternal protests organised by Reid at the Croydon College of Art. These were directed with fellow student Malcolm McLaren, later to become the manager of the Sex Pistols.
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
S.6481-2009

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Record createdMay 18, 2009
Record URL
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