Sid Vicious Pistols bassist Glen Matlock as a talented vocalist, Vicious's abilities as a bass player were debated. During an interview for "," when Jones was asked why he, instead of Vicious, recorded the bass parts of "Never Mind the Bollocks," Jones responded, "Sid was in a hospital with hepatitis, so he couldn't really play, not that he could play anyway." The only song that he played on in the studio was "Bodies." Vicious asked Lemmy, the bassist of Motörhead, to teach him how to play with the words, "I can't play bass," to which Lemmy replied, "I know." According to Paul
Sid Vicious Vicious is the attitude." McLaren also said in person and in a documentary that if he had met Vicious before he had hired Rotten to be the singer, Vicious would have been the Sex Pistols' front man, because he had the most charisma of anyone on that stage. Alan Jones described Vicious as "[having] the iconic punk look ... Sid, on image alone, is what all punk rests on." His nails would be painted in a sloppy manner with purple nail polish. Vicious played his first gig with the Pistols on 3 April 1977 at The Screen On The Green