TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : ****Excellent ***Good **Fair *Poor : COMPACT DISCS
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“The Great Rock and Roll Swindle.” Sound track. Virgin. Has cynicism ever been so celebratory? “Swindle” was Julien Temple’s film debut--a mad mishmash of material featuring the Sex Pistols and their mastermind, Malcolm McLaren, and assembled after the group had dissolved. The film hasn’t shown up on cable or video, but the double LP and this excellent-sounding CD version are almost as much aberrant fun. The 66 minutes of odds and ends include textures ranging from prime punk to mock-shlock; the vocals are not only by Pistols’ singer Johnny Rotten and other members of the meteoric band, but also exiled criminal Ronnie Biggs, goofball Tenpole Tudor and McLaren himself. Among the three tracks sung by Sid Vicious is the original “My Way,” duplicated in “Sid and Nancy.” Amazingly, almost every cockeyed piece of pop anarchy here is as gloriously provocative today as in 1979. ****
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