Alice Cooper recently praised the Sex Pistols for their strategic approach to breaking into the American music scene, discussing the topic in a recent interview on Professor of Rock.
Cooper explained why he admired the band’s decision to launch their American tour in Texas rather than in more conventional music hubs, describing the move as a calculated way to generate attention.
“I totally got the Sex Pistols. They did exactly what we did only. How smart is this? You’ve got the Sex Pistols, a punk band. And where do they start playing in America? Texas,” Cooper said.
He went on to elaborate on why the choice of location made such an impact, pointing to the reaction the band received in unexpected settings.
“Texas Cowboy Bars where every day there’s going to be a story. That was so smart. Don’t take them to New York or LA. Take them to where they don’t belong. Yeah, the Bible belt, right?” Cooper continued.
“You know, and every day in the paper there was some story about it — it was brilliant really [laughs],” he added.
The Sex Pistols’ January 1978 American tour backs up exactly what Cooper is talking about. The details make his point even sharper.
The band’s stateside run consisted of just seven dates. Manager Malcolm McLaren deliberately routed most of them through the South, betting that the culture clash would generate exactly the kind of chaos and headlines the band thrived on.
That bet paid off almost immediately. On January 8, 1978, the Sex Pistols played Randy’s Rodeo in San Antonio, a gig that turned violent when bassist Sid Vicious struck an audience member with his instrument mid-show.
Two nights later, the band rolled into Dallas for a performance at the Longhorn Ballroom, a show later remembered for its unusually pristine soundboard recording quality, a rarity for a tour otherwise defined by chaos and bootleg tapes.
Every stop on that Southern route generated the same pattern Cooper described: local papers covering the spectacle, audiences reacting with a mix of shock and curiosity, and a punk band from London turning the Bible Belt into the perfect stage for its own myth-making.
