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Soon After 11:00

SOON AFTER 11.00am on 12 October 1978 the desk clerk at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City received a telephone call. A man told him, “There's trouble in Room one hundred.” The clerk sent a bellboy to check it out, but before he returned, the front desk had another call, this time from room 100. “Someone is sick here”, a different male voice said. “Need help.”

The platinum blonde lay face-up on the floor of the toilet, her head under the sink. She wore only a black bra and panties, both items soaked with blood from a one-inch knife wound in her lower abdomen. The hotel bed was also extensively stained with blood. The desk clerk called for an ambulance, which arrived with a police escort. After the paramedics confirmed that the woman was dead, police checked the room and found drugs and drug paraphernalia as well as a bloodstained Jaguar K-11 folding knife with a five-inch blade and a black jaguar carved into the handle. The victim had been resident in Room 100 with her drug-addicted boyfriend.

The couple had been living in Manhattan 's famous haven, the Chelsea Hotel which at various times had hosted such illustrious guests as Eugene O'Neill, Dylan Thomas, Thomas Wolfe, Jane Fonda, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen among many others. They had registered as Mr. and Mrs. John Ritchie, though they were not married. John Simon Ritchie was the man's real name, but he was better known as Sid Vicious, punk superstar and former bass player for the infamous British band known as The Sex Pistols. His deceased companion was an American citizen: Nancy Spungen, also known as ‘Nauseating Nancy.'

Vicious, known as ‘Sly', was wandering the hallways, crying and agitated, when police arrived. His face was battered and bloodied from a fight. He had reportedly told his next-door neighbor, “I killed her. Now I can't live without her.” He also said, “She must have fallen on the knife.” The police attempted to arrest him, but he resisted until he was subdued and handcuffed. Later that afternoon he was charged with second-degree homicide in the death of Nancy Spungen.

The news of Nancy 's death and the murder charge reverberated through the ranks of young people who defiantly described themselves as ‘punks.' Sid's many fans saw him as nothing less than the embodiment of the punk philosophy – aggressively nihilistic and intentionally rude and offensive in all situations. His physical appearance underscored his beliefs – dyed spiked hair, rail-thin body, knock-kneed posture, worn black leather motorcycle jacket and his trademark dog chain and padlock around his neck. Taking drugs, wearing tattered clothes and safety pins in facial piercings and living in squalor were part of the punk ethos. Sid and Nancy had come to New York City to enhance their status as punk royalty. But in the end they became the stuff of tragedy, the punk Romeo and Juliet.

John Ritchie was born in South London on 10 May 1957. He was given his biological father's name in the hope that Mr. Simon Ritchie would marry his mother, Anne Beverley, and live with them. When the boy was three years old, mother and son moved to the Mediterranean island of Ibiza where they waited for Sid's father to join them. He never did, and the flamboyant Anne grew deeper in debt as the years dragged on. She moved back to London with her young son and took a job working nights at a jazz club in Soho . Her elderly landlady babysat for her much of the time while she struggled to support herself and young John. Being a single mother was an exhaustive ordeal, and along the way she developed a heroin habit.

John Ritchie grew up to be a shy teenager with a self-destructive streak and a relish for rebellion and anarchy. He drifted in and out of schools until he finally landed at Hackney College where he studied photography for two terms before dropping out. He became part of London 's burgeoning punk scene, which was centered on Malcolm McLaren's King's Road boutique, ‘Let it Rock.' Ritchie played drums for ‘Siouxsie and the Banshees' until McLaren, who managed The Sex Pistols, discovered him. McLaren correctly saw Ritchie as punk personified and a good match for the Pistol's frenetic green-haired lead singer Johnny Rotten (John Lydon). When the Pistols original bass player Glen Matlock left the band in February 1977, John was given the slot. There was just one problem – he couldn't play bass guitar. But that was just a minor detail, and his lack of musical ability actually reinforced the band's iconoclastic message. The band's cacophonous songs emphasized rebellion over musicianship. Session men played bass on the Pistols' recordings and Sid's amplifier was turned down during live performances. “We need Sid,” said McLaren. “The fans love him, and he's a fabulous disaster!”

Sid was named after Lydon's hamster ‘Sid the Vicious' who had a habit of biting people. Despite only a handful of recordings and dubious musical talent, John Simon Ritchie achieved legendary status as Sid Vicious – the embodiment of the punk lifestyle. The Pistols' enjoyed a big hit with ‘Anarchy in the UK ' and reached number two in the pop charts with ‘God save the Queen' in spite of the recording being censored by the BBC. The fact that the ‘Music Week' chart had a blank spot at number two only reinforced their popularity with their fanatical fans. The Sex Pistols were a smartly packaged group representing rebellion and anarchy, even if they were basically about making money, and Malcolm McLaren rode their carefully crafted repulsiveness all the way to the bank.

The Pistols' had a growing reputation for inciting mayhem. When they appeared on Thames TV's ‘Today' show they snarled and hurled curses at the provocative host, Bill Grundy. Their expletives on the live show lost them three concert dates, but their fame skyrocketed. Their infamous 1977 album ‘Never mind the bollocks – Here's the Sex Pistols' shot up the charts even as many retailers refused to sell it. The Sex Pistols became known more for their outlandish behavior than for their music. Sid was enjoying all the fame and attention – and then Nancy Spungen came into his life.

Nancy was born in Philadelphia on 27 February 1958, and was a difficult child almost from birth. She threw ferocious tantrums that scared her parents and cried so much that she was given her first sedative at the age of three months. By the age of 4, she had seen a psychiatrist. When Nancy was 11, she attacked her mother with a hammer and smashed her bedroom to pieces. She first tried heroin at the age of 13 and two years later was an addict. Her behavior was so out of control that doctors refused to treat her until she was diagnosed as schizophrenic. By the time she was 17, her parents asked her to leave home.

Nancy 's drug use spiraled once she was on her own and to support her $100-a-day habit she worked as a prostitute. Clad in black leather, her wild curls dyed platinum blonde; she burst onto the punk scene as ‘Nauseating Nancy'. According to her one-time friend, Pamela Rooke, “ Nancy came to England with the express wish, like a groupie, to bed a Sex Pistol.” Her attempts to seduce Johnny Rotten were rudely rebuffed, so she turned her attentions to Sly. “And Sid was easy meat”, said Rooke. “She was unbelievably thick-skinned. One of the most unpleasant people I have ever met. Everybody could see through her – except Sid.” Soon after they met, Sid and Nancy became inseparable. Nancy was bossy and Sid loved being mothered. Nancy quickly became the punk-rock Yoko Ono, managing to infuriate the entire band. Rotten begged Sid to dump “that horrible American tramp”, but Sid refused. According to Nils Stevenson, the Pistols' tour manager, “Sid came to dislike everybody and everything – except heroin and Nancy .”

Vicious was also not happy when the band flew to the USA for an eight-concert tour in January 1978 without Nancy coming along as a camp follower. The tour was the last hurrah for the Sex Pistols. Frayed nerves, hard feelings and excessive drug use led to the eventual dissolution of the band. After their second concert, Sid, watched by a cluster of adoring groupies, etched the word ‘MANIC' into his chest with a razor blade. He was often so bombed-out on stage that he couldn't even pretend to perform. Their last date at San Francisco 's Winterland Ballroom featured the largest audience they had ever had, and was by far their worst performance. Vicious, bare-chested and drunk, collapsed on stage and Johnny Rotten ended the concert by asking the audience, “Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?”

The next day he resigned and a week later drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones departed for Rio de Janeiro to record on their own. The Pistols were finished, and in breach of contract with three concert organizers. Nancy flew out to New York to be reunited with Sid, who was recuperating in hospital. They moved to the Chelsea Hotel in August. But the relationship was now violent – when they were not strung out on heroin, they often punched and kicked each other, and Sid once cracked Nancy over the head with his bass guitar. Her body was covered in bruises and cigarette burns. When their room caught fire, they were moved to room 100 by rescuing firemen. They were so drugged out that they were just lying on the bed together, watching the room burn down around them. In early October Nancy bought Sid the knife that he used to kill her.

It didn't take long for their new room to become a cluttered mess because they kept their entire belongings on the floor in Harrods' shopping bags. Their kitten ‘Socks' prowled the room, sometimes hiding behind Sid's gold record which sat on the floor propped against the wall. With $10,000 to spend, the couple went on a drug holiday, scoring heroin on the streets while developing a taste for the barbiturates Tuinal and Dilaudid, a synthetic morphine.

Nancy , now Sid's manager, got him some gigs at Max's Kansas City , a popular Manhattan rock club. These brought in some cash, but the dates were a disaster. The fans who came to see the famous former Sex Pistol saw only a strung-out junkie who sometimes could barely stand up. But it was discovered (too late) that Sid Vicious could sing: he actually had a good voice. His set list included an expletive-ridden version of ‘My Way' first made famous by Frank Sinatra and since recorded by almost every crooner in the world. This was released on a live recording by Virgin Records, and has become a collector's item. Meanwhile Nancy did her best to antagonize the press and alienate anyone who tried to help.

They made an effort to kick their habit by signing on at the Spring Street Methadone Clinic, but it was a sour experience for Sid, who suffered frequent beatings from other addicts. He and Nancy then started taking methadone in an attempt to wean themselves off heroin.

At 2.30am on 12 October, their personal drug dealer with the fantastic name of Rockets Redglare received a frantic call from Nancy to get some ‘D-4s' (the street name for Dilaudid) and hypodermic needles. Rockets arrived at 3.15am with only some methadone – he had been unable to get any D-4s. Nancy was wearing a shirt over black panties. Sid was sacked out on the bed and the couple were already high on Tuinal, which had slowed them down physically, but did not satisfy their craving for Dilaudid, which they intended to take intravenously. Nancy showed the dealer her open handbag, which was stuffed with 50 and 100 dollar notes. She told him that she would pay double if he could get forty D-4s. He left just after 5am to try his contacts.

Just after this, the guest in room 228 called the front desk to complain about all the noise coming from room 100 below him. The desk clerk sent a black bellhop named Kenny to check it out, and he found Sid Vicious wandering the corridors, singing loudly. When Kenny asked Sid to be quiet, Vicious taunted him with racist abuse, and a fight ensued. Kenny swiftly beat Vicious into submission, bloodying Sid's face as he fell. The bellhop then returned to the lobby.

At about 7.30am, a woman's loud moaning awoke Vera Mendelssohn, a 48-year-old sculptor in room 102. It came from next door – room 100, and was a lonely, frightening sound. Nothing more was heard from there until Sid himself telephoned after someone had already called the front desk just after 11am. The paramedics and police then discovered Nancy lying dead under the toilet sink. By the time Sid Vicious was arrested, he had taken enough Tuinal to kill a horse.

Sid was taken to the Third Homicide Division on 51st street where he was questioned and made a statement, confessing to murder. “I did it because I'm a dirty dog,” he allegedly said. The next day he was bailed for $50,000 and taken to the prison facility at Riker's Island where he was admitted to the detox unit.

Meantime, Malcolm McLaren raised the cash for Sid's bail from Virgin Records. Sid was desperate to attend Nancy 's funeral, but her parents understandably didn't want him there. His mother Anne Beverley flew out to New York City on 16 October, the day of his release on bail. Within a week, he tried to commit suicide by overdosing on methadone and slashing his right arm. His mother discovered him and rushed him to Bellevue hospital, saving his life.

By November, Sid had found a new girlfriend in Michelle Robinson and together they made the punk scene together in Manhattan . On 9 December, he got into a fight with Todd Smith, brother of punk-rock poet Patti Smith, slashing Smith's face with a broken bottle. Having violated the terms of his parole, Vicious was arrested and sent back to Riker's Island and the detox unit where he was in rehab. for seven weeks.

He was released on 1 February 1979 and immediately went back on heroin, this time supplied by his mother. At a party in Greenwich Village he shot up a huge amount and was found dead the next day. His body was cremated and a few nights later Anne Beverley climbed the wall to a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia and scattered her son's ashes in the snow over the grave of Nancy Spungen against the express wishes of the Spungen family. Sid and Nancy were together again – this time forever.

The 1986 movie ‘Sid and Nancy' directed by Alex Cox was a powerful, if depressing, celebration of the famous punk couple. Chloe Webb was perfect as the nasal-voiced, irritating Nancy , but the seminal performance came from Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious. Oldman has a genius for accents and getting into roles, especially famous personalities on the margins of society. According to Cox's version, Sid and Nancy had made a suicide pact at the Chelsea Hotel which he had failed to meet even after she hurled herself onto his knife. After her death, he wrote her a poem entitled “Nancy - ‘You were my little baby girl/and I knew all your fears/such joy to hold you in my arms/and kiss away your tears/But now you're gone/there's only pain/and nothing I can do/And I don't want to live this life/if I can't live for you.”

(Research: SidViciousBio.html).

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