MALCOLM MCLAREN'S BOX OF PUNKS

MALCOLM McLaren's funeral cortege came by yesterday.
The road was lined with more journalists and photographers from Camden Town tube to Camden Lock than civilians and punks.
There were a few Sex Pistols T-shirts, the odd bit of tartan and a few hairsprayed mohicans but the punk spirit is now a minority breed in Camden.
So I bet old Malcolm was chuckling from on high when the journos were fooled by some other poor soul's funeral that just happened to take the same route at the precise time McLaren was due to go by.
The tiny procession of just three cars was unable to slip past quietly and crowds craned their necks to get a good look while reporters filmed and paps snapped the black cars.
Not the kind of reception a bereaved family might expect but I hope the curious situation gave them some moments of lightness.
One journalist later confessed she had been utterly fooled by the first funeral and had completed her entire on-camera report before realising McLaren was yet to pass by.
As we waited it began to feel like nearly every car in London was now shiny and black. We took to peering into every car in case we missed him.
But we should have known better.
Fashionably late, McLaren's horse-drawn carriage eventually took its damn sweet time down the high street.
His coffin was emblazoned with the words "Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die."
An ashen-faced Dame Vivienne Westwood followed but the most memorable vision was the crushed box of punks on wheels, clawing at the windows, cheering and throwing scraps of paper out of the crumbling green double-decker bus that followed.

Leering, jeering faces peered from every inch of window space and they trailed off leaving a very big but glaringly obvious pink message - "Malcom Was Here".
Malcolm may have been a little disappointed by the lack of an apparent "minute of mayhem" instead of the usual minute's silence.
But I'm sure his portable punks will have brought a smile to his resting face.

EXCLUSIVE! John Lydon meets Gary Barlow for first time ever

A couple of weeks ago I interviewed John Lydon (former Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten) at a music studio in East Putney.
He strolled out with a can of Stella in his hand and happily sat down for nearly an hour to chat.
His manager Rambo brought more cans out and vital packs of Marlborough reds.
Lydon was one of the most charming musicians I have met so far.
He was happy to talk about anything, often straying way off point with some lyrical, tongue-twisting observations, often about his beloved Arsenal Football Club.
And then Gary Barlow walked up.
They had a quick chat, agreed to pose for a photo together and then Mr Take That was off.
Lydon told me afterwards he'd never met Barlow before, adding: “He’s a fine lad, nothing wrong with him. I saw him on the Jonathan Ross show. I get on well with Jonathan Ross, I think he’s all right, and if he likes him he must be kosher.”

So above is my exclusive pic of the first and so far only time John Lydon and Gary Barlow have ever met.

You can read my two interviews here:

Click here for John Lydon Interview - Part 1

Click here for John Lydon Interview - Part 2