“Pretty Vacant” Poster

An original Virgin Records in-store promotional poster for "Pretty Vacant", the Sex Pistols' third single, released 1 July 1977. Twelve black-and-white frames of a single fan in a crowd run across the sheet, over the lyric and release details.

"Pretty Vacant" reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart on release, giving the Sex Pistols their first appearance on Top of the Pops and bringing punk to a mass television audience for the first time. Named NME's Single of the Year for 1977, the track — written primarily by bassist Glen Matlock, with lyrics credited collectively to the band — made further notorious by Johnny Rotten's deliberate pronunciation of "vacant" as "va-cunt" in live performance.

PROVENANCE:

Accompanied by a certificate stating that the poster was formerly the property of a Virgin Records employee