Just before John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) flew off to the USA for his recent set of dates with Public Image Ltd. (PiL), I had a chance to visit him at his flat, near punk’s old stomping ground, the Kings Road area of London. His Victorian townhouse was unmistakable because it was the only one painted grey on an otherwise white block, and all the blinds were conspicuously pulled shut.

“Apart from the time we rehearse and record,” he said, “I sit in here and vegetate, play with my hole and love it.”

The inside was decorated in secondhand browns and greys. The furniture was sparse. In one corner there was an awesome stereo blasting dub reggae at full tilt and on the adjoining wall was Lydon’s favorite toy, his TV and Betamax. Surprisingly, Sex Pistols posters pockmarked the walls and over the fireplace used as a trashbin a sign read “Are We Not Men” without the answer.