The Sex Pistols‘ song “No One Is Innocent” was banned by the BBC on July 13, 1978, two weeks after its release.
By then, Johnny Rotten had already left the group, leaving fugitive Ronnie Biggs, who was wanted for his role in the 1963 Great Train Robbery, the next best to take over lead vocals.
The Sex Pistols had a habit of getting banned — this made three, after “God Save the Queen” and “Anarchy in the UK” were also blacklisted by the BBC. And with Sid Vicious gone too, Paul Cook and Steve Jones were the only original members left.
Biggs had helped plan the 1963 Great Train Robbery, walking away with a share of £2.6 million. His outlaw reputation only made him a better fit for the Sex Pistols’ image.
After being sentenced to 30 years in prison, he escaped from Wandsworth in 1965. He fled to Australia, then Brazil, which had no extradition treaty with the U.K. But that didn’t mean he was free to live normally.
Everyone knew who he was, so he couldn’t hold a steady job, go to bars or stay out past 10 p.m.
Biggs made ends meet by hosting barbecues at his home, where tourists paid to meet the infamous fugitive. So when the Sex Pistols came looking for a singer, he didn’t need much convincing.
Jones and Cook traveled to Brazil and recorded two tracks with Biggs, though only “No One Is Innocent” ever got an official release.
Jones later told Mojo magazine, “Ronnie Biggs rated himself as a bit of a poet, and I remember sitting in the hotel room writing the music while he wrote the words. It was a big accomplishment, to write a song with an infamous train robber. That was a good move.”
The single climbed to No. 7 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, staying in the Top 40 for 10 weeks.
It’s not hard to see why a taxpayer-funded broadcaster wanted nothing to do with a song led by a fugitive train robber. But at that point, the band had nothing left to lose.
Jones and Cook made the most of what was left of the Sex Pistols. And bringing in Biggs wasn’t the only outlandish move they made — in the two and a half years the band stayed together, they pulled off a number of stunts.
One of the most notorious incidents came a year earlier, during Queen Elizabeth II’s 1977 Silver Jubilee. That summer, the Sex Pistols released their anti-monarchy anthem “God Save the Queen.”
Brian Cooke/Redferns
To promote the single, their record label chartered a boat that carried the band down the Thames as they performed outside the Houses of Parliament.
The plan fell apart when police forced the boat to dock and arrested manager Malcolm McLaren along with most of the band’s entourage. Arrests aside, the stunt paid off as the track reached No. 2 on the U.K. Singles Chart.
Related: 1975 Rock Classic, the Band’s First No. 1, Remains a Timeless Anthem 51 Years Later
