Holidays in the Sun

This article is about the Sex Pistols single. For the Cornelius EP of the same name, see Holidays in the Sun EP. For the Yui album, see Holidays in the Sun (album).

The "Holidays in the Sun" punk festivals are now known as "Wasted Festivals".

"Holidays in the Sun"
Single by Sex Pistols
from the album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
B-side	"Satellite"
Released	14 October 1977
Format	Vinyl
Recorded	October 1976, March-June 1977, August 1977 at Wessex Sound Studios, London
Genre	Punk rock
Length	3:20
Label	Virgin
Writer(s)	Sex Pistols
Producer	Chris Thomas, Bill Price
Sex Pistols singles chronology
"Pretty Vacant" (1977) "Holidays in the Sun" (1977) "No One Is Innocent" (1978)

"Holidays in the Sun" is a song by the English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released on 14 October 1977 as the band's fourth single, as well as being the advance single from their only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. A number eight chart hit in the UK, the single proved to be the last with singer John Lydon for 30 years. Steve Jones and Paul Cook would record one more single, "No One Is Innocent" with Ronnie Biggs as the band imploded, and Sid Vicious would record solo covers of "My Way" and "Somethin' Else" under the Pistols name.

Song

The song was inspired by a trip to the Channel Island of Jersey, "We tried our Holiday In The Sun in the isle of Jersey and that didn't work. They threw us out." That trip was followed by a couple of weeks spent in Berlin. Although they described the city as "raining and depressing", they were relieved to get away from London. Said John Lydon, "Being in London at the time made us feel like we were trapped in a prison camp environment. There was hatred and constant threat of violence. The best thing we could do was to go set up in a prison camp somewhere else. Berlin and its decadence was a good idea. The song came about from that. I loved Berlin. I loved the wall and the insanity of the place. The communists looked in on the circus atmosphere of West Berlin, which never went to sleep, and that would be their impression of the West."

"Holidays In the Sun" was later featured as the opening track on the group's debut album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. The single's B-side was "Satellite", a song about the band's early performances in "satellite towns". The Sex Pistols had enjoyed playing away from London, because they were the only occasions on which they could play away from their manager, Malcolm McLaren, and his group of associates.

The song opens with the sound of shoes stomping the floor. The song's main hook, a simple descending figure, bears a resemblance to The Jam's "In the City", which was released a few months previously in April 1977. The two groups did play at least one show together (at Queensway Hall in Dunstable on 21 October 1976), at which point The Jam had already been in the studio to record demos of "In the City". Bruce Foxton, bass player for The Jam and later the Stiff Little Fingers alleged in a 1994 book that the riff had indeed been stolen from this song.

Promotional posters

Two promotional posters were issued to promote the single, the most common of the pair was simply an oversized reproduction of the single's front cover.

The second version featured a monochrome image of a beach scene. This version of the poster was heavily reproduced for commercial sale during the mid 1980s.