Here We Go!
Sex Pistols collection write-up.
This time it’s…
the fifth instalment in the Anniversary Edition series:
Never Mind The Bollocks (35th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box)
Japanese import pressing (UMC / UICY-75328).
NMTB turns 50 in 2027. With that milestone approaching, I’m working back through the various “anniversary”-branded releases that have appeared over the years.
🧷 Basic Specs
- Title: Never Mind The Bollocks (35th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box)
- Artist: Sex Pistols
- Format: SHM-CD / DVD
- Release date: 31 October 2012
- Label / catalogue number: UMC / UICY-75328 (SexPissbox1977)
- Sleeve: 3 SHM-CD + DVD box set (first pressing only)
Japanese import pressing — the artwork is sourced from the original overseas edition.
🧷 Tracklist
Disc 1 – CD：Never Mind The Bollocks
Remastered From Original Master Tapes
1. Holidays In The Sun
2. Bodies
3. No Feelings
4. Liar
5. God Save The Queen
6. Problems
7. Seventeen
8. Anarchy In The U.K.
9. Submission
10. Pretty Vacant
11. New York
12. EMI
Disc 2 – CD：Studio Rarities & B-Sides
B-side singles (remastered)
1. No Feeling
(B-Side Of Withdrawn’GSTQ’ON A&M Records)
2. Did You No Wrong
(B-Side Of ‘GSTQ’)
3. No Fun
(B-Side Of ‘Pretty Vacant’)
4. Satellite
(B-Side Of ‘Holidays In The Sun’)
Demo recordings
January 1977, Gooseberry Studio
(Dave Goodman)
From Original Master Tapes
5. New York
(Demo Version)
6. Unlimited Edition
(Demo Version Of ‘EMI’)
7. Liar
(Demo Version)
8. Pretty Vacant
(Demo Version)
9. Problems
(Demo Version)
10. No Future
(Demo Version Of ‘God Save The Queen’)
Demos & outtakes (Chris Thomas)
From Original Master Tapes
11. Did You No Wrong
(Alternative Vocal-March 3rd 1977)
12. Seventeen
(Alternative Vocal-March 21st 1977)
13. Satellite
(Rough Mix-April 22nd 1977)
14. Submission
(Rough Mix-April 22nd 1977)
15. Holidays In The Sun
(Rough Mix-April 22nd 1977)
16. EMI
(Rough Mix-April 22nd 1977)
17. Seventeen
(Rough Mix-April 22nd 1977)
18. Holidays In The Sun
(Alternative Mix-June 11th 1977)
19. Bodies
(Demo Version of ‘Bodies’-June 12th 1977)
20. Submission
(Alternative Mix-August 12th 1977)
21. Belsen Was A Gas
(Original Demo) (19 September 1977)
Disc 3-CD：Live 1977
Trondheim, Studentersamfundet
Norway
July 21st 1977
Soundboard Recording
1. Anarchy In The U.K.
2. I wanna Be Me
3. Seventeen
4. New York
5. EMI
6. No Fun
7. No Feelings
8. Problems
9. God Save The Queen
Happy House Stockholm,
Sweden
July 28th 1977
Full Soundboard Recording
10. Anarchy In The U.K.
11. I Wanna Be Me
12. Seventeen
13. New York
14. EMI
15. Submission
16. No Feelings
17. Problems
18. God Save The Queen
19. Pretty Vacant
20. No Fun
Disc 4-DVD：1977 Footage
Riverboat Party
Queen Elizabeth River Boat
The River Thames,London
June 7th 1977
1. Pretty Vacant
2. Anarchy In The U.K.
3. Problems
Happy House Stockholm,
Sweden
July 28th 1977
4. Anarchy In The U.K.
5. I Wanna Be Me
6. Seventeen
7. New York
8. Problems
9. No Fun
Winter Gardens Penzance
Cornwall
September 1st 1977
(S.P.O.T.S. Tour)
10. Problems
11. No Fun
12. Anarchy In The U.K.
DVD Extras
Music Videos
・God Save The Queen
(Promo Video)
・Pretty Vacant
(Promo Video)
・Holidays In The Sun
(Promo Video)
Member interviews (August 1977)
The Heyday Interviews
Recorded By Judy & Fred Vermorel
August 1977
1. Steve Jones
2. Paul Cook
3. John Lydon
4. Sid Vicious
5. Glen Matlock
BBC Radio interview (12 December 1977)
Rock On BBC Radio1
6. John and Sid Interview
December 12th 1977
Full Unedited Version
7″ (A&M replica)
Side A: God Save The Queen
Side B: No Feeling
🧷 Pressing / Variant Details
✔️ Packaging (the box itself)
▼ Box (front)
▼ Box (back)
▼ Contents sticker
This sticker listing the set contents was actually stuck to the shrink wrap, but the shrink was too soft to peel off cleanly, so I kept it separately. I wonder if anyone’s actually managed to keep theirs intact on the shrink? 🤔
✔️ Four discs (3 SHM-CD + 1 DVD)
There’s a storage pocket built into the inside back cover of the booklet.納ポケットがあります。
▼ Disc 1-CD
Never Mind The Bollocks
▼ Disc 2-CD
1977 Studio Rarities & B-Sides
▼ Disc 3-CD
Live Recordings
▼ Disc 4-DVD
1977 Live Footage
The label colours nod to the UK and US pressings.
✔️ Booklet “1977: The Bollocks Diaries”
An all-colour, 100-page booklet.
Being the 35th anniversary, it’s built entirely around 1977, with events laid out month by month alongside rare photos.
▼ Booklet (front)
▼ Booklet (back)
▼ A small selection from inside
There’s some genuinely rare stuff in here too, including design artwork for the NMTB sleeve.
✔️ Inserts
Being a Japanese import pressing, it comes with the standard inserts
(tracklist / liner notes / lyrics with translation).
▼ Tracklist
▼ Liner notes
▼ Lyric sheet (with translation)
✔️ Extras (replicas & bonus items)
7″: God Save The Queen
A replica of the A&M Records / AMS 7284 single (45 RPM).
・Housed in an A&M company sleeve.
・And yes, the B-side is properly titled “No Feeling” — no “s”.
Stickers & Poster
▼ NMTB stickers (x2)
▼ NMTB oversized poster
The poster measures roughly 91 × 137cm.
I don’t really have anywhere to hang it at home…
GSTQ Envelope & Lyric Sheet
A heavy card envelope of sorts, containing John’s handwritten lyrics for “GSTQ (No Future)”.
Not what I’d call tidy handwriting… No real neatness to it, but there’s something raw and immediate about it.
🧷 Collector’s Notes
✔️ 1977
True to its “35th anniversary” billing, this box is entirely focused on 1977.
The included booklet, “1977: The Bollocks Diaries,” is also structured like a monthly magazine working through January to December 1977 — built around what actually happened that year, rather than later interviews looking back on it.
“I Wanna Be Me” is missing from the B-sides disc simply because Anarchy was released back in 1976.
✔️ The Remaster
The 2012 remaster was done from the original master tapes of the ’77 recording sessions — reportedly rediscovered around that time — under the supervision of original producer Chris Thomas.
This remaster from the original masters is really the heart of the box. To my ears it sounds clearer, but I’d say it’s lost a bit of punch along the way — a touch underwhelming, if I’m honest.
✔️ The Lost “Belsen Was A Gas” Original Demo
The real highlight for me is that this box gives us the first-ever release of the original studio demo of “Belsen Was A Gas,” with Johnny Rotten on vocals.
A demo whose very existence was previously unconfirmed, finally out there to hear.
The vocal carries a deliberately heavy reverb — Chris Thomas apparently wasn’t keen on it, but it was finished this way at Johnny Rotten’s own request.
My favourite version is still the live one (especially the Dallas performance), but it was great to finally hear this unreleased demo.
✔️ Never Mind The Box Set …
Not long after the box came out, a bootleg EP cashing in on it appeared, collecting nothing but versions of “Belsen Was A Gas.”
Titled “Never Mind The Box Set Here’s The Sex Pistols. Belsen Demo.“, this 7″ was released on “Not On Label (Sex Pistols)” (catalogue number SSEX).
A limited UK pressing featuring four versions: the 1977 demo from the box, a 1978 live version with Sid Vicious on vocals, a 1977 live recording from Wales, and a 1979 performance by P.I.L. in Manchester.
It also came out on several colour vinyls (pale blue, red, claret and white, 250 copies each), plus black vinyl, and a 10-copy white-label test press. Impressive turnaround, jumping on a first-time release like that.
I actually picked this one up myself not long after it came out… I went for the black vinyl.
🧷 Next Time
Next up is the sixth instalment: Never Mind The Bollocks 35th Anniversary (Limited 2CD Edition).
See you then!
byebye👋
For collectors interested in Japanese editions
If you are drawn to the design and information found on Japanese releases, particularly obi strips, you may want to take a look at my Never Mind The Bollocks Japanese CD OBI Gallery.
This page organises each obi strip variation issued for the album individually, presenting the obi itself as the main focus in a collector-oriented reference format.
It is intended as an entry point for those interested in Japanese obi strips.
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