Sex Pistols – Anarchy In The U.S.A. (SPV 008-60321, feat. Sid Vicious) | Reading the MBC Records and GEMA Markings

Here We Go!
Showing off the Sex Pistols collection!

This time we’re looking at…

Sex Pistols feat. Sid Vicious
“Anarchy In The U.S.A.”

A compilation album rumoured to have been Warner Bros.’ attempt to sell a follow-up to “NMTB” to the American market.

🧷 Basic Specs

• Title: Anarchy In The U.S.A.
• Artist: Sex Pistols feat. Sid Vicious
• Format: LP (33⅓ RPM)
• Release date: 1992
• Label / Catalogue number: MBC Records / SPV 008-60321
• Sleeve: Picture sleeve

🧷 Tracklist

Side A

1. No Feelings
2. P.V.C.（Wants To Be Me）
3. Rotten（Really Was A Crazy Sod）
4. Under Water Secrets
5. Bill Grundy Interview
6. C’mon Everybody
7. Search And Destroy
8. Malcolm’s Interview

Side B

1. Anarchy In The USA
2. Satalite
3. The Off Again
4. Finsbury Park Kid
5. No Lip
6. Something Else
7. My Way
8. Revolution

Titles as they appear on the release. Bootlegs like this one tend to go in for a lot of retitling.

🧷 Pressing & Variant Details

✔️ Matrix Numbers

• Side A: 008-60321 A DMM G.P.
• Side B: 008-60321 B

✔️ Sleeve

“Feat. Sid Vicious”, and yet the sleeve photo shows the original line-up.

“Satalite” is a misspelling — should read “Satellite”.

Both sides are monochrome and fairly plain. The band logo is slightly warped, which is a bit off-putting.

✔️ Label

The logo on the label is warped in the same way as the sleeve.

Same misspelling here too — “Satellite” comes out as “Satalite”.

🧷 From a Collector’s Point of View

A US Second Album?

This record is introduced as a semi-legal release in “Sex Pistols Great Collection”. According to that source, Warner Bros. apparently intended to market it in the US as a follow-up to “NMTB”.

There was, it seems, plenty of talk after the band split that Warner Bros. would put something out — though what eventually surfaced was, by most accounts, dreadful.

In the end, it was MBC Records that put it out.

What Is MBC Records?

MBC Records (short for McDonald Brothers Corp.) was an independent/reissue label operating out of Germany from the late 1980s into the early 1990s, dealing mainly in punk and hard rock bootlegs — unofficial and outtake releases.

This record was distributed through the well-known German distributor SPV GmbH (hence the “SPV” in the catalogue number).

MBC also put out a few other things, including a box set called “Jock Box 1” and a split release with The Bollock Brothers, “Anarchy Live Version” (Jock 1201) — most of these carry a “Jock” prefix in the catalogue number.

Following the death of founder Jock McDonald, the label is no longer actively releasing anything and now exists purely as a rights-holding entity.

What Is GEMA?

GEMA is Germany’s music rights collection society — roughly the equivalent of JASRAC in Japan.

Records and CDs manufactured or licensed for manufacture in Germany (West German or German pressings) carry a “GEMA” mark on the label as proof that royalties have been accounted for. It’s one of the main indicators collectors use to identify a German or European pressing.

That said, a GEMA mark doesn’t mean a release is official. The Pistols’ master rights sit with Virgin Records, Universal Music and so on — MBC Records never held a proper licence from them.

As long as a label paid GEMA the mechanical royalty, it seems a record could carry the GEMA mark and go to press regardless of whether the artist themselves had actually given permission.

Across Europe in the ’80s and ’90s — Germany and Italy especially — this apparently left the door open for a fair number of unreleased and demo material to circulate quite openly through ordinary retail channels, so long as the collection society had been paid.

On the Tracklist

Given the titles here, it’s not hard to guess what the original songs actually are. Not sure why they bothered changing them.

Sid’s vocals appear on four tracks:

A6: C’mon Everybody (official recording)

A7: Search And Destroy (live recording)

B6: Something Else (official recording)

B7: My Way (official recording — though the opening section, where Sid does his Sinatra bit, has been cut entirely)

The rest is made up of demos, live recordings and interview material:

Demos: A1, A3, A4, B1, B2, B4

Other material: A5 (Bill Grundy Interview), A8 (Malcolm’s Interview), B3 (The Off Again — a re-recorded version, not the original), B5 (No Lip, live recording), B8 (Revolution — credited to The Ex-Pistols)

Worth noting: B2 “Satalite” and B4 “Finsbury Park Kid” have different titles but are, in fact, the exact same recording of “Satellite”.

Whether that’s padding, typical of bootlegs, or simply a mistake, isn’t clear. Not the most flattering bit of quality control.

🧷 Coming Up Next

Next time: “Revolution In The Classroom” (STP-0).

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.