Here We Go!
Welcome back to our Sex Pistols collection feature!
Today’s highlight is a Japanese-exclusive compilation LP released by Nippon Columbia:
The Very Best Of Sex Pistols And We Don’t Care (YX-7247-AX)
This is a real collector’s gem, featuring two tracks that have never been released on CD to this day!
We’ll be looking at both the standard retail edition and the promo copy.
On the left is the promo copy, and on the right is the regular edition with its iconic Japanese obi strip.
🧷 Basic Details
- Title: The Very Best Of Sex Pistols And We Don’t Care
- Artist: Sex Pistols
- Format: LP (33 1/3 RPM)
- Release Date: 25 December 1979
- Label: Nippon Columbia
- Catalogue Number: YX-7247-AX
- Sleeve: Japanese-exclusive artwork with obi strip
🧷 Track Listing
Side A
A1: Pretty Vacant
A2: No Fun
A3: Anarchy In The U.K.
A4: I Wanna Be Me
A5: God Save The Queen
A6: Here We Go Again 🟡 Not available on CD
Side B
B1: Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle
B2: C’mon Everybody
B3: Did You No Wrong
B4: Black Leather 🟡 Not available on CD
B5: Satellite
B6: Silly Thing
B7: My Way
👉 “Here We Go Again” and “Black Leather” remain exclusive to vinyl – a real treat for completists!
🧷 Pressing & Variation Info
✔️ Matrix / Runout (Stamped)
Standard edition:
- YX-7247-A-1 Ⓑ A 8 〄
- YX-7247-B-1 Ⓑ A 7 〄
Promo copy:
- YX-7247-A-1 Ⓑ A 3 〄
- YX-7247-B-1 Ⓑ A 1 〄
✔️ Sleeve
A collage of Johnny Rotten, with a bold Japanese style.
Personally… it’s a bit awkward-looking, isn’t it? 😅 (Just my opinion!)
✔️ Label
Nippon Columbia’s classic blue label – a personal favourite on this blog!
Worth noting:
On track A3 Anarchy In The U.K., the producer is miscredited as “Cook – Jones – Thraves”.
▼ This is the regular label
▼ This is the promo label (only differs by the “sample” text)
🧷 Collector’s Points
✔️ Inclusions
① Obi strip – a uniquely Japanese marketing feature.
Unfortunately, it covers the tracklist on the back. 😓
② Lyric Sheet – double-sided printed lyrics 🎶
③ Insert Booklet – a 4-page foldout:
Again, the same producer miscredit on Anarchy.
Track durations differ between label and insert:
📏 Differences in Track Durations (Insert vs. Label)
| Track Title | Listed on Insert | (Listed on Label) |
|---|---|---|
| A1: Pretty Vacant | 3:14 | (3:20) |
| A2: No Fun | 6:21 | (6:32) |
| B1: Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle | 4:15 | (3:18) |
| B2: C’mon Everybody | 1:54 | (2:10) |
| B6: Silly Thing | 2:51 | (3:00) |
📝 How to read the table:
- Listed on Insert = Timing printed on the 4-page insert included with the record.
- (Listed on Label) = Timing printed on the actual record label (shown in parentheses).
Centre spread is titled “History of the Sex Pistols”
Liner notes by Mikio Moriwaki
✔️ About “Black Leather”
This track is only available here and on the UK Pistols Pack (SEX1–6) released by Virgin.
There’s also a Greek repress of the Pistols Pack titled “Pistols Box”, though its legitimacy is… questionable 😅
It’s believed that licensing or rights issues with Virgin UK may have led to this track being released in Japan before anywhere else – as a collector-focused strategy.
Also worth noting: “Black Leather” was written by Steve & Paul, with no involvement from Johnny Rotten – possibly explaining its absence from “official” Pistols albums.
Originally, it was penned for The Runaways and featured on their 1978 album And Now… The Runaways.
✔️ About “Here We Go Again”
Another CD-inaccessible track!
While it appears on The Swindle Continues as well, it’s credited to The Ex-Pistols, and is a newer recording with slight differences.
“Black Leather” leans more into a hard rock sound, but “Here We Go Again” feels more like a Professionals-style track. 😊
🧷 Bootleg CD Version
There is a bootleg CD version, but… the quality is abysmal.
Tracklist seems randomly compiled, the sleeve design is completely unrelated on both sides, and although it includes a Johnny Rotten interview DVD, it’s one of the few bootlegs I truly regret buying. 😓
Be careful not to get fooled by it!
🔜 Next Time…
In the next post, we’ll be covering the 6×7” box set “Pistols Pack” (SEX1).
Stay tuned and see you soon!
byebye 👋
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