Director of WHO KILLED NANCY

By: Rotten

I first encountered the work of Alan G. Parker way back in 1997, when I picked up a copy if the book SID'S WAY - the only book on the life of Sid Vicious to be endorsed by Sid’s mother Anne Beverly. Alan was co - writer of that book with Keith Bateson, and that book proved to be pretty invaluable to Sid’s followers, as with his books NO ONE IS INNOCENT and SID VICIOUS: TOO FAST TO LIVE. In the intervening years I have followed this noted Pistols authorities work with great interest.

Several Pistols books down the line, taking in writing for lads magazines ICE and FRONT, working with EMI Records and working with several of the front line punk bands. He turned his hand to directing, starting with some Sex Pistols documentaries which included, the SID AND NANCY: LOVE KILLS documentary on the 1986 movie, the excellent WHO KILLED NANCY feature and more recently co producing the excellent 6 part series MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH out now on DVD/Blue Ray from IFC/Eagle Rock Entertainment worldwide. His next book, THE WHO BY NUMBERS is out in January 2010 from Helter Skelter.

Alan is more than just a Sid Vicious biographer, so let’s see how all this started from the man himself.

Punk Globe: Alan, firstly thanks for taking the time to do this interview.........Lets start at the beginning....How did your involvement in the Punk world come about, and how did Punk influence you back then?

A: I don’t know that I was ever that bothered about being involved in the Punk world, that was a career accident of sorts, I was a Glam rock fan from about the age of 8 or 9, even to the point of getting a paper-round as soon as I could, just so that I could buy more singles, I loved Slade and Sweet, still do infact. When I left school I knew I didn’t want a normal job of any kind, so I started booking gigs at the local venue in my home town (Blackburn) because a few people on the scene knew me because of my fanzine, ultimately that’s how Talking Primates Management came about. Punk music was a form of music that I enjoyed, but I don’t think anyone who knew me well would ever say I was 100% swallowed up by it. I am at heart and have always been a rock fan.

Punk Globe: I remember you saying once "Any Punk rocker who claims not have owned a Slade album is a liar"....so, 'fess up, How many did YOU own? lol! (I own at least 2!)

A: The lot, everything, all twelve studio album, which have more recently been bought again on CD, all the live stuff, the bootlegs, the DVD’s, the books… Everything! They mean that much to me, an incredibly important band in my life and in me discovering rock music.

Punk Globe: You were a good friend to Sid's mum, Anne Beverly, How did it all come about, and how encouraging in your Sid projects was she?

A: She contacted me, following an article I’d written in a fanzine, which was about rock stars who for one reason or another had died before their time. We hit it off pretty quickly on the phone and so we decided to meet, and that led to a friendship. The book was very much her idea. Infact a lot of the things we did were very much her idea. And so yeah, she was very encouraging.

Punk Globe: I did hear somewhere that you originally intended WHO KILLED NANCY to be a film rather than a documentary film....what happened with that, and how did the idea come about?............and How was it visiting 63 Bank Street, where Sid came to the end of his life?

A: What became ‘Who Killed Nancy’ was an idea I’d been carrying around for years! But I could never get anybody to finance it, I think if ‘No One Is Innocent’ hadn’t been written I’d still be in the same position on that one. At first, once we got interest from production companies I was very keen on using actors and making a movie, we even looked at casting a few parts. But, it then became pretty obvious that the budget on the movie was not going to be anywhere near big enough to carry the idea of such a project. So we decided documentary rather than nothing. Bank Street like a lot of the places I’ve visited regarding Sid’s life came about because we were in the right place at the right time, after all these years, believe me, they always come to you!

Punk Globe: Following your Sid work, you worked with some other Punk Bands like Buzzcocks, Vice Squad and Stiff Little Fingers, how was that?

A: Two things really, firstly it’s mates I mean we’ve all known each other socially since heaven knows when, but then when I stopped being a press officer I moved to EMI Records and I guess they wanted the best out of me, so they put me in charge of projects that they knew I could get the most out of. Very much a friends thing though.

Punk Globe: I also heard that the Sex Pistols re-unions (particularly Crystal Palace 2002) left a "foul taste" in your mouth,....Why was this?

A: Well, because it was fuckin’ crap! The whole thing just stank of making money, of fat cats getting fatter. Nothing at all to do with the so-called rules of Punk rock, just some stupid media circus, which I thought the Sex Pistols were never actually supposed to be!! When we walked away from Crystal Palace, which I think was like 4 songs in or something, we were by no means the only ones the local tube station was a sea of yellow and pink ‘bollocks’ T-shirts. Because people had, had enough, it was that simple. A drunken, under rehearsed singer, forgetting the words, does not look well at five quid a ticket in the local boozer, but at forty quid a ticket in a sports ground forget it.

Punk Globe: You recently got to interview former members of the Monty Python team for this new documentary series (now on DVD), How did your involvement in this come about, and how much about the Pythons did you learn in the process that as a fan you didn’t already know?

A: I’d worked with the Python’s a few years earlier, when we re-issued all their albums on CD via EMI. So, we knew each other before we ever shot a minute of ‘Who Killed Nancy’, and, its quite well documented that the WKN movie took a lot out of me, before we finished the edit it was already decided that I wouldn’t do anymore Sex Pistols/Sid projects, I felt physically drained. So when the production team mentioned Monty Python I was like cool, it’s something very fresh for us, and so very different. Can’t say I got an awful lot that was new to me from it, because I really was the rabid fan, but I know that we got some incredibly good material and guests into the finished product. We are all very proud of it.

Punk Globe: You have been a director, Writer, Worked with record labels on classic re-issues, and been the manager of an agency (Talking Primates). Is there something else you'd like to turn your hand to?

A: Not sure, I’m always ready for a new challenge, just branching out these last few years has been fun, I’m not saying I’ve fully turned my back on Punk, because I’m sure there’s still some classic Punk bands that I’ll work with again, but you know the next book release is The Who by Numbers (Helter Skelter Books) in early 2010. So I think there is still a long way to go…

Punk Globe: What’s next for Alan G. Parker?

A: Well, we had a meeting about a new book yesterday, which is a huge project and very official, can’t say what yet, but you’ll see, and we are currently looking at about three or four possible documentaries. So who knows? Just more of the same I guess.

Punk Globe: Where can we find out more about you and your projects?

A: It’s pretty much all on line I guess, Google Alan G Parker in a Google search the ‘G’ is very important! And of course I’m on myspace, facebook, twitter, all the obvious places, when we are ready to announce things, we will always use my pages first.

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