Glen Matlock has recalled how David Bowie kept original artworks by Picasso and Matisse in his car. Watch our exclusive taster clip from Never Mind The Buzzcocks above.
The Sex Pistols icon and Blondie bassist shared the anecdote during a new episode of the UK music quiz show, which is set to air tonight (October 16).
Appearing on the panel alongside fellow rock icon Courtney Love, and comedians including Joel Dommett and Noel Fielding, Matlock went on to recall how he ended up in Bowie’s car after a performance in New York City.
“With Iggy Pop, we played an extra club gig in New York and David Bowie came,” he began. “He’s got the same car as in [1976 film] The Man Who Fell To Earth, right. We all bundled in that, going down Madison Avenue, and I’m sitting on David Bowie’s knee because there’s nowhere to sit.”
Matlock continued: “There’s supposed to be two vanity mirrors, and he hasn’t got a vanity mirror – he’s got a little painting. So I went, ‘Hang on a second, that’s a Picasso isn’t it?’ And he went ‘Yeah, it is’.
“Then I looked [to the other side] and went, ‘Hang on, that’s a Matisse!’ In his car… and he said, ‘Yeah’. I said, ‘Well you’re a flash ******’ and he went, ‘Yeah, I guess I am’.” The panellists then broke out in laughter at the story.
David Bowie (1947-2016) performs live on stage during the first night of his Serious Moonlight World Tour at the Vorst Forest Nationaal in Brussels, Belgium on 18th May 1983. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
The new series of …Buzzcocks launches tonight (Wednesday October 16) at 9pm BST on Sky Max and NOW.
The appearance on Never Mind The Buzzcocks comes as Matlock recently teamed up with his Sex Pistols bandmates Paul Cook and Steve Jones to play ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ in its entirety alongside Frank Carter.
The gigs were initially announced to raise funds for Bush Hall in Shepherd’s Bush, West London. The venue was chosen after it came under threat when its owners revealed that it needed to raise £42,000 through crowdfunding to prevent it from losing its ability to host music.
The first sold-out show took place on August 13, with further gigs then announced on 14 and 15 following immense demand.
An “overwhelming response” to the gigs saw Sex Pistols and Carter later announce another live gig in the capital at the O2 Forum Kentish Town on Thursday September 26, which sold out in five minutes.
Frank Carter (C) performs with Glen Matlock and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols in 2024. CREDIT: Jim Dyson/Getty Images
From there, the success of the shows led to the band announcing more tour dates – taking place across the country last month.
Before the shows were announced, Matlock caught up with NME at Glastonbury 2023, where he performed as part of Blondie.
When asked what he could tell us about the new Blondie album, Matlock replied: “I can’t, because I’ve done the backing tracks but haven’t heard the finished thing yet. I stuck a few ideas in, but how they come out, I don’t know.”
He also discussed his acclaimed seventh solo ‘Consequences Coming‘, saying: “I’m quite pleased about it, because I think that consequences have come for quite a few of our more self-centred nitwit politicians. I wrote the songs a few years back.”
He continued: “It’s not only Brexit, per se. It’s what it has led to and the enablement of it all. I can believe that so many people in this country are willing to have the wool pulled over their eyes by a right bunch of wrongun’s.”
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