Freddie puts Simon Ferocious back in his box

A program screened recently on the rock group Queen relates an anecdote about an encounter the band had with Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols.

Scene: Wessex Studios, London, 1977, where Queen were recording their News of the World album, while the Sex Pistols were recording Never Mind the Bollocks.

Vocalist and rock god Freddie Mercury, drummer Roger Taylor and roadie Peter ‘Ratty’ Hince  recall the encounter.

PH:	One day we were in the control room and Fred was sat at the desk. And suddenly we heard this voice and it was Sid Vicious who had come in. And he was clearly the worse for wear.
RT:	Sid came in. Sid was a moron. You know, he was an idiot.
PH:	And he called in to the room, “Have you succeeded in bringing ballet to the masses yet?”
FM:	I called him Simon Ferocious or something, and he didn’t like it at all. I said, “What are you going to do about it?”
PH:	Fred went and took him by the lapels and pushed him out the door.
FM:	He hated the fact that I could even speak like that... I think we survived that test.

Cue Freddie and the band’s anthem...