Anarchy in the Year Zero: The Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Class of '76

The story behind the birth of punk rock in the UK and the motley crew of misfits and malcontents who ignited what became a national and international sensation.

The Sex Pistols’ debut single, “Anarchy in the UK” exploded on a largely unsuspecting music world fifty years ago this year, in November 1976. No record in rock history has more emphatically defined its era, and a whole musical genre. Nothing was the same after that.

But it didn’t come out of nowhere. If 1977 would be the “Year of Pun...