Richard III.

Dick the Bad is big news this week after his funeral at Leicester Cathedral following the shock discovery of his bones under a car park where they’d lain undisturbed for more than 500 years. It’s a little known fact that John Lydon, at Malcolm McLaren’s behest, based “Johnny Rotten” on Richard III. Co-opting the old king’s snarling malevolence was seen as the most shocking way to outrage 1970s Britain. And it worked. You only have to watch this to see the similarities. It goes to prove that the Sex Pistols were as manufactured back then as One Direction are today. The difference is, can you imagine One Direction or JLS bringing such a classical Shakespearean dimension to their image? Punk may be the most overrated musical genre of all time but it certainly wasn’t dumbed down. And this remains a fantastic record.