POP MUSIC

PISTOL PACKING: Despite firm denials by John Lydon’s management, reports continue to circulate about a planned Sex Pistols reunion tour to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the seminal punk band. In London, stories are still being published in the rock press asserting that the group is set for concerts starting in America this spring, with Europe and the Far East to follow and a possible headlining slot on the Phoenix Festival in England this summer.

There was even a report of the band holding a “secret” rehearsal at a London studio last week.

That drew laughter from Lydon’s manager Eric Gardner, who notes that the former Johnny Rotten was working on his first solo album in a Los Angeles studio at the time.

“John is invested with teleportation powers,” Gardner sarcastically adds. “So he could, I suppose, have teleported over for a brief rehearsal.”

Gardner says that while band founders Lydon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock are considering how--or whether--to mark the anniversary, “you must remember that these are four guys who really don’t like each other. They haven’t even been in the same room or spoken all together on the phone since December of 1976, when Glen was kicked out of the band and replaced by Sid Vicious.”