The Flowers of Romance was an early punkband, formed in mid-1976 by Jo Faull and Sarah Hall, girlfriends at the time of Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols.[1] The band did not release any recordings and, like London SS and Masters of the Backside, are more famed for the number of band members that later became well known, including: Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, Keith Levene (an early member of The Clash and later of Public Image Ltd), Palmolive and Viv Albertine of The Slits, and Kenny Morris (future member of Siouxsie and the Banshees). Morris replaced Palmolive on drums in the last months of the band's existence in late 1976.[2] The band ended in January 1977 when Vicious joined Sex Pistols and Morris rehearsed with Siouxsie. Despite never playing live, they were interviewed by SKUMfanzine in which Sid Vicious proclaimed "I'll just be the yob that I am now".[1][3]
The highly controversial song "Belsen Was a Gas", about the Nazi concentration campBergen-Belsen, was written for this band by Vicious and Levene.[4] It was performed live by the Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd, and Sid Vicious' solo act. Viv Albertine wrote "So Tough" for the band, with the song eventually appearing on The Slits' debut album Cut.[5]
^Lydon, John (2014). "Public Image Ltd. Chronology 1981". fodderstompf.com. Retrieved 15 October 2014. The original Flowers of Romance had about 40 fucking members, Keith was one of them and I gave them that name.