alright time for some real history here-
1)although there were proto punk groups before sex pistols - mc5,stooges and i would say to a large degree jerry lee lewis, The Sex Pistols were the 1st to break it in Britain and were truly PUNK with a capital P.
Why?
a)crazy heroin addict bass player can't play bass, gets hit in face with bottle, keeps NOT playing with totally bloodied face and LOVING IT
b)the queens jubilee fiasco as Le Coq mentioned, PUNK to the 10th power
c)EMI - McClaren and the pistols ripped off EMI for something like 150k before they even cut a record for them, because they were simply too obnoxious! PUNK!
yes, they were the real deal, although to be accurate The Damned got the first single out before the sex pistols in oct, 1976.
In any case here's to Sid and Boris Karloff hell yes!