Malcolm McLaren (born January 22, 1946) is an impresario and self-publicist who was the manager of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He managed the SEX clothes shop with fashion designer Vivienne Westwood in London's Kings Road. Prior to this, he managed the New York Dolls.
In New York City in the mid-1970s, McLaren was managing the New York Dolls, when he saw the Neon Boys perform. The Neon Boys included Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell, who went on to form Television. McLaren was greatly impressed with Hell's torn clothing, studded dog collars and leather jackets, and with Hell's dissolute attitude. According to Hell, McLaren approached him and Verlaine about being their manager, but they were not interested. When McLaren returned to London and began managing the Sex Pistols, he borrowed much of Hell's look to give to the Sex Pistols. During this time, McLaren, Westwood, and artist Jamie Reid were influenced by the Situationists.
During the early 1980s he assembled and managed the Burundi influenced pop group Bow Wow Wow. He is also sometimes credited with developing the talents of Adam Ant and Boy George.
He later released some work under his own name, most notably an album Duck Rock (1983), which drew on musical styles from North America and South Africa, among others. The tracks "Buffalo Girls" and "Double Dutch" became chart hits in the UK.
In 1998, he created a band called Jungk, consisting of three Asian females intended to emulate appeal of the then popular Spice Girls. However, this project was not a commercial success.
During 2000, there was speculation that he might stand to be elected as Mayor of London, although ultimately he did not run. He had an exhibition of some autobiographical work at the German Zentrum fuer Kunst und Medientechnologie called "Casino of Authenticity and Karaoke" about which he gave this interview (audio of it).
In 2003 he heard Bitpop and Chip music and wrote the article "8-Bit Punk" championing 8-bit music. It also notes a planned release in that style by McLaren.
His song "About Her", based on "She's Not There" by The Zombies rose to prominence when used by director Quentin Tarantino in Tarantino's movie Kill Bill Vol. 2, but he was accused of plagiarism for this song in 2005 for allegedly copying the work of a French musician.