The Professionals (band)

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The Professionals
General information
Genre (s) punk
founding 1979
resolution 1982
Founding members
Vocals, guitar
 Steve Jones
bass
 Andy Allen (until 1980)
Drums
 Paul Cook
Last occupation
Vocals, guitar
 Steve Jones
Drums
 Paul Cook
guitar
 Ray McVeigh (from 1980)
bass
 Paul Myers (from 1980)

The Professionals was the punk band of the two former Sex Pistols musicians Steve Jones and Paul Cook , which existed from 1979 to 1982.

Prehistory (1978 to 1979)

After the breakup of their previous band Sex Pistols on January 17, 1978 guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook stayed under contract with Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and worked on his movie about the Sex Pistols "The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle" with .

During a lawsuit brought against McLaren by Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten , Cook and Jones learned on February 13, 1979 that McLaren had used £ 90,000 of their royalties and advances on the film without their knowledge and ended their collaboration with him. The management contract with McLaren was terminated after a total of three years on September 20, 1979. Her new manager was then Fachtna O'Kelly (including The Boomtown Rats ).

According to a court ruling of February 14, 1979, all existing and future incoming funds from the Sex Pistols and the cinema were placed under a trustee as part of bankruptcy proceedings , a situation that was only ended in a further court case in January 1986. Cook and Jones were therefore without income until further notice and were dependent on starting a new band.

Band history (1979 to 1982)

On October 13, 1979, the music magazine NME ran the news that Cook and Jones were working with bassist Andy Allen on a new Sex Pistols studio album. The recordings took place in The Barge Studio, a converted houseboat on Regent's Canal , several of the planned 12 or 13 songs ( Just Another Dream , Madhouse , Skulls and Crossbones , Kamikaze and Rockin 'Mick ) are almost finished.

Manager Fachtna O'Kelly denied on October 20, 1979 in Melody Maker that it was album recordings, in reality only demos were made. O'Kelly also denied using the Sex Pistols name, jokingly adding that they were considering calling themselves The Bollock Brothers or The Swindle Singers.

Two first new songs ( Here We Go Again and Black Leather ) appeared on a Japanese Sex Pistols compilation called The Very Best Of Sex Pistols And We Don't Care in early December 1979 .

In January 1980 the Fanzine Zigzag (Issue No. 97) published an interview with Cook and Jones. A music cassette with the raw mixes of 10 songs was played to the journalist Robin Banks .

Richard Branson , owner of the record label Virgin Records, suggested that former Sex Pistols - and now PIL singer Johnny Rotten , take a break with PIL and work with Cook and Jones again. Rotten strictly refused: "He had a tape that Steve and Paul had sent him, and the plan was that I should sing over this Ramones imitation. They wanted to call themselves The Professionals. Nothing there. It was very bad music, with a huge pile of money as bait. I'd rather have dropped dead. "

On July 9, 1980, the first single Just Another Dream was finally released under the band name The Professionals .

Initially for August 22, 1980 the finished studio album The Professionals with 10 songs was announced, but the release was then postponed. The track list read:

  • A-side: Little Boys In Blue / Just Another Dream / Mods, Skins, Punks / Kick Down The Doors / Kamikaze
  • B-side: All The Way With You / Crescendo / 1-2-3 / Madhouse / Rockin 'Mick

The second single 1-2-3 followed on October 2, 1980 , which made it to number 43 in the British charts.

In October 1980 bassist Andy Allen was replaced by former Subway Sect member Paul Myers, and Ray McVeigh was also brought into the band as a second guitarist. Allen took legal action so that the studio album recorded with him was shelved. A third single, Join The Professionals , announced for November 20, 1980 , was canceled again.

The new line-up recorded a studio session on November 3, 1980 for the BBC radio DJ John Peel's broadcast ( Join The Professionals , All The Way With You , Crescendo and Kick Down The Doors ), which was broadcast on November 10, 1980 .

A second radio session, this time for BBC radio DJ Mike Read ( Madhouse , Crescendo , Defiant and Kick Down The Doors ), was broadcast on December 15, 1980.

On December 16, 1980, the Professionals had their first live appearance at the Boat Club in Nottingham .

On May 27, 1981, the third single, Join The Professionals , was released six months late.

Then the band began at Surrey Sound Studios in Leatherhead with Siouxsie and the Banshees producer Nigel Gray with the re-recording of the discarded studio album.

On September 26, 1981, the Professionals performed at a festival in Leeds , followed by a US tour in October and November 1981. On November 5, 1981, Cook, McVeigh and Myers were involved in a car accident on the way to Minneapolis , McVeigh broke his hand, and Myers suffered a fractured spine and leg. The band had to take a six-month break.

On November 6, 1981 the single The Magnificent (a song that Steve Jones had written about Johnny Rotten ) was released, on November 13, 1981, the first studio album, I Didn't See It Coming, followed almost a year and a half later . The album received almost unanimously bad reviews in the music press.

After Myers recovered from his injuries, the Professionals toured the United States and Canada from April to June 1982. After the last concert at the Ritz in New York , the band flew back to England, while Steve Jones decided to stay in the USA. With that the band broke up.

Band history after 1982

At the end of 1990 a small English independent label released an album with songs from the unreleased studio album, but with poor sound quality.

In 1997, most of the songs from the unreleased studio album were officially released on the compilation CD The Professionals .

In 2001 the unreleased studio album was released as an illegal vinyl bootleg in excellent sound quality and with perfectly reproduced original artwork.

In 2009, ex-bassist Andy Allen reappeared as a guest musician on three songs from Tenpole Tudor's new album ( Made It This Far ).

In 2017 the band released a new album called What in the world on Metalville.

Solo activities by Cook and Jones (1978 to 1982)

After the Sex Pistols ended , Paul Cook and Steve Jones worked on the soundtrack for Malcolm McLaren's film The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle and also starred in the film. But they also worked with a large number of well-known musicians.

  • March 25 and April 22, 1978 (The Speakeasy, Westminster ): Cook and Jones perform live with Johnny Thunders , at the April concert they introduce a new song, Black Leather .
  • May 1978 (Rockfield Studios, Monmouth): Cook and Jones record the song Justifiable Homicide with producer Dave Goodman, which was released as a single under the name Dave Goodman and Friends at the end of August 1978.
  • May 25, 1978 ( Shepperton Studios ): Cook and Jones are invited guests in the audience at The Who comeback concert .
  • June 1978 (Island Recording Studios, Hammersmith ): Cook and Jones play on 5 songs from Johnny Thunder 's first solo album So Alone , which was released on October 6, 1978.
  • July 13, 1978 (BBC Television Center, London ): Top of the Pops are broadcasting a video of the new Boomtown Rats single. The band had originally submitted a version of the video in which Paul Cook played the singer instead of Bob Geldof , but the BBC noticed the joke in time.
  • July 12, 13, 25, 26 and 27 1978 ( Birmingham , Blackburn and London ): Jones appears as a guest guitarist on five Clash concerts.
  • July 29, 1978 (Electric Ballroom, Camden ): Jones and Cook perform with Thin Lizzy musicians under the name The Greedy Bastards.
  • September 22, 1978 ( Whiskey A Go Go , Los Angeles ): Jones appears as a guest guitarist at a Runaways concert . He leaves them the song Black Leather for the album And Now ... The Runaways , which is currently being recorded in Los Angeles.
  • October 9 and 10, 1978 (Different Fur Studios, San Francisco): Jones produced four Avengers songs ( The American In Me , White Nigger , Uh Oh and Second To None ) , three of which were released on The American In in January 1980 Me single to be released. He leaves them the song Second To None , which the professionals released as a single in 1980 under the title 1-2-3 .
  • October 12, 1978 (Lyceum Theater, Westminster ): Cook and Jones guest musicians with Johnny Thunders' All Stars .
  • December 16, 21 and 22, 1978 ( London and Dublin ): Cook and Jones perform with Thin Lizzy musicians under the name The Greedies.
  • December 27, 1978 (Rainbow Theater, Finsbury Park ): Cook and Jones appear as guests at a Sham 69 concert .
  • February 3, 1979: Jones and Cook plan to fly to New York that day to start work on a Sid Vicious solo album, but Sid Vicious dies the day before.
  • Early 1979 (Wessex Studios, Highbury ): Cook produces The Physicals single Be Like Me and also plays drums. The single was released in 1980.
  • March 31, 1979 (New Theater, Oxford ): Jones as guest guitarist at a Thin Lizzy concert.
  • Early April 1979 (Chappell Studios, Mayfair ): Cook and Jones record three songs with Joan Jett ( You Don't Owe Me and a first version of I Love Rock'n Roll become Jett's first solo single, released in Holland in September 1979 , and Don't Abuse Me was released on May 17, 1980 on Jett 's first solo album of the same name).
  • June 2, 1979: NME reported that Jones and Cook with Chrissie Hynde a version of the Ronettes -Songs Do I Love You? have recorded. The song remains unreleased, but a demo cassette will be auctioned on eBay in April 2008 .
  • June 29, 1979 (Apollo, Glasgow ): Cook and Jones appear as guests at a Sham 69 concert . Your live version of What Have We Got? appears in September 1979 on the new Sham 69 album The Adventures Of Hersham Boys , the complete concert in 2001 as Sham Pistols - Sham's Last Stand .
  • Mid-July 1979: Pete Townshend begins recording his solo album Empty Glass in London . Jones and Cook had been invited as guest musicians, but had declined. Townshend dedicates the song Rough Boys to the Sex Pistols.
  • Early August 1979 (The Sound Suite, Camden ): Jones produced The Wall Exchange's second single , which was released in September 1979.
  • August 19, 1979 (The Manor Studio, Shipton-on-Cherwell ): Jones and Cook break off a joint studio session with Sham 69 singer Jimmy Pursey. Four songs recorded together ( Natural born killer , You and me , Trainspotter and Individual ) remain unreleased and appear on the bootleg LP Natural Born Killer in January 2010 .
  • Mid-September 1979: Siouxsie and the Banshees offer Jones and Cook to join them, Jones would be interested, Cook strictly refuses. The banshees find another replacement.
  • October 17, 1979 (The Moonlight Club, London): Cook and Jones guest musicians at a concert by Tenpole Tudor , The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle and Rock Around The Clock . On October 27, 1979, the music press announced that Jones would produce her debut single Real Fun / What's In A Word for Korova Records, but this was ultimately taken over by Mott the Hoople / Generation X producer Gary Edwards.
  • December 1, 1979: The Greedies (Cook and Jones with Thin Lizzy musicians) released the single A Merry Jingle . The Greedies appear on Top of the Pops on December 20, 1979 and on a New Year's TV show on December 31, 1979.
  • December 25, 1979 (Studio 21, London): Cook and Jones make a short guest appearance at a Christmas party in the London disco Studio 21. Announced on stage as Sex Pistols , they play four songs live with Billy Idol as singer and Youth on bass ( Slippin 'n' Slidin ' , Roadrunner , No Fun and Bodies ). British punk band The Bollock Brothers released an album 77-78-79 in 1986, claiming to have used recordings of the performance for this album, but in fact they did not.
  • March to April 1980 ( Vancouver , Canada): Cook and Jones filming Ladies and Gentlemen: The Fabulous Stains , which hits theaters in 1981. For a planned soundtrack album, four songs are recorded with Ray Winstone (vocals) and Paul Simonon (bass) ( Join The Professionals , Conned Again , La La La and Don't Blow It All The Way ), but the album remains unreleased.
  • March 31, 1980: The Lightning Raiders, Andy Allen's band, released the single Psychedelic Music . Cook and Jones play on the single, Jones produces. Recorded at Wessex Studios in Highbury .
  • May 29, 1980 (Surrey Sound Studios, Leatherhead ): Jones plays guitar on two songs ( Paradise Place and Skin ) from the Siouxsie and the Banshees album Kaleidoscope , released August 1980.
  • September 1980 ( AIR Studios , Mayfair ): Jones plays guest guitar on three Generation X songs ( Dancing With Myself , Untouchables and Rock On ) released in 1980/81.
  • June 1981: Cook produces the single Aie A Mwana by Bananarama , which lives above the rehearsal room of the professionals. The single was released in September 1981.
  • Summer 1982 ( New York ): Jones contributes guitar to three songs ( Onward , Sell ​​Out and Kill For Cash ) of the first studio album by Kraut An Adjustement To Society , which is released on February 28, 1983. He also performs often with the band.
  • September 1, 1982 (The Peppermint Lounge, New York ): Jones and Mick Jones and Terry Chimes from The Clash guest musicians at a Johnny Thunders concert.
  • September 19, 1982 (The Peppermint Lounge, New York ): First concert by Checkered Past , a new band that Jones formed just four days earlier with Michael Des Barres and Blondie musicians. At the end of 1982, Jones moved to Los Angeles .

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
1-2-3
  UK 43 10/11/1980 (4 weeks)

Albums

  • I Didn't See It Coming (Virgin Records, November 1981)
  • The Professionals Featuring Steve Jones And Paul Cook (Limited Edition Records, 1990)
  • The Professionals (Virgin Records, June 1997)
  • The Best Of The Professionals (Captain Oi! Records, December 2005)
  • What in the World (Metalville (Rough Trade), October 2017)

Singles

  • Just Another Dream / Action Man (Virgin Records, July 1980)
  • 1-2-3 / White Light White Heat; Baby I Don't Care (Virgin Records, October 1980)
  • Join The Professionals / Has Anybody Got An Alibi? (Virgin Records, May 1981)
  • The Magnificent / Just Another Dream (Virgin Records, November 1981)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Paolo Hewitt: "White Christmas" (in: Melody Maker January 5, 1980, page 7)
  2. ↑ Chart sources: UK

Web links