The Professionals: PostPistolRock

As entry into whatever punk is there aren’t too many other better places to start than the Sex Pistols – ok the Ramones, but who else after that? Those two bands do really define the genre to folks that don’t have a real grasp on the music, what it is or where it came from. And that’s understandable. But considering that the Sex Pistols only had a single full length album – the soundtrack to The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle kinda counts, but not really - it should have been a reasonable assumption that Steve Jones and Paul Cook would go on to form a band. They did. And it was called the Professionals. It was good, for the most part.

In writings about the group, most note that waiting a few years subsequent to the Sex Pistols breaking up probably wasn’t a sound business decision. That’s more than true, although, it’s safe to assume that both musicians needed a bit of time to decompress after being involved in a tremendously hectic situation that ended up in two deaths and people being stranded in various cities in the States. But by 1980, Jones and Cook had crafted a clutch of tunes that they were ready to levy upon the second crop of punkers.

It’s also been noted elsewhere, that by ’80s derivations of punk had become the new vanguard in underground music, making any attempt to return to the genre a bit difficult. Even with that fact, the two discs the Professionals released are filled with traditional rock sounds, cranked up to nasty volumes.

Some of the lyrics on I Didn't See it Coming – most notably on “Join the Professionals,” which was originally released as a single – are a bit spotty, but musically, the recombination of punk and what preceded it worked out pretty well.

Of course, the Pistols that the Professionals comprise didn’t really sing in that older band and for a reason. So the sing/speak that gets passed off as vocalization is weak in places – “Northern Slide” perhaps. But again, with the music being so well conceived it kinda doesn’t matter too much.

The singles tacked on to I Didn’t See It Coming are really what’s worth the price of admission. “1-2-3,” even with its inane title, should be familiar to any self respecting punker – as should “Mods, Skins, Punks.” So it might be said that the Professionals didn’t craft a good album, they just put out some good sides.

With a car crash in the States making all involved a bit weary to forge ahead, the Professionals called it a day soon after the album’s release. The future of the band very well may have included some forays into middling ‘80s pop (“Friday Night Square” and the song’s tempo and less than aggressive guitar points at that), but maybe not. As all parted ways, though, Cook and Jones knew that they’d both remain in music. They did. So we can thank the Pistols for that, if not just for Never Mind the Bollocks…