The Professionals are a British rock band, formed in 1980 by former Sex Pistols Steve Jones (guitar and vocals) and Paul Cook (drums) after their time in the short-lived Greedies supergroup. The outfit was completed with the addition of bassist Andy Allen. A debut single, "Just Another Dream" was issued in summer 1980, with an LP mooted to follow shortly. A second single, "1-2-3" was released in October, peaking at #43 in the singles chart [1]. With the release of the debut LP delayed again, news came of a change in personnel, with Allen being replaced by Paul Myers on bass and Ray McVeigh joining the band as an additional guitarist. This line-up recorded a session for the John Peel Show in November 1980. The recordings made with Allen would remain unreleased until the Nineties.
In June 1981 a new single, "Join The Professionals" was issued. Debut LP "I Didn't See It Coming" emerged in November. The same month, a car crash in the USA led to three of the band suffering injuries that curtailed promotional duties for the album. The group concentrated on pushing themselves in the USA during 1982 but the group had imploded by the autumn. To coincide with the release of a 3xCD compilation of the group's recordings in 2015, a new line-up of the band was put together, minus Jones but with his blessing. An album entitled 'What In The World' subsequently emerged in late 2017.
Links To Peel
"Steve Jones quite clearly hasn't had his creativity blunted by weeks of shocking behaviour in Bangkok." [1] (02 October 1980)
Having devoted airtime to the works of other ex-Sex Pistols (including John Lydon's Public Image Limited and Glen Matlock's Rich Kids, Jimmy Norton's Explosion), it was not particularly surprising that Peel should play material from the Professionals. Coincidentally, at the same time that the group appeared in his running order, the DJ was beginning to play tracks from Malcolm McLaren's latest proteges Bow Wow Wow.
Sessions
One session only. Released on The Complete Professionals 3xCD, 2015 (Universal – 4745677).
1. Recorded: 1980-11-03. First broadcast 10 November 1980. Repeated 08 December 1980, 22 December 1980.
- Join The Professionals / All The Way With You / Crescendo / Kick Down The Doors
Other Shows Played
- 1980
- 23 June 1980: Just Another Dream (7") Virgin VS 353
- 24 June 1980: Just Another Dream (7") Virgin VS 353
- 05 July 1980 (BFBS): Just Another Dream (7") Virgin VS 353
- 07 July 1980: Just Another Dream (7") Virgin VS 353
- 19 July 1980 (BFBS): Just Another Dream (7") Virgin VS 353
- 30 September 1980: 1-2-3 (7" - One Two Three) Virgin
- 02 October 1980: 1-2-3 (7" - One Two Three) Virgin
- 14 October 1980: 1-2-3 (7" - One Two Three) Virgin
- 17 November 1980: Kick Down The Doors (album - Cash Cows) Virgin MILK 1
- 1981
- 29 March 1981 (BFBS): Kick Down The Doors (v/a album - Cash Cows) Virgin MILK 1
- 02 June 1981: Join The Professionals (7") Virgin
Other
- Karl's Tape Early March 1981: Just Another Dream (7" b/w - The Magnificent) Virgin
- May not actually be taken from a John Peel show. Also, the date appears to be suspect as the single was apparently not released until October 1981. Interestingly, the same segment of tape contains tracks by Theatre Of Hate and Vice Squad that were seemingly also not issued until the end of that year.
External Links
- Footnotes
- ↑ Jones had absconded to Thailand in August. He has since admitted that he was struggling with heroin addiction throughout this period.