The Professionals is punky power pop and hard pub rock, nowhere near as subversively snotty as the Pistols but still brash and cocky with some anthemic swagger – “Kick Down the Doors” and “Kamikaze” both good examples. They released two singles from the LP in ’80, “Just Another Dream” and “1-2-3.” I don’t think either charted (and omg the video for “Just Another Dream!”). “All the Way With You” is one of the stronger tracks on the LP and feels more “punk” than most of the record (it reminds me a bit of the 1977 Adverts single “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes”). You’d think that “Mods Skins Punks” would be, but it’s not (and really isn’t a great track). This is in our should it stay or go pile – I think it can go.

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I don’t remember if I ever saw the movie The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle or not. If I did, clearly it was not memorable. Steve Jones plays the main character, Malcolm McLaren is the main bad guy and Paul Cook and Sid Vicious have lesser roles. From the film’s description on Wiki “The movie tells a stylized fictional account of the formation, rise and subsequent break-up of the band, from the point of view of their then-manager McLaren. In the film, McLaren claims to have created the Sex Pistols, and manipulate them to the top of the music business, using them as puppets to both further his own agenda (in his own words: ‘Cash from chaos’), and to claim the financial rewards from the various record labels the band were signed to during their brief existence.” Lydon “refused to have anything to do with the film, stating that it was ‘a pile of rubbish’ and ‘Malcolm’s vision of what he believed – not true in any form.’”

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The Sex Pistols had released four singles from the LP prior to its release: “Anarchy in the UK” (#45 UK charts) in late ‘76,  “God Save the Queen” (#2 UK) “Pretty Vacant” (#6 UK) and “Holidays in the Sun” (#8 UK) all in ‘77. While Sid Vicious appears prominently on the inner sleeve, he only played bass on one track, “Bodies” – his skills were so poor that producer Chris Thomas asked guitarist Steve Jones to record the bass tracks for the remaining songs (original bassist Glen Matlock was asked to do it first but because Malcolm McLaren didn’t pay him up front, Matlock refused to show). I recently read Pistol guitarist Steve Jones’ autobiography Lonely Boy which I picked up while in London at Rough Trade Records and it is hilarious, and a bit disturbing. He notes that there’s only a couple of Vicious’ notes on “Bodies” that made it onto the final recording, his bass playing is the bulk of the track. He also writes about his loathing of Rotten, though does concede that Lydon’s lyrics and vocal styling were pretty great. I highly recommend reading Lonely Boy as well as John Lydon’s autobiography Anger is an Energy: My Life Uncensored which I read while in London this past summer, including the day that we visited Vivienne Westwood’s shop Worlds End, formerly Sex, the birthplace of the Sex Pistols at 430 Kings Road (that’s the dodgy end).

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(The back cover with the “Submission” sticker)

It’s hard to overstate the impact and significance of Never Mind the Bollocks: controversial to the extreme even before its release, one of the best-selling punk records of all-time topping the UK album chart in ‘77 and it also appears on many many best-of album lists. From Allmusic: “Already anthemic songs are rendered positively transcendent by Johnny Rotten’s rabid, foaming delivery. His bitterly sarcastic attacks on pretentious affectation and the very foundations of British society were all carried out in the most confrontational, impolite manner possible. Most imitators of the Pistols’ angry nihilism missed the point: underneath the shock tactics and theatrical negativity were social critiques carefully designed for maximum impact. Never Mind the Bollocks perfectly articulated the frustration, rage, and dissatisfaction of the British working class with the establishment, a spirit quick to translate itself to strictly rock & roll terms. The Pistols paved the way for countless other bands to make similarly rebellious statements, but arguably none were as daring or effective. It’s easy to see how the band’s roaring energy, overwhelmingly snotty attitude, and Rotten’s furious ranting sparked a musical revolution, and those qualities haven’t diminished one bit over time. Never Mind the Bollocks is simply one of the greatest, most inspiring rock records of all time. “

The Sex Pistols had released four singles from the LP prior to its release: “Anarchy in the UK” in late ‘76, “God Save the Queen,” “Pretty Vacant” and “Holidays in the Sun.” While Sid Vicious appears prominently on the inner sleeve, he only played bass on one track, “Bodies” – his skills were so poor that producer Chris Thomas asked guitarist Steve Jones to record the bass tracks for the remaining songs (original bassist Glen Matlock was asked to do it first but because Malcolm McLaren didn’t pay him up front, Matlock refused to show).

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The Professionals lacks the punk urgency of the Sex Pistols. It tries to sound down-and-dirty but ends up just a bit messy, just like the album’s release history. Allmusic reviewer Thom Jurek has this to say, “The album…was vilified in the English rock press. The East End Oi! movement had been born, and the Professionals went down the middle between the early sound of the Sex Pistols (without the anger) and the Cockney chants of the straps-and-braces Oi! boys. With post-punk and ska in full flower on the other side of the rockist divide, there was simply no room for a straight-up rock band, which is what the Professionals were. Their hair was too long, they wore no costumes, and they simply let it rip with workmanlike tunes crafted by Cook and Jones. Lots of big chords, muddy big beat drums, and chanted rather than sung vocals…This is plodding, straight-ahead rock music that walked too many lines to establish itself with an identity of its own. It’s a relic, and not a particularly memorable one.”

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This white vinyl mini album has alternative takes and recordings of some tracks found on the 12-track version of “Never Mind the Bollocks” – “Submission,”  “Seventeen,” “Anarchy in the UK,” and “No Feeling.” “I Wanna Be Me” is the b-side to “Anarchy in the UK” and “Satellite” appears on the 1976 Sex Pistols bootleg “Spunk.”

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