THE PROFESSIONALS
The Professionals were formed in 1979 by guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook, both formerly of the Sex Pistols. In the previous year Johnny Rotten had left the Sex Pistols, and Jones had supplied lead vocals for late Sex Pistols recordings of the songs "Silly Thing" and "Lonely Boy". For these recordings Lightning Raiders bassist Andy Allen was employed as a session musician. After the Sex Pistols officially split and broke ties with manager Malcolm McLaren, this line up was resurrected as The Professionals, and signed to the Sex Pistols old label Virgin Records. In July 1980 The Professionals released their first single "Just Another Dream," followed by a second single "1-2-3" in October, which reached No. 43 in the UK Singles Charts. Shortly after the second singles release Allen left the band and was replaced by Subway Sect bassist Paul Meyers. Ray McVeigh also joined the band as a second guitarist. This same lineup recorded another single, "Join the Professionals", which was released in June 1981. Later that year, the song was featured in the movie Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains along with three other Cook/Jones compositions, "Conned Again", "La La La", and "Don't Blow It All the Way". 
Following his departure, Andy Allen sued Virgin Records claiming he had never been paid by them. In response to this, the new line-up of The Professionals would re-record previous material so that Allen would not be owed any further royalties. The band brought in producer Nigel Gray to help record this material for their first full length album, the result was I Didn't See It Coming released in November 1981. The album was supported by U.K. and U.S. tour dates, and the release of a single for the song "The Magnificent". But the band's American tour was cut short when Cook, Meyers, and McVeigh were injured in a car accident. After a hiatus for recovery, the band returned to America in the Spring of 1982. They were offered a spot opening on tour for The Clash, but declined and broke up.
