Paul Cook’s post-Pistols band the Professionals were once, rather surprisingly, on the cover of Smash Hits - “the pinnacle of our success!” – and they’re including the 100 Club on their upcoming tour, the location of another career highlight. He talks to us here about how the first time he played live was also the Pistols’ first appearance (Saint Martin’s College of Art - “utter chaos”), how their old Denmark Street rehearsal room is now an AirBnB (Rotten’s cartoons still on the wall), old punks in the audience, Danny Boyle’s TV series and the very slim chance of a reunion (“never say never”). But much of this is about climbing through back windows to see bands in the early ‘70s, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Queen and Mott the Hoople among them. And seeing Alex Harvey on the day the whole of Scotland descended on London for the match against England at Wembley.
The Professionals are playing four UK dates (and often chuck in a couple of Pistols' tunes):
https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/the-professionals-1-1
Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear
Get bonus content on PatreonHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Burt Bacharach, Waters v Gilmour and how to save the BRITS
15 minutes with Midge Ure about shows he's seen and played
George Harrison and the T-Bone steak, rock fantasy football teams & spot the AI lyrics!
Ron Sexsmith - heading your way in April – remembers “life-changing” shows seen over the years
Joel De’ath, “the Indiana Jones of rare vinyl”, describes his hunt for the Holy Grail
Peter Asher: singer, producer, manager, main role model for Austin Powers
Farewell Tom Verlaine – plus terrible records we can’t help loving
The Long Ryders are heading your way - and it all began with a “red negligee” …
Farewell David Crosby plus “classic” records that leave us cold
Suzanne Vega: she started at Carnegie Hall and she's coming to a town near you in February
Jeff Beck “had a boom-tish anecdote about every step of his life”
Tony King – friend, adviser and confidante: you can see why the Beatles, Stones and Elton thought he was the best company imaginable
The greatest singer of all time? (we know the answer)
The transformational role of the bus in ‘60s pop: discuss!
The deliciously eccentric life and art of Ivor Cutler by his biographer Bruce Lindsay
The things rock made us wear
Strokes producer Gordon Raphael on the serendipitous creation of 'Is This It'
Jet Black, exotic Americans and Oscar Hammerstein’s joke
Word Down Your Way: Danny Baker with a taste of his thunderous one-man stand-up circus, back on the road in 2023
Stories Christine McVie told us - including “Freddie King fixed my puncture”
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Superfancast
Derringer Discoveries - A Music Adventure Podcast
One Song
Bandsplain
Every Single Album