The Sex Pistols are as influential a rock band as there was to come out of the late-'70s.
The band rampaged its way to the mainstream in 1977 and everyone who wasn't enthralled by them was terrified of them. And though they were finished by 1978, the Sex Pistols incited the punk rock movement and all the punk-influenced sub-genres to come.
Given his legacy, what does drummer Paul Cook think about so many influential British rockers getting knighted? Why not the Sex Pistols?
"Well, they're throwing [knighthoods] away like their 10 a penny now, so why not? Yeah, everyone's getting knighted now," Cook tells Q104.3 New York's "Out of the Box" with Jonathan Clarke. "Who would have thought Mick Jagger would've been knighted back in the '60s?"
When the Sex Pistols broke up, Cook and guitarist Steve Jones formed The Professionals.
But maintaining the Sex Pistols' chaotic legacy (and combative relationship with its record label) with a new group proved untenable, and after two studio albums, The Professionals called it quits in 1981.
But when 2015 rolled around, Cook reformed the band with frontman Tom Spencer in place of Jones. Now The Professionals have a new album, What in the World, due out October 27.
Cook says that the new album is pure punk—what he's good at.
"I mean that's what I do, I mean, that's what we do," Cook says. "I just like playing fast rock music, I don't try to be too clever or get too technical. I just go from the feeling, gut feeling."
Spencer and Cook met as guest performers on a party gig. He says they performed a rendition of Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant."
"The first thing he said to me was, 'Don't try and sound like [Johnny Rotten],'" Spencer laughs. "Now I've got to not sound like Steve Jones...We're both from the same area and just met down at the pub every now and again."
Jones never returned to The Professionals, but the new version of the band has his seal of approval; Jones performs on Where in the World, along with a slew of other guests, including Mick Jones (The Clash), Duff McKagan, Billy Duffy (The Cult) and Phil Collen.
Watch the full interview above.
Get more information about The Professionals' new album here.
Keep up with The Professionals on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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Check out the lyric video for the first single from What in the World, "Good Man Down":