Which punk band was formed by ex-Sex Pistols members Steve Jones and Paul Cook?

The Professionals were formed by former Sex Pistols members Steve Jones and Paul Cook. Jones played guitar and Cook played drums in the original Sex Pistols, and they created The Professionals in 1979 after the earlier band’s collapse.

The new group also included bassist Andy Allan and signed with Virgin Records, the same label that had released the Sex Pistols. Their first single, “Just Another Dream,” appeared in July 1980. The band’s music retained punk’s directness but often leaned toward tighter, more melodic power-pop and hard-rock arrangements.

The Professionals released their first official studio album, I Didn’t See It Coming, in 1981, but broke up soon afterward. Their story is sometimes confused with The Rich Kids, a band formed by former Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, or with The Flowers of Romance, an earlier project associated with several musicians from London’s punk scene. Cook later helped lead a revived Professionals lineup.