Paul Cook
Encyclopedia
Paul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock
band Sex Pistols
.
school in White City
Estate, Shepherds Bush, where he met Steve Jones
. In 1972-1973, Cook and Jones, along with their school friend Wally Nightingale
, formed a band, The Strand. Cook was the first member of the group to actually invest in a piece of equipment (a drum kit) rather than steal it. Within the next three years The Strand evolved into the Sex Pistols.
's film, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
. The two also recorded a few songs using the Sex Pistols name, Jones singing lead on the album version of the song "Silly Thing
". The pair then started a new band, The Professionals
, with Andy Allen. Allen caused some legal problems; he played bass on "Silly Thing" and the first few Professionals recordings, but had no recording contract
and had been neither credited nor paid. Consequently, the Virgin Records
compilation album
Cash Cows, which featured The Professionals' track "Kick Down the Doors", was withdrawn. Cook and Jones played together on Johnny Thunders
' solo album, So Alone
.
The Professionals released four singles and one album (an album of demos surfaced later), but never matched the Pistols' commercial success.
In the early 1980s, Cook, along with Jones, discovered the English new wave
girl-group Bananarama
. Cook helped the trio record their debut single, "Aie a Mwana
", and acted as a producer on their 1982 debut album Deep Sea Skiving
.
In the late 1980s, Cook surfaced with the group Chiefs of Relief
with former Bow Wow Wow
guitarist Matthew Ashman, and, after a period out of the music industry, played with Phil Collen
in the 1990s. He reunited with the surviving Sex Pistols in 1996 for the Filthy Lucre
world tour.
The Sex Pistols, including Paul Cook, played a gig for the 30th anniversary of Never Mind The Bollocks at the Brixton Academy on 8 November 2007. Due to popular demand, two further gigs were announced on 9 and 10 November, and four further dates were added.
In 2008, the Sex Pistols appeared at the Isle Of Wight Festival as the headlining act on the Saturday night, the Peace and Love Festival in Sweden, the Live at Loch Lomond Festival in Scotland, and the Summercase Festival in Madrid.
Cook currently drums with Man-Raze
, which also features Phil Collen
from Def Leppard
and their friend Simon Laffy
who used to play in Collen's pre-Leppard band, Girl. They released a debut album Surreal in 2008, and are touring throughout the UK in late 2009.
with his wife and their daughter, Hollie Cook. He works as a session musician for Edwyn Collins
. Cook also plays football
for Hollywood United.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
.
Early life and career
Cook was raised in Hammersmith and attended the Christopher WrenChristopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
school in White City
White City, London
White City is a district in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, to the north of Shepherd's Bush. Today, White City is home to the BBC Television Centre and BBC White City, and Loftus Road stadium, the home of football club Queens Park Rangers FC....
Estate, Shepherds Bush, where he met Steve Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
. In 1972-1973, Cook and Jones, along with their school friend Wally Nightingale
Wally Nightingale
Wally Nightingale, born Warwick Alan Nightingale in West Kensington, was an English musician. He was best known as the guitarist and founder of the band that eventually became the Sex Pistols. According to guitarist Steve Jones, Nightingale left the band in 1975 after Malcolm McLaren agreed to...
, formed a band, The Strand. Cook was the first member of the group to actually invest in a piece of equipment (a drum kit) rather than steal it. Within the next three years The Strand evolved into the Sex Pistols.
Later career
After the Sex Pistols suddenly broke up after their final concert in San Francisco on January 14, 1978, Cook and Jones initially worked on the soundtrack to Malcolm McLarenMalcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
's film, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is a mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas about the British punk rock band Sex Pistols....
. The two also recorded a few songs using the Sex Pistols name, Jones singing lead on the album version of the song "Silly Thing
Silly Thing (song)
"Silly Thing" is a song by the Sex Pistols that was released in 1979. It was the 3rd single released in promotion of the film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. It was written by drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones, and recorded after the band's original lead singer, Johnny Rotten, left the...
". The pair then started a new band, The Professionals
The Professionals (band)
The Professionals were an English punk rock band in the late 1970s and early 1980s formed by ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and drummer and Paul Cook after that band's demise.-Career:...
, with Andy Allen. Allen caused some legal problems; he played bass on "Silly Thing" and the first few Professionals recordings, but had no recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
and had been neither credited nor paid. Consequently, the Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Cash Cows, which featured The Professionals' track "Kick Down the Doors", was withdrawn. Cook and Jones played together on Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
' solo album, So Alone
So Alone
So Alone is a 1978 album by Johnny Thunders, then leader of The Heartbreakers and formerly lead guitarist for the New York Dolls.After recording L.A.M.F. with the Heartbreakers, Thunders returned to the studio and recorded his first true solo album, So Alone...
.
The Professionals released four singles and one album (an album of demos surfaced later), but never matched the Pistols' commercial success.
In the early 1980s, Cook, along with Jones, discovered the English new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
girl-group Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
. Cook helped the trio record their debut single, "Aie a Mwana
Aie a Mwana
"Aie a Mwana" is the best-known title of a song originally written by the French-Belgian writing and production team of Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger....
", and acted as a producer on their 1982 debut album Deep Sea Skiving
Deep Sea Skiving
Deep Sea Skiving is the debut album by the British female vocal group Bananarama, released in 1983. The album peaked at no.7 on the UK album chart and was certified Silver by the BPI....
.
In the late 1980s, Cook surfaced with the group Chiefs of Relief
Chiefs of Relief
Chiefs of Relief were a British rock group formed shortly after the demise of Bow Wow Wow in 1984. Led by guitarist-vocalist Matthew Ashman , drummer Paul Cook , keyboard player Duncan Grieg, and bassist Lance Burman...
with former Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow were an English 1980s New Wave band created by Malcolm McLaren to promote his and business partner Vivienne Westwood's New Romantic fashion lines.The group's music is described as having an "African-derived drum sound".-History:...
guitarist Matthew Ashman, and, after a period out of the music industry, played with Phil Collen
Phil Collen
Philip Kenneth "Phil" Collen is the co-lead guitarist and one of the backing vocalists for English rock band Def Leppard. He joined the band in 1982 following the departure of Pete Willis.-Early years:...
in the 1990s. He reunited with the surviving Sex Pistols in 1996 for the Filthy Lucre
Filthy Lucre Live
Filthy Lucre Live is a 1996 live album by the then recently-reformed Sex Pistols.The album was recorded live at London's Finsbury Park on 23 June 1996 during the band's Filthy Lucre Tour.-Reception:...
world tour.
The Sex Pistols, including Paul Cook, played a gig for the 30th anniversary of Never Mind The Bollocks at the Brixton Academy on 8 November 2007. Due to popular demand, two further gigs were announced on 9 and 10 November, and four further dates were added.
In 2008, the Sex Pistols appeared at the Isle Of Wight Festival as the headlining act on the Saturday night, the Peace and Love Festival in Sweden, the Live at Loch Lomond Festival in Scotland, and the Summercase Festival in Madrid.
Cook currently drums with Man-Raze
Man-Raze
Man Raze are a 3-piece alternative rock band from London, England featuring Phil Collen, Simon Laffy and Paul Cook.-History:Phil Collen made fans aware of the band for the first time during a 28 November 2004 interview with Braveworlds & Bloody Knuckles online magazine...
, which also features Phil Collen
Phil Collen
Philip Kenneth "Phil" Collen is the co-lead guitarist and one of the backing vocalists for English rock band Def Leppard. He joined the band in 1982 following the departure of Pete Willis.-Early years:...
from Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
and their friend Simon Laffy
Simon Laffy
Simon Laffy is an English bassist, a member of Man-Raze and former member of Girl.-Career:Simon Laffy was born at home in Hoxton, London. He started playing music at fourteen years old, inspired by his musician brother, Steve...
who used to play in Collen's pre-Leppard band, Girl. They released a debut album Surreal in 2008, and are touring throughout the UK in late 2009.
Personal life
Cook lives in Shepherd's BushShepherd's Bush
-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
with his wife and their daughter, Hollie Cook. He works as a session musician for Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Collins
Edwyn Stephen Collins is an Ivor Novello Award winning Scottish musician, playing mostly electric guitar-driven pop. Collins formed the musical group Nu-Sonics in 1976, which later became Orange Juice...
. Cook also plays football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
for Hollywood United.