Aural Sculptors - The Stranglers Live 1976 to the Present


Welcome to Aural Sculptors, a blog aimed at bringing the music of The Stranglers to as wide an audience as possible. Whilst all of the various members of the band that have passed through the ranks since 1974 are accomplished studio musicians, it is on stage where the band have for me had their biggest impact.

As a collector of their live recordings for many years I want to share some of the better quality material with other fans. By selecting the higher quality recordings I hope to present The Stranglers in the best possible light for the benefit of those less familiar with their material than the hardcore fan.

Needless to say, this site will steer well clear of any officially released material. As well as live gigs, I will post demos, radio interviews and anything else that I feel may be of interest.

In addition, occasionally I will post material by other bands, related or otherwise, that mean a lot to me.

Your comments and/or contributions are most welcome. Please email me at adrianandrews@myyahoo.com.


Tuesday 18 February 2014

The Specials 2014

Roddy Radiation and me
Alexandra Palace 3rd November 2011

It's been a heavy couple of weeks for The Specials news-wise. Recently, guitarist Roddy Radiation announced in the Coventry Evening Telegraph that he was quitting The Specials to concentrate on his own band material (The Skabilly Rebels). His departure has long been in the offing. Cracks in the relationship between Roddy and his fellow musicians became increasingly apparent on stage on their 2011 UK tour when he appeared to be in open revolt with the rest of the band! That's not to say that a little intra-band friction is such a bad thing. On the contrary, its existence if anything enhances creativity... but the question remains what now for the Specials.....

Well this......


At the outset of the reunion gigs, some struggled coming to terms with a Specials without Jerry, then last year, Neville bailed out on the grounds of ill health. Last year, whilst the band played some great gigs without him, something was lost without the vocal contrast of Terry and Neville. And, I have no doubt that the same thing will be true now that they prepare to tour with one less original member. The absence of Roddy Radiation's playing will no doubt punch a big hole into what made The Specials.....well, special I suppose!

Nevertheless, I am drawn like a moth to a flame to the Brighton gig (always loved The Dome, the Prince Regent's stables in a former life).

Still, how much more mileage there is in The Specials is unknown. Rather they disband to pursue other projects than to lose the love and respect of their fanbase. They mean too much to me for that to happen!

1 comment:

  1. I didn't know Roddy had bailed as well... this has become untenable for me!

    ReplyDelete