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.


Sunday 23 March 2014

20 From '83 (20) Dead Kennedys 688 Club Atlanta GA 28th May 1983


Along with the Ramones, for Dead Kennedys are for me at least, the most important of America's contributions to the punk genre. To watch a Biafra era DKs gig is like watching a riot developing before your very eyes. Jello Biafra always cranked the intensity up to fever pitch in a spectacle that was part gig, part performance art piece. With songs that directly challenged the attitudes of their audience, shows could be confrontational.

This recording is from the time of the release of their second full album 'Plastic Surgery Disasters'. I first heard this back in '83 at a mate's house, listening as we played to the other new thing of that year, Trivial Pursuit (very punk rock I know!) and from then on I was a convert.

Too young to have seen them in Brighton in 1983, by the time they were next likely to play, the furore around the H.R. Geiger poster that accompanied the 'Frankenchrist' album and the ensuing court case meant that in '86 the band imploded. Since then the band have faced each other again in the courts, so the chances of seeing an original line up (or a 'classic' line up if not the first) is extremely remote.

FLAC: http://we.tl/0yxoNn21o8

20 From '83 (19) The Damned Dingwalls Newcastle 22nd March 1983


JUST over the anniversary 31 years and a day for this one. Not the best sounding, but what a set. All the best material from the 'Strawberries' album and 'The Limit Club' (one of The Damned's finest moments and a glaring omission from the December tour in my opinion, given that Ruts DC were tour support).

FLAC: http://we.tl/XRsqfvY8h2

Artwork: http://we.tl/kvx9d292Xx

01. Ignite
02. Disco Man
03. Generals
04. I Just Can’t Be Happy Today
05. Plan 9 Channel 7
06. Stranger On The Town
07. Wait For The Blackout
08. Born To Kill
09. Bad Time For Bonzo
10. Limit Club
11. Melody Lee
12. Looking At You
13. Love Song
14. Neat Neat Neat
15. New Rose
16. Smash It Up
17. Noise Noise Noise
18. Hippy Hippy Shake
19. Happy Talk

Glasgow Barrowlands 23rd March 1987


No question about the date of this one. 27 years ago on this day, The Stranglers performed at Barrowlands on the second leg of the Dreamtour. I have found a couple of cuttings relating to the gig (this is the second of two nights that the band played). The Sounds journalist clearly hated the gig, but rather inexplicably witnessed the band play on both nights, as mentioned in a fan's response that appeared in the letters pages the following week.


WAV: http://we.tl/iQy6IKlGM1

Artwork: http://we.tl/fMQKW9e0Yo

01. No More Heroes
02. Was It You?
03. Down In The Sewer
04. Nice In Nice
05. Punch And Judy
06. Souls
07. Always The Sun
08. Strange Little Girl
09. Golden Brown
10. Northwinds
11. Big In America

01. Nice"N"Sleazy
02. Who Wants The World
03. Grip
04. Bring On The Nubiles
05. Shakin' Like A Leaf/Uptown
06. Tank
07. Toiler On The Sea
08. Nuclear Device
09. Peaches
10. Hanging Around

Please note that this is a different source to a somewhat better quality version. This version is longer with 'Hanging Around' to close the set.



The Rezillos To Play The Square In Harlow 29th March 2014


Happy days! The Square in Harlow are playing host to Anglo-Scottish sci-fi popsters The Rezillos next Saturday. There are still some tickets left I believe for what promises to be a great show in this 250 capacity venue.