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.


Thursday 31 December 2015

10 From '87 (10) Iggy Pop Werchter Festival Belgium 5th July 1987


Like his mate David Bowie, the mid to late '80's did not represent a real high in Iggy's career. Like so many bands and musicians coming out of a rawer rock/punk background I think the (over) production tendency prevalent at this point in the decade was a challenge, especially in the studio. However, this set sounds good, with a good representation of Stooges material in there too!

Iggy Pop performing at the Werchter Festival, Turnhout, Belgium
5th July 1987

FLAC: http://we.tl/TcHtCST8FR

01. 1970
02. Winners And Losers
03. Five Foot One
04. Real Wild Child (Wild One)
05. The Passenger
06. Blah, Blah, Blah
07. Search And Destroy
08. I Wanna Be Your Dog
09. No Fun
10. Raw Power
11. Sweet Sixteen

NEW LINK - Horseshoe Tavern Toronto 14th April 1978

A new restored link to this excellent soundboard recording can be found here.

Wednesday 30 December 2015

John 'Brad' Bradbury


Yesterday was a bad day..... bad for any fan of music. I woke to the news that Lemmy had succumbed to an aggressive cancer and ended the day by receiving a message that Brad of The Specials had also died at 62. As for Lemmy, from recent footage of him struggling on stage (and with some understanding of his lifestyle) his passing was kind of anticipated, but not so with Brad.

I first saw him play as part of the Special Beat, which at the time was the closest that I ever thought that I would get to that Specials experience (the two gigs I saw The Special Beat play remain two of the best gigs I ever had the privilege to witness). Then in 2009 it happened, an almost complete reunion of The Specials themselves..... Manna from Heaven! My most exiting moment in my gig career would have to be the opening of 'Do The Dog' with Brad's machine gun drum intro. Just brilliant.

Here then is a recently surfaced bootleg of The Specials, a tribute to Brad. This is the best quality recording of the band that I have heard outside of official releases.

Enjoy yourself it's later than you think!


FLAC: http://we.tl/JJRk75WcYb

Artwork: http://we.tl/VIZrX8IGpB

01. Dawning Of A New Era
02. Do The Dog
03. It's Up To You
04. Monkey Man
05. Rat Race
06. Blank Expression
07. Rude Boys Outta Jail
08. Concrete Jungle
09. Too Hot
10. Doesn't Make It Alright
11. Stupid Marriage
12. Too Much Too Young
13. Guns Of Navarone
14. Little Bitch
15. A Message To You Rudy
16. Nite Club
17. Gangsters
18. Long Shot Kick De Bucket
19. Liquidator
20. Skinhead Moonstomp
21. Madness
22. You're Wondering Now


Tuesday 29 December 2015

The Venue Middlesbrough 14th July 2015


Here's a recording of the band from this Summer's handful of dates. Many thanks for the trade!

WAV: http://we.tl/giRn567X74

01. Intro
02. Toiler on the Sea
03. Straighten Out
04. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
05. I've Been Wild
06. Four Horsemen
07. Relentless
08. Nice 'N' Sleazy
09. Golden Brown
10. Always the Sun
11. 5 Minutes
12. Freedom Is Insane
13. Time To Die
14. Norfolk Coast
15. I Feel Like a Wog
16. Skin Deep
17. Peaches
18. Time Was Once on My Side
19. Lost Control
20. Duchess
21. Hanging Around
22. Walk On By
23. No More Heroes
24. Outro

Sunday 27 December 2015

The Damned WFMU Session 16th May 2009


Here's one from yer old mates The Damned recorded for US radio.

FLAC: http://we.tl/rK90qHJNcL

Artwork: http://we.tl/dLzj510RTw

01. Noise Noise Noise
02. Under The Wheels
03. I Fall
04. Anti-Pope
05. Dr. Woofenstein
06. A Nation Fit For Heroes
07. Ignite
08. There'll Come A Day
09. 13th Floor Vendetta
10. Dark Asteroid
11. New Rose
12. Outro

Friday 25 December 2015

A Happy Christmas And A Peaceful New Year To All!


With thanks for your support and words of encouragement throughout the year!

With a few days off now, I expect to get a few bits and pieces up onto the site.

Adrian x

Sunday 13 December 2015

The Adicts Bahnhof Langendreer Bochum Germany 2nd December 2015


Here's a very recent recording of Ipswich's favourite droogs, The Adicts. Monkey, please get back over to the UK soon!

Many hanks to the original taper!!

FLAC: http://we.tl/V31LsTmWDt

Artwork: http://we.tl/mwZ5yREHt9

01. Intro
02. Let's Go
03. Just Like Me
04. Tango
05. Fuck It Up
06. Easy Way Out
07. Numbers
08. Troubadour
09. Fucked Up
10. Life Goes On
11. Rockin' Wrecker
12. I Am Yours
13. You're All Fools
14. Go Genie Go
15. Chinese Takeaway
16. Bad Boy
17. Joker In The Pack
18. Crazy
19. Steamroller
20. Horrorshow
21. Who Spilt My Beer?
22. Viva La Revolution
23. You'll Never Walk Alone
24. Outro

Sunday 6 December 2015

Wonky V - The Soundtrack

The Stranglers at Effenaar, Eindhoven
20th November 2015

As indicated in Owen's Wonky wrap up email, both gigs that last month's Wonky away days bus trip took in were recorded for posterity.

As has been previously mentioned both gigs were great in every respect, venues, crowd, band and let's not forget organisation. Even better since both gigs this time around were in The Netherlands, the unfathomable token system for drinks wasn't in place so slow the British contingent down!


The band must surely have been knackered as they played these two gigs as the culmination of the European tour. But happily fatigue was held at bay and the band appeared to thoroughly enjoy these two gigs.

The punters seemed to enjoy it too!

Thanks to Chatts99 and MeAnIe for their work on these. Great effort folks!

Baz spies another incoming Alan Munro aerial assault
Effenaar, Eindhoven


Effenaar, Eindhoven

FLAC: http://we.tl/FOLC1eNrS4

Artwork: http://we.tl/ZIqFqhdVhC


01. Intro-Toiler On The Sea
02. Straighten Out
03. Grip
04. I’ve Been Wild
05. Curfew
06. Relentless
07. Nice ‘N’ Sleazy
08. Golden Brown
09. Always The Sun
10. Midnight Summer Dream-European Female
11. Freedom Is Insane
12. Time To Die
13. Norfolk Coast
14. I Feel Like A Wog
15. Skin Deep
16. Peaches
17. Time Was Once On My Side
18. Lost Control
19. Duchess
20. No More Heroes
21. Encore-All Day And All Of The Night
22. Tank


Gebr. De Nobel, Leiden



01. Intro-Toiler On The Sea
02. Straighten Out
03. Grip
04. I’ve Been Wild
05. Curfew
06. Relentless
07. Nice ‘N’ Sleazy
08. Golden Brown
09. Always The Sun
10. Midnight Summer Dream-European Female
11. Freedom Is Insane
12. Banter-Time To Die
13. Norfolk Coast
14. I Feel Like A Wog
15. Skin Deep
16. Peaches
17. Time Was Once On My Side
18. Lost Control
19. Duchess
20. No More Heroes
21. Encore-Walk On By
22. All Day And All Of The Night
23. Tank


Thanks to Owen Carne and Ruth Jenner for the photos.