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.


Monday 28 March 2016

Concert Hall Perth 3rd March 2016

Black & White in Perth
3rd March 2016

As promised, here is the first recording that I have from the recently completed and hugely successful Black & White tour. As is often the case with opening night's there were a few teething problems that had to be resolved, most notably Dave's keyboards that weren't playing ball on this evening. Replacements were rushed in from base. As a punter, I thought that the band were being a little harsh on themselves and the problems weren't so bad. Many thanks to Chatts99 and to MeAnIe, a great collaborative effort folks!

FLAC: http://we.tl/RoINMsuS94


Saturday 26 March 2016

Gunta Inked!

Thrilled to get this through the post last week. Gunta Andrews captured in Steve Beaumont's unmistakable style. Cheers Steve!

Footage Of The Band in Calgary, Canada, 27th April 1983


Here's some live and interview footage that I have not come across before from Calgary on the Feline tour. Thanks to MeAnIe for sending it over.


Friday 25 March 2016

Gary Numan Troxy London 2nd April 2011


Here's a Numan set from the Back To The Phuture festival which celebrates electronic music of the late '70's and early '80's. Notable for the inclusion of some rarely aired Tubeway Army tracks.

MP3 (as received): http://we.tl/CtdQNq3kJw

Artwork: http://we.tl/DkXEzHk50s

01. Intro/Down In The Park
02. Films
03. That’s Too Bad
04. Crash
05. Big Noise Transmission
06. I Die : You Die
07. Jagged
08. The Fall
09. Everything Comes Down To This
10. Zero Bars (Mr Smith)
11. Listen To The Sirens
12. Are ‘Friends’ Electric
13. Haunted
14. Crawl
15. Pure
16. Cars
17. Halo
18. A Prayer For The Unborn

Ancienne Belgique Brussels 9th November 1979


A bit slow out of the blocks with this one. The Stranglers in the beleaguered city of Brussels on The Raven tour. Enjoy and give a thought for those forever damaged by such acts of mindless terror.

FLAC: http://we.tl/rwnnncxRmt

Artwork: http://we.tl/9Tcdh8WZij

01. Intro
02. 5 Minutes
03. Shah Shah A Go Go
04. Ice
05. Down In The Sewer
06. Hanging Around
07. The Raven
08. Dead Loss Angeles
09. Baroque Bordello
10. Curfew
11. Tank
12. Burning Up Time
13. Bring On The Nubiles
14. Nuclear Device
15. Genetix
16. Duchess
17. Toiler On The Sea
18. Outro


Sunday 20 March 2016

Sleaford Mods Rolling Stone Weekender, Wangels, Germany 7th November 2015


One for 'angry young man' Owen Carne. Nice radio broadcast from Germany. Thanks to the original Dime uploader.

FLAC: http://we.tl/uxje3t6jg6

01. Live Tonight
02. Tiswas
03. Tied Up In Nottz
04. Jobseeker
05. Tarantula Deadly Cargo
06. Tweet Tweet Tweet
07. Radio Outro

Flux Of Pink Indians The Action Space Theatre London 19th September 1980


A bit of self indulgence on this one I'm afraid. Scouring through some old music press yesterday I came across this ad. Flux of Pink Indians having recently evolved from The Epileptics were playing just down the road from my house. This band were the only musical claim for the town (discounting Shakatak of course).

Here's another early set recorded a month or so later than the Stortford date.

FLAC: http://we.tl/KvJOFANMfP


Saturday 19 March 2016

Bath Pavilion 18th August 1980


Not the best recording, but as I found this old ad for the gig I thought it might be an idea to post it. From the 'Who Wants The World?' tour.

FLAC: http://we.tl/CQdcR5yQKB

Artwork: http://we.tl/92xKkx53cA

01. Shah Shah A Go Go
02. Ice
03. Toiler On The Sea
04. Four Horsemen
05. Duchess
06. Hanging Around
07. Thrown Away
08. Down In The Sewer
09. Who Wants The World
10. Baroque Bordello
11. Just Like Nothing On Earth
12. Tank
13. Nuclear Device
14. Genetix
15. The Raven

Gary Crowley's Punk And New Wave Show (Soho Radio 15/3/2016) - Stranglers Special


I didn't know this station existed until someone posted a link on Facebook. Here long standing punk fan Gary Crowley introduces a Stranglers special on Soho Radio the week after the band rolled into Brixton.

MP3: http://we.tl/vlBqn219dS

Sunday 13 March 2016

Cambridge Corn Exchange Review (NME 1st October 1977)

In ten days time, The Stranglers return to to the Cambridge Corn Exchange. As good as they are now, I'd rather be at this one. Here's a (characteristically bad) review of the opening night of the 'No More Heroes' tour.


The Stranglers Fight It Out In Sweden (New Musical Express 1st October 1977)

Reportage of the band's run in with the Raggare
(New Musical Express 1st October 1977)

Eindexamen Festival, Hertogenbasch 15th June 1983


Here is a radio broadcast of the band in The Netherlands in the summer of '83. This has a bit of a quirky start as the radio show host appears to be backstage with the band (or at least Hugh) immediately prior to them going on. The strains of Waltzinblack can be heard from the stage. Many thanks again for the trade!

MP3 (as received): http://we.tl/1XNLPwpGS7

01. Nuclear Device (The Wizard Of Aus)
02. Toiler On The Sea
03. Ships That Pass In The Night
04. It's A Small World
05. No More Heroes
06. Who Wants The World?
07. Never Say Goodbye
08. Baroque Bordello
09. Golden Brown
10. Midnight Summer Dream
11. European Female
12. Tramp
13. The Raven
14. Duchess
15. London Lady
16. Down In The Sewer

The Members Old Waldorf San Francisco 25th October 1979


Here is the second of two soundboard recordings of The Members that I recently received in a trade. The image above indicates that the gig was in November, but I believe that this is incorrect and that the gig occurred in October of '79. Thanks for the trade!!

WAV: http://we.tl/KFtNXsY9p5

01. Electricity
02. Sally
03. Killing Time
04. Physical Love
05. Offshore Banking Business
06. Stand Up And Spit
07. Romance
08. Don't Push
09. Police Car
10. Soho A Go Go
11. Love In A Lift
12. Sound Of The Suburbs
13. Chelsea Nightclub
14. Solitary Confinement

Ruts DC Hammersmith Odeon 21st October 1980


Short but very sweet soundboard recording of Ruts DC supporting The Skids in October 1980



MP3 (as received): http://we.tl/OAUC3sMMBj

01. Love In Vain
02. Different View
03. (West One) Shine On Me
04. Society
05. Babylon's Burning


LINK RESTORED - The Damned 35th Anniversary Tour, The Middle East Club Boston 20th October 2011


This great two album show can be located here.


Saturday 12 March 2016

Stranglers Deny Split In '78 (New Musical Express 23rd September 1978)


East Lancing Michigan 10th April 1978


Another cracking gig in London last night! Spin back the calendar 38 years or so and you'll find our wandering minstrels 'entertaining' the Americans. Here is a nice sounding recording of the band in Michigan. Whilst this predates the full blown Black & White gigs there is a good taste of what was in store included in the set.

FLAC: http://we.tl/SK3fbJxADn

Artwork: http://we.tl/cSY9xzluen

01. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
02. Dagenham Dave
03. Bring On The Nubiles
04. Dead Ringer
05. Hanging Around
06. Nice ‘N’ Sleazy
07. No More Heroes
08. Tank
09. Threatened
10. Burning Up Time
11. Straighten Out
12. London Lady
13. Down In The Sewer
14. Peaches
15. Toiler On The Sea

Wednesday 9 March 2016

JJ Burnel on BBC 6 Music (Liz Kershaw Show 5th March 2016)


Here 's a short (tour promotional) telephone interview from Liz Kershaw's BBC 6 Music radio show broadcast on 5th March. JJ talks of the tour, the early days and his enduring thing for motorbikes.

Thanks to MeAnIe for this one.

WAV: http://we.tl/PrIb01MEpY

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Black & White 2016 Gigs

Owen, Adrian, Neil and Jacquie
(Somewhere in the Cairngorms National Park, 4th March 2016 (Photo: Wig))

The good news is that a couple of gigs have appeared from this tour already and hopefully there will be a clutch more over the coming weeks. Nevertheless, having thought about this I have decided that whilst I will post these for the benefit of those who are unable to get them elsewhere, I will only do this after completion of the British tour. Some people don't want spoilers on a tour and whilst I think that you would have to be hiding under a rock to escape details of the set one week into the tour, I can be smug about it and state that this site did not spill the beans!

So, please sit tight for now.



The Damned The Roadmenders Northampton 18th May 2016


Really glad to get my hands on a pair of tickets for this one (having been too disorganised to sort myself out with tickets for the following night's gig at the Royal Albert Hall!). I love a warm -up gig me.