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 21 August 2016

A Cracking Pair....... Of Posters!



Two gig posters promoting upcoming shows in Tel Aviv and Athens.

Alexandra Palace 11th August 1990


In the five years or so that I have been running this site, I am surprised that I have never posted a recording of this gig. Of all the gigs I could have missed in 1990 and it had to be this one. It was the parting of the ways as Hugh Cornwell walked off the stage after the last chords of 'Punch & Judy' had faded and ceased to be a Strangler.



Looking back, I do not really regret missing this gig (it was due to the fact that my soon to be brother-in-law was getting married in Cumbria) as I do not think that it is really representative of how the band were playing throughout the earlier '10 tour' gigs. Many of those that were in attendance that night share with me the view this gig did not see Hugh depart in a blaze of glory, it was more of a sputtering out. Maybe it was Hugh himself, alone with the knowledge that this was to be his last gig with the band or maybe it was the venue, a huge, cavernous space not really cut out for rock concerts. Whatever the reason, it was not the best performance of that time. Anyway, by request, here is the full gig,

FLAC: https://we.tl/WYV8V71FX1

Artwork: https://we.tl/KT3fSshw0P

01. Intro
02. Toiler On The Sea
03. Something Better Change
04. Shakin'like A Leaf
05. 96 Tears
06. Someone Like You
07. Sweet Smell Of Success
08. Always The Sun
09. Strange Little Girl
10. Hanging Around
11. Where I Live
12/13. School Mam
14. Let's Celebrate


01. Uptown
02. Tank
03. Was It You?
04. Down In The Sewer
05. Crowd
06. Golden Brown
07. No More Heroes
08. Nuclear Device
09. Duchess
10. All Day And All Of The Night
11. Punch And Judy

Saturday 20 August 2016

Theatre Royal Nottingham 19th August 1980

JJ & Hugh
Theatre Royal Nottingham
19th August 1980

Here's a good sounding recording of the audio from the 'Rockstage' TV gig.


01. Shah Shah A Go Go/Ice
02. Who Wants The World?
03. Toiler On The Sea
04. Thrown Away
05. Tank
06. Nuclear Device
07. Genetix