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.


Saturday 21 December 2019

Sex Pistols Mr George's Coventry 17th December 1977


This is a recording of one of the last gigs in the UK that the band were to play, only Keithly and Huddersfield on the 'Never Mind The Bans' tour. Rotten who was apparently suffering from a bad cold on the night wound the audience up and courted their support in equal measure. The famous Gooner's comment 'I see the Arsenal won!' was a reference to the fact that Coventry City had lost 2-1 at home that afternoon. 'We played to a load of ponces dahn South last night.... nice to be back' referred to the band's gig at Brunel University in Uxbridge.



The sound is pretty good taking into consideration it's age and the packed club environment in which the recording was made. It is pretty chaotic but when they do get to playing the songs they are played well... mmm maybe not the bass!


The gig was a sell out and 500 or so punters were cranked up to fever pitch such that the band had to remain backstage for two hours after the gig whilst the audience dispersed. Eventually, the band were lead out via a back entrance to the venue and taken to the nearby Leofric Hotel where Sid observed the age old rock 'n' roll tradition of smashing up his hotel room.

Sid's room
(Leofric Hotel, Coventry 18th December 1977)



01. Seventeen
02. New York
03. E.M.I.
04. Bodies
05. Belsen Was A Gas
06. Holidays In The Sun
07. Anarchy In The UK
08. Pretty Vacant


3 comments:

  1. is this the same venue as the George Robey?

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  2. The George Robey that I knew was a music venue in London's Finsbury Park (and a proper dive it was too). Mr. George's was a venue in the centre of Coventry.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mr George was a night club up stairs at the back of the City Centre precinct in Coventry. Quite famous for its Wdnesday night discos and 50p drink deals.

    ReplyDelete