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.


Friday 14 July 2023

Norwich University 14th November 1981

 


I love the 'La Folie' era of the band. I have said it before, but in my opinion 'La Folie' is one of the most overlooked and undervalued of the band's albums. Like a bag of 'Revels' there is real variety here... but without the horrible coffee ones! And it's clever, a concept album built around the theme of love. Love, but not of the boy meets girl kind of way. 'La Folie' takes on those aspects of love that are not immediately apparent. The devotion of a nun to her Holy Order and her God, the familial love that exists within the Mafia that leads to unquestioning acts of violence and a love so intensely twisted that it results in an act of cannibalism! It's hardly Barry White material.

Here are the band on the first leg of the tour that straddled Christmas and the New Year. The band did not know it at this point but a decision by the band to release the very atypical 'Golden Brown' was about to change the band's fortunes for many years to come. This radio friendly waltz (so long as you didn't dwell too long on the subject matter) opened doors that had been closed to the band since the heady days of '77 when the band delighted in annoying all and sundry. Prime time and kid's TV programs were queuing up to have The Stranglers appear. OK, so perhaps not content with this new found acceptability the band attempted a manner of commercial suicide with the release of the album's title track 'La Folie'! A superb album track, a highlight from the album no less, but a choice that would have made cash eager executives within Manchester Square choke on their cappuccinos! As a follow up to their biggest ever hit, 'Tramp' may have kept up the momentum but who would want to change history?

Music aside by 1981, all of the elements that collectively are the essence of The Stranglers were in place... that whole Meninblack thing. As I said I love this period.

WAV: https://we.tl/t-96gvbvofnr

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-EhKI3NDgWe

01. Non Stop
02. Just Like Nothing On Earth
03. Second Coming
04. Meninblack
05. Threatened
06. Who Wants The World?
07. Baroque Bordello
08. Golden Brown
09. Pin Up
10. Thrown Away
11. Tank
12. I Feel Like A Wog
13. The Man They Love To Hate
14. Let Me Introduce You To The Family
15. Tramp
16. Nubiles (Cocktail Version)
17. Bring On The Nubiles
18. Nuclear Device
19. Genetix
20. La Folie


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