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, 20 December 2025

On TV In 1982 DVD Compilation

 

Without doubt, 1982 was an extraordinary year for The Stranglers. After the dark, misfortune filled period of 1980-1981, new and massively unexpected horizons opened up to the band at the end of '81 and into '82. The band have gone on record attributing this to the fact that the band stepped away from their well publicised interest in the UFO phenomenon. In the first instance I would suggest that other, less otherworldly, factors were coming in to play, such as a change of record company and a move away from hard drugs! The success of 'Golden Brown' took everyone by surprise but it set the band down a path of greater commercial success that was to last for several years. The realisation that there existed an audience for a 'softer' version of The Stranglers was a boon. In addition, the less than amicable split from E.M.I. (who had engulfed United Artists) was fortuitous in that the circumstances around their departure stirred a certain spirit of vengefulness in the band. Contractually obligated to deliver another single they mischievously rerecorded 'Strange Little Girl', a song that featured on very early demos that had been peddled to UK labels, E.M.I. included, only to be roundly dismissed by all. 

DVD disc image: https://we.tl/t-gCYKeZGyXx

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-4WtLVNXtCm

Having made the change from Liberty/E.M.I. the band released 'European Female' on Christmas Eve 1982, their first offering from new label Epic. The single set the tone for the largely acoustic 'Feline' that appeared in January 1983.

Given that 'Golden Brown' and the rediscovered 'Strange Little Girl' effectively defibrillated the band I would consider 1982 to be a watershed year in the band's career, maybe not to the extent of 1990 but very significant nonetheless.

This is a short compilation of most of what is out there as far as TV appearances are concerned. Two notable omissions are the 'Off the Record' TV gig which is available here and the 'No Nukes Festival footage from Utrecht which will get an outing in the not to distant future.

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