Surely 1978 marked the height of the bands notoriety, particularly in London. Here you had the situation that a London band that were outselling all of their contemporaries were consistently having any plans to play in the capital blocked. An ongoing feud with the Greater London Council (GLC) was understood to be behind it all. Here's how the music weeklies reported on how The Stranglers' camp struggled with the arbiters of good taste in London.
Record Mirror (6th May 1978)
New Musical Express (6th May 1978)
New Musical Express (20th May 1978)
Finally, management threw in the towel, accepted the fact that for the time being a London date for The Stranglers was not in the offing and arrangements were made to bus fans wanting, but struggling to see the band, to the Bingley Hall gig.
Record Mirror (20th May 1978)
At this time Burnel went on record to say that if he had his way the May gigs that were going ahead would be scrapped in favour of club gigs which were 'fairer for the kids'. As issues with the GLC rumbled on over the summer of '78, the bass player ultimately got his way when the band returned to their pub rock roots to play a handful of 'secret' pub gigs in their old London haunts.
In the battle with the GLC, The Stranglers pretty much closed the chapter with the Battersea Park gig. After Battersea, the band's music took off in a markedly different direction that appeared to change local authorities attitudes to the band (although JJ had some issues with bookings on his Euroman tour going into 1979). Moving forward, after 1978 issues with the band playing in the UK were largely resolved. Gigs on the Continent however were a different matter...
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