It Was 40 Years Ago Today (Well 40 Years and 13 Days If I'm Being Pedantic!)

It was on 4th March 1985 that I saw The Stranglers for the first time (don't mention the Feline tour - missing that is still a painful recollection 42 years after the event!). The Aural Sculpture gig was rescheduled from 7th February and I was 16 days shy of my 16th birthday. In honour of the occasion, my parents gave me my birthday present early... a biker jacket.

I think I have mentioned it on here before, but as you can imagine, recollections are a bit hazy. One thing always stuck in my mind and that was that someone threw a shoe at JJ, prompting him to declare 'I don't want your fucking shoe!'

On this first occasion, I was not familiar with all of the back catalogue, my age and the cost of vinyl meant that as the time I was familiar with most of the singles, 'Feline' and 'Aural Sculpture', older album tracks were new to me. That was a double edged sword I guess. Coming away from that gig I was keenly aware that I had 7 or 8 years worth of the band's back catalogue to discover which in some respects is great but in another sense it means that you do not grow with the band. I missed out very much on that exitement and anticipation of a new release (and even in some cases the disappointment that came with it). I did not have to struggle with getting my head around 'The Gospel' or get to grips with the idea that the band 'had gone soft' with 'Feline' and I never knew The Stranglers Punk Band Without Compare. I did experience that anticipation between 1985 and 1990, but I would be deluded to think that first listen of anything from that period carried the same impact as hearing a '5 Minutes' or a 'Duchess' for the first time... 'Sweet Smell Of Success' anyone?

And of course with Aural Sculpture' came the brass, which whilst I understand was an integral part of the new material, however, working the brass into the old material in order to keep the boys with the brass angaged on stage didn't sit comfortably with me, then or now.

It is strange to think, looking back over a distance of 40 years that in early 1985, the band at that time were less than 10 years old and in fact had only been in the public eye for 8 years or so i.e. from today back to 2017. It's true, time plays tricks on you as you get older!

Notwithstanding the fact that I was not there at The Red Cow or the 100 Club, the time that I have had with the band has been a constant (almost) for 44 years, bringing with it long standing friendships, not to mention matrimony! My affiliation with the band has dictated how I have spent my money and where I have chosen to spend a significant portion of my annual leave. It has even had more than a little say in determining my wardrobe over the years, none of which I have regretted (and you can't often say that of fashion... especially if your teenage years spanned the 1980's).*

The Brighton gig recording can be found here.

To mark all things 'Aural Sculpture' I put together a DVD recently that was essentially an attempt to consolidate the video material that I had accumulated over the years. Of this the quality was highly variable... multiple generational copies from VHS machine to VHS machine, so I searched what was available on line. Thanks to all of those who take the time to put stuff online.

If 1984 was a year taken in recouperation, 1985 was a full on media assault. It is perhaps the best visually documented year in the career of the band, certainly for Mk. I. It seems that they had a pretty strict routine for the promtional work that they did with 'No Mercy', 'Uptown' and 'Let Me Down Easy' doing much of the legwork when it came to plugging the new album.

Anyway, I hope that it offers upgrades for some of the stuff that you have sitting in your own collections.

* Postscript: I did regret wearing deck shoes (Hugh c. 1987)... they really made my feet stink over one particularly hot summer!

DVD Image: https://we.tl/t-5tKjgbWmde

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-BrfTdfnftV

The Damned Rebecca's Birmingham 17th February 1977 (TFTLTYTD#18)

 

Well, this one kind of fell into my lap. Last week it was another of those occassions where upon looking at my Facebook feed, I saw one or two posts with pictures of Brian James. Initially, I thought nothing of it and didn't read the posts because there is nothing unusual for me to see many photos of members of The Damned, The Stranglers or The Jam etc throughout the day, as that is just a reflection of the number of band related sites that I belong to. However, when checking again 30 minutes or so later and noting posts from the likes of Louder Than War and Vive Le Rock, the penny dropped.

I knew from the late 2022 reunion tour that his health was not good, nevertheless such facts does not diminish the sense of shock that someone from a band that you have been following for decades has gone. Brian James was not just the creative force behind the first incarnation of The Damned, he was one of a few idividuals that were the inspiration for the whole punk rock phenomenon. It was his 'New Rose' that opened punk up to a wider audience, for better or worse.

RIP Brian James.

Here's a reasonable sounding Birmingham club gig from early '77.

MP3 (as received): https://we.tl/t-be0K4AbNIC

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-RJUeTYjRv1

Fancy a night out in Barnet?

 

Ad that appeared in the 11th February issue of New Musical Express. That'll fox the G.L.C.! Valetine's night too!

On Poland 1986

I read with interest Neil’s post on the Stranglers memorabilia Facebook page concerning the acquisition of a 1986 Polish gig mooted by CBS to have been an album release. No, I was not angling for a copy, although of course I would live to hear it. I just want to reiterate some of my thoughts on material that is languishing in record company vaults. The truth is The Stranglers are not The Beatles, rather than just stating the obvious, this point relates to the longevity of appeal that a band can expect. For sure, the band have enjoyed an extraordinarily long career and very much against the odds but how strong with the legacy be in 5 years or seven years when they have ceased to exist as a band. A large proportion of the band’s fan base are not in their 50’s and 60’s and whilst perhaps their children may have a fondness for the band (through enforced listening), sadly, I would expect their relevance within popular culture will tail off with the band’s demise. If you think this to be over pesimistic then consider this. My wife has recently addressed a lifelong regret and gone to university. She turns 60 later this year. However, she is not the only mature student on the course, there is a girl at the ripe old age of 24, younger than both of her children. One assignment required each student to identify a person who they saw as a role model and/or a significant figure within recent popular culture. Gunta chose Debbie Harry, and here’s the thing, not one of her fellow students had ever heard of Debbie Harry or Blondie. Now that is a person/a band that were dwarfed most contemporaries that came out of new wave and punk. Here’s was the face of the late 70’s and early 80’s that adorned the covers of thousands of magazines. She had a female iconic status that was perhaps only later rivalled by that of Diana. The point is she/Blondie were huge and yet a mention of her name and her photograph drew a great big black from Generation Z. I guess fame if more fleeting in the 21st century than even Warhol predicted. Perhaps it is social media that is to blame, platforms that create instant celebrities that have the longevity of a firework.

Anyway back to the point, and it is a point that has been discussed over and over again for several years now. There are some gems by all accounts gathering dust in the EMI vaults, from memory there are the European gigs that provided the live B-side material, the 1976 Nashville ‘debut LP’ and the PROP gig from Leeds. When it comes to a potential release of any of this stuff it surprises me that record companies have not realised that if ever there was a time to release material it would be now. Surely a release would stand a better chance of success whilst the band are still active and there exists a fanbase infrastructure (social media groups and the like) in place to generate a ‘buzz’ around a significant new release. Each year there is a flurry of excitement around Record Store Day, something that is great for the ongoing wellbeing of independent record shops and something that I fully support (although not to the extent of queuing outside of Rough Trade form 5 o’clock in the morning). But, it seems to be so often the case that, not only concerning The Stranglers, that the RSD offerings are rather lazy. Take for example the re-release of ‘La Folie’. The double album had merit, no doubt, but what was the justification for a rerelease on coloured vinyl. In my opinion, people buy such releases because they are limited and will increase substantially in value. If something is going to be rereleased make it something old but new to the ears of the fan base. Who knows, in the current chart environment, if ‘Dead On Arrival’ were to be released for RSD 2026 it could possibly achieve the success that UEA hoped and become a chart topper just like Dr Feelgood’s ‘Stupidity’.

I have no idea how many pink ‘La Folie’s were pressed up but if ‘Dead On Arrival’ or the PROP gig or Paris ’85 or Poland ’86 were to see the light of day, at £30 a go, there has be a financial upside, no?

Hugh Cornwell Vintage TV Sessions 20th November 2014

 

Here is something perhaps a little obscure or maybe just unseen by many by virtue of the fact that it was briefly out there amidst so much other stuff in the modern TV channel ocean. I think that the relatively short lived Vintage TV was somehow related to the Sky group of companies/channels. This edition, hosted by sixties icon, Petula Clark, featured an eclectic line up including Hugh, The South and Ralph McTell (best known for his cover of the Anti-Nowhere League's 'Streets of London' :)).

This edited DVD features Hugh's involvement only, whith two live tracks separated by the shorttest of interviews with the host.

DVD image: https://we.tl/t-JxJIFsIbqr

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-7tXk5YirSC

Hugh And JJ Inked

 

A lino print that I did recently, a relatively easy one as the contrast and resolution of the original image was not the best. I don't know the history of the original photograph, but it is clearly of a 1979/1980 vintage and from a time when Hugh and JJ were still close conspirators.

Linoprint in black ink on cream card

20cm x 30cm.

Sam's Minneapolis 20th May 1981

 

I am surprised that it has taken me 14 years to post this one! A soundboard recording and one of the best, if not the best of its era. There seems to be only one flaw, that being the cut off of 'Ice'. Hugh is on great form and Muffin the Mule makes several appearances in 'Nuclear Device'. This is a good example of the MIB set that I has promoting in the last '51' tour related post. Wouldn't it be good?

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-gPhVerAitM

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-g4mevMSgUC