Top Secret 30 (July 1991)

 

Next issue of the Top Secret fanzine. Here in PDF.

The Courettes 100 Club London 4th September 2026

 

Another 100 Club night for Gunta and I last night in the company of the eternally touring Courettes, the noisiest couple on the street! Described as the Ronettes meets the Ramones, I would add to that the fact that The Cramps occasionally pop in for tea! The Courettes appeal is not just in the music they play... which is very different... very niche, visually they put on a hell of a show. Martin's drumming ruthlessly pins down Flávia's garage rock guitar as he spirit channels Ringo Starr into the famed Oxford Street basement. I know that technically Ringo's spirit is not yet available for channelling, but you get the point. He plays the kit hard!

The band have so much energy they are exhausting to watch! Whilst the awkward configuration of the 100 Club stage may have restricted Flávia a little bit it did not stop her doing her crowd surfing guitar bit.

'Boom Boom Boom'/'Trash Can Honey'

100 Club, London 4th September 2026

A great night... the support were good to, the punchily named 'Bruno and the Outrageous Methods of Presentation' who we were informed by Mo this morning that we had seem previously (or at least elements in the band) previously at the Lexington in London when they played with Ombudsmen.

'Boom Dynamite'

100 Club, London 4th September 2026

Unfortunately, I cut off the tremendous 'Boom Dynamite' before the end.

Boom... Dynamite!

Espace BASF Paris 29th September 1983

Back to Feline and another French gig from that marathon European jaunt. This gig sees the band back in the capital for the second time in '83. The resumption of the aborted 'Down In The Sewer' required an edit as my original recording broke into some unexpected dance music (now removed). Not the greatest of recordings, but hey, it's Feline in Paris!

WAV: https://we.tl/t-ncdAwHtNxnH6uh8V

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-eF1x74Us9C0gqUWh

Ramones Roundhouse Camden London 4th July 1976

 

This iconic set from Ramones cropped up on 101 Guitars recently. It is from a gig that is steeped in the lore of the early Stranglers. Punks were on parade over the 4th July weekend in 1976 as the bicentenary of American Independence was marked at the Roundhouse.  24 hours later Ramones were in action again with a headline gig just down the road at Dingwalls. It was here where some semblance of punk pecking order was established in a brawl that effectively ostracised The Stranglers from the punk scene even before it took off. More can be read up on that here.

So this is a lossless* recording of the Ramones set. The NME review in the earlier post on this gig described Ramones as a comedy act more than a rock 'n' roll band. However, whist this is not the greatest of recordings, the band sound pretty good, albeit a bit slower... they speeded up in later years. Rather than being bemused, it is clear that at least a section of the audience were familiar with the first album (released in April 1976) as chants of 'Hey Ho Let's Go!' and 'Beat on the Brat with a Baseball Bat' can be heard.

I was prompted to post this tonight since I received an email tonight alerting me to a post that has recently been made on the Burning Up Time Forum that indicates that the recording of The Stranglers from this gig has surfaced. Whilst such a recording may not be the Holy Grail of bootlegs... an accolade still held by the NOB gig, it would be pretty special, not least because it includes 'Tomorrow Was (The Hereafter)' in the set. Let's see what happens.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-vYZENHi9GFUccfCU

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-KCVpuN0Y3xjDJvSU

Note: An analysis of the files indicates that this is in fact not truely lossless as the files are of MP3 origin.

Siouxsie And The Banshees The Left Bank Mount Vernon New York 24th October 1981

This is a really nice recording (soundboard?) of the Banshees promoting JuJu in the US. How's that for a desirable set! With John McGeogh on guitar, for many fans of the band this was the zenith of the Banshees' career, if not the classic line up of the band. Listen out for some interesting effects on 'Happy House'. This gig too has a rare appearance of 'Love in A Void' in the set, a song that suffered early on due to some lyrical content, later amended.

I have Mark to thank for the share of these files (cheers, much appreciated!). 

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-5X8EZocf48oCiqSE

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-W6nCRY4eXUa8Trin

 

Hugh Cornwell Interview on WFDU 89.1 FM New Jersey

Here's an old promotional radio interview with Hugh from the time of 'Hi-Fi'. Hugh appeared on WFDU 89.1 FM, a New Jersey public radio station licenced to Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ. I guess that this constitutes 'College' radio... I find the radio broadcasting set up in the US a bit baffling I'll admit.

This 30 minute telephone interview interview took place ahead of his appearance at the Loop Lounge in Passaic on 14th October 2001. In it he talks of the genesis of The Stranglers, his time in both Emile and the Detectives and Johnny Sox. Also on topic are his film and musical influences, especially Arthur Lee of Love, at that time incarcerated but due for imminent release after serving five and a half years of a twelve year prison sentence.

MP3: https://we.tl/t-FHVqe2Yspr7hiXsC

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-0AJUG3WdquJqWm8o

 

Nice In Nice.... Or Lost In France?

Gunta and I have just returned from the Côte d'Azur and very nice it was too. Our first time so far south in France, we were based in Cannes for the six day trip. For one of  those days we purchased a daily rail pass that would allow us to take in Nice and Antibes. We arrived at the stunning Nice-Ville railway station, an edifice constructed in the so-called Louis XIII style that opened in 1864 to cope with an influx of British high society, which had recently adopted this part of the French coast as a preferred escape destination from the cold and damp of a British winter.

Louis-Jules Bouchot's Nice-Ville Station

I suspect that Gunta was half expecting me to come up with some ill-thought through Stranglers related slant on this, out first time in Nice. I carefully introduced the Nice incident in to our conversation whilst on the train, somewhere between Antibes and Nice and that it may be interesting to perhaps locate the scene of The Stranglers' defiant pose after being arrested on charges of incitement to riot after a gig-gone-wrong at Nice University.

You know the one...

The story is part of Stranglers' lore and is covered in an earlier post that can be found here. 

I should have done some prior homework before leaving the shade of Nice-Ville for the blisteringly hot pavements of the city. Instead, I put out a post of Neil's memorabilia Facebook page asking whether anyone had the details of the precise location of the building doorway that graced the sleeve of the 'Nice in Nice' single. Ahead of any responses, we, or rather I, confidently struck out in search of a small piece of Meninblack history. 

Wig was the first to respond, postulating that the location would be the Palais De Justice, the principal (and perhaps) only court in Nice, where the case was certainly heard. However, my 'instinct' told me otherwise. I made the assumption that since JJ and Jet were in handcuff for the shot, in all probability the photograph would have been taken enroute to the court for a first hearing. Here, bear in mind that the last post that I made on the incident was back in January 2021 and it has been a great many years since I read Jet's 'Much Ado About Nothing' account... so I was going blind so to speak. If I were correct in my logic, more likely location (perhaps) would be the Maison D'Arrêt De Nice. Such buildings within the French legal system house cells in which prisoners can be held prior to trial or sentencing once convicted.

A google search of the building was promising, the photos indicated that whilst the entrance was not that shown on the cover, the architecture was similar and perhaps on the day, these four high profile prisoners were whisked away from a different part of the building. 

Maison D'Arrêt De Nice

'High on a hill...'

Armed with (misplaced) confidence and the Google maps app we began to ascent the hills of Nice. We walked and walked, ultimately finding ourselves high up on residential terraces as the 'Nice In Nice' earworm gave way to 'Lost In France' (R.I.P. Bonnie Tyler). It was a Sunday, so all very quiet. The few locals that passed us looked upon two people, obviously tourists and obviously lost (one with head down, focused upon a phone and the other scowling), with a mixture of bemusement and suspicion. 

After almost an hour of walking and climbing/descending numerous sets of steps we came upon a final set of steps that we needed to descend in order to reach our destination. The problem was that these steps were sealed off and peering through the metal fencing and barbed wire combination that was blocking off our path it was clear to see the issue. The required steps has collapsed. If there was an alternative way down to the lower terrace it was not easily apparent either to the eye or according to the GPS app. 

This was a disappointment. It was 32°C, we had no water and there was no sign of life anywhere near. Looking at Gunta as she looked at me, meant that my self-preservation instinct kicked in and I suggested that it was now a good time to abandon the search. An alternative route downhill, away from the intended Rue de la Gendarmerie was found and completed in stony silence.

Eventually after a five mile round trip, we made it back to the front and in a bar I did what I needed to do to save the marriage. At this point I rechecked my Facebook feed to find a post from a friend Gill, sharing information that would have been very well received two hours previously.

'Paul Cooklin and I visited in Oct 2024. We met with the current Chief of Police who remembers the incident well and remembers one of the policemen in the main picture. He was charming and said to look him up when we are next in Nice. The building is no longer there.'

'The building is no longer there'... I would have to pick the right time to impart this new nugget of information to Gunta.

Notwithstanding my cock-up, Nice was a remarkable place and well worth a visit (just leave your Stranglers' expectations back at home!). The sea really azure coloured... the front looks like a garish technicoloured image lifted from a 1960's travel brochure... very inviting.

Thanks to Wig, Gill and others for assistance in this matter! I will do better next time!