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.


Wednesday 28 December 2016

RESTORED LINK - Stages Chicago 23rd November 1980

 And another restored link, here.

RESTORED LINK - Philipshalle Dusseldorf 21st December 1984

Resstored link for this one can be found here.

RESTORED LINK - Bonds Casino 20th June 1981

Restored link can be found here.

Keystone Palo Alto California 8th May 1981


Here's another oldie, this time from the US leg of 'The Meninblack' tour.

FLAC: https://we.tl/C5xGmyAZAU

Artwork: https://we.tl/MbkIRAqPT9

01. Intro
02. Threatened
03. The Raven
04. Toiler On The Sea
05. Just Like Nothing On Earth
06. Thrown Away
07. Who Wants The World
08. Baroque Bordello
09. Second Coming
10. Meninblack
11. Tank
12. Shah Shah A Go Go
13. Hallow To Our Men
14. Nuclear Device
15. Genetix
16. Down In The Sewer

Monday 26 December 2016

Top Secret Volume 12 July 1988

And the nest one..... here.

The Vapors Dingwalls London 4th November 2016 (closing 5 songs)


I've been a bit cheeky here and in the absence of a full recording of the band on their recent dates, here's an audio rip of Andy's youtube footage of the last five songs that The Vapors played in London on 4th November 2016 (cheers Andy!).

FLAC: https://we.tl/wYC8RuI8EA

Artwork: https://we.tl/uQVh0k4kdv

01. TURNING JAPANESE
02. PRISONERS
03. BUNKERS
04. WAITING FOR THE WEEKEND
05. HERE COMES THE JUDGE

Buzzcocks Paradiso Amsterdam 2nd March 1979


Here's a Dutch radio broadcast of Buzzcocks at the legendary Paradiso in Amsterdam on 2nd March 1979. From the look of the captured songs this would appear to be the end of a longer set.

FLAC: https://we.tl/5NWAen57tr

01. Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You Shouldn't Fall In Love With?
02. Everybody's Happy Nowadays
03. What Do I Get?
04. Boredom
05. Oh Shit!
06. Orgasm Addict
07. Breakdown

Saturday 24 December 2016

Ruts DC Het Depot Leuven 11th November 2016


Well its been quite a year for those Ruts DC boys, a new rock album a good run of gigs and much high praise. The award of album of the year for 'Music Must Destroy' by UK alternative music magazine 'Vive Le Rock' was the icing on the cake.

There's no indication that 2017 is going to be any less busy for the band, with dates in Ireland preceding a national tour with some band called The Stranglers.

Here's a set that the band played at the 'Breaking Barriers' festival marking 40 years of punk in Belgium. Many thanks to the taper for sharing!

FLAC: https://we.tl/1KwxZVn6ZO

Artwork: https://we.tl/1xOFbgsaAv

01. Intro
02. Vox Teardrop
03. SUS
04. Surprise
05. Mighty Soldier
06. It Was Cold
07. Kill The Pain
08. West One (Shine On Me)
09. Music Must Destroy
10. Love In Vein
11. Jah War
12. Psychic Attack
13. Staring At The Rude Boys
14. Babylon’s Burning
15. In A Rut

Tuesday 20 December 2016

The Newtown Neurotics Salle Dupres Blois France 2nd November 1984


Here's a short continental set from the Newtown Neurotics back in the day. 'Repercussions' is just around the corner and the band are on fire.Thanks to the sharer!

MP3 (as received): https://we.tl/nOrF6Aqp62

01. The Mess
02. Does Anyone Know Where The March Is?
03. Mt Death
04. No Respect
05. The Mind Of Valerie
06. Suzi
07. Newtown People
08. Fighting Times
09. Agony
10. This Fragile Life
11. Creatures From Another World

Thursday 15 December 2016

Public Image Limited Glasgow Barrowlands 14th May 1986


Having this week taken delivery of the rather special 'Album' Super Deluxe box set I was minded of this gig. The new box set contains a now official recording of the band at the Brixton Academy. This was an extremely ill-tempered gig which happened to be the first time that I saw PiL.

In my view Public Image Limited were at a second career peak at the time of this album and tour. The music was challenging and inventive, but the real difference came with his new band (essentially the band he has reformed PiL with now, less John McGeogh). Unlike the lackluster collection of session musicians that Lydon pulled together for the 1983 dates, the PiL of 1986 were cohesive and vibrant.

On the one hand Lydon was happy to deliver 'Pretty Vacant' to those that wanted it, whilst on the other he baffled the audience with inclusion of Kashmir by none other than...... Led Zepplin!

Here is an edited version of the Barrowlands gig (originally broadcast on Radio Clyde I believe).

Thanks to the sharer.

MP3 (as received): https://we.tl/Bsfxmch1co

01. Kashmir
02. FFF
03. Annalisa
04. Fishing
05. Poptones
06. Pretty Vacant
07. Home
08. Banging The Door
09. Flowers Of Romance
10. Bags
11. Tie Me To The Length Of That

12. Round


The SSE Hydro Glasgow 28th November 2015


OK, another one for this evening. This time a support slot for Simple Minds once again in Scotland. Enjoy and thanks to the original taper for sharing.

FLAC: https://we.tl/wHr5oTbJPK

01. Intro
02. Toiler On The Sea
03. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
04. Nice ‘N’ Sleazy
05. Relentless
06. Golden Brown
07. Always The Sun
08. Peaches
09. Time Was Once On My Side
10. Norfolk Coast
11. 5 Minutes
12. Duchess
13. No More Heroes

The Alhambra Dunfermlin 1st March 2014


Here's a great one from The Ruby Tour (Cheers Chatts!) from one of our now traditional ventures over the border.

FLAC: https://we.tl/UTK0vErnRn

Artwork: https://we.tl/ynBDwBUrDS

01. Intro-London Lady
02. No More Heroes
03. Coup De Grace
04. Was It You
05. Threatened
06. Summat Outanowt
07. Peasant In The Big Shitty
08. Peaches
09. Still Life
10. Midnight Summer Dream
11. Thrown Away
12. Never To Look Back
13. Tramp
14. Skin Deep
15. Time To Die
16. Lowlands
17. Valley Of The Birds
18. Nice-N-Sleazy
19. Northwinds
20. Freedom Is Insane
21. Hanging Around
22. 5 Minutes
23. Norfolk Coast
24. Encore Break-Baroque Bordello
25. Golden Brown
26. Strange Little Girl
27. Always The Sun
28. Genetix
29. Encore Break-Tank

Monday 12 December 2016

Dr John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell The Junction Cambridge 26th November 2016


It's a couple of weeks ago that Gunta and I saw Dr John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell on the first night of their 'This Time It's Personal' Tour in the relatively intimate setting of The Junction in Cambridge. I would be lying if a said I wasn't doubtful about this gig. I did buy the album and as I mentioned in a previous post, the songs are known to me from my mother's marathon ironing sessions that would be soundtracked by some of these '50's originals. Well crafted songs they may be, but they aren't really up my alley.

'Johnny Remember Me'
The Junction Cambridge

So, when they played through the album I watched and applauded in the right places but it wasn't rocking the venue. The album done, John disappeared leaving Hugh and band on the stage and they performed a very credible 'Walk On By'. His keyboard player looked the part (he could have been in Focus) and he did a good job.


'Walk On By' was preceded by 'Stuck In Daily Mail Land' a song of reasonable sentiment yes, but not one of Hugh's best solo efforts. Re-enter the good Doctor, now refueled with caffeine and nicotine to run through a couple of his own numbers before a finale of 'No More Heroes' and 'Grip' which were great to see, although I daresay the execution may have improved as the tour progressed and John became better acquainted with the lyrics of said songs! I caught the last couple on film happily.


'No More Heroes'

'(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)'



Tuesday 6 December 2016

'Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!'


Been meaning to do Terry for a while. One of the best, if a trifle gloomy at times, frontmen in the business.

Sunday 4 December 2016

RESTORED LINK - The Rainbow London 4th December 1981

What better time to restore this link than on its 35th birthday........ here!.



The Gaumont Southampton 19th November 1981


Today, 35 years ago, the first leg of the 'La Folie Tour' concluded at the Rainbow in London. Here's a south-coast set from The Gaumont in Southampton.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-z6K8Ce7eGD

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-vhQ85c3CGB

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