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.


Sunday 20 January 2019

The Purple Helmets The Marquee Club, Wardour Street, London 24th June 1988


Arranged as a private party for subscribers to ‘Strangled’ magazine this was my one and only gig at one of the most famous rock venues in the world. Shortly after this gig, The Marquee Club (which in it’s present location had played host to The Who, Hendrix and Bowie etc etc) upped sticks and moved to a larger premises in nearby Charing Cross Road.

Supporting The Helmets on this occasion were JJ’s Belgian mates Polyphonic Size.

JJ on stage with Polyphonic Size.

 At some point prior to their set, I met the girl who would in time become my wife.

The gig was energetic and as I said in the Astoria post this was a unique opportunity for me to get up front and personal with musical heroes. In fact the band were far more accessible at The Marquee as the photograph below shows. Taken by Melody Maker lensman (but never published) I can be seen attempting to poke Burnel's eye out!


Such was the effect of the heat that one was minded to take a sojourn on the front of the stage.


From where the view was perhaps unorthodox!

'Stick my fingers right up your nose!'


1 comment:

  1. I was at the fan club gig, Ade, and by the looks of that pic of you, we were more or less standing next to each other!

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