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.


Friday 10 April 2020

20 From '77(5) The Police Mont De Marsan Festival 5th August 1977

'Mr Sting, when you threw the bottle did you let out a little tommy queak'
(Sting at the Mont De Marsan Festival 5th August 1977)

To date I have only posted one recording by The Police, suggesting that they were not really a band for me. In fact they were almost my first gig (Brighton Centre December 1981 on the 'Ghost In The Machine' tour) .... I had the chance of a ticket but opted for Adam & The Ants instead. I do like The Police and do have all of their albums.

These days I think that opinions on Sting, the stadium rock icon, have distorted people's views on The Police. Their first three albums are great, 'Ghost in the Machine' isn't bad. It is perhaps only their final album 'Synchronicity' that was a bit up it's own arse, although I still stand by my opinion that 'Every Breath You Take' is a classic. I dare say most of the listening public never bother to listen too hard.... but really it is a sinister masterpiece of a song. 

After all with their 'Reggatta de Blanc' were they doing so much differently to what the two tone bands or UB40 and Dexy's were doing? They got mocked for their cod reggae... not that it did them any harm mind!

Here, the band that were to become a worldwide phenomena were taking the first steps to that success with a set that only comprised a few originals supplemented by material from Stewart Copeland's previous band Curved Air and Sting's Geordie jazz ensemble, Last Exit.... nice! 'It's My Life' by Sting's local heroes, The Animals, also feature.

MP3 (as received): https://we.tl/t-XHc0MJTg63

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Q9Wks15T45

01. Landlord
02. Visions of the Night
03. Kids to Blame
04. Clouds in Venice
05. Three O'Clock Shit
06. Nothing Achieving
07. It's My Life
08. Fall Out

1 comment:

  1. I was in Mont-de-Marsan, and I remember him exactly like that, standing in the arenas with his can of Coke, smiling to photographers who probably didn't really knew who he was! The Police was at the bottom of the poster, with The Clash and Damned as big bands. Well he didn't either lol, since Outlandos was recorded later that month. I was 10 and fell in love with him instantly. Sadly I don't remember the gig but on August 5th 1977 I found The One. The following year a classmate brought Outlandos back from London (it was only released in France after Reggatta's massive success). And I saw my dream man on the album cover! The Police were very good, with a then new and unique sound. My least favourite album is Zenyatta but they 've still got many classics. Peanuts is still incredibly powerful, Next To You is covered by many other bands.Oh well you shouldnt get me started on The Police!!!

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