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, 24 July 2022

20 From '81 (8) The Police Brighton Centre 18th December 1981

 


Now this may divide opinion. Three white guys who had all been around the musical block it is fair to say jump on a bandwagon called punk and make a name for themselves. Soon to ditch the shackles of punk they carved a niche in  the British music industry with their 'Reggatta de Blanc'. The formula worked and whilst the music press were always suspicious of The Police, the public certainly took them to heart as they churned out hit after hit over their five album career. This set alone includes nine top 20 singles, four of which went to number 1!

Where did I stand on them? On record I think they are great, especially the first three albums but live from the earliest days Sting could not suppress his jazz roots and this lead to diabolical improvised versions of some of their songs on stage. Listen Sting, 'Roxanne' is a great track but no one needs a live version of it strung out for eight minutes!

This particular gig was very nearly my first. I was offered a ticket but opted to see Adam and the Ants instead, arguably the wrong choice. 

In 2007-2008, The Police embarked on a 158 date world tour (yes really that many!) and given how public the rifts were in the band, one can kind of question their motives for undertaking such a schedule.

But anyway, here they are promoting the 'Ghost In The Machine' album in December 1981.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-oFXlRNGCL0

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-GEk1a5PIHa

01. Voices Inside My Head
02. Message In A Bottle
03. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
04. Spirits In The Material World
05. Hungry For You
06. When The World Is Running Down...
07. The Bed's Too Big Without You
08. Demolition Man
09. Walking On The Moon
10. Shadows In The Rain

01. Bring On The Night
02. One World (Not Three)
03. Invisible Sun
04. Roxanne
05. Don't Stand So Close To Me
06. Can't Stand Losing You
07. So Lonely

No comments:

Post a Comment