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 31 December 2023

Dreamtime - Wet Dream or Nightmare?

 


Posting the 1986 Hamburg gig earlier this morning had me listening to some 'Dreamtime' tracks for the first time in a couple of years. Consequently I pulled up the studio album on Spotify for a full listen and a bit of an appraisal.

Of course, at the time of the album's release it was hugely exiting for me. I was 17, three quarters of the band were in their 30's and just ten years on from (Get A) Grip (On Yourself). Okay, so it was the ninth studio album, but still looking backwards from the looming 50 year mark it seems like a long, long time ago!

Epic clearly had high expectations for 'Dreamtime'. Adverts for the album and associated singles were large and prominent in the press. Similarly, the S.I.S. franking machine went into overdrive as press release after press release landed on the doormats of subscribers (presumably paid for by Epic). 


The single 'Nice In Nice' served as a taster for the album. A solid track whose jangly guitar work pre-empted the direction that British guitar bands would go in in the next few years. The cover was great too, a nod to the glory days, or perhaps more accurately the days of infamy, the defiant shot of the band in handcuffs outside Nice police station. The omens were good.

With the passage of time I cannot recollect how many of the songs came across on those critical first listenings. I do remember stand out tracks for me being 'Dreamtime', 'You'll Always Reap What You Sow', and 'Nice In Nice' (because I knew that one!). As for 'Always The Sun', well, as is the case with 'Golden Brown', it is hard to be objective about a song now that for a great many people is the band's second best known song. If I tire of the song live, it is not because I don't like it, far from it, it is a brilliantly crafted piece of music, faultless even.... I would just rather hear other songs. I wouldn't lose sleep if I  never heard 'Peaches' live again, so you get my drift. Given the fact that the song is so well known, the royalties from which would have kept JJ and Dave stocked up on the red wine and Stella respectively for a lifetime, it is astounding that when it was released as the second single it stalled at No. 30 in the UK singles chart! With hindsight, this had everything to do with the dire state of the British music scene at the time and very little to do with 'Always The Sun'. In my view by 1987, British music was part way down a long slope of decline that would run into the middle of the next decade when Britpop changed its fortunes. 

Still given this disappointment within the wider Stranglers' camp, yet more singles were released in the form of 'Big In America' and 'Shakin' Like A Leaf' both of which faired pretty badly chartwise. Whilst 'Big In America' was intended to pave the way towards a forthcoming US tour, for me it was one of the weaker tracks on the album. 



It was the four singles plus 'Was It You?' which ran nicely into 'Sewer' that the band chose to include in the 'Dreamtour' set. I think the title track should have been in there, it's big chorus would have sounded great live.

In other gripes, the album has that big, overproduced sound that afflicted so many records in the mid-80's, so perhaps the band can be let off that one. My other beef, and one that is true of 'Dreamtime''s predecessor too is that some of the best tracks of that time didn't make the cut and were consigned to B-side status on the many singles. 'Since You Went Away' and 'You' (like 'Shakin'' a 'Sculpture' sessions hangover) should have been album tracks. In 1985/1986 why was it that the track selection process (in the past shown to be spot on) went awry? Was it a symptom of the increasingly fractious relationship between JJ and Hugh? I don't know but 'Dreamtime' suffered as a result. 

Thankfully, 'Was It You?' a planned fifth single no less was shelved, presumably as a result of the poor chart performances of the earlier singles. For a cash strapped 17 year old lifting five songs of a ten track album for single release was a bit much. This was especially so as in the mid-eighties, record company marketing departments had discovered and very much run with the idea multi-formating singles, so the 7" once joined with the 12" now came with the picture disc option. Three's a crowd as they say.... oh and an 'official bootleg' anyone?

I certainly don't hate it, but it is No. 9 in my Mk.1 top 10. Your thoughts?



Saturday 30 December 2023

Knopfs Musikhalle Hamburg 8th November 1986

 


Moving things on by approximately 18 months and we have the band touring Europe promoting 'Dreamtime'. This is a full set show. There are some issues with the recording, particularly evident during 'WWTW'... perhaps an issue with condition of the original cassette.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-qrJRGRk2uG

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Hr06l5h17t

01. Intro
02. No More Heroes
03. Was It You?
04. Down In The Sewer
05. Nice In Nice
06. Punch & Judy
07. Souls
08. Always The Sun
09. Strange Little Girl
10. Golden Brown
11. Nice ‘N’ Sleazy
12. Who Wants The World?
13. Big In America
14. Bring On The Nubiles
15. Shakin’ Like A Leaf
16. Uptown
17. Tank
18. Toiler On The Sea
19. Spain
20. Peaches
21. London Lady

Glasgow Apollo 15th February 1985

 


This is a pretty good sounding recording from one of the biggest shows of the Aural Sculpture tour... GLASGOW! Looking at the file naming I think that this has had some attention from DomP, hence the superior sound.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-pjqjCtfMoX

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-MtkVpvmuSZ

01. Something Better Change
02. Nuclear Device
03. Uptown
04. Dead Ringer
05. No Mercy
06. Nice ‘N’ Sleazy
07. Thrown Away
08. Let Me Down Easy
09. Midnight Summer Dream/European Female
10. Ships That Pass In The Night

01. Golden Brown
02. Peaches
03. Death & Night & Blood
04. Threatened
05. Punch & Judy
06. Hanging Around
07. I Feel Like A Wog
08. Down In The Sewer
09. Nubiles (Cocktail Version)
10. Toiler On The Sea

Thursday 28 December 2023

The Slits Music Machine London 8th August 1978 (TFTLTYTD #4)

 

I cannot and do not profess to be an authority on The Slits. What I do know however that it is an opinion universally held that they, as much as any other band associated with the early London punk scene, embodied the true spirit of punk. Nobody looked like The Slits, nobody sounded like The Slits. Ari Up and Co were as brash and as shocking as the Pistols, perhaps more so in conservative 1977 since they were WOMEN! In terms of where women stand in music and beyond that band's contribution to the breaking down of gender barriers is immeasurable, they were game changers.

I never got to see The band when they reformed (along with Hollie Cook, Paul Cook's daughter) but a recording of that bad can be found here.

Also a recording of the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Reunion' on the women of punk in which Tessa Pollitt and others discuss the influence of The Slits and others is here.

Ari died of breast cancer in October 2010 at the age of just 48. She and her fellow musicians in The Slits were pioneers who changed many people's lives.

Here are The Slits performing at London's Music Machine in Camden on a night when they shared the stage with the inimitable Johnny Moped. Thanks to Dimer Grner1 for the original upload.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-ErtSmkTuhX

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-xNxH5sLgxD



The Shepard Risset Glissando


According to Wikipedia the Shepard Risset Glissando (the Shepard tone) is an auditory illusion where a tone appears to continually ascend or descend in pitch when in fact it goes no higher or lower.

The Shepard tone is used quite extensively in the film industry as an auditory device in a cinematic score since it is understood to create a feeling of unease or tension in the listener.

Listening as I was recently to a radio documentary called 'The Ghost In The Machine', when at a point approximately 27 minutes in, the narrator gives an example of the tone both ascending and descending, something struck me. Now, I am no sound engineer but listening to these two tones, I hear strong similarities with some of the noises that Dave was making in the studio at around the time of 'The Raven' and 'The Gospel' albums, specifically the departure of the alien craft that closes the latter album and the run out on 'Genetix' on the former album. 

The band always said that there was a bad or negative 'vibe' going on at the time. Was it the case that Dave and the band were aware of the Shepard tone and along with the heavy substances in use at the time, aspects of the music they were surrounding themselves with was a contributing factor to the perceived negative atmosphere within The Stranglers' camp at the time? 

Just a thought.

The 'The Ghost In The Machine' documentary can be found here.

Wednesday 27 December 2023

Gottingen Festival 11th June 1988

 

Here's one of just a handful of festival gigs that the band did in 1988, a very quiet year...

Not the greatest quality, shorter and not as interesting setwise as Milton Keynes or Nyon that year.


FLAC: https://we.tl/t-kn51GXmu3S

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-vLXxeggksf



Ipswich Gaumont 26th March 1987

 


One from the Spring '87 leg of the 'Dreamtour', this time in Ipswich.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-mAf7s4aYrT

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-ME3EXP0Oo9



Saturday 16 December 2023

Cambridgeshire News Article December 1976

 


This cutting has done the rounds a bit recently, started I think by Robin Tate (cheers). I tried to piece it together and it is readable if you click on the image for an enlargement.

Can't find anything on this (presumably Peterborough) pub, but it is an interesting read on the early trials and tribulations for the band!

O2 Academy Newcastle 16th March 2017

 


Ok a gap filler for me. The Classic Collection in Newcastle 2017. Many thanks to Malcolm769 for the share and to Meanie for the artwork!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-jeyMIoR7qd

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-EV4a7R4hCc



Saturday 9 December 2023

A Request - 2017

 


Just looking to fill some gaps in the collection. Is anyone out there willing to share lossless recordings of the following 2017 gigs. I have the artwork, thanks to Meanie but no recordings and if possible I would like to put them up on the site.

Birmingham
Liverpool
Guildford
Leeds
Nottingham
Southampton

Cheers, Adrian.

Friday 8 December 2023

The Pogues Hammersmith Odeon London 8th December 1985 (TFTLTYTD#3)

 


This could not be more apt. The Pogues touring 'Rum, Sodomy & The Lash' on this very day 38 years ago. Today also happens to be Shane's funneral. The band's second album was in my opinion their masterpiece, albeit one of a trio of peerless albums, the first three from the band. I used to have this on tape, but mislaid it some years ago. Thanks to musicfan1 for the Dime uploaded replacement!

Some weeks ago I put a list of bands that I intended to post as part of a 'Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die' themed thread. The Pogues were on that list as Phil Chevron was lost to cancer some years ago. Now Shane is gone too. Bad days.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-6qGw1i6Ii0

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-WUjyoLgoHZ

01. Intro
02. The Sickbed Of Cuchulainn
03. Streams Of Whiskey
04. Billy's Bones
05. Repeal Of The Licensing Laws
06. Transmetropolitan
07. The Old Main Drag
08. A Pair Of Brown Eyes
09. Dirty Old Town
10. Wild Cats Of Kilkenny
11. Whiskey You're The Devil
12. Sally MacLennane
13. Jesse James
14. I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day
15. Dingle Regatta
16. The Gentleman Soldier
17. Poor Paddy
18. Waxie's Dargle
19. And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
20. Boys From The County Hell
21. The Wild Rover
22. Sea Shanty
23. The Parting Glass

Shane MacGowan - Punk Poet Extraordinaire (1957 - 2023)

 


Right on the back of the news of Geordie’s death, the punk fraternity were hit with another huge loss. Shane MacGowan, original punk ‘face’ (Shane’s ears graced quite a few early photos of The Jam and The Clash), singer with the Pogues and later The Popes. Shane had been hospitalized with encephalitis for some time and things were not looking too hopeful for any kind of recovery. Then, there was some on-line pre-Christmas cheer with the news that he was out of hospital and homeward bound. I cannot say what happened next, whether he suffered a relapse or in fact his doctors and family knew that the end was near and he was discharged to allow him to be at home in his final days. It does not matter of course because either way the voice of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s London Irish has left the bar for the last time. 

At the same time that Shane was starting to make a name for himself, on stage rather than off, with his band  The Nipple Erectors, The Specials were melding the music of an earlier generation of immigrants into England with punk. A couple of years later, Shane’s next band, The Pogues, were doing something very similar. For The Specials it was the Blue Beat rhythms that the Windrush generation brought with them from the Caribbean that they so brilliantly combined with a punk energy/attitude. For The Pogues it was traditional Irish folk music that they again stunningly warped with punk. For me, the comparisons of the two bands can be taken a step further. Both bands formed during dark times in England… individual members of The Specials and the band itself existed at a time when the far right had a following that had not been seen since the Blackshirts of the B.U.F.. Their gigs were dogged by the National Front and British Movement hell bent on disrupting their gigs. Similarly, The Pogues came to prominence at a time when the IRA were very active in England. I cannot speak from experience, but London Irish life in the early ‘80’s could be unpleasant at times. 

I saw The Pogues several times in the mid to late 1980’s thankfully. How can you adequately describe a Pogues gig….. a drunken party executed with the intensity of a pitched battle. I have been to hundreds of punk gigs over the years but I have never witnessed drunkenness on such a magnificent scale! And on each occasion I too was one of those drunken good natured combatants. 

Off stage, I used to see Shane occasionally in Camden where we decamped to every weekend from where we were living in Kilburn, but I never spoke with him unfortunately. As I write this, Shane’s funeral cortege has passed through Dublin. Photographs indicate a huge outpouring of love and emotion for the man and his music. 



Many bands, especially Stateside have adopted the musical style of The Pogues, but not have managed to achieve poetry, passion and sheer fun of the original.

Thank you Shane MacGowan (& The Pogues). 

'Then they'll take you to Cloughprior and shove you in the ground
But you'll stick your head back out and shout "We'll have another round."'

Killing Joke Albert Hall Manchester 4th April 2022

 It was a shock last week to learn of the passing of Geordie Walker, Killing Joke’s powerhouse guitarist since March 1979. Watching Geordie play was like watching an optical illusion. Calm in the eye of the storm he seemed to be unmoved by the musical cacophony that enveloped him. His playing was more than laid back as he slowly massaged the strings of his Gibson. As seemingly effortless means of creating a wall of sound, the sonic assault that underpinned so much of the band’s material.

Like The Stranglers, Killing Joke have enjoyed the loyalty of an ardent fanbase for many years, through good times and bad, and I am sure that they are keenly feeling the same sense of loss that accompanied the loss of Dave and Jet. With Jaz due to embark on his spoken word tour of a life with Killing Joke in March, I wonder what the future holds for this legendary band. 

Here is a fairly recent recording of the band from Manchester. Many thanks to the original Dime uploader (rbose1).

RIP Geordie Walker.


FLAC: https://we.tl/t-7WHi9BI3mM






Sunday 26 November 2023

Geordie Walker 1958 - 2023

 


More bad news pouring in on social media this evening. Geordie Walker, originator of the grinding guitar that made Killing Joke sound like a band without equal has died at the age of 64. 

This site, in its usual, rather insignificant way will mark this huge loss to the punk community in the coming days. 

Saturday 25 November 2023

999 Musiktheater Piano Dortmund 11th November 2023


Thanks as ever to my friend Peter for sharing this recent gig that 999 played in Dortmund recently. A great solid set as always from one of the most important band's in my world! They seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves right now. Stuart posted that as of 19th November the band had clocked up 38 gigs in the year... fair play to a work rate like that from a band that mark their 48th anniversary next month. 

We were hoping to make it over to Germany for this one. We haven't been to the area since Gunta's aunt died in Dusseldorf some years ago and we have yet to see 999 abroad. However, she has just embarked on a degree course and is having to study for the first time in 40 years, so leisure time is a little restricted for now! Sadly, Ruts DC in Dusseldorf went the same way this year too. Next year we will do better!

Enjoy!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-6qFy9lPbVT

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-9GK8W7LZZW

Stranglers bassist JJ Burnel on how he stays fit: ‘No sex or drugs – just rock n roll’ Daily Telegraph Interview (19th November 2023 - The Telegraph)

 Couldn't bring myself to purchase The Telegraph, but for anyone who missed it here's Liz Kershaw's interview with JJ from 19th November 2023.

You know you’re getting on a bit when your pop idols become pensionable – and that’s if they’re lucky. In recent years, so many of mine have sadly slipped off all too soon to that great gig in the sky. Others have simply slipped on stage. Bruce Springsteen, 74, took a tumble during at least two gigs on his recent 50th anniversary world tour and had to cancel a few nights because of a mystery illness. Earlier this year Madonna, 65, (who also famously had a fall at the 2015 Brit Awards) was hospitalised due to a bacterial infection and had to postpone her 40th anniversary tour. Mick Jagger, 80, meanwhile, takes a preventative approach and travels with a mobile gym and a physiotherapist. 

Clearly it’s a perilous business being an ageing rock star. So what does it take to ensure you’re stage-ready at 9pm when your peers are settled on a sofa with a cup of tea? Bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel is now the last man standing from the Stranglers’ original line-up. 

Next year, at 72, he’ll notch up half a century as the driving force of one of our most innovative and enduring British bands. He lives with his partner in Provence, in his French parents’ old house, but was recently in the UK for the launch of his autobiography, Strangler in the Light, and to rehearse for the band’s Golden Anniversary tour, on which he’ll once again be thrashing his bass, karate-kicking at the crowd and ripping off his soaking shirts to get his pecs out. Fifty years on, Stranglers’ gigs are still mostly sold out – and an energetic business. So how does Burnel stay so fit?

“Touring is exhausting. You have to keep in good shape. It’s all down to respect for the people who’ve paid good money to see us. How many bands are still going strong after 50 years and can sell out the Royal Albert Hall in seconds? I used to be a punk and, as an angry young man, I was very anti-authoritarian and always getting into punch-ups. But this tour won’t be Last Night of the Punks. These days I’m much more disciplined. And I’m not ready to retire yet!

I’m a seventh dan in karate – [one of] the highest rated in the UK – so I’ve always worked really hard on keeping myself fit. I’m always busy with band stuff but I never miss exercising, indoors or out. My “religion” dictates that I do at least one training session every day. I do up to 100 press-ups and sit-ups and work on kicks and exercises to work the different muscle groups – whether I’m in a hotel room or at home, where I also do cold-water swimming in my pool or a nearby lake. Or I walk a mountain trail. But I don’t run because it’s bad for the joints.

The best exercise is to be on my feet on stage. Moving about on stage stops my backache for a couple of hours. I try to give it my all and I lose about two litres [3½ pints] of fluids during a gig – by the end I’m completely drained. 

These gigs will be more than three hours long, and mainly in seated venues, with an interval… or rather a comfort break – a lot of our fans have been with us since 1974. 

All the playing and travelling is gruelling and it’s so easy to let yourself go. So as well as making time for exercise, I insist on eating healthily: mostly protein and greens. I always eat breakfast – usually eggs, sometimes with bacon and brown sauce, but no bread and always fresh coffee. I’ll have a salad for lunch and in the evenings, at home, I like to cook fish, lobster, meat and veg. I’m partial to truffle oil and a dollop of crème fraîche. On tour we have a couple of cooks with us. If I do have to grab any junk food I’m filled with self-loathing!

Being French I like a small glass of rose with my lunch, home or away. But there’s no other booze before the gig. The band do enjoy a well-deserved drink while we chat through our post-match analysis. If we’ve had a really good night we might pop a bottle of champagne and then a couple of bottles of red. But nobody needs a hangover, just plenty of sleep. I’ll usually get to bed by 1am wherever I am and fall asleep to Debussy. And I don’t get up until 11 unless I have to be up and on the road early. I know it doesn’t sound very “sex and drugs and rock ’n’ roll” from the guy who was NME’s Stud of The Year in 1977! But still, I hope I’m not your standard septuagenarian.

I was only 21 when I met the other guys from the band. I’d just dropped out of uni when I picked up a hitchhiker near Guildford one night and met his mates, and next thing I was invited to replace him in their band. We all lived hand to mouth above the off licence owned by our drummer, Jet Black. By 1976 we were getting 200 gigs a year in pubs. Jet would collect our 25-quid fee and then treat us to Kentucky Fried Chicken, which I loved back then – though I wouldn’t touch it now. 

I had no fat on me but I wasn’t scraggy. I was a little kid in London in the hungry 1950s, when food was still rationed. But my dad was tall and muscular, from Viking stock, and my mum was tall and beautiful, so I had good genes. So I was already over 6ft at my all-boys grammar school. I played rugby and as I was always getting into fights I’d taken up boxing, so I already had muscles when I discovered a karate club at uni.

As a student I had no idea how to talk to girls. Six years later, when the Stranglers were on stage there for the first time, I was an absolute babe-magnet! There’d be girls queueing up outside my hotel room door. And then top models are all over you and you’re invited to fashion shows and Grace Jones jumps out of a cake for you at a party and famous rock stars’ wives are blatantly chatting you up… It all got so weird. How did I cope? I was like a kid in a candy shop – I just went for it! I’m told I’m still cute, but actually I’m not that bothered about sex anymore. Lower testosterone – it’s a fact of later life.

On this tour we’ll be playing songs from our catalogue of around 200 from 18 albums. We’re playing some of the more obscure ones live for the first time. Back in the day we were trying to be clever and they’re quite complex arrangements and hard to play now. I’m having to get my head – and fingers – round all the notes and regain muscle memory. To be honest, we were off our heads on mind-altering drugs back when we wrote them.

For one whole year, me and some of the other guys decided to take heroin to see if it inspired us creatively. We’d inhale lines of heroin (for a high) mixed with coke (for energy). It did produce a different kind of album! But I was going to bed at dawn and sleeping all day. I was 30 and in a pathetic physical state. As thin as anything, just skin and bones. Dave [Greenfield], our keyboard player, took charge. I went cold turkey, which was grim, and after two or three days I vowed I’d never touch the stuff again. 

What saved me was that I never injected anything. That and karate, which has helped me hold back – though getting injured goes with the territory. I’ve torn cartilage, muscles and tendons, broken bones and had two screws in my leg and done a whole Stranglers tour on crutches. But karate has kept me on an even keel and, as well as keeping me physically fit, it’s a much-needed coping mechanism. A way of life. A philosophy. “Never give up. Persevere. Remain faithful. Respect yourself and others.” I now share this with the students at my Shidokan karate school in London, which I set up more than 30 years ago.

Emotionally, the last six decades have been a real rollercoaster and at times I have struggled with my mental health. At my lowest point I tried to top myself. Our fifth album, [The Gospel According to the] Meninblack, came out in 1981 and went straight to number eight in the charts, but the next week it had disappeared. We were skint. I thought it was all over, so I took myself off to my garage… Luckily I really was a failure! 

Hugh Cornwell, our singer, called me after a gig in 1990 and said he was leaving us. All the band’s assets were then frozen. I had no money. I had to sell my motorcycles to feed my kids. The highs have been getting my pride and the band back on track.

The Stranglers have never been seen as soppy, because we’ve never written love songs. But on our last album, Dark Matters, in 2021, two songs are about love. One [And if You Should See Dave…] for my friend of 45 years, Dave Greenfield, who we lost to Covid. Plus The Lines is about still being able to love yourself when you look in the mirror and have to face up to ageing.

Some of my peers are having Botox and dying their hair. I think they look ridiculous. I just accept the wrinkles and white hairs – as well as a bad back, detached retinas and hearing loss. I’ve yet to write a song about incontinence! 

One thing that I’ve learnt over the years is that you can’t go on stage wasted. If I am tired one morning, that’s a pain, but if it gets so that I wake up every morning knackered, then I’ll think about packing it in. But I have to be doing something. I can’t bear lying around on beaches. I’d still be revving up my motorcycle or hiking with my dog in the mountains. And jamming in a local blues band with a founder member of the Yard Birds. Oh, and enjoying the Telegraph crossword every Saturday! And my little grandkids, aged two and three, who are the real stars now. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m a big softy really.”

Sunday 19 November 2023

The Damned Hammersmith Odeon London 11th October 1982

 


To mark Rat's return to the Damned fold and thus reuniting my personal classic line up of the band here they are on the wonderful 'Strawberries' tour. This is a great sounding show from Hammersmith Odeon. Many thanks to the original uploader.






Sunday 12 November 2023

Jean Jacques Burnel 'Strangler In The Light'

 


First and foremost, well done to Coarsegood books for producing such a well presented book. Being something of a bookish type I do appreciate good presentation and this publication has that in abundance. But as they say, 'You can't judge a book by its cover'. Indeed not and this was an initial concern of mine. A long career in the rock 'n' roll business can play havoc with one's powers of recall, something to do with all of the late nights I think! I'll be honest here in that I feared that Mr B's memories of critical creative times for the band i.e. around the time of 'The Raven' and 'Gospel' albums would be somewhat hazy on account of those late nights, but happily this was not so.

I like the fact that the book is structured in terms of themes rather than having a chronological presentation, this breaks up what is ultimately a very well known story for a great many readers. Early in the book, JJ elaborates on his sense of being different. It cannot have have been easy growing up with French heritage 10 years or so after the Second World War. My family have first hand experience of this. My wife is half German and half Latvian. Born in '65 and raised in Coventry, 25 years after Goebbels boasted of the city being 'Coventrated'. The fact that my in-laws dressed her up in a Heidi outfit didn't really help matters. Roll the calendar forward some 30 years and we find ourselves sitting in the Junior School headmasters office as he apologised for the nazi taunts that our kids had been subjected to in the playground. Kids are very cruel, so just like the narrator in Johnny Cash's 'A Boy Named Sue', our JJ had to learn to give it out.

'And he said, "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along
So I give you that name, and I said goodbye
And I knew you'd have to get tough or die
It's that name that helped to make you strong"'

And it seems that there were parallels with Mr Burnel Snr and Sue's old man.... both were good in a fight as indeed was Grand-père Burnel too! Forget the Biffa Bacon family of Newcastle, enter the Biffa Burnels of Normandy!

Some chapters filled in gaps in my knowledge, for example a more detailed exploration of JJ's life long commitment to martial arts and the strength (mental) and discipline it has given him over the last five decades. For the bikers out there he spends time on his passion for motorbikes, no so interesting for me, unsteady as I am on a push bike. However, his involvement with Shidokan and bikes are two elements that alongside music maketh the man, so the detail needs to be in there.

What I did particularly enjoy were the conversations covering his like in music outside of The Stranglers. From 'Euroman Cometh' through to the Gankutsuou soundtrack material, there is a diversity there that shows that creatively, he is much more than a hooligan bass player! A particular favourite of mine is 'Un Jour Partfait', which perhaps I have Hugh and his waning interest in the 'other' band to thank for as JJ had to seek other creative avenues for his musical creativity. Interesting that this French only release was not well received in the Mother country. Also of interest is the time he spent supporting, promoting and producing young European bands, Taxi Girl and Polyphonic Size in particular (see the previous post where Taxi Girl's 'Seppuku' demos are shared).

Perhaps one area that has not been the subject of quite so much Stranglers' lore concerns the relationships and dynamics of the band over its near 50 year existence. This part of the book is saved for the last chapter entitled 'Membership'. Obviously, Hugh's departure is right out there in front. The fact that these two surviving original Stranglers only interact by sniping periodically in press interviews continues to sadden me. But, these two men have 140 years plus life experience between them so if the issue hasn't been resolved by now I guess it never will be. I suppose that elements of those personality  traits that made them difficult and defiant individuals when the band started out still come into play 33 years after Hugh walked away.

The story of Paul's time with the band pretty much correlates with my view of Hugh's replacement. An affable and able vocalist but one who was never really Stranglers' material. After 16 years in the fold, Paul's commitment seems to have evaporated at a time when the band had been at their lowest career ebb (at the time of Paul's departure, half of 'Norfolk Coast', the return to form album, was done, so whether the band fully knew it or not, recovery was just around the corner). Of course I was not party to what went on, but I can well imagine that with Baz Warne now in the band (in place of Paul's ally John Ellis) and JJ's and Baz's developing musical partnership, Paul Robert's felt increasingly marginalised and jumped. As for John Ellis, well it is enough to say that I doubt whether he will be reading the book any time soon. 

But what of Jet and Dave? JJ talks of a couple of rows that he had with Jet towards the end of the big man's tenure on the drum stool. JJ lost it a couple of times when Jet messed up or played too slow. I think I saw one of these outbursts at a soundcheck in Dunfermline.

When JJ talks of Dave it is clear that there was a very special bond between the two men, also apparent when the former performs 'And If You Should See Dave'. I did not realise that his health problems were as serious as they were. I knew that he had COPD and that his love of a drink occasionally made for some interesting and quirky keyboard moments. I was also aware that he had been told to reign it in before gigs and that did make a difference, but I did not know the difficulties that he was in (and of course why should I!). Either way, for many, including me, he was the sound of The Stranglers, the piece of the puzzle that set them apart and afforded them the great success that they enjoyed.

So then, a great book that offers something new even to the most knowledgeable members of the fan base. Thank you JJ! 

Friday 10 November 2023

Taxi Girl Seppuku Demo Versions 1981

 


So I am a few pages shy of finishing JJ's book and read the chapter where he took it upon himself to be a champion, promoter and producer of French bands and French music. This lead me to dig out The Rat Zone presentation of the Seppuku demos from 1981.

m4a: https://we.tl/t-hEBdMPLz5n









Thursday 9 November 2023

Listen To The Sirens Blog Site


 Ok, before I get roundly abused, there is some cross over for at least some people who visit this site with the music of Tubeway Army and Gary Numan. In an attempt not to ruffle your raven feathers I have another blog that is focused on Numan. Should you be interested, there is a quite a few recordings here as well as a new thread planned to span the man's long career.

Link to the 'Listen to the Sirens' blog..... see 1978 Tubeway Army... John Lydon loved 'em and I'm told on good authority that Pete Shelley wanted to join them!

https://listentothesirenslive.blogspot.com/

Rattus Inheritus Cask Bar Loughborough 18th June 2022

 

Here's an established tribute band, Rattus Inheritus, with a focus on Mk. 1 material.... although 'Skin Deep' and 'Always The Sun' sneak into the set. Thanks to the original Dime uploader, 


FLAC: https://we.tl/t-DCl5S1Axwg

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-FCfgRSj73a

999 The Swan Fulham London Summer 1992

 


As discussed last week on the 999 Facebook page there is a recording that features a song called 'People Who Died', that by all accounts is quite an obscure track. It did appear o a bootleg tape, one of a series of tapes of punk bands in London in the late 80's (?)/early '90's. As I recall they had something to do with Dave Ferguson (who I did buy this recording (as a tape) from back then in Fulham).

As mentioned by Nick in the recording, Pablo was local and The Swan was his local, which was probably the reason that 999 played there a few times in the early '90's. Here's a flyer from 1992 that also features some outfit called The Lurkers.

5th June 1992 is probably the date of this recording.

Of course the following year the band released 'You Us It' (the successor to 'Separates' in my opinion) and there were another handful of gig's at The Swan... those were happy times for me!

The sleeve artwork also makes reference to an interview conducted upstairs at The Swan on 20th November 1993. Whilst at a gig that both The Stranglers and 999 played at Fontwell Racecourse in '93, I was asked to interview the band for an article in Strangled, the fan publication published by The Stranglers Information Service (the interview transcript can be found here).

WAV: https://we.tl/t-bNqgmW8TpA

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-QgZUsh9hpi



Monday 6 November 2023

Ombudsmen Hope And Anchor Islington London 2nd November 2023

 


This is the second time that our daughter has had the honour of playing in one of the most hallowed gig spaces in the UK... at least in my old eyes! However, she takes it all in her stride.

So, this then is the second London gig for Manchester based four piece, Ombudsmen. A planned date at the Dublin Castle fell victim to a planned rail strike earlier in the year. On this occasion I was gutted to be absent as work commitments had taken me to Copenhagen for the two days spanning this gig. The gig line up was the same as the Hope gig that took place in March of this year, the difference being that that gig was a matinee and this was an evening affair. 

On this return date they have more product to promote, an E.P. CD entitled 'Terms & Conditions Apply' (available from https://ombudsmen.bandcamp.com/album/terms-conditions-apply ).

I did note this week that Kid Kapichi have adapted the same 'Neighbourhood Watch' logo for their new album, but Ombudsmen got there first. The adaptation was done by Mo Andrews and captures the band rather well, but then again I am a little biased in my view here!

'Terms & Conditions Apply' move the band ever forward from their first E.P. 'Fizzy Milk'. Both E.P.s are played in full in this Hope & Anchor set. Both of these E.P.s appear on Spotify too.

It is very difficult to apply labels to the band as they do not fit neatly into a defined genre, as much as a musical cliché as that may sound. There are elements of punk, electronica, funk, psychedelia and dare I say it... prog in their multi-layered tunes. The bass drives the songs whilst the guitar brings an urgency to the proceedings, a sound that compliments the vocals. Of the vocals, Mo's vocal styles vary across the set, I can hear Ari Up, a bit of Grace Slick on the somewhat psychedelic 'Yourself Is Everywhere' as well as a liberal measure of Lene Lovich. 

The band play quite regularly in the Manchester area as well as further afield with recent gigs in Liverpool, Bradford and Nottingham. Hopefully, more London dates will come their way and hopefully, if that is the case, I can arrange my time better such that I am in the same country when they next play there.

Anyway, here is the gig in full. Once again I am very indebted to Lee McFadden for sharing this recording. Cheers!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-rPc8IFCvDc

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Desf0w15TJ



Sunday 5 November 2023

999 On TV And On Film

 


Here's a DVD compilation that I put together some years ago that features a collection of TV and live appearances from 1978 to 2007. Quality varies, but it's a nice collection. Anyone recall where 'Bomb You' came from or is it another of those tracks like 'People Who Died' and 'White Trash', songs that saw the light of day for the briefest of times?

DVD image: https://go.wetransfer.com/t-F3bWP0s7pr

Artwork: https://go.wetransfer.com/t-OFKLnGXJ5h