Hugh Cornwell Fleece and Firkin Bristol 21st November 1998

 

I posted this originally back in 2012 on the long defunct Rapidshare platform. So here it is again on a reactivated link. This is quite a nice audience recording as I recall.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-lXOr85J5bf

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-NRFznyiBg4

01. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
02. All The Colours Of The Rainbow
03. Nerves Of Steel
04. Black Hair Black Eyes Black Suit
05. House Of Sorrow
06. Strange Little Girl
07. The Big Sleep
08. The Story Of He And She
09. Goodbye Toulouse
10. Lay Back On Me Pal
11. Decadence
12. Wired
13. Hanging Around
14. Who When And Where
15. Long Dead Train
16. Snapper
17. Always The Sun

Stiff Little Fingers Rock City Nottingham 11th March 2024

 

On the night that I was supposed to be seeing The Stranglers in Belfast, Belfast came to Nottingham in the form of SLF. I missed them on this tour, but here's a nice sounding recording from their 'Hate Has No Home Here' tour. A good solid sing-a-long set from the band! Listening to this makes me think that I may well make the trip over to Belfast in August for the now annual 'Putting The Fast In Belfast' mini-festival.

Thanks to the original Dime uploader (Darkorb).

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-yHcV0FYfMu

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-wipEG5SMYB

L'Olympia Paris 5th February 2009 and Manchester MEN Arena 13th December 2008 DVD

 

Apologies, I cannot recall where this DVD came from or who authored it. It features footage from two gigs, one certainly incomplete (Paris) and one incomplete in all probability (Manchester). As to the Manchester gig, on this night The Stranglers were support to The Pogues. The ticket I located on a New Model Army site, so it may be that if The Stranglers were first on it could have been the shortest set ever... any ideas?

DVD Image: https://we.tl/t-DzCN6TjPNb

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-JhPlxXGCyn

Ulster Hall Belfast 11th March 2024

 

OK then, as another tour comes to an end, in an almost time honoured tradition, here is the first recording that has gone into circulation. Thanks to several people who shared it with me. Much appreciated! I believe this first appeared on 101guitars, so thanks are due to the Historical Field Recording Unit!

I had tickets for this particular gig as I kind of missed out on getting RAH tickets and the only other tickets I have were for Cambridge. With regard to the latter, the band love it, as I recall Baz referred to Cambridge as their 'home gig'. The Dave and JJ connection. For my part I have never liked the venue, but on the other hand it is 30 minutes up the road. Logistical issues meant that I was left with little option other than to offload my Belfast tickets.... at least there is Europe later in the year.

So, I can only speak for Cambridge but I though the band were excellent (not that I was expecting a disappointment). The penny only dropped the other day when The Stranglers (Official) Facebook page posted something thanking 'The Meninblacksuits' for supporting on the tour. Then the structure of the night made sense. Devo once did something similar on their 'Duty Now For The Future' tour when 'Dove', a Christian rock band (whose members has a striking resemblance to the Devo boys) supported Devo. 

I did eventually see the set prior to the gig. I don't mind that so much and I find it stressful to go all out to avoid spoilers during a tour anyway. What did people make of the set? 'Hallow To Our Men' was certainly a nice surprise and always happy to have 'Sewer' in the set, but I dunno, perhaps I am being unreasonable... I would love to have seen something completely unexpected, a B-side perhaps (remember back in 1988 when 'Vietnamerica' cropped up briefly in the set?). And, I still maintain that 'Nuclear Power' would fit perfectly into a Stranglers' set... maybe next year.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-V87HbwwdzS

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-ny3gC7JuR5

Terry Hall Tribute Night (29th March 2024 BBC 4)

 

Last night BBC 4 ran a brilliant thread of music programming in an evening that celebrated the immense talent of Terry Hall, from The Specials, The Fun Boy 3, The Colourfield and back again. The evening started with a new compilation of 'Terry Hall at The BBC' covering his 40 plus years in music. All of the footage was familiar to me except for one show (the name of it escapes me now) where The Band were introduced by Toyah Willcox. Most of this material I have seen in the past, but it was brilliant to see it all brought together and to see it in such excellent quality.

Aside from the BBC music compilation, the highlight for me was the showing of the 'Arena' documentary which saw fanzine writer turned music journalist, Adrian Thrills, travel to Coventry see see what all the fuss, that had turned the UK monochrome, was all about. The scenes filmed in the 'office' of 2 Tone HQ in Albany Road are priceless. I pitied the neighbours! How great it was to find all of the band partying,  larking around and getting on with each other! Gunta loved it too as it showed Coventry city centre as she remembered in back in 1980.

Well done BBC 4 as they would say on 'Points Of View'.

Crass Art Exhibition London 12th to 27th April 2024

 Looking forward to getting down to see this one. Gee Vaucher's artwork was a crucial, striking element of the total Crass package. Brilliant!

Ombudsmen In Manchester Friday 22nd March 2024

 

Should you be at a loose end in Manchester on Friday (The Stranglers have a night off!) you could do worse than see Ombudsmen at The Old Abbey Taphouse in Manchester supporting VEE VV.

Ian Dury And The Blockheads Town And Country Club London 25th September 1990 (TFTLTYTD #6)

Thanks to Chatts for this one. As part of the TFTLTYTD thread, this one is for the former Blockheads drummer Charlie Charles to lost his fight with cancer not so long after this series of benefit gigs. However, the ring master of the Blockheads circus, Ian himself, lost his own fight with cancer five years later in 2000.

I was fortunate enough to see The Blockheads with Ian on three occasions. In 1994 Madness played Madstock II in Finsbury Park with Ian (a well acknowledged influence for the band) in support. At around the same time the band headlined at the Grand in Clapham, this time with The Nutty Boys (Lee and Chrissy Boy from Madness) doing the support honours. Lastly, I saw one of the band's last gigs at the Junction in Cambridge. That must have been in 1999, Ian was unwell by this stage but it was magical seeing such an icon in such a small venue. 

My first encounter with Ian and his Blockheads was when 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' came out.... late 1978. I remember going to a schoolfriend's house specifically to record the single. This meant kneeling in front of his parent's radiogram with the small plastic microphone pointed at one speaker whilst trying to be as quiet as possible! The B-side, 'There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards' was wonderfully subversive in my 9 year old mind!

Dury was a fantastic lyricist whose wayward appearance and cockney delivery meant that he still found a receptive audience after punk swept the pub rock bands aside (of course not overlooking the fact that Kilburn & The High Roads were the inspiration for many of the young punks that dominated 1977).

By all accounts Ian wasn't the easiest of personalities, but that not withstanding his and The Blockheads legacy is second to none.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-dICXFvyWK2

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-sdbmYB3dUK

 

O2 Academy Birmingham 16th March 2013

 

As the Stranglers touring machine rolls into the West Midlands today for tonight's gig in Wolverhampton, here is a birthday gig from this day in 2013, Baz's 500th gig with the band.... I wonder what his tally is 11 years down the line? Thanks to MeAnIe for the artwork!

MP3 (as received): https://we.tl/t-9qVkudrOh0

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-9sXaco0xt8

The Hummingbird Birmingham 11th March 1990

 

Here's an anniversary gig that was originally post on here back in 2012 and the link has long been dead. From an incredible 34 years ago then...

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-EJHJo4mWQH

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-XnqxSDLHLC

01. Intro
02. Shah Shah A Go Go
03. I Feel  Like A Wog
04. Straighten Out
05. Shakin’ Like A Leaf
06. 96 Tears
07. Someone Like You
08. Sweet Smell Of Success
09. Always The Sun
10. Ships That Pass In The Night
11. Peaches
12. Where I Live
13. School Mam
14. Let's Celebrate
15. Uptown
16. Tank
17. Was It You?
18. Down In The Sewer
19. All Day And All Of The Night
20. Punch And Judy

Tribute To Steve Shy (1955 - 2022) Gullivers Pub Manchester 25th February 2024

 

It was Day two on our mid week Mancunian trip and we were in the city's Northern Quarter. Gunta wanted some haberdashery and it was convenient for me that the shop was next to a pub. With a justification of 'I don't want to rush you so I'll have a quick pint' or some such nonsense, I disappeared through the swing door of Gullivers. As an aside, Mo informed me that the pub was one of Mark E. Smith's locals (I suspect that there were a fair few of those!) and The Fall's track 'The Mixer' was written about a guy who worked behind the bar in there. Any way, I digress. I could not help noticing this brilliant mosaic on the wall. It had not been on the wall when I last called into this pub. Since it was a Wednesday and just past opening at that, I was the sole customer, so I was able to occupy the booth opposite and study it well. It was a memorial piece to Steve Shy, original Manchester punk and creator of the fanzine 'Shytalk', one of the earlier cut, pasted and xeroxed DIY efforts that informed local kids about the new music both on a national level and local level. The piece is accompanied by a quite from Pete Shelley who described Shy as the 'Unsung hero of the early Manchester scene'.

From a Man United fan blog site, Steve recalls an encounter with an irate Hugh Cornwell: 

'One of the editions of Shy Talk had a piece in it which was slagging The Stranglers off. I had the mag on sale at the Electric Circus when they next played there in June 1977 and Stranglers lead singer, Hugh Cornwell, bought a copy off me. Half an hour later, he was all over the place looking for me and wanting a fight after reading what had been written. The following night, The Drones were supporting The Stranglers in Sheffield and Cornwell saw me and came walking over. I thought, “here we go”, but he just said “sorry about that last night. It annoyed me. I thought we were all supposed to be on the same side”. I said “maybe, but you’re not on the same side as the lad who wrote that fucking piece”'.

A Small Square of The Square.

 

This morning Gunta and I paid a visit to Harlow museum that also takes in the walled garden. The garden is a great secluded and peaceful space amidst the persistent traffic of Harlow (could it be that on the cusp of being closer to 60 than 50 I have become mellow... oh no!). The exhibition space traces the development of the area from from the Bronze Age, through the Roman period up to the modern day and Frederick Gibberd's new town vision.

For me the pinnacle of the town's development was The Square, simply the bestest, independent music venue that there ever was. Since moving to neighbouring Bishops Stortford 29 years ago The Square was the location of many brilliant nights.

Sadly and seemingly inexplicably (given what happened to the plot) the company that owned the land decided to end the lease so that this near legendary venue closed its doors finally in 2017. 

After closure, the venue stood derelict for several years before bulldozers levelled the building a couple of years ago. Why the decision was made to close the venue only for the land to be undeveloped for such a long time is a mystery to me. On the face of it Harlow and its residents were needlessly deprived of a brilliant entertainment hub for years.

So back to 2024 and the museum then. The original backdrop is an exhibit and boxed up sections of The Square's stage were available to buy... well I had to! Boxed as it is I was reminded of the presentation of posh cakes and pastries. However, open the box and I can assure you you would not put the contents anywhere near your mouth. It is a 10 x 10 cm slice of stage, the rubber surface of which is a rich infusion of gob, sweat and gaffer tape adhesive... in short all the flavours of rock 'n' roll condensed in a CD sized block. OK, so it is not a piece of Wardour Street Marquee, but nevertheless within it is a small part of my musical journey, but more importantly the history of the bands that put Harlow on the map and those bands that went on to much bigger things.

Also, whilst sifting through a mass of gig tickets and flyers I came across a Square beermat... could be worth a fortune!

The Undertones Sin of Pride Tour 1983

 

The box room from where I work for half of the week doubles up as a king of pastime space out of office hours. The space is small and usually looks like a radio station studio after a tropical storm has passed through. One problem is discs, CD's and DVDs. I have 100s that are half labelled or not labelled at all. I know that in this respect I am a little behind the times as such physical storage of data is on its way out but still.

Last weekend, I was trying to sort through some of these and bring a bit of order to the chaos. One had a post-it note on it that simply said 'Undertones 83'. I have listened to it and identified all of the tracks and I have to say I really like it. I am guilty of selectivity when it comes to The Undertones in that I haven't really ventured beyond the first two albums and the singles. I don't even own either 'Positive Touch' or 'The Sin Of Pride'. This recording is late career, coming from somewhere on 'The Sin of Pride' tour. A bit of on-line digging indicates that this would be one of the last gigs that the band played with Fergal since they played the live rarity 'I Ain't Got Nobody', a song by 'Sly and the Family Stone'. It is a full set recording for which I cannot pin down the date or the venue, so if anyone has any ideas...

The sound is rather changed from the new wave of The Undertones' and 'Hypnotised' The writing is more complex... there are still songs about girls but fewer on the subject of chocolate!

I have promised myself to give some listening time in the coming days to those last two Fergal period studio albums.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-kUxYNcDI4y

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-5Dq25r9zVe

01. When Saturday Comes

02. I Don't Know

03. The Love Parade

04. It's Going To Happen

05. Untouchable

06. Love Before Romance

07. Teenage Kicks

08. You Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It)

09. Julie Ocean

10. Bye Bye Baby Blue

11. Tearproof

12. Bittersweet

13. Beautiful Friend

14. Wednesday Week

15. Conscious

16. I Know A Girl

17. Get Over You

18. Let’s Talk About Girls

19. I Ain’t Got Nobody

20. Cher O’bowlies

21. Untouchable

Beach Ballroom Aberdeen 26th March 2015

To mark last night's kicking off of the 50th anniversary tour in Glasgow I thought I'd post a Scottish gig. Since all of my Baz era Glasgow gigs have already been posted to the site Aberdeen will serve as a good substitute. It was a great tour in bitter weather (see picture here). The set was great with 'Longships' preceding 'The Raven' and a vocal work out for our Dave in the form of 'Four Horsemen'. With the assistance of the Beach Ballroom' sprung floor, on this night the joint was indeed jumping!

To all in Scotland this weekend have a fine time indeed!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-2fvqarFSx5

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-RD1lZR3wyt

01. Intro
02. Longships
03. The Raven
04. Straighten Out
05. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
06. I've Been Wild
07. Four Horsemen
08. Relentless
09. Baroque Bordello
10. Golden Brown
11. Always The Sun
12. 5 Minutes
13. Freedom Is Insane
14. Time To Die
15. Nice In Nice
16. Peaches
17. Walk On By
18. No More Heroes

Manchester February 2024

 

Forget Simonon, Strummer and Jones.... Andrews, Andrews and Andrews is where it's at... 'The judge didn't even know our name!' Manchester, February 2024. Thanks to Tim Sinclair for the photo!

EXTC Islington Assembly Hall 25th January 2024

 

So old Hugh was in town and billed to appear with Coventry's The Primatives. However on the night it transpired that as a result of illness in The Primatives' camp, support duties would be proffered by EXTC. This was fine for me as I know far more XTC songs than I do The Primatives, and to be honest I have a real soft spot for the most quintessentially English of English bands. Only TC on the kit remains these days, but it was a great set and the closest that I am ever gonna get now to seeing XTC as was.

Thanks to Chatts for the share, appreciated as always.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-QE6yJxf31M

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-S5LGsF70B0

Hugh Cornwell Islington Assembly Hall 25th January 2024

 

Hugh was on good form on this night putting in a long set in North London. Thanks to Chatts for another quality recording! It was a good career spanning set and of course it was good to be in the company of some good friends on a dull January night. 

On the night I had a brief conversation with Bill Elliot and so I was very shocked to be informed of his passing just a couple of weeks after this gathering. Such a nice chap.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-RtvKRjnETS

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-LFVYXAULC3

I have posted this hear in 24 bit as received from Chatts. If you want to burn it it is easily converted.