Not many bands have a publicist who's afraid to go out to dinner alone with them. Such was the case,
however, when the Stranglers first toured America in July of 1978. Forced to play hostess, the young lady employed by A&M Records invited the four or five friends to join her.
As it turned out, her caution was justified. She was unsettled by Jean Jacques Burnell suddenly leaving for New York in a fit of anger, and then during the meal Hugh Cornwell graphically discussing the various functions of the human body, Jet Black screamed and fell backwards into the middle of the aisle for no apparent reason, and Dave Greenfield displayed a disconcerting awareness of the laws governing the practice of witchcraft in England. Combined with the atmosphere created by the sensationalist press clippings that had preceeded them, it was quite an evening. Two and a half years later, the Stranglers returned.
Initially, it didn't seem as though much had changed. Songs like 'Dead Loss Angeles' and 'Genetix' were
hardly endearing little dimes. Word of their arrest in France had also drifted over. And then there was the spontaneous interior re-decoration of the Whisky (in Los Angeles) during the soundcheck.
There is a large section of removable chairs on the floor of the club, and whereas the Mexican
employees had instructions to set them up, the Stranglers had requested the option of more dance
floor space. Already initiated by the fact that the only person in the world who had a key to where the
microphones were had not yet arrived ... Hugh and Jean were frustrated in their attempts to breach
the language barrier and thereby stop the placement of the chairs. Like a scene from Disney's "Sorceror's Apprentice', the workers relentlessly carried the chairs in, two by two, ignoring the exhortations to the opposite. Monosyllables, gesturing, and even threats to call the immigration authorities were of no avail.
Finally, JJ resorted to non-verbal communication: he jumped off stage, picked up one of the offending pieces of furniture, and smashed it against a ceiling support. With the aid of Jet's helping hands, about three dozen chairs and an odd table or two were reduced to a pile of dismembered components. As the two photographers who had been waiting hours for a session prudently blended in with the wallpaper, the group went off to find a cup of tea. But such events were the exception rather than the rule.
"I am not ashamed of anything I've done or of what I am. Nevertheless, I am constantly reappraising any views, not only about myself but of the world in which I live as well.
"Some people in rock music actually are involved in things that they, however naively, believe in," he
sarcastically rejoined . Acting on his beliefs, JJ rides only Triumph Bonneville motorcyles, because
they're made "by the sole remaining workers co-operative in existence, and it's very much an on artisan
oasis". Far from what his reputation would indicate, Burnel patiently devoted over an hour of his full time to working out an interview with a Japanese fan who's-command of English left something to be desired. Among other eccentricities, Jean carries a tape of a Radio Free Moscow news broadcast on the road with him, and over that "I listened to much rock music before Kraftwerk."
Hugh Cornwell is the other Strangler who attracts the most attention. He is at least as opinionated as the younger Burnel, but Cornwell's outspokenness covers a broader range of topicS. Also, Hugh seems to state his points of view in a deliberately provocative manner. Some selected examples cover a
spectrum of concerns. On evolution, Hugh postulated "man could have been a bio-chemical experiment by alien intelligence placed here among indigenous life forms, its functioning being based upon the systems already in evidence."
On religion Cornwell stated, "I get a religious experience when I have a crap. It's emotional, you've become decongested. You're communing heavy with God." And delighting in the effect, he responded to an all-too-familiar charge of sexism by promising, "The Stranglers love women, have always loved women, and will continue to love women at every possible opportunity ."
Jet is a bearish man, has a predilection for long quiet conversations with liquor bottles, and in fact owns more than one liquor store in England. He is soft spoken, and when he does decide to talk his words are carefully chosen and they reveal an intelligent, thoughtful mind behind his extensive vocabulary. Black works closely with the Stranglers Information Service ("We don't have a fan club"), whose publication 'Strangled' contains many of his contributions. He is basically self-educated and advises, "The happiest people I know have, like me, no qualifications for anything. They just go out and do it.".
True. To his philosophy, Jet has held quite a variety of jobs prior to becoming a Strangler, from being an
ice cream vendor to a merchant of fine wines.
Dave was originally the most controversial member of the band, solely due to the fact that he played
keyboards. Back when the public first began noticing what these boys were up to, no self-respecting "new wave" band used keyboards. Especially not synthesizers. Dave still lives under the spectre of comparisons to the Doors, regardless of the fact that "the only tracks I heard before joining the band were the two big ones they had in England, which were 'Light My• Fire' and 'Riders On The Storm.' So if people say I sound similar, it's because of parallel development."
He is the most affable of the lot, and was frequently seen wandering around talking to early arrivals at
venues. Dave's unusual main interest is in the occult. He doesn't fit the image invoked by the label 'Warlock,' but Jean Jacques reaffirmed that "Dave is quite involved with the occult. I think he's a second-degree initiate, which is by then-um-serious. But you've get to get him drunk before he'll talk about it."
The past year has not been kind to the Stranglers. "It has definitely been the worst year of our lives," stated JJ bluntly. There was the arrest in Nice "for nothing," Jean insisted. "Because we're totally innocent." Officially, the charge was inciting a riot. Burnel was hit the hardest by the suit, since he was the only band member who spoke French. Then there was Cornwell 's much publicised drug bust.
The sentence imposed was so strict by conventional standards that the League of Common Sense and
Decency awarded Hugh an honorary membership. Two things of particular note resulted from his incarceration, however. One is that Hugh has written a small book detailing his experiences. The other was a pair of gigs at the Rainbow. "A lot of people helped us out in order to stick our fingers up at the judge," JJ explained. "Hugh was sent down about a week before the two gigs in London were scheduled, so we had the choice to either cancel or do them. And these people volunteered to play with us, which was great."
Then IRS released a compilation album in tbe United States, called 'Stranglers IV'. One side is 'selected
tracks from The Raven, and the other is odd B-sides and the like, all of which were previously unavailable in America. Within weeks, the Stranglers arrived in The Land Of Opportunity. All too soon, Hugh was moved to rechristen the colonies The Land of Opportunists when every bit of the
equipment that the band had brought over was stolen. Truck and all. Not only was the loss' considerable in financial terms, but it had taken over five years to accumulate and customise everything.
Dave was particularly devastated since several components of his keyboard setup are not commercially
available, and certain numbers proved impossible to play without them. As if to remind everyone that things can always get worse, the band then found out that nothing was insured. Making do with rented and borrowed equipment, the men in black continued across The Promised Land.
In Los Angeles, the Stranglers played two shows a night for four nights. Jet bought a new drum kit, and it was delivered incomplete. Dave had a small mixer stolen from right on stage. And the press came out in force, representing everyone from glossy skin magazines to Xeroxed fanzines. For the most part, the band showed amazing restraint in the face of the usual interminable string of questions like how long they'd been together and how to pronounce Jean Jacques. Unfortunately, their patience ran out in the midst of an interview on KROQ, arguably the best radio station in Los Angeles.
There were other tour highlights. The van broke down' in a town called Buttonwillow. One of their roadies got involved in an incident that left him hospitalised ("It took five Texans to put him down," Jean Jacques boasted). A record store in Colorado had the band immortalize their signatures in wet cement. Most importantly of all there were the shows themselves. Without any of their own equipment and with less than one right off out of every 14, the Stranglers put on an excellent concert time after time. By the groups request, the only illumination was pure white light (as Jet so tactfully put it, " This is no Las Vegas extravaganza").
There was an unexpected degree ef sophistication and technical skill as the musicians offered selections from all of their albums. Every set began with an introductory tape of Waltz ln Black, an instrumental from 'Meninblack', that features a lumbering calliope sound from the keybaards, and then ranged from the snarling and snearing of 'Down In The Sewer' to the haunting beauty of 'The Raven'. On occasion they would present another, longer cut from the impending album. Other songs were also shifted and substituted, but the end result was nearly always impressive.
Despite the lack of appreciation, the Stranglers virulently negative opinion of the States has softened. JJ
admitted. "You can't say that you hate a country when you like people from that country, once you've met some real people from that place. It kind of compromises your ideals. So' I've become more discriminating about my likes and dislikes. I dislike what America represents in the world. I don't dislike America."
The most recent country to receive Strangler scrutiny has been Australia now that they've studied the United States.
"We were chased over the county line from Queensland, which is run by Jon Bjelke-Petersen," Burnel
explained, "He• became prime minister on 17% of the vote by jerry mandering." (Changing the
boundaries). "He's also kicked Aborigines eff their territorial lands in order to mine uranium. We wrote
'Nuclear Device' about that. They came and tried to smash up our show." Even England still receives analysis. Burnel stated, "England doesn't exist. .. England was the original imperial aggressor in that part of the world. The English have dominated the Welsh for 900-odd years. It's an artificial union."
The latest preoccupation of the band, both collectively and individually, doesn't have anything
directly to do with politics, however, the new album is heavily influenced by it: that is the Stranglers belief in life on other planets. Not just alien creatures, but highly evolved intelligent beings. According to the band, these aliens appear regularly to humans at least as UFOs, and they actively influence life on Earth.
As Cornwell explained. "Throughout Biblical writings strange phenomena are constantly and our
technilegical knowledge is advancing so fast that certain passages which in earlier times were mysterious and without any apparent meaning, have now been interpreted as descriptions of possible futuristic space craft and space beings." Jean Jacques offered the thought that perhaps the
Immaculate Conception was actually a case of artificial insemination by highly developed extra terestrials to alter the course of human evolution.
With a new album, a pending British tour, lacking an American contract, and considering their penchant for accumulating lawsuits aleng with their gold records, the Stranglers are not in the business for perks.
As Jean Jacques put it,"Fun? That's Western decadence, isn't it?".
