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, 17 November 2024

Hugh Cornwell The Swan High Wycombe 26th March 2003

 

Here's a bit of Cornwell for a Sunday morning. An old but interesting acoustic set from Hugh. I have never been to The Swan, ot High Wycombe for that matter, so I cannot say anything about the venue other than that on this occasion it doesn't sound as though it is particularly full. That is a shame, because as I mentioned, both sets are good for different reasons.

When a band plays, do you ever wonder when they play a particular track whether you will ever hear that live again? It happens particularly on the release of a new album, when an artist, understandably, is keen to air their latest creation, but the following year it is gone, never to return. Look at this 2003 solo set and there are quite a few songs that you are never likely to hear again (especially now that Hugh seems to be more band orientated... so certain songs would be a mismatch wit the current set up). Songs like 'Henry Moore' and 'The Story of Harry Power' for example. Hearing the latter inspired me to track down Peter Carey's 'The True History of the Kelly Gang' which details Harry's life, this was in much the same way that The Stranglers got me reading around topics such as the Russian Revolution and the Spanish Civil war. Punk provided an education in many ways!

As for The Stranglers set, great to hear 'Sweden', 'Straighten Out' and 'Don't Bring Harry' (in the hands of Hugh rather than JJ)!

On the subject of earlyish Hugh material. Does anyone have a lossless version of his gig in Redhill a couple of weeks prior to this one (11th March 2003)? I have it but the second disc will not play. I mentioned it some years ago, but back then I was using adhesive CD labels which have years later rendered quite a few discs unplayable. 

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-ipQddKWSIj

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-2cu82qJnVx



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