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.


Thursday, 30 January 2025

TV Smith Soda Bar San Diego 15th October 2023

 


Here's TV Smith on his first tour of US back in October 2023 playing a brilliant set of Adverts' material. The Adverts' flame only burned for a short time but it burned intensely, two albums of brilliantly crafted songs that captured at least as well as the Pistols (as far as I am concerned) the relentless shittyness of adolescence in mid 1970's Britain. For my part I didn't share that frustration, on account of being seven in 1976!

Well, in 2025 Tim returns, once again reuniting The Adverts and The Damned in a manner of speaking. The first of three unholy partnerships, the two bands will forever be associated with the chaotic youthful exuberance of 1977 (The Ruts and the Anti-Nowhere League later stepped into The Adverts shoes in their close associations with The Damned). He takes his Adverts repertoire back out on the road with The Damned across both North and South America.



I would live to see the pairing in the UK sometime later in the year... let's see.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-a5vpGnFwQX

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Cg9lJRLbXT

Thanks to the original uploader.





Hugh Cornwell La Belle Edinburgh 1st December 2022

 


Here is Hugh doing the solo part of one of the 'Moments Of Madness' dates in Edinburgh. Sorry, no idea where this came from or what happened to the second set. Apologies to the sharer!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-Ws9yH1iOhG

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-ak4y37b61E



Tuesday, 28 January 2025

The Creatures The Palace Hollywood CA 14th July 1998

 


Staying with female fronted bands, here's one from Siouxsie and Budgie's semi-regular side project, The Creatures. Perhaps more of a vehicle for Budgie than Siouxsie, their material being heavily reliant on all manner of drums and percussion, they recorded some great material. Not least was 1999's 'Anima Animus' album, some of the songs from which were played here in Hollywood.

It was on their 1999 UK tour that I got to see them (the only time) at the Junction in Cambridge.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-idS1B6b45y

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Angy6VcHhv



The March Violets The Chapel San Francisco 13th November 2024

 


This is a great gig from the March Violets tour of the US in the autumn of last year. A great sounding recording sees the Leeds band run through a set covering their early 1980's career through to last year's new album, 'Crocodile Promises'. Thanks to the original Dime uploader, loughney.

That new album made it to number 22 in Vive Le Rock's albums of 2024 and rightly so.

Here's what they had to say.



THE MARCH VIOLETS
CROCODILE PROMISES
(Metropolis)

The re-blooming of goth legends. 9/10.

After a flurry of archive releases over the last few years and well-received live dates across the world Rosie Garland and Tom Ashton are back with Mark Three of The March Violets and a brand new album in the form of the immensely alluring 'Crocodile Promises'. Joined by Mat Thorpe, the trio has set about making an entirely classic album that carries on the original sound they created but progressing it a contemporary feel and approach. With a crystal-clear sound they present nine tracks that see them flaunting their recognised sound, so you instantly appreciate it whilst forming the familiarity of an old friend. Whilst comfortably sitting in the dark recesses of goth, the genre is celebrated and projected forward through every facet of the album. The vocal delivery from Rosie is unquestionably transcendental; it could be the '80s again with past glories revisited but it's also wonderfully presented comtemporary goth.

Opening with the shining 'Hammer In The Last Nail' the album is immediately accessible and enticing, with Rosie's vocals playfully delivering the lyrics whilst its jaunty, upbeat musical accompaniment throws down an atmosphere that off-plays the darkness and light that goth dancefloor fillers pulsate with. From there on in the album doesn't let up for a moment, displaying a band at the very top of their game and loving what they are doing. Play loud, play purple indeed.

Lee Powell.

Pretty good then, a nine out of ten review. But don't be deterred by the reference to goth. It was never a scene I went for (aside from that Siouxsie look!). I never had the hair for ir and one eyeliner pencil does not a goth make! Goth means to me the slightly ridiculous bass rumblings of the Sisters of Mercy or Fields of the Nephilim (one of the few bands I have walked out on), but this is something very different.

Having missed them in London last summer I hope that they keep up the momentum and play again in the UK in 2025. I'll backcomb some nasal hair for the occasion!





Sunday, 26 January 2025

The Undertones in The US of A (Record Mirror 6th October 1979)


 To accompany the previous post of The Undertones in NewYork, here's a feature on the band in the US (with Comandante Joe & Co.) that appeared in the 6th October 1979 issue of Record Mirror... remember in those pre-digital days, the writer would have brought the copy back with them, hence the time lag.

It's an interesting interview. Reflections from a band feeling the pressures of success. Certainly, the music press reporting on the band added immeasurably to this pressure. Articles variously decribing the band as 'the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world' , or 'the most enjoyable rock 'n' roll band on the planet', or even, 'the only band that sums up the true teenage fervour and excitment of the early Beatles' would I imagine weigh heavily on the shoulders of bigger, more established bands, let alone a quintet of young lads not long plucked from the streets of Derry! 

An early disallusionment with the 'business' is very apparent, especially in terms of touring expectations. US tours have broken many a band to date!

More interesting still is John O'Neill's opinions on the band changing and his suspicions around musicianship. He didn't want to change, but change they did, and yes, the musical ability and songwriting broadened hugely over the following couple of years... I wonder what the band really made of that.

The New York gig gets a couple of mentions too... both as a highlight and a lowlight of the tour.

Apologies for some missing text in the middle of the article. This is due to a printing flaw. It is the same in two separate copies of the article that I have seen, so it must have been a problem that week at the printers. I hope that it doesn't detract too much from the content.

Record Mirror (6th October 1979)



AH, THE contradictions of rock ‘n' roll! Or as the Undertones would put it gloomily: " Whatever way you do it, it's 'Catch 22'." Meaning, perhaps, you can't ignore the business that's selling records the way you make 'em; but as soon as they start selling records the way you make 'em you can't ever make those sort of records again.

At least, it goes something like that.

And, whichever way you look at the impasse the music business Catch 22 represents, a band like the Undertones can't win.

Currently, to quote several reliable sources, they're 'the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world' , or 'the most enjoyable rock 'n' roll band on the planet', or even, 'the only band that sums up the true teenage fervour and excitment of the early Beatles'.

Hot stuff. But to the Undertones that's only half the story. So much waffle and 'shite', so much a rehash of their first shaky and successful year, that they themselves are already disillusioned about what the next step is going to be.

A dynamic true-life rock band from Derry who're holding aces up their sleeve? A forceful new band with no pretensions and nothing to lose who'll play until the fun runs out? Or, more simply, a band founded in the punk spirit who aren't quite sure what the next step is?

For each step is a new pitfall, a freshly-laid trap set by the music business that has taken a hold of them. To make a new album with a big producer, perhaps? To tear Britain apart with a string of hit singles and a coast-to-coast SRO tour? To make the first attempt towards breaking big in America? To the Undertones it's a case of all... and nothing.

A year into the music business they're changed and affected, yet ever more determined to stay the same. As singer Feargal Sharkey puts it: " We've learned quickly, we had to learn quickly. And, if I'm honest, a lot of the fun has gone out of it - the real fun we had when we first started and it was something different from doing a job.

"Now you realise you're in a different kind of job. You can't go on and on about something you've got to accept for what it is." Which, for the moment, is what the Undertones have done. They survived the entrance from Derry - swapping an early disinterest outside Northern Ireland for what seems to amount to a savage backlash in their home town. They had their early hits - nothing too spectacular, but they 're happy because there's nothing to live up to.

And now... now it's still time to carry on. To prove that what was a good idea can still work, stepping aside the Catch 22's and contradictions that seem to decree that a band like the Undertones can only be as good as they are at present for only the most limited
period .

Why not longer? Why not better? Why not go to America and find out? Guitarist and songwriter John O'Neill is himself confused. For him, almost invisible on stage, yet the writer of the best songs to date, as much as Feargal Sharkey - performer par excellence - Catch 22 is the phrase he returns to. You 're in a band, you want to play and have fun. Then you have to make records and sell them and that isn 't fun. But in order to sell records you have to make it sound as if you are having fun. Try it, if it sounds so easy.

That's the business, and it just might be better than having a job. Inpenetrably shy, John isn 't sure. "I think it was about four months ago it happened," he says. "We'd told John Peel that Feargal and Dee were leaving and he said he was glad in one way, sad in another. Glad that we were breaking up when it was so good, before it got worse. Then sad for us because it was ending so quickly."

Before you wonder, the storm blew over. The agonies were spared , But it's a thin dividing line that the Undertones have been aware of ever since. 

“I used to think that rock ‘n’ roll was the be all and end all.” John adds, helpfully. “I certainly don’t think that now.” I’d still like to thrive in a brief flash and then disappear. Not struggle on and become a snob, a musician, spending huge amounts of time and money taking things seriously.

“And I hate all the hype that goes with ot all____ do.” 

So it’s not John Peel (?) doctrine, that you should go as quickly as you came? 

“Oh, shi____not at all. We’ve been to An___ for all the good it’s done_____ making another album, we’re_____ing, it all goes on.

“But I can’t take it as a cateer, never. The _____nes will still be there and I’ll still _____ liking records. But as soon as someone comes up and calls me a musician I won’t want it. I’m not a musician, I’m not any good at all. It’s a bad term to use.

“I still believe in that simple punk thing – anyone can do it. And we are. I’d feel very guilty if we went and made a good studio single and added loads to it. I’ll always prefer it if it’s simple and we can enjoy it.

" Like the first album, everything, the mistakes are part of it." And he adds, gloomily: "By the time we get to the third LP we won't want any mistakes… and I think that's
when I'll want out."

But it must affect you surely, must make you keep on writing songs? As before John virtually wilts. "I don't know, I never know what to say. If everybody thinks you have a charm because you 're naive - and that's what they think about us - how long can that
last?

"Of course you 're going to change, but it's usually for the worse. Look at most bands, most people. It's two or three good years then dry up, or change for the worse. I never thought it'd be like that.  It's disappointing to watch other people, even, putting on an
Act, a show, keeping going because they have to.

" I think I could stick it out a couple of years then ... "

Back to Derry?

"... yeah . Derry is home. I like it there. I'm engaged there and I'll marry there."

The conversation doesn't close, but darkness does. We're a very long way from home; something like halfway through the Undertones first• American visit as "specially invited support" to the Clash, sitting in a bar called Boot Hill, drinking beer. Too early to bury the spirit of the Undertones just yet, so ... back to the beginning?

Predictably, perhaps necessarily. America brought everything back to the surface. Back to the "wild, wild rows" that were part and parcel of the Undertones life a year ago. The vote in favour of going was 3-2, this following a summer build-up to the autumn British tour. "We had nothing to lose," Feargal insists. No matter how bad it was we could get an idea of what was happening. And at least the next time won't be the first time!"

Nor, by a narrow margin, was the first time the last. They went, they saw, they conferred. Everything from disasters in Detroit, to encores in Boston, From a triumph to a near disaster in two nights in New York, the added bonus of a night playing on their own at Hurrah's (rapidly established as the club to break new British acts to the American "new wave" audience - if indeed such a thing exists) and finally the long trek up to Toronto for the final nights with the Clash.

By and large it was a great way to start - although the general level of exhaustion and weariness was beginning to tell even after four nights. An unhappier and more dejected group than the Undertones waiting for the car to Philadelphia (no, they didn't travel in the Clash tour bus!) I've never seen. Yet the very next night the band played a two-hour set at Hurrah's including numbers nobody had heard for a year.

And the arguments…

"Two nights at home," John complained when he found out. "then we've got to start the British tour again."

Billy, saddled with a hired drum kit that consistently fell apart, saved his spleen for Philadelphia, disappearing for an hour and rescuing an injured pigeon. Mickey and Dee, and even Feargal, were quiet, happy enough but never ecstatic.

There were leassons to be learned, and they were learning them. The contradictions again; who was doing what for the band? What were they doing there? How soon before they could go home?

In New York, Feargal sits in a fashionable Little Italy restaurant, a few short yards from the bums on the Bowery. Another hundred yards away is the “site” where Mafia boss Joey Galliano bought the farm, cigar in his mouth and the world on his conscience,

The rest of the band, eyelids drooping, have left Feargal to take care of business, talk to Sire, who have unquestioningly hihj hopes for the band in the US. Amidst the lobster remains and the record business chat he’s happy, displaying almost a semblance of what’s been dubbed his “cockiness”.


“And any band like us wants to carry on playing the way we started off playing, being pleased about things like a good gig; and sod the rest. But you’ll always have yje business to contend with, always be pushed into things like big tours, interviews… even an American tour that might be pointless.

“It’s Catch 22 all the time, so what can you do about it? Nothing, except play.

“I’m the one who gets annoyed at the others on stage because that’s what they don’t try to do. They just put their heads down and its just another gig, they don’t try to cope. I have to. I have to get the audience going… even when it’s bad.”

A night later it’s pouring with rain in New York. When The Undertones hit the stage there’s barely a quarter of a drenched audience inside, a bad sound and an odd mood. Despite the inclusion of a few new numbers and enough tension to light up the Empire State Building Feargal runs through the set – no introductions, no talk, nothing.

And it’s the first night without an encore, the start of a row that lasts for hours and an incident best forgotten. Point taken.

Everywhere else it’s our favourite Undertones. The helter skelter set that tears through and changes every night; girls, girls, girls and rock' n'roll. And the inclusion of the aforementioned Gary Glitter song as an encore (along with 'Teenage Kicks') isn't lost on the American audience, pick one night out of any two and the character of the Undertones, their enthusiasm and their songs are enough to melt stronger hearts than mine. All this and Feargal Sharkey too!

Who else could have ad-libbed through Boston by leaving the stage and sitting in the third row, letting the band thunder on. Then Mickey, on stage, shouting: "We're the Undertones from Derry! Would anybody out there like to come up and sing a song with us?" Sharkey, of course, with the small added bonus that he knew all the words to 'Whizz Kids'.

It was flashes like these,the gig at Hurrah's maybe, the sightseeing in New York, that made America worthwhile. America could be fun too, and: "We were just taking the piss out of them in Boston the - whole set," Feargal grins. "What did we have to lose?"

Even 3000 miles from home they have a dynamism, a whole fresh new quality that doesn 't look as if it could ever be swallowed up by any record company, any producer, any contract.

Would that it were all as easy, or easy to write about.

"We feel guilty sometimes when we read some of the things people write about us," John later confesses. "You feel as if you ought to say more, try harder. It's like the photographs too, half the reason why we don't like doing photos is because they never come out an good at all."

Catch 22, yet again. But the piece that they had been waiting for – a cover feature in the NME printed when they were away was once again devoured, then dismissed. "Crap," says Feargal, a sentiment echoed by the others, "It's all the same old stuff I read about us a year ago."

All the stuff in Mickey's biography, in fact. Mickey has, to date, written two histories of the band... and doesn't intend to stop there as the Undertones' Boswell. Feargal allows himself a wry laugh of sorts: "We meant the biography for people to use, but not as much as that!"

While John is even more non-plussed, having already turned down an interview with an American music mag (leaving it to Feargal, naturally) requested on the basis that "he wrote the songs."

"If we do a song that's a good record, good entertainment that ordinary people can relate to, that's all that matters," he says.

"I don't even like talking about it, I don't even know why they want to talk to me about it at all. If they're writing it down I don't even know the things you're meant to say. "I mean, you couldn't write a 48-page special on the Undertones because the songs aren't even that good. Anyone that does is taking it all too serious."

And it embarrasses you sometimes?

"Yeah, of course it does." John doesn't smile exactly; rather a shy, disbelieving expression crosses his face, He knows, but he doesn't want to say it. Really.

"You're always reading good reviews, too-good reviews. I have to be embarrassed when somebody writes that Undertones are 'the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world'. We're not, perhaps we don't even want to be.

"I mean, I can go back to Derry, a place where I want to live, a place I enjoy living in, and nobody knows me as 'one of the Undertones'. I can relax, and there's no pressure on me. It's different for Feargal, of course ... "

Being instantly recognisable?

"That. And the slagging Feargal gets at home is really wild. It's a very conservative place, and he's under pressure all the time. But it does take the pressure off us, and he copes with it in his own way." 

I wonder about the reliance the rest of the band place on Feargal, the almost unselfconscious way they push him to the front of any situation off stage as well as on. In the year they've been battling - since that first John Peel radio exposure - Feargal has emerged ready to take on most things, from reporters to roadies, with a self-effacing cockiness that might seem to represent the rest of the band. Not so.

"He's the best ever on stage," John insists, "and we do leave a lot of things up to him. I'm the complete opposite, I can be up on stage and my mind wanders, I can't concentrate. Instead of doing an act I find it really hard. I'll be thinking: 'What time are we getting home at'?'

"Sometimes I think it's so stupid just being on stage, and after about two weeks of it you're knackered and just want to get home. It's one of the things about being in a 'group' and providing 'entertainment' that I'm not so sure about. It's like some of the best records you hear, in discos back home, you'd never, ever want to see live - it 'd spoil the whole thing. Then, if no-one ever played live you might as well have records made by robots.

"I can't work that out at all. You want to have a bit of yourself on the record, in the songs. Ordinary songs that ordinary people will like, without selling your soul just to make money. Then to do it right you have to get up and play them, every night until you're knackered and just want to throw it all up."

But surely if you're playing 'Teenage Kicks ' and 'Jimmy Jimmy' every night, and that's the songs people are demanding, you're going to have to make some sort of compromise?

"You do. We do. But with Feargal at least we don't get up and play the same big 'show' every night. I couldn't stand that. I remember about six months ago in the Casbah I sat in the audience and watched the Undertones playing without me ... and it was brilliant! I'd been thinking how much I'd really like to see us play and that night Feargal was brilliant, he was the Undertones on stage.

"Anyway, I'd like to think we meant more than a show."

Then again, says John, that's the sort of thing a band have rows about now and again. Wild rows.

Part of the time, he explains, it's a coming-to-terms with the business they're in. Hence: "When I first heard about the tour in Britain I just said no way, I'm not doing the first lot of dates", says John. "Then it was pointed out to me that if we didn't we could end up losing money, something we don't want to do. I was persuaded - as long as we had a break back home in the middle.

"Two weeks is long enough for any band to be on the road, although not everybody would agree with that."

The other part of the time, I'd explain (or their manager would explain, or their friends would explain) it's simply because the Undertones are such a different band. They have a charm, and they don't capitalise on it. They have a talent, and they don't push it because they themselves aren't yet convinced of how good that talent is. And they're still new, wide-eyed, open to influence, open to praise ... and open enough to say and do what they like.

The progress is slow and, yes, innocent. The only way it could be, or so it seems. The gang of five is now filtering into five distinct personalities. Keeping going, having rows, playing the gigs. Just doing the work. .

"It's not as if we see each other all the time," says John. "We've all got our girlfriends back home, our own friends. Then, me and Dee are the only ones who drink.

"I mean, I like going out on a Friday to a disco, getting drunk and listening to good records. It's not that bad . People have already pointed out that we should consider us fortunate to be getting paid £40 a week even when we're not working, and there must be a point there."

And that's nearly that. John, Mickey and Dee write the songs, Billy drums, and Feargal sings them. They're touring now, there' s a new album coming in January and everything good that anybody says about the Undertones on record and on stage is (almost always) true.

Which leaves us with the new single - 'You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)' - and a toast to New York, only because that was the first place I heard it. Here's looking at you...

John answers, slowly: "You know a lot of people have asked us: 'Why are all your songs about girls? Why not the Troubles? Why not the business?' Well, it's just that that's what happens in Derry. It's a very conservative place. Girls are expected to be girls and boys are expected to be boys. That's the way it is.

"But even then they don't understand us. Even when we started playing, when we actually wanted to be Feargal Sharkey and the Undertones, a lot of people didn't even know they were our songs!"




The Undertones Hurrahs New York 23rd September 1979

 


Here's a great set from those scamps, The Undertones, from back in 1979. September saw then on tour Stateside with The Clash on the latter band's 'Take The Fifth' tour. Looking at the excellent 'Black Market Clash' web resource, it would appear that the Clash had the night off on this day and this gave The Undertones, being as they were on the east coast, the opportunity to squeeze in a headline date for themselves in New York. With a set representing the best of (well make that most of) 'The Undertones' and 'Hypnotised' albums. Great fun then as now! Thanks to the original Dime uploader.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-bI6Stzr7zt

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-c05uGmIpsD



Ruddy 'Ooligans (Part 2) Burnel And Finchleys In Hemel Kidnap Caper (New Musical Express 5th May 1979)


Here is the original reporting of a 'bad boy' incident that has subsequently passed into Stranglers' lore. The abduction of journalist Ronnie Gurr during JJ's 'Euroman Tour'. I think that he is over it these days (Ronnie that is), he is now in the photobook line of business with his 'Hanging Around Books'... see can't be so sore still with that name. Stranglers in Iceland are included.... take a look.

Archive Interviews 1977

 


Music aside The Stranglers always had a lot to say and were rarely lost for an opinion be it on the perception of the band and their material or on the wider world at large. Never the easiest in front of the microphones of the media, here is Volume 1 of a handful of band interviews, starting from 1977. Thanks to the original author for the files.

WAV: https://we.tl/t-sjHbFoWXQC

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-uyuf2qcHCo



Friday, 24 January 2025

999 Old Grey Whistle Test BBC2 28th November 1978

 


Back in the day when three TV channels were your entertainment lot, viewing choice was limited. This limitation was further exacerbated by a household pecking order where the viiewing was dictated by parents or older siblings. And something that Generation Z will struggle with... nine times out of ten, there was only one 'device' available for viewing in the house... imagine that! For all of those limitations though I think it was the case that music programming was better than it is today.

I do have some sympathy for television network music programmers that are tring to cater for a music consuming audience that is scattered to the wind, those that still buy physical forms of music, streamers to those that get everything from social media and Youtube. Televisionwise. what we are then left with footage of the Glastonbuty Pyramid Stage each year with people vying to get on television with the help of their oversized flags or yet another series of 'Later...'. Alternatively, there is a BBC4 music thread on a Friday night that seems to be for the large part reuns of the good stuff from the 1970's, the kind of programming that I am on about!

In the 1970s, Top of the Pops was there serving as The Rezillos put it so suscinctly as a 'stock market for your hi-fi' whilst on the other side and late at night, 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' offered musical entertainment for a slightly older audience. With 'Whispering' Bob Harris at the helm, the programme focussed on 'serious' music combos... bands that released albums not singles. The new music hardly got a look in and when it did Harris seemed to have a wry smile that seemed to say 'Sorry, this is shit but I have to feature it'. All that changed with the arrival of Annie Nightingale who had the gumption to realise that there was more to this music than a three chord thrash. 

Under her, punk bands were invited, Buzzcocks, The Jam, The Damned, Public Image Limited. Some of these OGWT appearances were pivotal in band's careers, 'Tubeway Army's' apperance in '79 being a case in point.

Here then is some very good quality footage of one such appearance from the winter of '78 when 999 (minus drummer Pablo Labritain) graced the Old Grey Whistle Test stage for storming renditions of 'Homicide' and 'Let's Face It' from their second studio album 'Separates'.

I hope that this is OK, it is the first authoring that I have done for a number of years and it was a struggle to remember everything!

DVD Disc image: https://we.tl/t-24pHKuD8xV

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-on9CSjIrzG




Monday, 20 January 2025

These Animal Men 'Brighton Rocks' Zap Club 5th September 1994

 


Agreed, it's not Britpop, but it was close. Roughly in parallel timewise, the powers that be within the music press christened another scene 'The New Wave Of The New Wave'. This scene such as it was seemed to coalesce around two bands, 'These Animal Men' and 'S*M*A*S*H'. The two bands were okay, but for some reason, the NWOTNW did not enjoy the enduring appeal that Britpop has held for many over the past 30 years.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-e6kWSIcadV

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-250ll04aCT



Blur Aston Villa Leisure Centre 5th October 1994

 


Now, so arguably the second biggest band to be associated with Britpop, Blur. Early on I thought they were great. Certainly, 'Modern Life Is Rubbish' and 'Parklife' were great listens but I tired of them quite quickly. There were some good songs after those albums for sure, 'Song 2' is a classic, but other singles whilst OK did not live up to my expectations. 'Charmless Man' for example tried to borrow something from the Ray Davies penned 'A Well Respected Man' but not as well, whilst 'Country House', the song that went head to head with Oasis's 'Roll With It' in a race to be top of the pops had the feel of a novelty song to me.

Whatever my thoughts about Blur, I have to admire the diversity of projects that Damon has got involved with over the intervening years, Gorillaz, The Good, The Bad & The Queen etc. 

Anyway, here they are at their peak in my eyes, from a time when everyone was thinking about their 'Pork Life'. 

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-1rH8EcyEu8

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-zV8owMmns9



Echobelly John Peel Session BBC Radio 1 1st April 1995

 


Another strong band to emerge at that time were Echobelly. They were reasonably prolific, releasing two studio albums  between 1994 and 1995, but they seemingly only recorded one session for John Peel. And here it is featuring two songs from the second album 'On' and two songs, 'Tarantino' and 'Way Too', that to the best of my knowledge were exclusive to that session.

Echobelly were anoother great example of a band where the ladies were once in the forefront of rock 'n' roll, with or without guitars.

A recording of the band live in Brighton the previous year can be located here.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-ESqXfm1CRT

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-6uD48Tm3vg



Supergrass BBC Radio Sessions 1994 - 1995

 


Another favourite of mine from this time were Supergrass. This was on the strength initially of hearing Steve Lamacq playing 'Caught By The Fuzz' on Radio 1 before Blur came on at their gig at Aston Villa Leisure Centre (see forthcoming post). The song was instantly catchy, but unlike some of those instantly accessible songs that I mentioned in an earlier post, I have never tired of 'Caught By The Fuzz'. 

I tried to get a ticket to see them at the next London gig they were playing, if I remember correctly it was supporting Shed Seven, but the gig was sold out so I had to wait a couple of months before they played at the London Astoria (their first headline tour). They were brilliant, playing with a vigour that can only come from youth (and try as they might most of the bands that I was into could not muster such energy!).

Supergrass went on to enjoy a good level of success and have too done the reformation thing. Take a listen to the Wingmen's rendition of 'Pumping On Your Stereo' on the recently uploaded gig from the O2 Islington, a nod of appreciation to touring keys man, Rob Coombes.

Here is a brief collction of early session tracks recorded for the BBC.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-exBeHi78m1

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-pJLieREyTP



Sunday, 19 January 2025

Sleeper 'Sound City '95' Anson Rooms Bristol 20th April 1995

 


Another set from BBC Radio 1's 'Sound City '95' Festival that saw Sleeper grace the stage of the Anson Rooms in the fine city of Bristol. Another debut album I bought at the time. It's good but I always had a bit of an issue with singer Louise Wener's breathy delivery of the material... but hey what do I know.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-gbSk2zGlxc

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-8aSv4F7GuN



Elastica 'Sound City '95' Anson Rooms Bristol 18th April 1995

 


For me, Elastica were the pick of the Britpop crop... and until last year one of the last new bands that I really got into (the reputation that I have of being stuck in a musical rut that started in 1977 and ended in about 1985 does have an element of truth about it!). This recording of the band from BBC Radio 1's 'Sound City '95' festival catches the band in Bristol less than a month after the release of their first album. I think that the Anson Rooms is/was the Student Union venue of Bristol University, but here I could be wrong.

This gig has appeared on a couple of bootleg CDs but this version is as I recorded it off the radio. 

Elastica then, utterly derivative and so much the better for that. Listen to the first album to hear one that sounds like Blondie, one that sounds like Wire, one that sounds like Adam and the Ants and one that is a little similar to the Stranglers it was said.

Their candle burned brighty but for a short period of time. They lost momentum as a result of a five year gap before the follow up album was released, in which time things had moved on... and the second album was nowhere near as strong as the first.

Elastica have not reformed. There was some talk a few years ago of a reformation, albeit without Justine Frischmann, but it came to nothing... which is probably for the best. Better that they be remembered for the their brief flash of brilliance that illuminated an otherwise dark and dreary music scene.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-vrnnH0RVYb

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-utmfiwSbpd



Britpop - The Last Great British Music 'Scene'?

 

Right, please bear with me. The following posts are brought to you as a consequence of sorting through a couple of hundred old cassettes and salvaging some of what I found on them. 

For me, most of the music that I heard in the 1990's was horrible. The Stranglers sounded nothing like The Stranglers and you only have to watch one of the Friday night BBC 2 Top of the Pops episodes from that decade to realise just how formulaic and instantly forgettable chart music had become. Then there emerged a handful of bands that dismissed electronica, preferring to revert to guitar, drum and bass. This back to basics approach to music looked backwards towards the happening bands of the sixties, The Small Faces, The Kinks and The Who, not to mention The Beatles. Just as the music brought back a sixties feel, fashion followed suit too. The nostalgic resonnance of the music and fashion created an easy label for the bands that the music press lumped in to a scene... Britpop.

Other parallels with an earlier age followed. The rivallry between The Stones and The Beatles was recreated for a new generation of record buyers (make that CDs) as members of Blur and Oasis entered into regular slanging matches. Such was the media hype around this rivallry that it culminated in a race to the number one slot when Blur and Oasis released 'Country House' and 'Roll With It' respectively... neither of which represented the best of either band. The race, which Blur won, was the top item on news programmes across UK TV channels on the evening when the new chart was announced. Now even on a slow news day that seems to be a bit over the top!

I am not saying that Britpop was brilliant, but for the first time in years there was something more meaningful to hear in the UK music mainstream. And like punk before it, it has endured. The response to the reformation of Oasis was overwhelming (not to mention overstretching in terms of ticket prices) and Blur have periodically reformed and are capable of selling out large venues. Pulp and Suede too have done the reformation thing too and had a good response. 

So here then is a handful of the Britpop that I didn't mind. Then, normal service will be resumed I promise.

Wingmen O2 Academy Islington London 21st January 2023

 


With Baz playing a couple of solo gigs in the past few days this seems to be an apposite post and an excuse to step away from The Stranglers for a moment. We are on the cusp of an anniversary of this gig from the short tour from the Wingmen at the beginning of 2023. I am not around to post on Tuesday so this is an almost birthday post. The album has some great material and some wry observations on the character of a proportion of our fellow countrymen... Oh! What a Carry On indeed!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-cZrL7P0wjI

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-vHsJ3bArp1



Saturday, 18 January 2025

The Gospel According To The Meniblack Outtakes and Rough Mix August 1980

 


In my experience one of the strongest indicators that a piece of music or an album will stand the test of time is when the material doesn't grab you on first hearing. Such 'slow burn' albums take a bit more time and consideration that in time wins the listener over. Often when this happens the result is that an album can become preferred over another album that is more immediately accessible.

Has there been a Mk I album to which this principle has been exhibited more than 'The Gospel According To The Meniblack' ('Feline' I hear someone at the back of the room shout... mmm maybe). As was often the case in times of teenage financial austerity, we shared and taped albums and when I borrowed the album from such a friend, he said 'I wouldn't waste a tape on it Ade, it's shit'. Nevertheless, I retained an open mind on the matter, and sacrificed a cassette to it. Well, I would never have put it down as 'shit' but it was different and certainly not immediately accessible. 

Going back to that 'slow burn' idea again though and I would say that it has aged better than something like 'No More Heroes'. Live, this material is brilliantly received, as well it should be. 'Second Coming', 'Four Horesemen', 'Hallow To Our Men' and of course 'Waltzinblack', a track we unfortunately take for granted as an intro track, are all brilliant. Even the dirge of 'Turn The Centuries, Turn' probably the weakest track on the album has its place.

Whilst we wait for JJ's ballet version, it would be great to here more live renditions of this stuff in future gigs.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-QbCsbB4xWg

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-x6qKAQFbAV



Rusty Butler In Blackmail Corner (New Musical Express 13th January 1979)

NME would back in the day occasionally run a piece called 'Blackmail Corner' in which they would run with a prefame photo of a musician or group.  Well I guess that given the number of band's that he was in prior to The Stranglers, our own Dave Greenfield would be a prime candidate for such a treatment. Here he is, in the 13th January 1979 issue, with Rusty Butler, a progrock outfit active that were active not so long before Dave threw in his lot with The Stranglers.


And here's a couple of gig ads from early 1974.



I am aware that some Rusty Butler demos exist.

It is a shame that no material from some of the Brighton based bands that he had an involvement with in the 1960s has materialised (The Ambassadors, The Mark Addam Showband, The Initials, Aquila and Freeway (not to mention The Originals and The New Originals... no sorry that's Spinal Tap!).

At around the time when Dave died, I saw on a Brighton based Facebook page a post comment from a member of The Ambassadors and I did send him a message asking wheter he had any recollections of working with Dave, but unfortunately no reply was forthcoming. Of course it could have been that their time with the band did not overlap. 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I find the pre-history of bands fascinating, so thanks to those that have trawled through the music papers pre-1976 for mentions of the bands with whom Hugh and Dave served their rock 'n' roll apprenticeships with!


Sunday, 12 January 2025

999 Ocean Rooms Cardiff 20th February 1985

 


Tonight will be the first gig for me for 2025. 999 closing the annual 100 Club Resolution Festival. I would have done more nights were it not for the fact that Gunta and I were in Istanbul in the middle of it. Actually, it was my intention to see TV Smith on Thursday (the opening night), trouble was I remembered on Friday! Is that an age thing or a symptom of a cluttered mind?


So, with 999 in mind, here's a gig from the mid-80's when the band were promoting their sixth studio album 'Face to Face'. This is a good sounding recording featuring some 'rare' material in the set. Thanks to Phil for sharing.