Can you help?

 

Okay, this is an appeal for material rather than subscription contributions. I am not at the bottom of The Stranglers’ barrel yet, but having posted over a 1000 posts on the band, band member’s solo efforts and side projects (most accompanied with something to listed to) most of my collection is now out there and available. I have however acknowledged on many occasions that there are some big holes in that collection. Mark I era stuff is almost complete in terms of what is in circulation. On the other hand, the 1991 to 2005 period is certainly under represented, but then again so are the band’s gigs from about 2007 onwards. The reason for the later gap is that this was the point where I exhausted opportunities to trade. You see I am not a taper (funny how that term hasn’t really changed in line with technology), so I am reliant on the generosity of others. What I can offer and have done so for the last 14 years is the time it takes to get stuff out there… with as much related press (reviews, interviews etc) as I can locate. Oh and artwork too for those wishing to burn these recordings.

The site gets on average something upwards of a thousand hits a day. And I believe that this is genuine fan traffic. When the Chinese or the Russians (or whoever it may be) are probing, the daily hit rate will surge to 5,000 to 10,000 for a week or so before setting down. I don’t keep a tally of downloads, but these will now be in the order of tens of 1000’s. Given the volume of traffic, can I request again that if you have stuff that I do not have listed here, and you are happy to contribute, please get in touch.

At the end of the day, the Aural Sculptors site is and always was intended to be a vehicle to get unofficial gig recordings of the Stranglers to as wide an audience as possible, free of charge. In doing this I can share the interest and enjoyment that the band have given me over the past 45 years. And done this way it also goes a little way in stemming the flow of recordings sold for profit on eBay etc.