TVS Television Theatre Gillingham 18th October 1982 DVD

 

I am sure that this is a common scenario for any of us who have invested many years in collecting live material by the bands we love. Some recordings are held in higher regard than others, those of superior quality in either content or sound/vision tend to do the rounds more than others. No surprises there. In the early 1980's The Stranglers played three notable TV gigs. 'Rockstage; from the Royal Theatre in Nottingham in 1980, the 'No Nukes Festival' in Utrecht in 1982 and in the same year, 'Off the Record' in Gillingham. 

These shows were recorded on early video cassette recorders time and time again with a notable decrease in audio and picture quality every time a copy of a copy was made. Thus for the collector multiple copies would be sought in the hope that a better quality 'low generation' copy would turn up. For this reason it is not unusual to have half a dozen versions of  recording, each of different quality. This is very much the case when it comes to copies of the gig that the band played in October 1982 at the TVS Studios in Gillingham as part of the TV stations 'Off The Record' series. As some point it makes sense to try to pin down the best of the bunch and that is what I have done here. This is the best quality version of this 30 minute set of TV gold that I have yet to see.

DVD image: https://we.tl/t-3v1UKV2RjX

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-wQCPEF5EFy

Graeme Mullan (Mully) RIP

Yesterday I was extremely saddened to learn of the passing of Mully. Our paths first crossed on a long weekend in June 1989 when The Stranglers played a handful of consecutive dates across the UK and Ireland. I was 21 then and had never encountered anyone from Belfast, so Mully was quite exotic as far as my world view from Sussex was concerned!. Then as now I was fascinated by the Troubles and he in turn was always happy to accommodate my many questions on the topic. Of course our paths continued to cross on many, many occasions in the years that followed and it was always a joy to see him.

Two particular memories came to mind yesterday when I was thinking about Mully. One was in a hotel somewhere in the Lowlands. Mully had I believe enjoyed something herbal earlier in the day and when we met him in the hotel lift, he remarked that it was great that the lift announcements were made in a Belfast accent... the reality was that Mully was repeating the announcements floor by floor!

On another occasion we were enjoying a pre-gig beer in a pub garden in Frome, prior to a performance at the Cheese and Grain. It was a sunny day and most drinkers were in the pub garden. In such a location the announcement to evacuate the pub and garden as a result of a bomb-scare was very much unanticipated. As people complied, whilst moaning about lost drinking time, I remember an ebullient Mully running around amongst the bemused evacuees laughing in his unmistakable way and loudly declaring in his broad Belfast accent 'This has got nothing to do with me!'

Farewell then Mully, it was a pleasure!

Buzzcocks Top Rank Suite Cardiff 10th May 1978

 

In my view, whilst 1977 could be claimed with reason by the Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and The Stranglers, 1978 belonged to Buzzzcocks. Like the Banshees, whilst Pete and Co were in the vanguard of UK punk it took them a long time to get signed and get an album out. But once UA had their signatures there was no stopping them. Two albums were forthcoming in 1978, 'Another Music in a Different Kitchen' in March and 'Love Bites' in September. With product came gigs and Manchester's Fab Four were hardly off the road in 1978. In March they toured with The Slits, in October and November with Subway Sect and in between times they squeezed in the 'Entertaining friends' tour with friends Penetration. It is from that tour that this little gem comes from.

On record Buzzcocks were very polished, the band benefiting greatly from the presence of Martin Rushent in the producers chair, live they were equally impressive but just that bit more raw sounding.

What a set to die for!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-oDHrD77veP

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Xy9HXE1guM

The press were impressed too as evidened by this Record Mirror review of the band's appearance at Aylesbury Friars four days earlier.

BUZZCOCKS
Friars Aylesbury

WHERE have all the hippies gone? Aylesbury you let me down. Whatever happened to your long haired community, I suppose they've swopped their flowing locks for greasy crew cuts. Still its not how you look it’s what you look at that counts. Anyone could look at The Buzzcocks and enjoy them.

The music they are now creating is Universal. Before you think that I am (quite rightly) going over the top, let me admit that this was the best gig I have been to this year .. It was also the first time, and certainly not the last time, I will see The Buzzcocks in '78.

Right then pop pickers, lets do a bit of analyzing for you.

'Another music in a different kitchen', a weird title for an album which established The Buzzcocks as one of the most thoughtful and certainly the most talented new wave bands to emerge. Yes they are a new wave band, simply because they are pioneering a form of music which is full of imagination and mechanical energy. You can pogo to them and of course some morons still persist in showing their appreciation by spitting.

It 's strange how on stage the band keep an incredibly low profile, but still succeed in holding your concentrated attention. Pete Shelley doesn't believe in pretentiou's theatricals, but only has to rely on his distinctive loping Mancunian vocals to gain unconditional acceptance with any audience.

The band all look so ordinary that it makes the sounds they produce seem even more effective. Simple pop songs all with sixties sounding guitar hooks helps to satisfy the spikey head boppers. However the set reaches its climax during the hypnotic 'Autonomy' which has so much sheer 'musikal' originality that it made me wonder why bands like Devo are getting so much publicity when we have true innovators from the far more accessible industrial wasteland of Manchester.

Anyway, never mind the superlatives, here's the Buzzcocks.

PHILIP HALL

Bürgerhaus Stollwerck Cologne 17th November 2015

 

Apologies, it was my intention to upload this onelast week as a 10th anniversary post, but damn it, work intervened. Anyway, here it is, a little late, but it is I think worth it.... a nice sounding full set, audience record of the event. Enjoy!

22/11/2025 - It has been pointed out that this gig was actually played at Bürgerhaus Stollwerck and not at Luxor as advertised. A belated thanks also are due to Peter who originally shared this recording with me. Cheers!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-UnbWGvUVIG

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-2fIdjQrZWI

The Clash Brixton Fair Deal London 30th July 1982

 

My sincere thanks goes to DomP for this one. The previously posted Fair Deal gigs were lower quality recordings of dates that The Clash played there earlier in the month. The band returned to South London on 30th July '82 for a final London date before hot footing it back to America to consolidate their recent 'Combat Rock' success by means of a marathon four month Stateside touring schedule. Dom informs me that this was the one ocassion that Mick Jones played in front of his Dad. It also turned out to be the last gig that he would play in the capital as a member of The Clash.

A word about the recording then. The majority of it is soundboard sourced. The set is completee with a handful of audience sourced tracks in the middle of the set, each marked with an asterisk. DomP has renmastered it so that it is sounding great!

Thanks Dom. I appreciate the share!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-lScwCoN1CU

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-GP7vKHosnZ

O2 Academy Sheffield 23rd March 2012

 

One from 2012's 'Giants' tour here and a night out in Sheffield. This was the set that contained 'Shut Up', a welcome hangover from the 'Black and White' set that the band played at the 2011 Convention. For some reason, this crowd favourite didn't make it into the 'Black and White' tour that the band undertook in 2016. 

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-kKfHhMY3TM

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-YiPxS7iiap

The Courettes Ratinger Hof Dusseldorf 23rd October 2025

 

The Courettes have got into my head since seeing them with Hugh last Thursday. I guess that there are two things going on here. One, it is great to see a woman commanding a stage and an audience in the way that Flávia does, especially in the capacity as a support band. Two, and more importantly/impressively, I have always admired any group of less than a four piece that can make a considerable noise! It's a feat enough for a three piece, but to pull it off with just two band members (with guitar and drums) is something else.

The coming together of musical styles and the whole visual element of the band works so well too, the melding together of The Shangri-La-esque vocals with the dirty garage band twang of The Count Five.

Thanks to the Dime uploader (minimax) for this recording from Dusseldorf's Ratinger Hof last month. The vocals are a bit low, but it serves as a good introduction to the noise that The Courettes make. Thanks also to David Devant for photographs from the night.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-G5T5V1NMFS

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-DfJuLccj9i

I have kindly been sent an alternative source of this gig, one with more clarity in Flávia's vocal. Thanks Peter!

Alternative source.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-VRvpDF6jSD

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-ynP1xfyrvB

Spending the Night With Nosferatu - Hugh Cornwell At The Islington Assembley Hall 13th November 2025

 

'The one you've all been waiting for! I'm gaspin' now'. For one night only in London.... 'Nosferatu'! My favourite solo effort for the band and some 45 years on from its release Hugh Cornwell finally took the plunge and announced that he would tour the album.

On this occasion he has taken flavour of the month Danish/Brazilian duo. 'The Courettes' on the road with him as support. Looking them up today, I can see that they have been described as making the sound that you would get if the Ronettes met the Ramones (they kind of did actually). For me they came across as the bastard offspring of The Revillos and The Cramps, yes with Phil Spector sitting behind the desk. They were great fun actually, great to watch with some good songs. 

In the wake of The Courettes, Hugh and his band were wasting no time in taking to the stage to fine tune their instruments with 'Nosferatu' played on a backing track. 

Hearing the album played live in its entirity with the same running order as the original LP really brought it home to me just how experimental the album was/is... brave you could say. Whilst I think that the material advertising the tour was quite clear that something a little out of the ordinary was on the cards for this tour, there must be a proportion of the audience that would still be turning up for the big hits. What they would have made of their subjugation to 40 minutes worth of avant garde, rather dischordant music about as far removed from 'Golden Brown' and 'Always The Sun' that you could possibly get! Even I, who has loved the album for many years, had a few flashbacks to The Fast Show's 'Jazz Club'! But of course there was a sizable contingent of the crowd who were very familiar with Hugh and Robert's dark masterpiece and loved every minute of it. 

I don't know whether Hugh has any further 'Nosferatu' plans in store, a recording of the album set would be wonderful. A final acknowledgement of the part that this most quirky of album's has had in Hugh's and The Stranglers' history and the high regard in which fans hold the album.

? And The Mysterians Mid-City Lanes Rock 'N' Bowl New Orleans 1st October 2004

 

Here's something a little left field, but no prizes for knowing why I chose to post this gig. I like many others have never heard the enigmatic '? And The Mysterians' before now (with the exception of that song). In all honesty, whilst I like some of this type of '60's garage psychedilia, I have never really gone out of my way to go beyond '96 Tears'. So this I post as a curiosity as much as anything else. Theirs is a set of covers and originals. The big hit gets played twice, three times almost, as 'Can't Get Enough of You Baby' is pretty close.

To listen to them, ? And The Mysterians could pass off as Naz Nomad & The Nightmares!!

It is clear that The Stranglers cover was very faithful to the original in the same way that 'All Day And All Of The Night' deviated very little from The Kinks' version. Herein lies the problem with cover versions, they are only meaningful if they take a song in new direction... a 'Walk On By' or an 'Eloise' for example.

Thanks to the original Dime uploader.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-D5GDGgumVM

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-TqQvmE3kDh

Does anyone have a Dominion Theatre London 25th February 1985 lossless recording to share?

 

Looking for a lossless version of the above to replace a damaged CD. Can anyone assist?

Cheers,

Adrian.

Soft Cell The Palace Los Angeles 17th November 1983 - Speed Corrected Version

 

A speed correted version of this recording can be found here. many thanks to Mark for correcting the spped and sending on the upgraded files!

Edinburgh Corn Exchange 23rd October 2025

 

So, from the recent tour, here's the band's performance from Edinburgh. Many thanks as always to Chatts and DomP for their combined efforts on this one. This time around the band did indeed change things around a bit.... right from the first note of the intro tape with Edith Piaf's 'Non, je ne regrette rien' replacing 'Waltzinblack'. 'Dead Ringer', 'Tramp' and 'Pin Up' all in there. Who thought that they'd ever hear '15 Steps' or 'Mercury Rising' played live again? And I never expected to hear 'Mean To Me'... the highlight of my night in London. I may get 'Fools Rush Out' next time. What was it that Malcolm and Vivienne Westwood said? 'Be reasonable, demand the impossible'. Its not impossible, surely, it's just a short song... please, pretty please!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-wsdLRLEFNh

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Vcm1k1fWE8

Debbie Harry (Blondie) Inked

Another side of New York here, one perhaps a little easier on the eye and era than old Lou.

'All I want is a photo in my wallet

A small remembrance of something more solid

All I want is a picture of you.'

Debbie Harry

21cm x 30 cm linoprint

Black ink on cream card.

Lou Reed Music Hall Cincinnati 27th March 1989

 

There is no question about the influence that Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground had upon The Stranglers. The triumvirate of David, Iggy and Lou are widely accepted to be musicians that resulted in punk. More recently, Hugh wrote his own homage to Lou in the form of 'Mr Leather'.

I recently noticed this particular soundboard recording on from 1989 on Dime. It is from the tour that he did to promote the release of the 'New York' album. At the time of its release I was in my first term of university. Listening to this live recording of 'New York' album material, I was taken back into a Hall of Residence (Urgggh!!) and sitting around on Friday and Saturday evenings listening to music as others got stoned. Not being puritanical at all here, but I never really got on with cannabis so I rarely partook myself... so I was just left with thoughts of being in a pub as the music played. I endured endless hours of Pink Floyd, The Doors (I still can't listen to 'The Crystal Ship to this day!) and Lou Reed's 'New York', whilst my stoner companions went off in their own reveries!

I am not especially a fan of Lou Reed, I have 'Transformer' of course and I am partial to some VU stuff, but parts of the 'New York' album were very good, the single 'Dirty Blvd' especially so. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album the 19th best album of the '80s (out of 100).

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-ZVEyVlICoW

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-4fKUpylI32

St Nicholas Park Warwick 4th July 2025

 

So, here's the first Stranglers upload from 2025. A breezy night somewhere in the Midlands... okay Warwick actually. It's funny to say that the set got better in the Autumn when looking at that set. Perhaps a better way of putting it is that the set on the dates just gone was more varied and there for a little more interesting. There will be a few from '25 to be posted in the coming weeks. With thanks to those who shared this with me (originally emmanuel on Dime)... appreciated!

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-az46s4Wxl5

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-szXbpk1ira

All Ages Records Punk Record Shop - Camden London

 

In London last Saturday for the last Stranglers gig of the tour at the Roundhouse and I happened across a vertitable treasure trove of punk. 'All Ages Records' is London's independent punk record shop located in Pratt Street, just a stone's thrown from Camden Town Tube Station. Gigs flyers in the window first attracted my attention and pulled me across the road, whilst the sight of recognisable punk vinyl (visible through the spaces between the posters in the window) lured me in.

To be inside a shop like this, took me back to my earliest days of record collecting in the likes of 'The Wax Factor' and 'Vinyl Demand' in Brighton, the pulse quickens a little and the fingers start to twitch!. Whilst the walls are lined with vinyl, T-shirts are also on display on the walls as well as on racks. There is also a good selection of punk book titles, mostly only available online, as far as my searches in other bookstops suggests. 

On this particular Saturday afternoon I was never going to be mistaken for the 'Last of the Big Spenders' limiting my purchases as I did to two enamel badges! Well, my excuse was that I was now out for the day and didn't fancy trying to protect new LPs from a capacity Roundhouse crowd later in the evening. As I was waiting to buy the badges I was overhearing a couple of conversations between staff and punters and it was a real pleasure to hear people talking with such knowledge and enthusiasm about this music!

In my opinion, Camden is a shadow of what it once was. When Gunta and I were living in Kilburn, most weekends were drunkenly whiled away in the Hawley Arms or The Dublin Castle after scouring the market stalls for records and vintage bits and bobs. Now, Camden seems to be little more than a shoddy tourist location with next to nothing of the character it once had. So, it was a real boon to discover such a shop as 'All Ages Records'.

Give them a visit of you are in the area.

Address:

27A Pratt Street

Camden Town

London

NW1 0BG

Hours:

Monday–Sunday: 11:30AM–6:30 PM

http://allagesrecords.com/

Joy Division The Nashville Room London 22nd September 1979 (TFTLTYTD #21)

 

I have just finished reading one of the books that has been gathering dust for several years in a spare room pile of music related tomes. It was 'Unknown Pleasures Inside Joy Division' by Peter Hook. Of course there are connections that link Manchesters finest doom merchants with The Stranglers. First and foremost Jean Jacques Burnel was to be a major influence on young punk Hooky's bass playing style (the ludicrously lengthened, vertebrae crumbling, strap was an 'innovation' borrowed from The Clash's Paul Simenon). Secondly, Joy Division supported a Hughless Stranglers at the Rainbow on 4th April 1980. That second event is covered in his book. It was a memorable day by all accounts, and not for good reasons. He remarks on the fact that The Stranglers' crew treated Joy Division badly on the day. Not given the time for a sound-check the Joy Division, manager Rob Gretton also lost the opportunity to sit down with the lighting technician who would be maning the desk during the gig to request a refrain from the use of strobe lighting effects during their set. With no such safeguards in place, strobes were used and this triggered Ian Curtis's first seizure of the night. Peter and Bernard cut the set short and carried Ian off stage.

An hour later and the band were to be found across London at the Moonlight in West Hamstead where they were in time to headline a Factory Records residency intended to showcase the bands signed to the young label. This was foolish as Curtis was in no state to perform. He did and the intensity and exertion resulted in another, more severe fit. The band's Moonlight Club set can be located here.

Two days later on 5th April Ian Curtis took an overdose of phenobarbital in an attempt to take his own life. This was viewed as a 'cry for help' as Ian informed his wife what he had done in sufficient time for him to be taken to Macclesfield hospital for a stomach pump. It was more than a cry for help. Ian Curtis committed suicide by hanging on 18th May 1980, the day before the band were due to depart for their first tour of America.

Because of the enigmatic character of Ian Curtis, his lyricism and ultimately his tragic death, pages and pages have been written covering 'the Joy Division story'. What is a little different is that much of this historical narrative has been provided by insiders, specifically members of the band,  but also Deborah Curtis, who, in her book 'Touching From A Distance' gives an insight into another side of Ian's life. 'Unknown Pleasures Inside Story' I would recommend, along with drummer Stephen Morris's 'Record Play Pause: Confessions of a Post-Punk Percussionist: the Joy Division Years: Volume I'. To complete the picture, Joy Division/New Order guitarist, Bernard Sumner as also told his version of events in 'Chapter and Verse - New Order, Joy Division and Me'.

I have yet to read Bernard's account, but a clear message that comes through in the books penned by the rhythm section is that Ian Curtis was quite a complex character, in that what you got could be very dependent on the company he was keeping at the time, be that his fellow band members, his wife Deborah or his mistress Annik Honoré. To his fellow musicians he was more one of the lads, than he tortured poetic soul that history remembers him for.

So for Ian Curtis from better times here is a recording of the band playing at the Nashville in London's West Kennsington. Tracks 2 to 12 come from the 'Stiff Kittens - Try to Cure Yourself' bookleg, whilst the opener 'Atmosphere' is lifted from the 'Out of the Room' bootleg. 'Atmosphere' is also included in the download to complete the full set played on the night. Thanks to the original Dime uploader (borzage) and to the the 'Joy Division - A Means To An End Blog' site for the 'Atmosphere' file.

New Musical Express (22nd September 1979)

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-W4FW61OrTi

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-8slhtXEryg

The gig was witnessed by Adrian Thrills of NME. Strangely his review gives more column inches to the night's support, The Distractions, playing their debut gig in the capital, than to the headlining act. Nevertheless, his opinion of Joy Division's contribution to the evening's entertainment was passionately positive and typical of the music press's reaction to the band whenever they played at this time.

New Musical Express (29th September 1979)

Grand Theatre Blackpool 1st November 1999

 

Tonight sees the culmination of the '51' tour at London's Roundhouse. On this night twenty six years ago the band were entertaining the audience in Blackpool. Was this the last outing of 'Pin Up', I can't remember? A good set and a good recording from a not quite so good era of the band. Things can only get better as they say and luckily for us within a few years they did with 'Norfolk Coast'.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-rlUW09G3Oq

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Ood8qQqssg