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.
Now this was great fun. Three nights of following the band in The Netherlands and Belgium. At the time, the acoustic thing was new to me and I thought it worked very well. It also meant a change to see the band in some smaller, even more intimate venues. This was the occasion that brought me to Turnhout for the first time, On that occasion, I was totally ignorant of the fact that 67 years earlier my Grandfather had been here and that every September his regiment (the 11th Royal Scots Fusiliers) were and are commemorated as liberators of the town. In more recent years I have laid wreaths in the CWGC section of the municipal cemetery. But on this occasion it was all fast food and drinking!
Here we have a nicely edited record of these shows. Apologies as I received this in a trade many years ago I cannot remember who was responsible for the authoring.
01. 5 Minutes 02. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) 03. Something Better Change 04. Peaches 05. Golden Brown 6. Always The Sun 7. Skin Deep 08. Freedom Is Insane 09. Nice´n´Sleazy 10. London Lady 11. Walk on By 12. Hanging Around 13. Control 14. Duchess 15. All Day And All Of The Night 16. No More Heroes
From 9 years ago today here' Gary in Hatfield on the 'Dead Son Rising' tour. Now Numan for me means Tubeway Army and the first two solo albums, although I have seen him many times throughout his career, but the 'Dead Son Rising' was for me the best thing that he had done since 'Sacrifice' which in itself was a real comeback album from several years in the serious doldrums!
01. Intro 02. Down In The Park 03. The Fall 04. Haunted 05. When The Sky Bleeds, He Will Come 06. Films 07. Big Noise Transmission 08. Pure 09. Dead Sun Rising 10. Every Day I Die 11. We Are The Lost
01. Absolution 02. For The Rest Of My Life 03. Noise Noise 04. Everything Comes Down To This 05. Jagged 06. I Die:You Die 07. Cars 08. My Shadow In Vain 09. Are "Friends" Electric?
A huge argument when Gunta was barred entry to the quiz (my team came second I think... could be wrong) and had to wander around Kings Cross in the early hours for a couple of hours. What a wise bouncer on the night!
Next day I was hung over and we talked and reconciled.... and then started drinking all over again. The upshot was that we missed the JJ and Baz set completely but made it for the evening set.
Memory of the weekend? Mully charging down Euston Road in search of Big Al H, who just happened to have fallen asleep in McDonalds!
Here's a Numan set from the Back To The Phuture festival which celebrates electronic music of the late '70's and early '80's. Notable for the inclusion of some rarely aired Tubeway Army tracks.
01. Intro/Down In The Park
02. Films
03. That’s Too Bad
04. Crash
05. Big Noise Transmission
06. I Die : You Die
07. Jagged
08. The Fall
09. Everything Comes Down To This
10. Zero Bars (Mr Smith)
11. Listen To The Sirens
12. Are ‘Friends’ Electric
13. Haunted
14. Crawl
15. Pure
16. Cars
17. Halo
18. A Prayer For The Unborn
01. Intro
02. Destination Venus
03. Flying Saucer Attack
04. Mystery Action
05. Getting Me Down
06. Out of This World
07. Cold Wars
08. Yesterday’s Tormentor
09. Top of the Pops
10. You're So Deep
11. 2000 A.D
12. (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures
13. River Deep Mountain High
14. I Can't Stand My Baby
15. Audience
16. Bad Guy Reaction
17. Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked in Tonight
Thanks once again are due to MeAnIe for this one, previously posted on the Burning Up Times Forum, but now resurrected for your listening pleasure.
I'll leave the description down to MeAnIe himself:
'While trolling through old posts recently I found a post about an interview that Hugh did for Reverb Radio back in 2011, being one of those people who doesn't like to miss out on anything, and finding that the link was dead (several links were dead, including the one from Hugh's own website), I set about tracking the interview down, let's face it, when you read that Hugh was 'upbeat' and 'complimentary about The Stranglers' then that's more than enough ammunition to want to hear it. So I did the google thing, dead links, emailed the radio station, who after a few days suggested that I contact Paul Mex. So, then I googled Paul, turns out he's been around a long time and he's done a bit of everything, musician, composer, producer and is in the throws of a musical comeback himself. *point of nerdy interest for fans, he also worked with Ugly As Sin, some of us oldies remember them supporting The Stranglers a hundred years ago.
Paul, who interviewed Hugh on this occasion was incredibly helpful, shared a few anecdotes and even tracked down the interview for me. I really enjoyed corresponding with him.
Out of the kindness of his heart, Paul has made a link available to the interview (here)
Here also is a link to Paul's site and new album (here).
Here's a good sounding recording from Hugh's 2011 tour on which he played the 'Guilty' album in its entirety.
Originally uploaded as an uncirculated bootleg on Dimeadozen, the uploader kindly said that he was happy for it to be posted on Aural Sculptors. Many thanks Stevieduff.
I have also retained the original link to a review of the gig, here, so there's really not much more for me to say on this one.
1 One Burning Desire 02 Snapper 03 Nerves Of Steel 04 Black Hair Black Eyes Black Suit 05 Hot Head 06 Endless Day Endless Night 07 Five Miles High 08 Sravandrabellagola 09 Long Dead Train 10 Torture Garden 11 House Of Sorrow 12 Toiler On The Sea 13 The Raven 14 Bear Cage 15 School Mam 16 Walk On By 17 I Feel Like A Wog 18 Encore Break and Banter 19 Midnight Summer Dream 20 Hanging Around
1. 5 Minutes
2. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
3. Something Better Change
4. Peaches
5. Golden Brown
6. Always The Sun
7. Skin Deep
8. Freedom Is Insane
9. Nice´n´Sleazy
10. London Lady
11. Walk on By
12. Hanging Around
13. Control
14. Duchess
15. All Day And All Of The Night
16. No More Heroes
Here's an excellent recording from Hugh's 2011 German tour. Recorded at the Kulturzentrum Schlachthof (a converted abbatoir), the set features and early outing for the track 'Totem and Taboo'.
01. Intro
02. Toiler On The Sea
03. Wrong Side Of The Tracks
04. Goodbye Toulouse
05. Snapper
06. Bear Cage
07. Nerves Of Steel
08. Golden Brown
09. One Burning Desire
01. School Mam
02. Rain On The River
03. Always The Sun
04. Banging On At The Same Old Beat
05. Nuclear Device
06. Going To The City
07. Straighten Out
08. Totem & Taboo
09. Hanging Around
10. London Lady
Here's a boot I picked up a while back from Dimeadozen.
TV Smith, front man of the wonderful Adverts, is someone I have been following since the late '80's when he was playing in another great band that he'd pulled together that went by the name of Cheap. They were very much underrated and largely ignored by the music journalists (with the exception of the odd insider operating out of the 'Sounds' office).
TV Smith's Cheap at the Bull and Gate, early '90's
(...and there I am... with hair in a Rattus shirt, bottom right)
I recall that I first saw Cheap at the Anglers Retreat in West Drayton. Back then I asked him if he would record the 'Crossing of the Red Sea' album. At that time, I wasn't too sure about the soundness of the only label to have re released the album. Bless him, he agreed to do it for me, but complained that in doing so it would mean that he would be forced to listen to it!
With the passage of another 20 years, clearly his outlook on his earlier band's material has changed somewhat and thankfully so for those of us who are too young to have seen The Adverts when they were together. TV is now content to play these songs once more and having seen him do it in London, there is no doubting that this is not a nostalgia trip, he still means it maaan!
So enjoy this great gig from just under a year ago.
Come Spring 2011 and there's something amiss in the Andrews' household. It dawns on me that there is a gap in the kitchen calendar.... no Wonky Bus outing this year. This cannot be , an alternative must be sought!
Luckily, a fix was at hand as following a successful acoustic outing in Holland and Belgium in 2007, the band decided to repeat the experience with further dates in the same countries in April.
Logistical email traffic ensued and touring partners were canvassed, overdrafts were checked, permissions sought, some wavered, some fell at the first, such that in the end the party consisted of myself, Owen Carne, Barry Cridland and Paul Cooklin. Barry valiantly offered to be the sole driver when in mainland Europe, perhaps a wise decision given that I do not drive, Paul would probably be over the limit and despite Owen's excellent capabilities as a driver, Barry does have a lovely car and he may have been reluctant to pass the keys on!
A plan was in place so that Paul and I stayed with Owen on the night before in order to get an early start the following morning to get to Ashford for the rendevue with Barry. That was the plan, but for me at least it went awry very early on as I was due to fly back to London that night from Prague. In the event, the plane was delayed for 6 hours, which meant that I reached Owen's at 2 am ahead of the 5 am alarm call! The only upside on the night was that I found myself to be on the same flight as Pete Shelley and we discussed all things Buzzcocks for 45 minutes or so to kill time in the terminal.
The journey to France was uneventful (I assume that Paul and I entered international waters with a glass in our hands, but that is strictly in accordance with protocol!).
The first venue that we headed to was OC De Djoelen in at place called Oud-Turnout and our journey certainly became rather more arduous. Now, the last time I said something about Belgium I got pulled up for it a and was offered a view of an alternative side to Leuven, but in the years that I have been travelling in Northern Europe, I would stand by my view that the surfaces on many Belgian roads leave a lot to be desired. It is not an anti-Belgian comment (incidentally in the UK our roads are shot to pieces at a result of a couple of harsh winters), but poor roads threw our schedule by many hours on this first day.
Coming off a slip road to join another section of motorway, there was a big bang... a blow-out no less... but fortunately we were on the inside lane, so Barry was able to bring the car onto the hard shoulder quickly for remedial action. Only when out of the car and standing in the hard shoulder is it really apparent just how fast 80 mph is, especially when lorries are bearing down at you at that speed!
With a temporary tyre in place we 'sped off' at a gentle 50 mph in search of a proper replacement. Barry's tyres are not run of the mill and consequently it felt like we called in at every garage in Flanders and half of those in Holland before we found the one. Whilst the tyre was fitted Paul and I loitered on street corners drinking Pinot Grigiot from paper cups... such style!
On three wheels.... somewhere in Flanders
April 2011
When we eventually arrived in Oud-Turnout, a new problem presented itself.... try as we might we could not locate our accommodation for the night. After traversing every road in this very small town we succeded. We were to spend the night in what I can only assume was some kind of campus or Christian retreat! That said the kind of apartment that we had was clean and served it's purpose admirably.
We arrived at a full venue not long before the main event.
What was noticeable was that the band (at least JJ and Baz) were very loose-limbed! Not that it showed in their performance.... but then again I'd been on the wine all day so who was I to tell! The set was good and we enjoyed the experience (this was my first time of seeing the band play acoustically and I can away with my scepticism overcome - it was different but only in the sense that it was another facet of the same band).
JJ
OC DE Djoelen, Turnout
7th April 2011
'Princess of the Streets'
OC DE Djoelen, Turnout
7th April 2011
A suppressed disappointment was that 'Don't Bring Harry' did not appear in the set, it had been dropped after featuring the night before.
Having established that the post-gig amenities at our chosed accommodation were rather lacking, we had the notion to walk the 'short distance' to the bands hotel for a drink. We knew that we were heading in the right direction when the band's mini-bus passed us a mile or two down the road and the same loose-limbed bass played shouted his 'encouragement' through the window. Thanks JJ.
We continued to walk, occasionally cross-examining late night locals as to the best/only place to find a drink at that time of night. As usually happens, some locals took us into their care and brought us to their local.... I think that they too had been at the gig. Hunger gnawed, but sadly at that time the menu was confined to croque-monsieur so the two non-meat eaters in the party went without.... not that either of us were going to wither away as a result!
Settled up in the morning, we prepared for the journey into Holland and the small town of Zaandam, to the immediate north of Amsterdam. Arrived safely and checked into the Ibis Hotel we took a cab to the venue.
Cafe De Kade
Zaandam
Customary drinks preceded the evening's performance and for this one we were at the front unusually on Baz's side of the stage. Another cracking gig, marred only by I misunderstanding with Baz. At some point in the proceedings reference was made to the band's wine consumption at the previous nights gig in Turnout. At this point, I lent over to Owen and said something about them being pissed a the gig. Somehow, Baz mis(lip)read this and said that if I was going to call him a wanker that I'd better do it to to his face!? This was rather perplexing. Indeed there are many fans amongst us who have expressed something similar concerning Baz, but I have never been one of them (I have said it on many occasions that the 'Hugh's better Hugh's best' debate lost it's flavour in about 1992!). Anyway I digress.
01. Instead Of This
02. Long Black Veil
03. Dutch Moon
04. European Female
05. Princess Of The Streets
06. Strange Little Girl
07. Always The Sun
08. In The End
09. English Towns
10. Southern Mountains
11. Golden Brown
01. Spectre Of Love
02. North Winds
03. Peaches
04. Cruel Garden
05. All Day And All Of The Night
06. No More Heroes
07. I Hate You
08. Old Codger
09. Sanfte Kuss
10. Encore Break
11. Skin Deep
12. Walk On By
Post gig, it was a short train journey into the centre of Amsterdam where we knew entertainment could be had (of a non-sexual nature!). That said, we did venture towards the red-light district where we found a late-night pizzeria. This was in a narrow alleyway, directly opposite a sex shop and so it was that I eat my meal in full gaze of a large poster of a young lady with a cock up her bum! Such is the nature of that part of town I suppose and it did make a change from the usual pizzeria decor of gondolas and sun-kissed piazzas!
So that was the Dutch leg done and the following morning saw us head back into Belgium for the last one for us on this trip.... Lessines. We debated at we drove through the countryside whether to stop of somewhere else* or to continue on through to Lessine itself for food and drink. We opted for the latter and I think the consensus amongst us that this was a mistake.
Known as the birthplace of Rene Magritte (this was indeed the name of tonight's venue), it was rather smaller than we had bargained for. Still the sun was shining as we parked up and started to wander. In the town square, a few recognisable faces were to be seen and they had already clearly been there for some time as under the combined influences of alcohol and April sunshine they were metamorphosing into lobsters! Leaving the square, we stumbled on a Spring fete/festival, that much to our delight featured Lessine's answer to Johnny Halliday up on a makeshift stage.
This was the most surreal gig that I have seen the band play. The venue is split into two areas, a main hall (where bizarrely a basket ball game was in progress at the same time) and a smaller hall where the band were to play. This space was smaller that for the other gigs and even when Polyphonic Size were on room inside was very limited. It was only set to get worse as many people were milling outside where the bar and barbecue (?!) were located.
Come show time, there was no dressing room to speak of so the band were positioned behind a curtain at the back of the venue, which after passing through meant a very tight squeeze past us in a slow procession to the stage. Gig was good though... but still they didn't bring 'Harry'. What we did get in the last three sets was an acoustic version of 'No More Heroes', which I'm not sure fits such a set.... but see what you think.
CC Rene Magritte, Lessines, Belgium
9th April 2011
'English Towns'
CC Rene Magritte, Lessines, Belgium
01. Instead Of This
02. Long Black Veil
03. Dutch Moon
04. European Female
05. Princess Of The Streets
06. Strange Little Girl
07. Always The Sun
08. In The End
09. English Towns
10. Southern Mountains
11. Golden Brown
12. Spectre Of Love
13. Northwinds
01. Peaches
02. Cruel Garden
03. All Day And All Of The Night
04. No More Heroes
05. I Hate You
06. Old Codger
07. Sanfte Kuss
08. Skin Deep
09. Walk On By
And so as the band left the stage we made our back towards Calais and home.
In summary, it was very different but very enjoyable for that. If the band are keen to play gigs between main tours and the acoustic option is is easiest logistically then I am all for it! What was consistent was the banter, camaraderie and Pinot Grigiot and I don't think that we'll ever lose that on these outings!
* We did make a diversion as we passed through that area of Belgium, the name of which is burned into the British psyche, Passchendaele. My travelling companions had not previously seen the jaw-dropping spectacle of Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, the largest British Military Cemetery in the world and final resting place for 12,000 soldiers, both named and unnamed. The mood of the party changed as we surveyed the ordered rows of identical Portland stone headstones and tried to rationalise the enormity of what had happened across this area in the three major battles that traversed this area in 1917 (not to mention bitter fighting around Ypres since 1915).
It is truly remarkable and quite right that these cemeteries are maintained with the such diligence nearly 100 years on from the bloodshed. It is also heartening to see that schools are heavily involved with these places and in teaching children about what did happen in their now great-great grandfathers time. I think is extremely important today. My son is in fact travelling to Passendale and The Somme this summer on just such a school trip.... I plan to bore him senseless on the subject in the next couple of months!!
It's taken 30 years to follow up on the first collaboration with Mad Professor that went under the name of Rhythm Collision Volume 1 and it's more than worth the wait!
Now, here I have to be honest with you. What I know about dub reggae could be written on one side of a Rasta's Rizla, but that said, not being steeped in the genre at least made me listen to the Rhythm Collision Volume 2 sampler with zero preconceptions of what makes good dub.
What RC Vol 2 does do is to make me smile, very broadly.From the opening 'Technology' concerned with the bewildering advance of said technology to the closing 'Heavy Weight', as people appreciative of a heavy bass sound, Ruts DC bassist Segs delivers the goods. With Ruffy, the former Ruts rhythm section lay down a faultless foundation upon which the other musical elements on this sampler flourish. I may have it wrong, but I suspect that this is a fundamental facet of dub.
Of the five tracks appearing here, there is not a duff one amongst them. However, one track rises to the surface, even in the face of such stiff competition, 'Mighty Soldier'. Here Ruts DC have excelled and if the singles market meant anything anymore (which clearly it does not), this song would be a no-brainer candidate! A single or not, were this to receive sufficient radio play, it would be a hit. In a continuation of that Ruts spirit, the songs on RC Vol 2 are delivered in a very positive, upbeat way....
'One step backward, two steps forward
I gotta live this life in a positive way'
I'll go with that!
The CD can be purchased from the bands official site. where you can also hear the above mentioned 'Mighty Soldier' on RUTplayer.
In short, and without exaggeration, RC Vol 2 is the best new music that I have heard in the last 5 years at least.
Ruts DC are playing some of the scheduled punk festivals this year, but I hope to see them again in a small venue soon.
Here's a not so guilty pleasure... aspects of the career of the enigmatic Adam Ant.
In 1980, at the age of 11, I was given pocket money to the tune of £1 a week. This in fact was just about sufficient to by a tune a week (OK, two tunes if you count the b-side!). At the time, a 7" single was 99p in Woolworths or WH Smiths (the most usual record outlets unless you lived in a big town or city or were lucky enough to have a local enthusiast owning an independent record shop).
In November of that year, I took my pound into town to purchase 'Antmusic', at the time the latest hit single from the 'Kings of The Wild Frontier' album.
'Antmusic'/'Fall In'
November 1980
In a slow but determined process, I started to backfill the collection, firstly with the 'Kings' and 'Dog Eat Dog' singles, then the album itself. In the meantime, the band fully embraced the teen market that the success of the album and 'Antmusic' had opened up to them (myself included) and the result was the 'Stand & Deliver' and the 'Prince Charming' album, with it's associated chart friendly singles. Even then I was starting to have some doubts, now being a discerning 12 year old music critic! Nevertheless, if I had some misgivings about the A-sides, the B-sides were always more interesting, 'Fall In', 'Christain D'ior' and 'Beat My Guest' to name three. I did not know until some time later that these songs were re-recorded versions of songs from a more dangerous period in the Ants history.
Whilst on the one hand I was listening to 'Prince Charming', on the other, I was still delving further backwards into the back catalogue which was infinitely more interesting, 'Cartrouble', 'Zerox' and 'Kick'. This I think was one of my first exposures to punk/post punk (if you exclude buying up the singles released off the back of 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'!). To cap it all I got hold of a copy of 'Dirk Wears White Sox', which to my mind has stood the test of time better than 90% of the albums released at the same time.
In late '81 a tour was announced that was to prove to be their last. My uncle, as a Brighton taxi driver managed to get tickets as he was on the spot at the time. Such was the popularity of the band at this time that the tickets sold in a matter of an hour or so after the box-office opened.
This was my first gig. I had turned down a ticket to see the Police a couple of months earlier on their 'Ghost In The Machine' tour as the Ants tour had been announced and I had high hopes for that one.
Adrian (on the right sporting Dee Dee Ramones hairstyle courtesy of my Dad!)
Pre-gig 28th December 1981
The show as I recall was very well-staged and theatrical, with costume changes and set changes throughout. The band played well, they were after all at this time a collection of very accomplished musicians, but what I remember most was the pre-'Kings' material, 'Physical' and 'Cartrouble'.
Early in 1982, Adam disbanded the Ants and went off with Marco and Merrick in tow to pursue a solo career. I was a lucky winner of a ticket to see his first solo gig to an invited fan-club audience. Unfortunately, this being in London I was not allowed to go, being just 13 at this point.
Fast forward to the late 80's, Adam and the Ants seemed a long distant memory, by this point I was heavily into the Stranglers along with many other bands of the era. I was at Brunel University and went to see T.V. Smith of Adverts fame at the Anglers Retreat in West Drayton. It was here that I met some folks from the local area (Hayes and Uxbridge) who I'm happy to say are still good friends 20+ down the line. Discussions on punk ensued and a common interest in the Ants came up. It was at this point I was first introduced to the really good stuff, the stuff that could only be acquired on the then flourishing bootleg stalls of Camden Market. It was at this point that I first discovered the original recordings of many of the songs that had been recycled as B-sides of the hit singles.
The Madam Stan Demos.... The Decca Demos.... The Fetish Demos....
Here in fact was by far their best material (all from the '78 to '79 period) of which the vast majority had never seen the light of day!!
A far cry from the Dandy Highwayman of the early '80's Adam and the Ants gigs in this period were dangerous affairs, violence was common, elements of the audience were quite unsavoury (perhaps in part with Adam's flirtation with Nazi imagery, something that a hostile music press homed in on). Certainly, older fiends of my Hayes mates told of guaranteed punch ups whenever the band played outside of central London!
Adam & The Antz Marquee London 1978
To illustrate how different the punk-era Ants were from the Saturday morning TV band the finished up as, I would recommend a listen of the 'In Bondage '78-'79' CD, which brings together some of the aforementioned demos, with a gig from the Marquee Club in London's Wardour Street.
1. Wonderful
2. Alien
3. Vive Le Rock
4. Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face)
5. Gotta Be A Sin
6. Beautiful Dream
7. Room At The Top
8. Man Called Marco
9. Kings Of The Wild Frontier
1. Stand & Deliver
2. Vampires
3. Ants Invasion
4. Killer In The Home
5. Ant Music
6. Audience
7. Goody Two Shoes
8. Kick!
9. Band Introduction
10. Christian D'ior
11.20th Century Boy
In the following years, Adam hit trouble. Initially ridiculed as just another washed up pop star struggling to cope with a stalled career, he became a press darling for all the wrong reasons.
However, more recently, Adam has had a more sympathetic reception as public understanding of bipolar disorder of which he has been a life-long sufferer has increased.
The good news is that in the last 18 months or so Adam Ant has been back on the road, playing to consistently appreciative audiences. Best of all the current set draws heavily on the material from the band's early days and I suspect that for quite a high proportion of those audiences these songs will be completely new.
See what you think. from this recording at the 100 Club in London from January 2011.
So there you go, a long career in music, marked by massive success, some notable failures and a good measure of controversy, not that unlike The Stranglers. Good luck Adam!
It is with great regret that I cannot spice this post up with a recording of this extraordinary night, but please read on.
I was dead exited about this one. A few years ago, when Paul Fox was sadly diagnosed with cancer his contemporaries rallied around and participated in a punk star-studded event to raise money for Foxy's ongoing treatment. The highlight of this night was a set of Rut's material played by Paul, Segs and Ruffy along with the formidable form of Henry Rollins stepping up to the mike for the occasion in place of Malcolm. The gig was blistering and for some inexplicable reason, I was not there!!
A few short weeks later Paul succumbed to his illness. What followed was a film premiere of the excellent DVD of the event (the only film premiere I have been to I might add!). On that occasion, prior to the screening there was more music. A few songs were played, I recall Captain and Henry doing 'It Was Cold' and Beki Bondage doing the sublime 'West One'. That night whilst Segs and Ruffy did appear on stage to introduce the film (resplendant in trilbies and looking every bit like The Untouchables of Uxbridge) they did not play.
So, a mini tour supporting Alabama 3 was going to be my first opportunity to see these two musicians whose music has meant so much to me over so many, many years. But here I have to make a confession. The tour was promoted as Ruts DC in Dub, marking the release of Rhythm Collision Volume 2 and whilst I can claim to know a bit about punk and ska, dub reggae is a little bit out of my comfort zone. That's not to say that I don't like it, but I'm a bit green, so on the night I didn't really know what to expect.
Of the material played, I knew 'Whatever We Do' and 'Fools' which were great, but what sent me into aural orbit was the treatments they gave to some Ruts classics, namely 'Babylon's Burning', 'Jah War', a bit of 'SUS' and 'In a Rut'. See for yourself.
'In A Rut' The Forum
2nd December 2011
New material from the Volume 2 album included 'Mighty Soldier' and 'One Step'. A sampler of the new album is availble for purchase through the official site, here.
It may have been my exitement, the beer or the effect of dub reggae bass frequencies on the brain or indeed a combination of all three, but I thought that Ruts DC were magnificent!
We need more of this stuff. What I want to see now is a full headlining set from the boys. I am up for being educated in dub reggae Ruts DC style, but I would also relish the chance to see more of the 'Animal Now' album live, not to mention more Ruts, 'West One', 'Love in Vein'.......
I, like many other Stranglers fans have long carried a torch for The Damned. Both bands were viewed as outsiders of the London punk scene of '76/'77, this despite the Damned consistently racking up all of the punk firsts (first signed, first single release, first to tour America etc.). With influences more aligned to the demon progressive rock (admittedly hidden rather well by the Damned for a few years) than the front line reggae favoured by the Clash and the Pistols, it seemed that neither the Damned or the Stranglers really meant it maaan!!
As a frequent wearer of the tutu, even more frequently naked by the end of a gig and always an agent of the unpredictable at early Damned gigs, the good Captain was certainly one reason why the serious music journos of the day did not or would not take the Damned seriously. However, once the band rose above the Stooges/MC5 inspired thrash of the first album, it became clear that Sensible was a musician of considerable talent.
For many fans, the albums Machine Gun Etiquette, The Black Album and Strawberries represent the holy trinity in The Damned's body of work. For this reason, it is in some ways disappointing that on this tour they have chosen to couple complete run throughs of Damned Damned Damned (done before) and the Black Album. Maybe Strawberries is in the diary for 2012!!
This weekend sees the band play The Roundhouse in our own Camden Town. It promises to be a great night. 'Sensible's a Wanker!' parhaps, but he's also a great guitarist to boot.
From the American leg, I have uploaded this from Dime in the original lossy format (flac) at the request of the original uploader.
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