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.


Showing posts with label Wire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wire. Show all posts

Thursday, 11 September 2025

Top 30 Punk Albums #6 Pink Flag - Wire

So this one then is for the madcap daughter, Mo, who got to Wire before I did. As I mentioned in the earlier demos post, Wire may be overlooked in your run of the mill punk narrative, but their debut album is a classic slice of 1977 punk rock. Fast, aggressive and sharp as a razor. I think that it's great and so did the critics who were effusive in their praise for the album.

Here's what two of them said.

New Musical Express (12th November 1977)



Sounds (12th November 1977)














Wednesday, 10 September 2025

Wire Demos 1977

 

Here's another band that slipped my attention for the longest time. Wire. I kind of consider them to be Mo's band... as I recall she was interviewed by the folk that were making a Wire documentary film. Whether it came out and whether she made the final cut, I have no idea. I only ever knew a couple of their, if not hits, perhaps better known songs. My biggest exposure to Wire came through Elastica who, after the release of their first album, were were being pursued by The Stranglers' and Wire's publishers who were raising the cry of 'Plagarism!'... from Wire's (or perhaps it was Colin Newman, I don't recall) corner the issue concerned the strong passing resemblance of not only Elastica's 'Line Up' to Wire's 'I Am The Fly' but also 'Connection' to 'Three Girl Rhumba'. To be fair, there was a case to be answered!

That Wire were a great band is evident, coming across loud and clear even from these rough and ready demos, most of which in a refined form appeared on the excellent 'Pink Flag' album.

The relevance of Wire to this site goes back to their support slot when The Stranglers played the sports hall at Brunel University on the 1977 Autumn Tour' (No More Heroes).

Gig Advert from 'LeNurb'
(Brunel University Student University Newspaper 1977)


FLAC: https://we.tl/t-XqAZkLHfdm

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-BcsCeX5jtx