The Stranglers

[Plugger35]

Surprised there wasn't a dedicated thread here for this legendary band.

My fave 3 Strangler songs and essential listening.

[YOUTUBE]oIHBUGvAUMo[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]jwP9kTMRM88[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]fqd9oWSqWIE[/YOUTUBE]

Once Hugh Cornwell left they were dead to me.

Your thoughts on The Stranglers are still welcomed in this thread though.

 

[sherrinorburley]

Yep, love them songs and this one

[YOUTUBE]XF3P4AAaVIg[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Plugger35]

Yeah I don't mind that song either.

The Stranglers kind of had two different phases. Their 1970's punk phase with songs like Peaches and No More Heroes and then their 1980's pop/rock phase with songs like Golden Brown, Skindeep and Always the Sun.

I don't mind their earlier punk stuff but I'm more of a fan of their 80's stuff from Golden Brown onwards. Haven't really bothered with any of their newer stuff since 1990 when Hugh Cornwell left. Like most bands they just weren't the same once they started changing their original line up and Cornwell being the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter was an integral part of the band. .

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

Dave greenfield made the Stranglers sound great.

Kinda like how Ray Manzarek made the Doors sound.

My fave tunes are probably Get A Grip On Yourself/Hanging Around.

Jet Black is 71 now, that's freaky for a band that's supposed to have been punk!

 

[chesson]

Golden Brown always has a feel good affect. Written about a girl or something.
As laconic as one could be is Jet Black & co in that clip.

 

[John]

Caught them twice at the Queens Hotel in Brisbane in 1978. On the 1st night the idiot punk around town at the time, who went around under the moniker V2, kept spitting at JJ who warned him not to but he ignored the warning and got smashed him over the head with JJ's bass. V2 got up and kept pogoing. Very butch of him.

On the next night they played for 25 minutes and smashed their gear up and walked of. Disappointing. My memory of that night was one of the support bands who's name escapes me playing so loud it was ridiculous.

The Stranglers were so taken aback with red neck Qld they released Nuclear Device and those barstools at Youtube will not let me post it.

Link

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

JJ is a 5th or 6th dan black belt.

Plenty of stories of him jumping into the crowd and snotting someone.

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

Golden Brown always has a feel good affect. Written about a girl or something.
As laconic as one could be is Jet Black & co in that clip.

Golden Brown is about both heroin and a girl.

Some of Greenfield's best work..

 

[Bomber Bears]

Havent really heard much other than Golden Brown, but that really is a top song.

 

[Plugger35]

Caught them twice at the Queens Hotel in Brisbane in 1978. On the 1st night the idiot punk around town at the time, who went around under the moniker V2, kept spitting at JJ who warned him not to but he ignored the warning and got smashed him over the head with JJ's bass. V2 got up and kept pogoing. Very butch of him.

On the next night they played for 25 minutes and smashed their gear up and walked of. Disappointing. My memory of that night was one of the support bands who's name escapes me playing so loud it was ridiculous.

The Stranglers were so taken aback with red neck Qld they released Nuclear Device and those barstools at Youtube will not let me post it.

Link

That punk era of theirs was all a bit before my time but from all accounts they lived up to the Punk ethos of the day by being difficult, obnoxious and 'in your face' aggressive. JJ Burnel apparently punched out a music journalist during an interview.

They seemed to mellow along with their music in the 1980s however. I still found them quite intriguing figures though, they were quite different to most other pop bands in the early to mid 80's who were all make up and permed hair. They kind of reminded me of a bunch of shady European gangsters all dressed in black, mysterious and menacing. That was all part of their appeal I think.

I love the juxtaposition of that Skindeep clip I posted in the OP. Appearing on TOTP in front of a typically excited teenybopper 80s audience, they just completely ignore them whilst doing their usual cool, menacing gangster type deal.
Gotta love 'em.

 

[EnglishWarrior]

Havent really heard much other than Golden Brown, but that really is a top song.

Might like this one. My favourite of theirs. Love the little prog interlude in the middle

[YOUTUBE]-55d4XkfW8w[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Plugger35]

Golden Brown is about both heroin and a girl.

Some of Greenfield's best work..

Yeah there is quite a bit of conjecture about the meaning of that song. A few of the band members have said it's about either heroin or a girl and you can pretty much read into it what you want. Mick Jagger said the same about 'Brown Sugar' when it was released. I tend to think both songs are about heroin but no band wants to come out and say they've written a song about drugs so pretend that it could also be about a girl or whatever.

Either way 'Golden Brown' is a brilliant song. Would be in my top 5 favourite songs of all time, if not my favourite. I loved it when I first heard it as a kid and it still sounds as great today as it did back then. One of those songs that always stops me in my tracks whatever I'm doing and puts me into an almost trancelike state. Just has that timeless, dreamy quality to it (which probably backs up the heroin theory I guess).

Some of The Stranglers other 80s songs like 'Skindeep' and 'Always the Sun', while not quite as brilliant as 'Golden Brown', still have a timeless quality to them. A lot of music from that era sounds dated but The Stranglers stuff doesn't. Their songs sound as great today as they did back then, always a sign of a quality band.

 

[John]

I have to admit that I like the first three albums best and think that Black and White is a fine album. "Bring me a piece of your mummy she was quite close to me"
I personally found the next few albums iffy and never really got into them much after The Meninblack.

I do have the single Walk On by with the sleeve art the same as this youtube vid below. A terrific cover, Meldrum hated it so it must have been good, that has a bit of a Ray Manzarek feel with the keyboard work.

[youtube]jqfqVDHNW6c[/youtube]

I would suggest that for those that are interested chase up JJ's solo Euroman Cometh. Not a bad album at all and easy to find.

 

[Plugger35]

Yeah I liked Walk on By too from back in their old Punk days.

I must admit I don't have all their individual albums. Kind of cheated and just bought their Greatest Hits 1977-1990. That has most of their big hits but probably missed a few hidden gems a long the way like most of the Greatest Hits albums do.

From that album there's a few other songs not mentioned yet that I'm a big fan of.

[YOUTUBE]25XHv6mprUs[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]UIyKLCw8pBg[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]1BA6HUJ1gFI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[EnglishWarrior]

Duchess

Don't know much from outside the GH either, although this one is on my ipod - good for a little late night driving down the country lanes

[YOUTUBE]f4WjibPS7-M[/YOUTUBE]