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Of(f) the beaten
tracks: the set list
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Friday
22nd February 2008 |
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| Stranglers
2007 sets: acoustic tour, Bilston and Lincoln…
Mull, Poperinge (signed by Dave
Greenfield apparently on the train back to Bruges) and the
Heroes set at the Roundhouse…
Stranglers 2006 sets: Bilston, Cluses,
Guildford, July’s European tour and UK tour…
Many thanks to collector Lawrence
Howard who kindly allowed us a sneak insight into the world of a
Stranglers set list collector. Certainly nobody can accuse him
of not getting out enough! Thanks also for the following images
from Cluses and Oran Moor…
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“Caption competition!”
With the editor in
charge of giving away prizes
away on
vacation - we thought we’d have a competition
anyway. Send us your wittiest
caption to go with
a tired and emotional-
looking bassist in
the picture opposite, and
we’ll publish the
best. We might even let JJ kyokushinkai the
winner.
editors@strangled.co.uk
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The Stranglers:
north London, 2007
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Wednesday
7th November 2007 |
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© Chris Gabrin
In August, top photographer
Chris Gabrin reconvened with The Stranglers for an exclusive
photo session: it was the first time both parties had met since
1977. This was planned to celebrate 30 years at the Roundhouse.
So on Thursday 23rd August the
two parties met up at nearby Holborn Studios in Islington, and
as you can see from the shot selected for us, the result is
superb – and typically Gabrinesque. In the forthcoming Burning
Up Times PDF, Chris reveals his take on events from the early
years of the band and delves into his photographic archive.
Photographic studio tour
HERE.
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Sunday 19th November 2006 |
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Rock it to the Moon!
Tony Moon was born on 2nd February 1957.
As a teenager gripped by punk and the early
Stranglers sound, he set up Strangled - one
of the first and foremost fanzines - from
his bedroom in Lewisham, southeast London.
In the 80’s he played in a band called Motor
Boys Motor and in 1997 he published Down By
The Jetty: The Dr. Feelgood Story. Today he
is Senior Lecturer in Film Production at
Southampton University. Gary Kent tracks
him down to talk about punk roots and the
origins of the fanzine – in the days when
‘cut and paste’ literally meant, ‘cut and
paste’!
|
 STRANGLED FIRST
appeared in the Spring of 1977 just after Grip was
released. It actually came about from another
fanzine I had before that called Sideburns in 1976.
There were 4 or 5 of them, all done in the Sniffin’
Glue style. The Stranglers connection came about
when I featured them, and had them on the front
cover. It was the first publication ever to do that.
The bands publicist, Alan Edwards suggested I create
a credible fanzine for The Stranglers, and that’s
how Strangled happened. The first copies were given
out free.
The first time I
saw The Stranglers play was at the Nashville in
1976. They were headlining, but it wasn’t the
headliners we were there for. Me and my mate were
Dr. Feelgood fans, but we were getting into the new
phenomenon called punk. We wanted to know all about
it, and checked the gig listings in NME for a punk
band to go and see. The Nashville advertised The
Stranglers gig – but it was the name of the support
band that caught our eye - The Vibrators. They
sounded like they could be punk, so that’s why we
went.
We sat down at one
of the tables and there was this big curtain across
the stage. When it was pulled back, The Vibrators
were standing there, poised. They were dressed in
plastic trousers - they looked like cartoon punks!
John Ellis was in the band. Then they went: ‘fuck
off, fuck off, fuck off!’ before bursting into just
5 songs. They then repeated the same five songs
again. But then it was time for the headliners to
come on - and they blew us away! I had never seen
anything like it. The Stranglers were the real
thing. They were so good. They were also quite
frightening. Very dark.
I got to know them
too, and we became very matey… I was invited down to
recording sessions at TW Studio in Fulham. It was a
shit hole, a tiny basement dump, but I was so
excited. I’d never been in a studio before. It’s
funny thinking back how you naively assume the
entertainment business is glamorous… It’s like when
I interviewed them, I was told to ‘come down to our
managers office…’ and I thought ‘Wow!’ It turned out
Albion’s office in Putney Bridge Road was above a
hairdressers, so you had to walk through all these
people getting their hair cut to get to the office!
Page 3 was never the
same again…
[In Hugh’s
biography, he briefly refers to you as ‘a quiet,
polite boy…’]
I am polite, I make
no excuse for that… I actually became very good
chums with Hugh. We’d go to the cinema and things.
We got ideas together for the Walk On By video,
although Chris Gabrin is credited for it, isn’t he?
He shot it, but at the end it does say: Directed by
Moon/Cornwell. People say to me, ‘are you in any of
the books on The Stranglers?’ But you see, I played
a minor part of their lives. It’s no big deal, but
you do get written out slightly… it’s all along time
ago.
I never wanted to
run a fan club – that’s for David Essex and the
like. That’s why I set up Stranglers Information
Service to front the fanzine. If I was doing it
today, it would be a webpage, and I’d be the editor.
But in those days, it was all very home made, fairly
ad hoc, and not very organised. It was just me, my
mate [Tony Cunningham] and a typewriter. It was
cutting out and pasting onto the pages, and you had
to have a certain amount of pages for the printer to
print it. You couldn’t have 7 pages, you had to have
say, 16 or 18. These days you’d have a website you
keep topping up. And this wasn’t photocopies either.
It was great when you got a whole page in from
someone, like Mark Manning’s ‘hello little
girl…’cartoon. I remember thinking, great – that’s
another page done. That probably came about from
Hugh, who also supplied his ‘Flasher’ cartoons for
the back page. [The author of the dirty old man
picture later became known as 80’s singer Zodiac Mindwarp.]
Early Strangleds
were about what was happening around us, not just
The Stranglers. Dr. Feelgood, The Lurkers… they were
all part of this exciting world. Interviews with Lee
Brilleaux and Lew Lewis too, who released one of the
greatest records ever on Stiff… We left the big
names like The Clash and the Pistols to the other
fanzines.
[There was a lot of
anger in the writing – rants aimed at McDonalds
while berating the lack of contributions, calling
readers a country of bystanders!] Yeah. That’s what
punk is all about – and I still uphold the punk dictat of go out there and do it yourself.
[It was
in Sideburns where "This is a chord, this is
another, this is a third. Now form a band’” first
appeared] But I like what David Bailey once said:
‘I’m only interested in the things I can’t do.’
That’s me, that’s what drives me. I mean, we didn’t
sit around saying how bored we were then. We got out
there and did something. Although we were bored –
bored with the status quo. It was run purely on
enthusiasm – we didn’t know what we had. But
distribution let us down. I think you have to be
good at selling, and we weren’t.
This is a chord, this
is another, this is a third.
Now form a band!
After Rattus and Heroes came Black And White -
and what a fantastic album that was! I mean, any
band worth their salt has got one album in them.
It’s their live set – and the same perhaps, for the
second. But Black And White was brand new, and the
first written specifically to be an album. It was
such an interesting and amazing development. Dave
had different keys too, not just the Hammond, and it
was all a bit more polished in a way. I was at the
Battersea Park gig – and I was lucky enough to go
with them to the US.
I think it was their most exciting period, and I
was keen to have more involvement in the whole
Stranglers picture, not just to be known as Mr. Fan
Club. I ended up the assistant to Ian Grant who was
now managing the band following the split with
Albion - first working from an office in Oxford
Street and then Wimpole Street, using Harvey
Goldsmith’s premises. But by the time The Raven came
out, I’d left.
Me and Kevin Sparrow
[Stranglers artist, designer
of the bands albums and logo, introduced by Ian
Grant] had come up with a Stranglers book containing
all the lyrics. Kevin illustrated all the themes
within the lyrics and I did all the writing and
interviews for it. That Christmas, Kevin died,
[Christmas Day, according to No Mercy, after downing
a Mogadon tranquiliser and a bottle of whisky] and
on New Years Eve, Jet’s brother Paul, now running
SIS, phoned me about getting it published. He knew
it was going to sell well. But then the book got
lost…
 Being in a band was always something I wanted to
do, although I was a terrible guitarist! So I sang
for Motor Boys Motor - an R&B band - and we released
an album before calling it a day in 1983. I also
wrote with The Screaming Blue Messiahs, but it was
film that interested me more, and I’ve lectured Film
Production for 10 years.
 I don’t listen to The Stranglers now. I might
wear black, but I haven’t seen them play live since
1978 - Battersea, possibly… When I heard the
Meninblack album, I remember thinking what absolute
drivel it was! I could never relate to it – it was
like prog-rock. Golden Brown was a brilliant piece
of music, though, and Feline was quite good.
Hopefully I’ll get to hear the new album at some
point.
In the post to you, Tony. Apologies for the
delay.
Oops, I sound a bit like Strangled!
List of Strangled fanzines, 1977-1995
here
No Class fanzine, Tony Moon interviewed in 1981
here
To win a copy of Strangled No. 8...
Just answer the question below to receive a mint
edition original Strangled (just hole punched on the
left, but perfectly cherished otherwise.) This 1979
issue was Tony’s penultimate offering, and the first
correct response gets it! Here’s the poser:
“This is a chord, this is another, this is a
third. Now form a band!”
Name those 3 chords.
Email us
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Baz Warne interview
Saturday 9th September 2006
“He left fairly
amicably. He wasn’t kicked out or sacked. It was just a series
of events. When he left I was shocked but I wasn’t completely
surprised.”
Baz Warne talks to Punk77 about Paul
Roberts and Suite XVI - and Hugh losing all his hair..!
Here
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Chris Twomey, author of ‘The Men They Love To Hate’
exclusively reviews Suite XVI…
Well and truly
black in business!
’VE NEVER had much interest in
football, but if there’s one club I could almost support right
now, it’s Accrington Stanley. For years I thought they were a
piss-take created by Michael Palin in Ripping Yarns - his satire
of the innocent era of Boys Own adventures (which ran on
BBC2 from 1977-79). But it turns out Accrington Stanley were
real football legends, who played in the Football League between
1921 and 1962, before disappearing down the plughole.
But, after 44 years in the wilderness, the
plucky Lancastrians pulled off a near miracle when they returned
to The Football League this Spring. Their pride might have been
severely dented back in ‘62, but they never lost hope…
Now I’d never make any direct comparisons between The
Stranglers and Accrington Stanley - except to point out that
they’re both ancient English institutions, they’ve both been to
the point of seemingly terminal irrelevance, and they’ve both
turned their fortunes around in a manner that would make Lazarus
proud. Ten years ago, if someone had told me I’d be singing the
praises of a new Stranglers album in 2006, I’d have asked them
to check my pulse.
In the late Seventies Hugh Cornwell boasted that The
Stranglers were hell bent on ‘testing people’s tolerance levels’
but he could never have predicted they’d primarily do this after
he’d left. As each post-Hugh album was released during the
Nineties it became an increasingly depressing experience - the
songs and production were, for the most part, tired and
uninspiring. Worse, by the time 1998’s dismal Coup De Grace
album came out, they sounded like a band that had stopped
caring. Many of us who had followed them through more glorious
times could only shake our heads in dismay and disbelief, hoping
they’d put themselves out of their misery before too long.
But incredibly, two years ago, the mighty Stranglers roared
back to life with Norfolk Coast - an album so full of vigour
(and tunes!) it caught us all off-guard. The good news is, if
you thought Norfolk Coast was a return to form, Suite XVI is
even better... The jinx that followed Hugh’s departure in
1990 shows no signs of returning now that they’ve lost their
second front man of 16 years, Paul Roberts. I don’t know what
the boys are taking these days, but I’d like some of it - not
since the more inspired moments of Aural Sculpture and
Dreamtime have The Stranglers created music this affecting.
Having said that, none of my favourite tracks on the new
album - Bless You (Save You, Spare You, Damn You), Barbara
(Shangri-La) and Relentless - are
instantly identifiable as Stranglers songs. Partly that’s
because they’re all sung by Baz Warne (who hasn‘t tackled lead
vocals before), but more pertinently, this isn’t formulaic
Stranglers. Barbara is a fine slice of jangly pop
topped off with some surfy falsetto harmonies; Relentless
and Bless You are both lush productions that prove
the band are still capable of walking that fine line between
being true to themselves and taking a few artistic diversions. I
can’t hear the melancholic Relentless without
picturing myself driving along a desert highway somewhere in
America. I don’t know why, nor do I care to analyse it too much!
The important thing is, that sense of evocation I’ve often
missed in the Stranglers’ music since Hugh left is back.
Indeed, if I was going to level any criticism at Suite XVI,
it’s only that a couple of tracks are the bastard sons of
something already in their canon. Summat Outanowt
comes across as a weird 5 Minutes/Sleazy/Nubiles hybrid,
topped off with a JJ vocal alarmingly reminiscent of Lemmy of
Motorhead. The unintentionally hilarious I Hate You
(now who could this be aimed at?), also sung by JJ, swings with
a Country-style swagger, but is ultimately rather gimmicky. And
there are also some questionable lines about wearing suspenders
in the otherwise dynamic opener Unbroken. But
overall the highlights far outweigh the clangers.
Whilst there’s no continuous theme to Suite XVI, there are
certainly a few references to the horror of war - most notably
on the moving anti Blair/Bush song Anything Can Happen
(‘Dare to look me in the eye, the man who sent our sons to
die’) and the bombastic A Soldier’s Diary.
I’m not yet sure what Bless You is about, but
this is the song that I find myself returning to again and
again. I love everything about it from it’s swaying melody, to
the girly-sounding harmonies (I haven‘t seen the album credits -
they sound like female backing singers); from the baroque-style
harpsichord runs and carefully picked guitar solos, to Jet’s
sparing, jazzy drumming. Even with it’s weird time changes and
breathing spaces, it all fits together beautifully.
If EMI had any sense they’d stick this a-typical track out as
a single as a way of showing the wider public that these old
boys still have a few tricks up their sleeve. I remember they
took just such a risk with another Stranglers song back in 1981
- and look what happened after that..!
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|
 Joe
Ordinaire gets a sneak preview of the album they’re all
discussing
Four-piece sweet
suite /swi:t/ n. 1 a set of things belonging together.
O PAUL ROBERTS exits the
band, leaving Baz and JJ to redo the vacated vocals. But I smelled a rat
before that: I was just one of the fans unnerved reading reports on
these very pages last winter of almost an album of material axed in a
quality control cull. Frightening stuff, especially after fifteen
albums. I mean, how much longer can they carry on? How was I to know
their sixteenth album would end up as their strongest since 1983’s
Feline!
Suite XVI is their
magnum opus. Opener Unbroken is choppy and charty. Bright
and breezy. Kicking off with garage guitar and crazy keyboards into
eerie descending chords for the verse onslaught. Clever arrangement,
ascending stop-start chorus - Baz sounds like JJ, with very
un-Stranglers lyrics: ‘Even confused about my orientation? Ooh baby
I’ll slap my thigh, and wear suspenders if it makes you high…’ Lay
back on the couch – and suss the inner turmoil of survival,
Stranglers-style. 3.46 of power pop. Got to be a single, surely?
Talking of singles,
Radio 2 choice The Spectre of Love is a perfect companion
to
Norfolk Coast’s wind-ripped swirls and chord quads. Classic Dave
organ work embellishes the rolling, driving bass force, chivvied by the
treble-chasing rasp as Baz sings perfectly morbid and melodic… Hey! The
Stranglers are back! The snarling, curled up lip sneers through
She’s Slipping Away, a tune crying out commercial with lush
harmonies, twangingly cool riffs and gorgeous Greenfield arpeggios.
Another contender for a single, perhaps? The bright feel hides a dark
edge in the words, and not for the last time.
But suddenly the
pop stops. A spinning hubcap noise launches Summat Outanowt.
and the gargantuan Bear Cage bass kicks in with a Dead Loss Angeles-style
riff. Not since Do You Wanna?/Death & Night & Blood
has JJ’s bass done so much damage through headphones. Weird, angular
verses with a surprise singalong chorus, this was the song that
survived the cull. Awesome stuff, and it is here the album changes.
Well it should… JJ sings here for the first time since In The
End, off 1997’s Coup de Grace. Or rather, shouts! Louder than
5 Minutes, noisier than Go Buddy Go – thankfully
it’s intelligently compressed just enough for the relentless bass
and guitar discord – not to mention Jet thumping away like a teenager
with teen spirit - to slice through your cranium with ease!
So, no problems in the
wall of sound department. But you forget how they pop up and surprise
from time to time. Anything Can Happen is a beautiful JJ-whispered
tune, dripping with the finest elements of Dreamtime’s Too Precious
coupled with an overriding feel of Instead Of This from the 10
era – have The Stranglers been listening to their own reissues? If they
have, it’s worked! It’s everything a Stranglers fan would want from a
slow number. Back up to speed. You Won’t See Me Coming is
urgent, powerful and groovy, opening up in the end mantra. Time for
another slowy, although Bless You is nothing to sniff at.
A dreamy, summer lament builds from acoustic guitar into soulful
pickings. Baz mangles the vocals in beautiful anguish - and before you
realise where you are, he’s waxing lyrically about Black Death!
‘First they say bless you, then they all want to save you.. no I won’t
be afraid.’ An instrumental passage of harpsichord takes you
somewhere else before falling back to the main riff. Five minutes on,
Baz morphs into a spooky Eric Clapton, for the end solo while Dave is
Steve Winwood. Deliciously superb.
Soldier’s Diary
is a fast and furious three-chord spurt. But it’s closer to prog rock
than punk rock, The jerky time signature points to Devo, and Dave comes
on with a lush analogue synth riff ripped right out of The Superthing.
Baz stabs at the verses like a goggle-eyed Motherbaugh. Once more
there’s a melodic chorus that belies its hidden gravitas: ‘I can’t
feel my legs. I can feel the blood is rushing to my head.’
Barbara
(Shangri-La)
returns to their new found pop with a refreshing nod to past glories.
Baz sounds great, especially when he sings
‘it’s been more than twenty-five years…’ I Hate You
is a pleasant jig – a big brother to
Shakin’ Like A Leaf, with Jew’s harp and mouth organ courtesy of
Baz. But it’s the final track that sends shivers up your spine and a
lumpo in your throat.
Relentless
starts with a spaghetti-western twang, then builds to a driving
bass and drum machine ride as Dave’s Supernature-style synth pads
gently oscillate up to the Enola Gay riff in the cool chorus. It’s
like Time To Die – with bells on… the quintessence of a great
album must surely be the long finale masterpiece – and this is it.
Once again, the welcome organ runs flit in and out, sounding fresh
and exciting alongside jangly guitars and classy choral harmonies,
fuelling the simmering furnace of Burnel’s cracking bass and Jet’s
sensible drumming. The Stranglers all fit together nicely now; the
chemistry is back. I think I heard Dave playing a theramin too!
But don’t forget Louie Nicastro’s fine production.
Paul leaving and songs
binned - these guys have gone through a lot since 2004’s Norfolk Coast,
and they’ve pulled this amazing album out of the bag. I can’t recall a
time in recent years when I’ve listened to a Stranglers album and been
in such awe. Yes, I’m choked… by The Stranglers! The songs on Suite XVI
are sheer quality. The Stranglers have proved themselves in spectacular
style. Let’s hope EMI’s pluggers promote to the level of The Stranglers’
creative force.
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Suite smell of success
Sam Holliday reviews The Stranglers'
next album…
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IT IS A masterpiece! I've played it over
and over… and I keep finding new reasons to cheer, new moments of
musical or lyrical delight - and more evidence to convince me that
this is one of the best albums The Stranglers have ever made.
If Norfolk Coast was the band's return to top form after
their fallow and uninspired period, then Suite XVI is a huge
leap forward. Now they are back at to the top of the Premiership;
Suite XVI bears all the classic Stranglers hallmarks, wonderful
melodies, well-crafted songs, bags of energy and excitement and
plenty to excite a new generation of fans.
Unbroken is a fantastic opening track - full of verve and
humour inside a stunningly melodic tune. But it's unlike any Stranglers
song I've heard before - jaunty and solid, it's bound to invade
your brain like it has mine; a potential hit single. The Spectre
Of Love gets better and better each time I hear it. It's upbeat
and rocking, with a highly hummable chorus too. Throw in some lively
old keyboards, a great vocal line and a stylish guitar break at
the end and here is a perfect marriage between late 1977 and 2006…
(another) potential hit single!
She's Slipping Away is catchy, with a classic Stranglers
feel to it: lively and fast-paced, it has a chorus to die for. Dave
nicks a keyboard lick straight out of Sometimes in the middle eight,
unless I'm mistaken. But I loooove this song - (yet another) potential
hit single... Summat Outanowt has been heard before at gigs,
so we know JJ can scream this out! A real crunching, ball-breaking
rocker where (as someone else has already pointed out) JJ sounds
like Lemmy. Right between the eyes… with the best bass solo since
Genetix, and not for the squeamish.
After four rock-fuelled blasts, the tempo eases for Anything
Can Happen. The lovely, languid, melody takes you on a musical
excursion back to 80's decade Stranglers best bits, forming the
first of two anti-war tunes. See Me Coming starts with gentle
guitar before it explodes into a thumping, bouncing dance track
where Jet blasts his drums with astonishing power (how does he still
do it?). It's a real grower and not out of place on a Prodigy record!
Not that I'm an expert! And it's dark too, with a hypnotic feeling,
especially when the crazy chant comes in at the end, reminding me
of the GmbH bit off Bear Cage.
Bless You is magnificent. It's slow and atmospheric like
a hybrid of Don't Bring Harry and All Roads Lead to Rome.
A Soldier's Diary is back to full on rock, kicking off like
The Ramones in its powerhouse intensity before developing swiftly
into a well-crafted punchy modern pop song. The anti-war theme permeates
lyrics while Baz's powerful guitar drives the music. The style is
pitched circa '78 and I can see this being a live favourite. Get
ready to pogo to the chorus; 'I Can't Feel My Legs..' Barbara
(Shangri-La) is yet again top draw stuff. It starts off like
it's 77-78 Stranglers, with cool and catchy vocals and melody, but
what an odd title?! Can there be a name in a song any less rock
and roll word in the entire universe than Barbara? Who? I think
we should be told. Oh, did I mention it is a potential hit single!
I Hate You is the album's oddest, quirkiest and possibly
most potentially divisive tune which I suspect not everyone will
fall in love with. I personally think it is a great example of that
perverse Strangler eccentricity we all love and it is the song which
my young teenage kids (13 and 14) both declare to be the best on
the album. Perhaps it will get picked up by radios stations everywhere
like Golden Brown. Musically it is a cross between Shakin'
Like A Leaf and Jonathon Richman's Modern Lovers' Egyptian
Reggae. And I've not heard a harmonica on a Stranglers release
since Old Codger, with clever use of a phone call in the
break. Lyrically it is hilarious. I wanna be the first to say it
should be a 'potential hit single'... again!
Relentless is the ultimate track, and my favourite from
the very first listen. It's a stunner - one for the fans - pure
and simple. Spectre… Unbroken… Slipping Away…
or I Hate You should all do well but this is one for us fans.
Classic Stranglers - Relentless is the song you never thought
you'd hear again. Think The Raven.. Toiler…. North
Winds…. The Man They Love To Hate….Swirling keyboard
runs, beautifully surfy melodies, great vocals and musical invention.
A magnificent track and I love it more than I love tea. And trust
me, I love tea - I really do. If you don't enjoy this track you
don't deserve to be reading this review, looking at this site or
breathing. It is the perfect end to a perfect album.
When it comes out of course you may think differently, but I'm
convinced you would have to be deaf, dumb, blind or possibly Hugh
Cornwell not to realise that this is among The Stranglers greatest
ever works - and proof they are as relevant, exciting and unpredictable
as ever. It has all the maturity and experience of a band at their
peak but also with the youthful exuberance of next year's 'big thing'.
Individually all four perform superbly, (oh Baz why didn't you take
over a decade ago?), but collectively, they come into their own,
sounding musically together. I've been lucky to hear it - but you
are the lucky ones: you guys have still got your own sweet voyage
of discovery to come! It will be sooo suite!
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Meninblack find their mojo Saturday
22 July 2006
Gary Kent hears Suite XVI
|
AS
THE STRANGLERS bask in their 'reissues' twilight, it's safe to say
the likelihood of replicating the fame (and infamy) of punk's halcyon
days is remote: their early success formed part of the mercurial
punky zeitgeist, spawning a string of no-nonsense Top 10 singles
in the late 70s. And what 80s compilation will let you forget the
dreamy waltz-time Golden Brown?
|
 |
But when your main man and inspiration Hugh Cornwell
walks out on you at the start of the 90s, carrying on is always tough.
But carry on they did - with Paul Roberts, a front man human dynamo.
Enter the wilderness years… But Stranglers fans
are a loyal breed: some desperately clinging on in the vain hope of a
return to form, some questioning the style of the mic-swinging front man
in the wake of guitarist/vocalist Hugh, while others discover the band
anew and adopt a cultish love of Paul Roberts and his myriad side projects.
2004's Norfolk Coast unified the forces
once more, with Paul finding his voice at last. But in some ways its success
was attributable to the arrival of guitarist Baz Warne (ex Toy Dolls,
Smalltown Heroes): he injected a welcome shot in the arm, and a welcome
song writing foil for bassist JJ Burnel.
As Paul seems to have cracked it, he too leaves,
matching his predecessor's 16 years' service.
Now The Stranglers are reborn, again! Back to a classic four-piece line-up,
they not only sound like The Stranglers - they look like The Stranglers.
And it's Baz man, effortlessly retreading the dead-pan Hugh path of snarling,
leering lead vox with a tone not dissimilar to The Damned's Dave Vanian,
who sets the pace. And it's fitting - and totally Stranglers.
Having recorded the entire album with Roberts's
vocals, it was back to the studio for Baz and JJ. The re-dubbed tracks
show off Baz's devilishly good voice, and the return of JJ's singing is
most welcome, not only on the whispery Don't Bring Harry-style
numbers like Anything Can Happen, but also on the belting screamer
- Summat Outanowt - a growling beast with a Surfin' USA
twist of a chorus, which further showcases the bassist's new weapon -
a custom-built
Shuker - not unlike his trusty Fender Precision model of old. Hence,
the bass end cuts through with modern roundness and a twangfull top-end,
reminiscent of the glory days circa 77-78; the twang's the thang. Baz's
crisp Telecaster is still there as on Norfolk Coast, as is Greenfield's
burbling hallmark Hammond organ…
But if Norfolk Coast was their renaissance,
Suite XVI is where The Stranglers find their mojo.
Opener Unbroken bursts with fun-metal hooks
and craftiness. Hilariously, bald-headed brute Baz offers to wear stockings
and suspenders in the mayhem. These guys are having fun! And why shouldn't
they - this is catchy and commercial, with an intelligent arrangement
and clean production not out of place on XFM - and crying out 'hit'.
Debut single Spectre of Love shows Radio
2 pop sensibility with enough catchiness and charming intrigue to recapture
even the most wayward fan. Fascinatingly dark themes are still there:
there's love and war, anger and death, and in She's Slipping Away
there's a true-life Orpheus In The Underworld tale. Hatred comes
courtesy of I Hate You, as you would expect from the title, although
this is one might take me more than a few listens to get used to.
You Won't See Me Coming hails from JJ's
Japanese manga sound track, Gankutsuou, here sounding superior
with all Stranglers on board. Eerie end track Relentless is sinister
territory not visited since Sometimes, the opener of their first
album, Rattus Norvegicus.
The cycle is complete, and there's life in these
old dogs yet. Suite XVI is a tour de force… prepare to enter the
Twilight Zone!
 At
the height of their fame, The Stranglers courted controversy,
violence and provocation; they chewed it up and spat it out. These
days, they’re a much happier band, says bassist JJ Burnel.
The
Wild Bunch
Gary Kent
EAN
JACQUES BURNEL was phlegmatic as he mused about the band’s resurgent
success: “Norfolk Coast did very well, in both commercial and
critical terms, which is very rare for The Stranglers. We either get
critical or commercial but never both.”
A new live DVD is in the making due out
late Spring, while Coast To Coast, a live CD from the Norfolk
Coast tour will be in the shops on February 20th.
The current buzz,
and sales, from this album is in direct contrast to 1998’s
lacklustre, Coup de Grace. “In percentage terms, it’s 3,000
percent greater than the last album,” said JJ, going on to cite
reasons why he thinks Norfolk Coast has been so successful: “It’s
probably closer to what people wanted from the Stranglers; and also
the material is good.
It’s taken a bit
longer, but the material is quite eclectic and quirky and still out
there.”
As
their 32nd year in the pop biz looms, The Stranglers’ longevity is
nothing less than a triumph in today’s fickle world of music.
Especially for a band who have been through so much: drugs, prison,
riots, fights, the theft of all their gear and the exit of front man
Hugh Cornwell in 1990. Vocalist Paul Roberts joined the following
year alongside guitarist John Ellis who then quit the band in 2001.
Baz Warne quickly took over guitar duties and since then the band
has entered its most prosperous phase for years. Says JJ about
Warne: “Baz was the obvious choice; his band Small Town Heroes had
supported us, so I knew he could play all The Stranglers songs. Baz
is so likeable. And he looks like he should be in the Stranglers.”
JJ also applauded Paul Roberts’ vocal style on Norfolk Coast:
“It’s more disciplined than ever before and more focused. The
results were better.” On the subject of the band chemistry in
the present day, JJ was equally upbeat: “Well it’s a happier
band to be honest. We all get on well. Much better.”
t their
apex of fame, The Stranglers were the most commercially successful
band from the class of ’77 - it was quite simply their year:
Grip, Peaches, Something Better Change and No More Heroes
all in the singles charts – Rattus Norvegicus and No More
Heroes LPs peak at 4 and 2 respectively. But the ongoing debate
that dogged them - ‘are they or aren’t they punk’ – proved
they could never be pigeonholed, making them stand out as gawky
misfits: they were always too old or too melodic for the punk rock
utopian view. Besides, any
 band
sporting a beard or a moustache this side of the Bee Gees was deemed
far too anachronistic and ‘grown-up’ in the eyes of both acne-faced
adolescents and the new wave fashionista. Whereas nowadays,
the likes of the Magic Numbers, the Kaisers and Badly Drawn Boy
would look equally odd without such hirsute appendages.
Bumflufferies aside, The Stranglers sold records by the bucket load
– although press attention and accolades often eluded them,
frequently landing either side. Unless of course, you count JJ
topping Melody Makers Best Bass Player Readers Poll and NME’s Stud
Of The Year in 1977.
Their
attitude was certainly punk-fuelled, and both outrage and
controversy were rarely more than an arm’s length away. Authors of
bad reviews were dealt with using direct action, and the press
closed ranks and became hostile. When Sounds journalist Jon Savage
slated No More Heroes, JJ took the bull by the horns:
“I
tracked him down one night to the Red Cow,” JJ explained. “
and I punched his lights out right there in front of Jake Riviera,
Andrew Lauder – our A&R guy, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe – all these
people saw what I did. So yeah, we made a lot of enemies, bless ‘em,
and these people got in a lot of influential positions within the
music industry and literature… Tony Parsons, Julie Burchill… But
we weren’t gonna suck up to these c*nts.”
“I punched
his lights out… we weren’t gonna suck up to these c*nts.”
Animosity escalated and the odds of receiving any favourable reviews
dwindled in direct proportion. “Having beaten up journalists
and stuck bananas up their arses, understandably there are still a
few writers out there with an axe to grind with us.” But in one
particular case, the river still runs deep – and JJ is
unrepentant: “….Especially Jon Savage. “He is a constant pain in
the arse.” In the light of the recent critical acclaim, perhaps the
time is right for the world to recognise The Stranglers in the
pantheons of rock music?
t the
Shepherd’s Bush Empire’s tumultuous concert in December, both new
and old leather-clad fans were treated to a special debut of a short
movie entitled Norfolk Coast – a bleak film-noir featuring JJ
in the lead role with Nicholas Ball and Susannah York supporting.
In May this year, a special DVD featuring the 20 minute short, the
semi-acoustic set as well as the full gig will go on release.
Coast To Coast - a live CD gleaned from the tour will be in the
shops on 20th February, and there’s also a new range of
merchandise due for launch.
Meanwhile, the band are focusing on the next opus at their West
Country studio retreat. Following a major cull involving six of last
years new tunes, the band are back on track, and have laid down four
new songs that JJ humorously describes as “quirkier and janglier,
jingly janglier…” although one particular song stands out for
him: “Jet’s drumming on one of them is fantastic.”
This
year, drummer Jet Black will reach the grand old age of sixty-eight
summers (JJ: “Is he that old?”) and is rightly seen as
the oldest man in rock. Amazingly, he shows no signs of stopping: “I
can’t believe he’s carrying on. And he’s still a rock ‘n’ roller.
He’s got a young girlfriend and he still contributes, and tours and
travels and god knows what else he gets up to. There’s no healthy
living for him. But you just don’t know how much the body can take.
But he hasn’t mentioned giving up and he loves playing.” Perhaps
Jet’s energy comes from dabbling with new technology? “Well he drums
and he uses machines, it’s the modern way, he likes to do a
synthesis of the two.”
Many
fans fear the end of the band when Jet finally hangs up his sticks.
“I’ve thought about that and I haven’t come to any conclusions.
Whether people would accept another drummer, I don’t know. We have
had loads of drummers standing in. Jet’s health has always been an
issue - mind you, I might get taken out in a motorcycle accident so
anything can happen…”
JJ’s Norfolk Coast interview 2004 - Gary Kent
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