The Stranglers - Singles (The UA Years)

I've gotta say, I don't even know where to begin with this one... almost every track on here is a killer, IMO, although there's undoubtedly some bizarre singles choices here, in particular 'Just Like Nothing On Earth' (which is downright strange) and 'La Folie', a 7-minute ballad in French which the band saw fit to release as the follow up to one of their biggest hits. I love both of those tracks in spite of their unsuitability as singles, though. Going to have to give this one some serious thought!

golden brown. why not?

'Golden Brown' is an evergreen classic and a track I'll never get tired of listening to despite having heard it millions of times, but I dunno... I can't say that it's my first choice of the tracks here.

Not a fan, but if "Tank" were on there, I'd vote--surprised it wasn't a single.

Just discovered this collection awhile back. So so good. Went w/ "Duchess" but really could have thrown a dart and would been happy no matter where it landed.

I went with "Walk on by" because there's never a time I don't want to hear it.

"Don't bring Harry" was on TOTP repeat recently, it sounded much better than I remembered. Better speakers on the TV now, I guess.

5 minutes gets neglected often enough, I guess it's gonna get 0 here.

Hah, this poll will prob end up with 10 votes in total.

I've always been fond of that slightly odd chord change in 'Don't Bring Harry'. If I remember correctly the verses are Bm A, A G, G C#, C# F#... it's when it goes from the G to the C#, it just feels weird in the context of the song. They recorded a version of 'Don't Bring Harry' in French too... it's one of the bonus tracks on one of the remasters of The Raven.

There is a 3cd UA singles A's & B's which is even more fun. God, I miss b-sides.

I went with "Strange Little Girl" because my initial exposure to the Stranglers was "Aural Sculpture" which is still my sentimental favorite even though their earlier material is so tremendous.

Peaches.

I've been looking at this list for several minutes and it's proving impossible to choose a favourite. There are so few bands who have covered as much ground as the Stranglers: from Something Better Change to Always the Sun in less than a year. Yes, one must agree that from an entirely objective point of view, Golden Brown is their masterpiece, but for that reason it behoves the cognoscenti to vote for something else from the canon.

I'll probably go for La Folie. I have just enough French to understand Burnel's lyrics and they've haunted me for years. The second verse's meditation on the Sagawa case is quite brilliant:

Il était une fois un étudiant
Qui voulait fort, comme en litérature
Sa copine, elle était si douce
Qu'il pouvait presque en la mangeant
Rejeter tous les vices
Repousser tous les mals
Détruire toutes beautés
Qui par ailleurs n'avaient jamais été ses complices
Parce qu'il avait la folie.

D'oh. For "less than a year", read "less than a decade". The keyboard has been drinking, not me.

I'm finding this thread heartening. I thought I might have been the only Stranglers fan on earth.

There are many of us hiding in the shadows... whistle "Themeninblack" and wait for the response.

Be heartened. Several of these songs are undeniable

Yes, one must agree that from an entirely objective point of view, Golden Brown is their masterpiece, but for that reason it behoves the cognoscenti to vote for something else from the canon.

― Vast Halo, Friday, February 27, 2015 2:21 PM (4 hours ago)

you have no face, yet i must punch

There's something about the Stranglers...are they the Doors of the late 70s? Pockets of appreciation but they seem unloved compared to...almost everyone who still gets talked about then.

The suspicion around them and how they are 'viewed' is completely Doors-like, without the poetry.

Get a Grip. I mean Walk on By is unfuckwithable, but their own songs deserve some credit. And JJ's bass playing was revolutionary

you have no face, yet i must punch

Jeez, calm down. All I'm saying is, what's the point in voting if the result is a foregone conclusion? It's a more interesting poll if you ask, "what's the best song on this compilation (other than Golden Brown?"

The suspicion around them and how they are 'viewed' is completely Doors-like

And what's the one thing that the two bands had in common? Baroque organ lines. The critics don't dig that stuff.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I probably spent too much time in Student discos in the 80s but I always thought No More Heroes was considered their classic, not Golden Brown.

Not sure where to place my vote - so many that I have personal connections to. No More Heroes stands out but 5 Minutes, Duchess, Nuclear Device - spent a lot of time in my adolescence playing these singles, taking them to school record clubs and all that.

Wouldn't rate Walk on By above many of these but Walk On BY/Codger/Tank single was a good one to own.

Thank you for this poll, I guess I love the Stranglers way more than I realized because I could vote for about 14 of these fantastic songs

It would probably get even harder if this compilation covered all the singles of the original Stranglers line-up, but it only really covers the years from 1977-1982 when they were on United Artists/EMI. After this, they'd sign to CBS and keep putting out material from 1983 until 1990, when Hugh Cornwell left the band. As a result the compilation's missing some great tracks like 'European Female', 'Skin Deep', 'Always The Sun' etc.

Right, their Epic-era b-sides just got compiled last year, too - and some fine stuff is contained therein. And note that in order to get all the Epic 7" versions/edits, you need "The Hit Men" because other Epic comps contain LP versions.

There are a couple of big EMI box sets but neither is definitive on its own.

I thought there was something bugging me about this poll, where's Shah Shah A Gogo?

Right, their Epic-era b-sides just got compiled last year, too - and some fine stuff is contained therein. And note that in order to get all the Epic 7" versions/edits, you need "The Hit Men" because other Epic comps contain LP versions.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, March 5, 2015 2:29 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, there's some good stuff in amongst the Aural Sculpture/Dreamtime B-sides: 'Head On The Line', 'In One Door', 'Norman Normal', 'Since You Went Away... I'm not overly fond of the 10 album but even that had 'Instead Of This' as one of the B-sides of the period, which I love.

I thought there was something bugging me about this poll, where's Shah Shah A Gogo?

― Romeo Daltrey (Tom D.), Thursday, March 5, 2015 2:56 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think 'Shah Shah A Go Go' wasn't included because they didn't consider the 'Bear Cage'/'Shah Shah A Go Go' single a "double A-side", whereas 'Go Buddy Go' and 'Straighten Out' were considered A-sides alongside 'Peaches' and 'Something Better Change'. It's pretty much the same story with 'Tank' on the 'Walk On By' single. It would have been good to see both 'Tank' and 'Shah Shah A Go Go' included, I think. 'Nice 'n' Sleazy' is the only song from Black and White on this comp!

Right, for some reason I thought it was a double A-side, probably because it's miles better than "Bear Cage".

I love 'Shah Shah A Go Go', but if I'm to be honest I definitely prefer 'Bear Cage' which is best heard in its 12" form! The 7" version is way too short, IMO, and the mix is far more exciting on the 12" (there's a third mix too, which is somewhere in between the 7" and the 12" which was released as 'G.m.b.H.')

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHODX4i8s2E

I've just heard reports that the current line-up of The Stranglers are playing 'Four Horsemen' from The Gospel According To The Meninblack in their live sets on their current tour... bit of a perverse choice!

Duchess

(there's a third mix too, which is somewhere in between the 7" and the 12" which was released as 'G.m.b.H.')

I don't think I ever realized this! Is it a different mix entirely or just an early fade of the 12" mix?

I don't think I ever realized this! Is it a different mix entirely or just an early fade of the 12" mix?

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, March 5, 2015 9:15 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It sounds to me like it's the 12" mix edited down to a structure that resembles the 7" mix, but they've retained the part of the 12" mix where it drops down to the "G.m.b.H." backing vocals at the end. It was only available on this US-only compilation

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

So, the Rodney's were queuing up!

Wow, genuinely surprised at the overall number of votes! 'Let Me Introduce You To The Family' at least deserved one, though... 'La Folie' with the same amount of votes as 'No More Heroes'!

It's surprising that No More Heroes fared so poorly. I guess it's overplayed kinda. I went for Duchess.

Really enjoyed this poll/thread. I just thought I'd post one more time before it disappears down the ILX sinkhole w/the rest of the Stranglers threads.

Listening to La Folie now and my god is 'Let Me Introduce You To The Family' underrated, the way the echoing bass shifts into that frentic guitar playing once the song itself kicks in. Great melody, too.

The last time I listened to Black & White -> La Folie I was stunned by the growth you can hear along the way, in both playing and songwriting. An amazing feat for the fun-dumb punk band that made those first two records. (Though you could correctly point out that was just a pose.)

What do you think of Feline?

Love it, with it's weary, late night vibe exemplifoed by "Midnight Summers Dream". That one never fails to play a little film in my head. The total is more than the sum of it's parts.

Yeah, I totally agree... it's such a moody record and mostly wonderful, the only thing I'd really change about it is JJ's vocal on 'Paradise' - I love it, though, how Hugh always complains about 'La Folie' being the follow-up single to 'Golden Brown', yet when they found themselves on a supportive new record label after having hits with 'Golden Brown' and 'Strange Little Girl', they delivered Feline, which, as good as it is, only has one obvious single on it!

Even the b-sides have the same feeling. "Pawsher" isn't much more than a hypnotic repetition of the title but I still love it.

Did they get off the junk when they made Feline, is that why it's so mellow?

No, if anything Feline was the pinnacle of it! Both 'It's A Small World' and 'Ships That Pass In The Night' were written while under the influence... Hugh mentions in his book that it was a struggle to write those songs, because him and JJ kept nodding out during the writing of them. They'd be sat, holding their instruments and working on the song, fall asleep, come around and work on the next bit and so on...

Aural Sculpture was the first one recorded after JJ and Hugh cleaned up. Hugh had quit all drugs by that point.