the Stranglers: Classicinblack or Dudinblack

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Utter classic up to and including Dreamtime in 1986.
Hugh singing "stick my fingers RIGHT UP YOUR NOSE!" is possibly the best thing ever.

― Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Hugh singing "stick my fingers RIGHT UP YOUR NOSE!" is possibly the best thing ever.

It's actually JJ that sings that, by the way.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:43 (twenty-one years ago)

"Black and White" is my favourite too. It contains some of the funniest lyrics in the history of recorded music (as does "The Raven") - not always intentionally funny but funny nonetheless.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:45 (twenty-one years ago)

> It's actually JJ that sings that, by the way.

Something Better Change? Are you certain?

― Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

That's JJ alright

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Are you certain?

Positive.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)

How extraordinary. I never would have guessed. I'm listening to it right now and I think he sounds exactly like Hugh - same timbre, mannerisms, everything.
Fuck me, what a great guitar solo.

― Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:59 (twenty-one years ago)

How strange! I think he sounds more like Father Jack than Hugh!

― Keith Watson (kmw), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

JJ also sings: "London Lady", "Go Buddy Go", "Five Minutes", "La Folie", "Choosey Suzie" and, I believe, "Don't Bring Harry".

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 18:38 (twenty-one years ago)

...and Princess of the Streets, Burning up Time, The Man they Love to Hate, Thrown Away, Eurpoean Female, Nice in Nice, Ugly, Dagenham Dave, some of Curfew, Threatened, Death and Night and Blood amongst others.

― Keith Watson (kmw), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

True'dat. Apparently, JJ doesn't sing anymore. Not only that, but "new guy" Paul now sings his old songs when they play live. Odd, that.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Stranglers = UK version of Styx? (Check out "Miss America")

― dave q, Tuesday, 7 September 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Interesting. On London Lady, Go Buddy Go, Choosey Suzie and 5 Minutes Burnel sings like Cornwell, and on La Folie, European Female, Nice in Nice and even Princess of the Streets, he sings like... well, himself.
The "Hugh" voice is raucous and self-confident, while the "J.J." voice is softer and far less sure of itself.
When you consider that J.J. hero-worshipped Hugh, at least in the early days of the band, the dichotomy appears to gain striking psychological significance.

― Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

> Stranglers = UK version of Styx?

Christ almighty. Men have been hung for less.

― Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Stranglers = UK version of Styx? (Check out "Miss America")

Dave, if it had been anyone other that youself who said this.....they'd be dead now.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Who sang on Paradise (from Feline)? It sounds like an old age pensioner, but could it be Greenfield?

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 06:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Are you sure it's Burnel singing "Dagenham Dave"? The monologue in the middle is definitely Hugh Cornwell.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 08:37 (twenty-one years ago)

"Stranglers = UK version of Styx?"

Styx released a series of great albums in the late '70's / early '80's?!?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 09:26 (twenty-one years ago)

_Rattus Norvegicus_ and _The Raven_ made several of my days as 17yr old new wave amateur, back in 89 or so.
I know its extremely unhip but i like also some of the goofier moments on the _Meninblack_ album. The esoteric plot is ridicolously sublime.

― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 09:30 (twenty-one years ago)

"Meninblack" has some good stuff on it. Even "La Folie" has its moments.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 09:33 (twenty-one years ago)

The Gospel According to the Meninblack was, I think, one of the first proper LPs of theirs I ever bought (having only heard compilations and singles prior to that) and it was a bit of a mind-blower. On the one hand, it was refreshing to hear a band that were genuinely doing something different, but, like Marco says, there is some unhomogenized goofiness abounding on that record. That said, I think "Just Like Nothing On Earth", "Manna Machine" and the prolonged intro to "Hallow to Our Men" are fucking amazing. The live version of "Just Like Nothing..." on BBC Sessions: Live at the Hammersmith Odeon `81 is a much gruffer, beefier incarnation, with JJ's bass well to the fore. Highly recommended.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 13:42 (twenty-one years ago)

come sail away porky meat!

― dave q, Wednesday, 8 September 2004 13:48 (twenty-one years ago)

hahahahaha

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

For all its shortcomings, _Meninblack_ is one of the most amusingly unbalanced albums ever made. Obviously critics and fans didn't know what to with it, except for throwing it in the nearest trash bin. They were wrong: it can be unfocused an sometimes sloppy, but it is wrapped in such an impenetrable aura.
"Just like nothing on Earth" is an absolute highlight in their discography, and I really love the way (in albums like this one and _The Raven_) they were drifting in this dark, obtuse fairyland totally their own.

― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I have to concur on The Gospel According to the Meninblack -- even after the unsettling forebodings of The Raven, it was such a bizarre left turn that it took awhile to catch up to. In time, it became one of my favorites. How closely did it coincide with Hugh's arrest and the band's "health problems"?

― briania (briania), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 14:38 (twenty-one years ago)

"Dear mama I can hear you a crying/ You're so scared and all alone/ Hangman is coming down from the gallows/ And I don't have very long" vs "Christ he told his mother/ Christ he told her not to bother/ Cos he's alright in the city/ He's high above the ground/ He's just hanging around"

― dave q, Wednesday, 8 September 2004 14:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Dave, I believe you have milked dry that particular cow of comedy.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 14:57 (twenty-one years ago)

cows are beefy meat hahaha!

― dave q, Wednesday, 8 September 2004 15:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Nothing goes with the porky meat of human flesh like Ore-Ida crinkle cut french fries. They're golden brown, you know!

― briania (briania), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

"BRING ON THE NU-FRIES, BRING ON THE NU-FRIES!"

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

God I love the Stranglers.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

"Five Minutes" -- currently playing very, very loudly out of my computer -- is an absolutely perfect song. I mean it.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

JJ sings on Paradise...

The Raven and the Meninblack do co-incide with the band's "health problems" as you put it, plus Hugh's stint in Jail.

Kevin, yeah I think you're right about the monologue in Dagenham Dave, but the rest is definitely JJ.

― Keith Watson (kmw), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 17:50 (twenty-one years ago)

JJ definately sings "something better change"
I'm not even going to comment on the stranglers=styx rubbish
one of the few original bands
of the last 25 years
and i still listen to them frequently

― Tim Dixon, Thursday, 9 September 2004 10:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I like No More Heroes & Aural sculpture a lot!!! I need more Stranglers.

― Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZT!! BZZZZZT!! (Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZ), Thursday, 9 September 2004 11:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Do they have more songs like "North Winds Blowing"? That song is very pretty for being so doomy. Classic!

― Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZT!! BZZZZZT!! (Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZ), Thursday, 9 September 2004 11:16 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...

Someone buy this for me please:

http://www.stranglers.co.uk/images/tablebig.jpg

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 08:30 (twenty-one years ago)

nine months pass...

did they ever do another 'pop moment' like Skin Deep?
what a geat song that is!

― piscesboy, Sunday, 4 September 2005 10:30 (twenty years ago)

"Always The Sun" was a sublime pop moment. And Piscesboy, if you have never heard the long 12-inch version of skindeep, seek it out. it's great.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 4 September 2005 11:27 (twenty years ago)

They did a lot. After "The Meninblack" they made a lot of perfect pop songs.

― zeus, Sunday, 4 September 2005 11:28 (twenty years ago)

Seek ye "Golden Brown".

Their last album, despite still not having Hugh on it, Norfolk Coast, had some surprisingly damn fine moments on it as well.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 4 September 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

One of my favourite Stranglers songs is 'Ice Queen'. Also like 'Strange Little Girl', 'European Female' or 'Everybody Loves You When You're Dead'. These were great pop moments too.

― zeus, Sunday, 4 September 2005 17:22 (twenty years ago)

Agreed. "Ice Queen" is absolute genius (oof, that organ hook!)

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 4 September 2005 17:22 (twenty years ago)

It should have been a single, instead of 'Let Me Down Easy'. Though that song isn't bad either... Dunno.

― zeus, Sunday, 4 September 2005 17:37 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ude3Y4sy8s

(not safe for werksville)

― pisces, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 00:59 (nineteen years ago)

oh and scott seward - thanks, 2 years on.

― pisces, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 01:07 (nineteen years ago)

four months pass...

Classic.

I absolutely LOVE this band. Over the years they've snuck up from being something I had a mild regard for to probably my favourite band ever. I think they are the unacknowledged musical giants of their era.

The stylisitic variation is incredible, from furious R'n'B (Old Codger) to weirdo space-rock (Meninblack) to harpsicord-driven waltzes (Golden Brown.

Even the goof-offs are compelling. And, let's not forget, THE BEST BASS SOUND EVER.

Oh yeah, and the street/sewer/skewer line is BRILLIANT.

― PhilK, Monday, 30 July 2007 09:44 (eighteen years ago)

I came to the Stranglers very early in my discovery of music beyond the top 40. I love both Hugh periods but wasn't interested after he left. Their catalog is littered with classic albums, some nifty live albums and great b-sides.

To this day, if some crap song gets stuck in my head, I start singing "Ice Queen" to eradicate it.

― Mr. Odd, Monday, 30 July 2007 11:15 (eighteen years ago)

three months pass...

The weather cools down, the days grow shorter and I return to my Stranglers LP's.

I have been rocking the first three Stranglers records of late and damn, they are beautiful things indeed. IV and No More Heroes especially.

THE BEST BASS SOUND EVER This is so so true.

Love La Folie as well.

I have been trying to rationalize Jet Black's lackluster drumming however, but can' really get there. Anyone else wish he played with more chutzpah?

Did X-Cert ever come out on CD?

― kwhitehead, Friday, 2 November 2007 15:29 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

God bless The Stranglers.

― Alex in NYC, Sunday, 14 June 2009 02:07 (seventeen years ago)

Skipping 70 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

This is awful news, remember him this way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYkqLm9cM3Y

― all things must pasteurize (Matt #2), Monday, 4 May 2020 16:55 (six years ago)

Terrible.

― Angry Question Time Man's Flute Club Band (Tom D.), Monday, 4 May 2020 16:55 (six years ago)

Aw, FFS. One of my all-time favourite musicians.

― The multiplying villainies of nature / Do swarm upon him (Vast Halo), Monday, 4 May 2020 18:16 (six years ago)

Damn, RIP. I play keyboards very badly. DG set the bar I am for ever trying to reach and come nowhere near.

― Jeff W, Monday, 4 May 2020 18:35 (six years ago)

Awful.

― stirmonster, Monday, 4 May 2020 18:43 (six years ago)

Hugh’s tribute on Twitter

I am very sorry to hear of the passing of Dave Greenfield. He was the difference between The Stranglers and every other punk band. His musical skill and gentle nature gave an interesting twist to the band. (1 of 2)
— Hugh Cornwell (@HughCornwell) May 4, 2020

― Jeff W, Monday, 4 May 2020 18:48 (six years ago)

After their initial run on A&M I kind of lost track/interest, consequently I am listening to The Raven today for the first time ever in memorium. What a weird, wonderful band, with Dave's circus of keyboards coloring everything. RIP.

― Album Moods: Rambunctious; Snide (Dan Peterson), Monday, 4 May 2020 19:48 (six years ago)

Goddamn it! Dave's keys are so otherworldly, it shouldn't have worked but it did in spades.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 4 May 2020 20:05 (six years ago)

The Raven is my favourite.

He was the difference between The Stranglers and every other punk band.

100%.

― stirmonster, Monday, 4 May 2020 20:57 (six years ago)

Wow, I'd love to be listening to "The Raven" for the first time ever!

― Angry Question Time Man's Flute Club Band (Tom D.), Monday, 4 May 2020 21:18 (six years ago)

I know, right? I own Black and White, and Aural Sculpture, and missed the stretch in between. Youtube is not doing the sound justice, I think I need to buy a physical copy.

― Album Moods: Rambunctious; Snide (Dan Peterson), Monday, 4 May 2020 21:36 (six years ago)

Oh man 'The Gospel According To The Men In Black' is brilliant too.

― Maresn3st, Monday, 4 May 2020 21:50 (six years ago)

two years pass...

I'm seeing reports that Jet Black has passed away, 84!

― MaresNest, Thursday, 8 December 2022 17:32 (three years ago)

It was common knowledge that they were older than the other punks on the scene, nevertheless 84 is still boggling my mind.

― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 8 December 2022 18:10 (three years ago)

I had Laid Black in heavy rotation a number of years back. A departure from their usual, but one that somehow made sense.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, 8 December 2022 18:15 (three years ago)

restinpeaceinblack.

― stirmonster, Thursday, 8 December 2022 18:24 (three years ago)

RIP JB

― Gulf VAR Syndrome (Tom D.), Thursday, 8 December 2022 18:26 (three years ago)

Damn, I can't believe he was 40 in 1978!!

Love his work. His music will live forever.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 8 December 2022 19:01 (three years ago)

Fucking icon.

― Alex in NYC, Thursday, 8 December 2022 20:00 (three years ago)

My two cents on the loss of Jet Black

― Alex in NYC, Thursday, 8 December 2022 20:01 (three years ago)

three years pass...

the newish keyboardist was on The Repair Shop this Wednesday getting the classic Hohner Cembalet fixed. odd electro mechanical thing.

and the TOTP 78 tonight had the same synth on it. (Five Minutes)

― koogs, Friday, 6 February 2026 22:22 (four months ago)

Did he cry when it was fixed? Real Stranglers don't cry of course.

― The Olde, Old, Very Olde Man. (Tom D.), Saturday, 7 February 2026 09:29 (four months ago)

two months pass...

embarrassing confession: i thought "golden brown" was a song from the mid-'60s until, like, yesterday

― harper valley paul thomas anderson (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 22 April 2026 14:14 (one month ago)

I don’t get this band at all, they seem like undercover cops or something.

― brimstead, Thursday, 23 April 2026 03:51 (one month ago)

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