the Stranglers: Classicinblack or Dudinblack

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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?

God bless The Stranglers.

hey, alex, you can download hugh's new album for free if you want. if that's, you know, something you might enjoy. perhaps.

http://www.hughcornwell.com/

Interesting this - someone having reversed Yellowcake UF6, one of the B-sides from what I think is definitely their best period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ZI7t-kd4Q

Most bizarre.

their version of Walk on By is still on my playlist after all these years

... as well it should be.

Just listened to "Black And White" for the first time in eons. So good I had to listen twice, in fact! Damn, those crazy keyboards, JJ's bass, Hugh's odd lyrics... even the lesser tracks are fascinating and the classics are monumental. I will continue on to the rest of Hugh's albums.

"Down in the Sewer" reminds me of both The Fall and Nomeansno. This is a pretty high compliment.

Genius song. First time I listened to it, while not understanding a single word, still I could feel the sick breath of a sewer on my face (maybe it was just that horrible rat on the back cover, who knows).

A couple of months ago I went (again) through this obsessive Stranglers phase and devoured again their early album - lots and lots of great songs, also Hugh's Nosferatu remains one of the most peculiar album of the era.

It is also very fitting and Strangler-esque that a lot of those EMI budget compilations variously titled Good Times, Soft Rock or Early Sunday Morning Music invariably include a song like Golden Brown.

Classic, as far as I'm concerned. I can divide their career up into several phases...

Phase #1: The initial years (Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes)
Phase #2: The art-prog-pop years (The Raven, The Gospel According To The Meninblack, La Folie, Feline)

Note: third album 'Black And White' marks a transitional point between these two phases

Phase #3: The straightforward pop band years (Aural Sculpture, Dreamtime, 10)
Phase #4: The wilderness years (Stranglers In The Night, About Time, Written In Red, Coup De Grace)
and finally, Phase #5: The resurgence (Norfolk Coast, Suite XVI)

Of all these phases, I think Phase #2 is my favourite. I think when this band branched out from the sound of their first two albums, they started making some really interesting music. The Raven, The Gospel and La Folie are my three favourite albums of theirs - Feline, much much less so.

Of the rest - I don't think I could argue with Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes or Black & White, although none of these albums would be my first choices to listen to (I fear I've heard them all too many times), whenever I'm in the mood for them I enjoy pretty much every second. The last three Hugh albums also have some keepers on them also, but I couldn't call any of them my favourites.

Post-Hugh, I'd say the best album with Paul Roberts on vocals has to be "Norfolk Coast", undoubtedly, but I also have a soft spot for "About Time", which has some good stuff on it... I'm especially fond of 'Face'. The first (and to date, sole) album with Baz Warne on vocals, "Suite XVI" is also a thoroughly solid and listenable album.

However, "Stranglers In The Night", and ESPECIALLY "Written In Red" and "Coup De Grace" should be erased from history never to be spoken of again, IMHO!

I must've missed your post at the time, Turrican. The last time I listened to the phase 2 albums (as you listed them) they really knocked my socks off in a way they hadn't when I first encountered them. I think as we hear more music, it gives us context than can sometimes transform the way we here material that previously lacked it, and therefore enhances the experience. So listening to "The Raven" now that I've heard much more 60s and early 70s underground material means noting The Stranglers fascinating confluence of influences. Roxy, Eno, Cale, garage rock, etc.

I'm not sure I hear the difference in approach between "Feline" and "Aural Sculpture", I think they're both far from straightforward pop. Do you really think they shaved off the odd basslines and guitar bits moving between the two?

I'm not sure I hear the difference in approach between "Feline" and "Aural Sculpture", I think they're both far from straightforward pop. Do you really think they shaved off the odd basslines and guitar bits moving between the two?

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, December 17, 2012 5:05 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't think that JJ/Hugh/Dave toned down any of their individuality or quirk on their instruments in between Feline and Aural Sculpture, although I do see those albums as very different beasts - in terms of production, songwriting, general feel. Feline strikes me as being a very cold, moody, experimental work with a stark production job, whereas Aural Sculpture strikes me as being more upbeat, more produced, and far more accessible. Sculpture seems to be rooted far more in 'classic songwriting' (for want of a better term) to me than Feline, and I think they continued in that vein on Dreamtime and 10 (probably because by that stage, JJ and Hugh were mostly writing the songs by themselves instead of collaborating like they mostly did on the United Artists-era LPs). In fact, when I think about it, I'd say that Aural Sculpture marked the last BIG change in the Stranglers sound with the addition of the horn section (which they continued to use until Hugh left the band).

to think i wasted all that time listening to The Jam when i was a kid when i could have been listening to The Stranglers. Doh!

what with all the chat re the stranglers on the 'walk on by' thread, and 'no more heroes' popping up in my playlist tonight and sounding ace, could it be time to pick up their classic albums ...

surely emi have released a £50 man boxset of the albums (i.e. phase 1 + phase 2 ?

Actually, "The New Testament" boxset is being reissued with a bonus disc. It has every last EMI track.

good timing ..

They're playing this evening in NYC for the first time in 17 years (albeit with Hugh or, for that matter, Jet.. who doesn't fly anymore). Anyone going?

withOUT Hugh...

I'll be there. I'll be the one wearing all black ... oh wait.

I would love to see them but, alas, nope. I was glad to read that Giants might soon be getting a U.S. release though.

let us know how the show was, they're coming to toronto soon and i'm thinking of going but .... no hugh? no jet?.....

My review, for what it's worth:

Okay, gotta say ... in advance of this gig, I was having my doubts. But in the end, I'm quite glad I went.

For a start, the venue: Highline Ballroom is a relative newcomer to NYC, and it feels a bit slick and antiseptic. This is the first time there's ever been a band I've given a fuck about playing at this venue. Most of the time it seems to play host to corporate events, acid jazz parties and cover bands. Also, the floor is ringed by exclusive cushioned booths. Tear those fucking things out and let people move around, I say. Still, I suppose, if you're normally hosting bullshit karaoke events, I suppose that doesn't matter. I will say this: the bars are easy to access.

Opening act: Ersatz honky-tonkster with cloying lap pedal-steel player name Luba Dvorzak. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I witnessed an opening act who was so poorly matched with the headliner. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but his strenuously earnest Dwight Yoakam-meets-Bruce-Springsteen posturing really grated after a while. Kept hoping someone was going to throw something at him. Astonishingly, no one did.

The crowd: A odd mix, honestly. Lots of portly, "dodgy prostate punks" with silver in their hair (like, er, me), lots of folks who clearly only came to hear "Grip," "No More Heroes" and/or "Always the Sun" (and who stood staring blankly when the band ripped into "Nuclear Device" or "Straighten Out" etc.). Not many young'uns, which is fine with me.

For a while, i was stood behind a woman who insisted on taking pictures with her phone literally every other minute. Conversely, I took three (3) photos of the performance...and even felt that was excessive. Whatever happened to simply enjoying the moment instead of feverishly trying to document the moment?

The show: For all the talk of the band phoning it in in recent years, I can't honestly say. They were certainly in very high spirits on the comparatively cramped stage. Some fresh-faced young man who looked from my vantage point like Conan O'Brien sat in for the understandably absent but still sorely missed Jet "Fucking" Black. Baz on vocals/guitar is actually a funny, charming, chatty motherfucker (taking an audience member jokingly to task for yelling "you suck" and trying out his best "Noo Yawk" accent). JJ doesn't seem to attack the crowd as he once did, but still does the crouched duck walk. Looking less like the leather-clad thug of yore and more like a resigned elder statesman, he did indeed seem to be enjoying himself.

Dave on keyboards looking a bit older, but still a fucking wiz on the organ (and doing silly things like drinking a pint of beer with one hand while playing the solo on "Walk on By" with the other).

Set list was pretty impressive. It really is remarkable how many great, great songs they have in their oeuvre. They opened with "Toiler on the Sea," which I like -- but never thought of it as a momentum-builder. "Goodbye Toulose" followed. Some pleasant surprises (for me) included airings of "Nuclear Device," "Bring on the Nubiles" (I was leaping about for this one, prompting many an agitated glance from people around me), "Who Wants the World?," "Straighten Out" (honestly, can you name a better song?) and fucking "Tank." Indeed, they dusted off the obligatory renditions of "Golden Brown," "Skin Deep," "Duchess," "Always the Sun," and only a few ones from GIANTS (the new one) and maybe one track from SUITE XVI. The only song from the Paul Roberts era was a rousing bash through "Norfolk Coast." Leery renditions of "Five Minutes," "Hanging Around," "Peaches" and "Nice 'N' Sleazy" brought the house down.

Notable omissions from the hits-heavy set: "Something Better Change," "The Raven," Mean to Me," "Go Buddy Go," "Strange Little Girl," "London Lady." They played nothing off of MENINBLACK (I was hoping against hope for "Just Like Nothing on Earth") and only "Skin Deep" off of AURAL SCULPTURE. Still, it was a beefy set that I can't complain about.

Though he's been gone for over twenty years, the specter of Hugh Cornwell still looms over this band, largely due to the fact that a good 80% of the songs they played were either originally written or sang by the man. In what could only be a bit of calculated irony. the room itself was peppered with flyers advertising an upcoming (well, December) gig by Hugh Cornwell. Wonder if the band could see those flyers from the stage. That must have been a bit weird.

That said, I have newfound respect for Baz Warne. He's a more-than-capable performer and is a charismatic frontman, and his enthusiasm was infectious.

There you have it. There are a couple of pics on my Istagram page, if fucks be given: http://instagram.com/alexinnewyorkcity

Hugh Cornwell is doing a solo show at the Highline Ballroom later on in the year too, so I've heard!

In December, yes. The flyers were all over the venue (as I mentioned).

Sorry, just seen that you've mentioned that in your post, Alex in NYC :) It's strange that they didn't wheel out 'The Raven' or at least 'Thrown Away', because I know for a fact that they've done both of those tracks live in recent years!

let us know how the show was, they're coming to toronto soon and i'm thinking of going but .... no hugh? no jet?.....

― m0stlyClean, Monday, June 3, 2013 10:35 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, Jet's more than getting on a bit in the age department now... and quite frankly, I'm VERY surprised that he's lasted as long as he has. His health problems are nothing new to long-time fans (I think Robert Williams filled in for Jet due to illness on the Dreamtime tour and I'm sure there was a couple of other occasions during the '90s where they had to get someone else to fill in for live dates), and I remember seeing the band on the Suite XVI and was marvelling at how he was managing to keep up with some of the faster paced numbers. Some sheer determination on that guy. It's gotten a little bit more serious in recent years, though... he was taken to hospital not long into the UK tour for the recent album (Giants), and when he returned they set up with two drum-kits and played half the set with a fill in drummer, and then Jet came on half-way through and finished the set off.

*Suite XVI tour.

alex, thanks for the review... sorry to hear about jet's health issues, i wasn't aware....
"dodgy prostate punks", i think i might know a few....

Just got (Gospel According to) MenInBlack recently and the only other thing I know is "Golden Brown", so I'm having a hard time fitting together the talk of them being blokey thugs with this sometimes incredibly weird music.

Very intrigued by the reputation of Cornwell/Williams - Nosferatu.

I cant find what Hugh went to Jail for.

the first few albums are both blokey/thuggish and sometimes incredibly weird

Drugs, Robert.

I still think that Black & White is some batshit dalek punk classic, also JJ Burnell's 'Euroman Cometh', made at the same time, is great in places and really bloody odd.