The Stranglers emerged via the punk rock scene, formed as the Guildford Stranglers in Guildford, Surrey in the early 1970s, they originally built a following within the mid-1970s pub rock scene.
With their local connections, they were and remain one of my favourite bands of the period. I went to see the Strangers when they played Crawley College in 1977 and again when they were at Crawley Sports Centre in 1980.
The Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the UK punk scene.
While their aggressive, no-compromise attitude had them identified by the media with the emerging UK punk rock scene that followed, their unique approach rarely followed any single musical genre, and the group went on to explore a variety of musical styles.
They had major mainstream success with their 1982 single "Golden Brown". Their other hits include "No More Heroes", "Peaches", and "Always the Sun".
The Stranglers' early sound was driven by Jean-Jacques Burnel's bass, but also gave prominence to Dave Greenfield's keyboards. Their early music also highlighted growling vocals from both Burnel and Hugh Cornwell. Over time, their output gradually grew more refined and sophisticated.
In no particular order, here are some of my favourite Stranglers tracks, starting with 'Golden Brown'
'No More Heroes' really grabbed my attention when it first came out in 1977, hot on the heels of the 'Peaches' release.
There are numerous other tracks that I would have liked to have ad recorded here but many of the currently available videos are of poor quality, so I have omitted them
Lead Singer, Hugh Cornwell, left the band in 1990, for me that was the end of the group, the remaining three carried on with various additions but their best is over.
Jet Black no longer tours and has been reported to be in poor health
Founding keyboard player Dave Greenfield died on 3 May 2020 of Covid-19 complications.