The Stranglers

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.

A classic early Stranglers cover hit was 'Walk on By'

And the popular 'Something better Change'

A later track that was released was 'Duchess'

Another relatively big hit was 'Always the Sun'

My personal favourite Stranglers track of all time (at this time) is 'Strange Little Girl'

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.

Patti Smith

Patti Smith was an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and poet who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ' Horses '. Her most widely known song is " Because the Night ", which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen. It reached number 13 in America and number 5 in the U.K.

The Psychedelic Furs

The Psychedelic Furs were a British new wave band founded in London in the mid to late 1970s, led by singer Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scene. Their music went through several phases, from an initially austere art rock sound, to later touching on new wave and elements of hard rock. Early tracks that I particularly liked included ' Sister Europe ' & ' India ' from their self-named debut album in 1979. The band had several hits in their early career. In 1986, filmmaker John Hughes used their song " Pretty in Pink " for his film of the same name. I saw them play at the Sports Centre in Crawley and then again later in Reading, whilst at Uni.

Puff Daddy

Sean Combs also known by the stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy , is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and actor. Combs was born in New York City but was raised in Mount Vernon, New York. He worked as a talent director at Uptown Records before founding his own record label, Bad Boy Entertainment, in 1993. Combs' debut album, ' No Way Out ' from 1997 was an instant success, followed by multiple successful albums and singles. Combs formed the musical group Dirty Money and also produced and cultivated artists such as Mary J. Blige and The Notorious B.I.G. The Track ' I'll be Missing You ' featuring Faith Evans is about the death of The Notorious B.I.G. in a shooting incident, and samples heavily form The Police 's ' Every Breath I Take '.

JoBoxers

JoBoxers were a British new wave group formed in the early 1980s, when former Subway Sect members Rob Marche (guitarist), Dave Collard (keyboardist), Chris Bostock (bassist), and Sean McLusky (drummer), teamed up with England-based American singer Dig Wayne. The band's debut single, " Boxerbeat ", peaked at number three in the UK while the group were the opening act on the Madness 'Rise and Fall' tour. However, it was their next hit, " Just Got Lucky ", that broke the band internationally. This single made the UK Top 10, and cracked the US Top 40, in 1983. The band split in 1985.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones were an English rock band formed in London in the early 1960s. THey were at odds wit hthe prevailing popular pop music of the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered a gritty, heavier-driven sound that came to define hard rock. The band's first stable line-up consisted of bandleader Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica, keyboards), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar, vocals), Bill Wyman (bass guitar), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano), the last of whom was removed from the official line-up in 1963, but continued to work with the band as a contracted musician until his death in 1985. Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who in turn left in 1974 and was replaced in 1975 by Ronnie Wood, who has since remained. To my mind there are only four great Stones tracks - three from the late 60s, early 70s period, these being ' Paint it Black ' 'Sympat...

Muzical Mystery Tour

Search This Blog