Skip to main content

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.


Labels:

Popular Posts

Dexy's Midnight Runners

Dexys Midnight Runners were an English pop band with soul influences from Birmingham, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid-1980s. They are best known in the UK for their songs " Come On Eileen " and " Geno ", both of which peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as six other top-20 singles. The original Dexys Midnight Runners were founded in 1978 in Birmingham, England by Kevin Rowland (vocals, guitar) and Kevin "Al" Archer (vocals, guitar). Both had been in the short-lived punk band the Killjoys. Rowland had previously written a Northern soul-style song that the two of them sang, " Tell Me When My Light Turns Green ", which became the first Dexys "song". The band's members were "Big" Jim Paterson (trombone), Geoff "JB" Blythe (saxophone, previously of Geno Washington's Ram Jam Band), Steve "Babyface" Spooner (alto saxophone), Pete Saunders (keyboard), Pete Williams (ba...
Read more

The Rezillos

The Rezillos were a punk/new wave band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in th emid 1970s. Although they emerged at the same time as other bands in the punk rock movement, the Rezillos  took a more light-hearted approach to their songs. Their songs were heavily influenced by 1950s rock and roll, 1960s English beat music and garage rock, early 1970s glam rock, and recurring lyrical themes of science fiction and B movies; their influences mirrored those of US bands the Cramps and the B-52s, who were starting out at the same time.  The Rezillos' biggest hit in their home country was the UK Top 20 single " Top of the Pops " in 1978, but they are best known outside the UK for their cover version of " Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight ". Released in July 1978, the Rezillos' first studio album " Can't Stand the Rezillos " (and one of my favourite albums) is considered a classic of the first wave of British punk, but the group split up...
Read more

The Tourists

The Tourists were a British rock and pop band. They achieved brief success in the late 1970s before the band split in 1980. Two of its members, singer Annie Lennox and guitarist Dave Stewart, went on to international success as Eurythmics. As the Tourists they released a number of track as singles and had quite some success, I saw the band at Reading Uni, and they were a firm favourite at the time. The tracks I want to list here are a cross section of their output... ' The Loneliest man in the World ' and the Dusty Springfield cover " I Only Want to Be with You " both from 1979. And from 1980  " So Good to Be Back Home Again "
Read more