The Stranglers “Live (X Cert)” 1979. Live UK punk, recorded at shows in ’78 and ’79. Some of The Stranglers best cuts from their first three LP’s sprinkled with banter, insults and a request for the crowd to stop spitting at the band. All of Side A (except “Hanging Around“) plus two tracks on Side B (“Straighten Out” and “Five Minutes“) comes from their concert at The Roundhouse in November 1977 (“Hanging Around” is from June ’77, Roundhouse); the rest are from a show at Battersea Park, September ’78. Live (X Cert) went to #7 in the UK which is pretty impressive for a live punk album. The sound quality is really good, the performances super-tight and as good as the studio versions, with the same swirly keyboards, infectious and danceable beats and aggressive vocals, accented with harmonies. Not surprisingly my top track on this live album is also my overall favorite by The Stranglers: their debut single “(Get a) Grip (On Yourself).” They go extra weird on “I Feel Like a Wog,” both weird and angular on “Do You Wanna?” go super-angry on “Straighten Out” and are particularly messy on “Curfew.” I thought maybe The Drones, who I wrote about yesterday, opened for The Stranglers at The Roundhouse in ’77 (they performed with them that year) but it seems that instead it was the Ramones and The Flaming Groovies, if the internet is to believed.

Here are The Stranglers at the Roundhouse playing “(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)” in 2010.

And here’s what I think is the concert at Battersea in 1978: