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The Stranglers “Live (X Cert)”

sfilzen — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 17:47:41 +0000

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:

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The Stranglers “IV”

sfilzen — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 17:51:09 +0000

The Stranglers “IV” 1980. US/Canada only compilation. New-wavey post punk/power pop with oodles of swirly synth, IV‘s A-side includes several tracks from The Stranglers 1979 LP The Raven which was not released in the US. Those include the two singles “Duchess” (#14 UK, its video banned by the BBC for “blasphemous content”) and one of my top tracks, “Nuclear Device” (#36 UK). Side B is a collection of previously non-album singles and b-sides including the 1978 single-only “5 Minutes” (#11 UK) and its b-side “Rok It to the Moon,” “G.m.b.H” which is the extended version of the 1980 UK single “Bear Cage” (#36 UK) and another single from 1980 “Who Wants the World?” (#39 UK). Our copy is a 1980 original pressing which still has the free 7″ single containing the excellent “Choosey Susie” (from the 1977 UK single free with the Rattus Norvegicus album) and “Ode to Joy / Do The European,” a live Jean-Jacques Burnel (Strangler bassist/co-lead vocalist) solo track on Side A; Side B has a cover of Cream’s “White Room,” which appeared on the 1979 album Nosferatu by Strangler guitarist/vocalist Hugh Cornwell and drummer Robert Williams (Captain Beefheart, John Lyon, Pee Wee Herman Show) plus “Straighten Out” (the b-side to the 1977 single “Something Better Change“).

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The Stranglers “No More Heroes”

sfilzen — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 16:21:03 +0000

The Stranglers “No More Heroes” released on this date, September 23rd, 1977. UK punk/power pop/early new wave, No More Heroes was The Stranglers’ second LP and it went to #2 on the UK album chart. The Stranglers released two singles from the album: the fantastic title track “No More Heroes” (#8 UK) and “Something Better Change” (#9 UK). The Stranglers are usually lumped in with their contemporary mid-to-late 70′s UK punks and that is not misguided – the vocals are rough and growling, the rat tail trademark is nasty, and the lyrics are angry and flippant (ie “Peasant in the Big Shitty”). But musically their more than competent guitar/bass/drums and bright harmonies bring The Stranglers into the power pop realm and the swirly keyboards (excellently played by Dave Greenfield who died this past May of Covid-19 complications) that infuse the tracks veer them into the new wave sound that would be huge in a year or two. Besides the two singles, my favorite tracks on No More Heroes are “Bitching,” “Dead Ringer, “Dagenham Dave” (a catchy, upbeat and danceable song about a friend’s suicide) and “English Towns.”

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The Stranglers “6 Songs”

sfilzen — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 14:40:56 +0000

The Stranglers “6 Songs” 1986. Comp EP, Liberty Records, Greek import. Today, August 28th, is Stranglers’ vocalist/guitarist Hugh Cornwell’s 70th birthday (b. 1949). UK pub rock goes punk goes new wave/post punk, this EP is a collection of singles from the 70′s through 80′s. On Side A: “Nice ‘n’ Sleazy,” which went to #18 in the UK in ‘78 and appeared on their LP Black and White; “Strange Little Girl,” a single from ‘82 that hit #7 (UK) and was originally written back in ‘74, the year The Stranglers formed; and “No More Heroes,” one of my favorite Strangler songs, all swirly keyboards, which went to #8 and was the title track from the 1977 album No More Heroes. On Side B: “Golden Brown,” a decidedly unpunk single that hit #2 in the UK in early ‘82 (their highest chart hit), it’s a sweet Donovan-esque lilting number with baroque harpsichord, some psychedelic guitar and saxophone; “Hanging Around,” definitely more of a rocker which appeared on their 1977 debut Rattus Norvegicus; and “La Folie,” an ephemeral 1982 single from their album of the same name (released in late ‘81) which went to #47 in the UK and was sung in French by bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel.

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The Stranglers “Skin Deep”

sfilzen — Wed, 09 May 2018 14:30:31 +0000

The Stranglers “Skin Deep” 1984. 12″ extended version single b/w “Here and There” and “Vladimir and the Beast (Part III).” “Skin Deep” was the first single from The Stranglers’ eighth album Aural Sculpture and it hit #15 on the UK charts. The track is new wave leaning power pop, lots of shimmery effects, dreamy keyboards, melodic woo-woo’s and, at times, Beach Boy level harmonies, quite a departure from their early work i.e. the snarling punk attitude of “(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)” and “Ugly.” Side B’s “Here and There” continues the transformation with world beat marimba flavors, beep-boop synths and vocals that parallel the blue-eyed soul craze of early 80′s Britain (Spandau Ballet, Paul Young, etc). “Vladimir and the Beast (Part III)” has, not surprisingly, a Russian theme and flavor, with an Eastern European polka-beat and lyrics that chronicle a soldier’s experience during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, including addiction to hash, attacks by Afghan rebels and the development of a relationship with a camel named Dimitri. A seriously weird song.

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The Stranglers “The Stranglers”

sfilzen — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 16:56:48 +0000

The Stranglers “The Stranglers” 1977. 4-song 7″ EP on marbled pink vinyl. The writing on the back sleeve is delightful: “THIS is the Stranglers’ first EP. (The initials ‘EP’ stand for ‘extended play,’ which means you get four songs on a seven-inch platter, and you spin it at 331/3 revolutions-per-minute.) Two of the tracks contained herein – ‘Hanging Around’ and ‘(Get a) Grip (on Yourself)’ – originally appeared on Rattus Norvegicus, the Stranglers’ first album. ‘Something Better Change’ is a key tune on the second album, No More Heroes. Last but not least is ‘Straighten Out,’ which does not appear on either album. It goes without saying that this EP should be played as loudly as conditions permit. NOTE: This EP has a special label; viewing the lable while the record is revolving may result in slight dizziness (especially if record is rotated at speeds in excess of 78 rpm).” (I played it at normal speed and can confidently say I did not get dizzy.)

The Stranglers have been around for, like, ever, having formed in 1974 as a pub rock band and then were propelled to commercial success with the rise of punk rock in the mid-70′s, opening for the Ramones and Patti Smith while they toured the UK. “(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)” was their first single, hitting #44 on the UK charts and “Something Better Change” hit #9 (this single was a double A-side with “Straighten Out” in the UK and was also released with “No More Heroes” as its B-side.)

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The Stranglers “Black and White”

sfilzen — Thu, 12 May 2016 19:54:16 +0000

The Stranglers “Black and White” released on this date, May 12th, 1978. Black and white marbled vinyl concept album. It spent 18 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at #2.

“Tank” leads off Side 1 (or the “white side”) with a swirling keyboard run that is very reminiscent of their song “(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)” from their ‘77 LP Rattus Norvegicus. “Nice and Sleazy” was released as a single and has a killer bass line; it reached #18 on the UK Singles Chart. Tracks like “Toiler on the Sea” and “Sweden (All Quiet on the Eastern Front)” are experimental, freaky dissonant art rock goes punk with lunatic keyboards.

Side 2 (the “black side”) starts with “Curfew,” the vocals snotty and melodic punk, the lyrics telling a story of societal breakdown, fear and invasion, over the Stranglers’ signature keyboard rifts. “Threatened” throws a threatening beat and double-layered nihilistic vocals: Man killed by industry, Man killed by luxury, Man killed by falling tree, Man killed by sanity. Bring me a piece of my mummy, she was quite close to me.” “In the Shadows” veers into goth territory, as does “Death and Night and Blood” albeit through a highly musically experimental lens.

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The Stranglers “Rattus Norvegicus”

sfilzen — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 17:02:08 +0000

The Stranglers “Rattus Norvegicus” released on this date, April 15th, 1977. A&M Records. Promotional copy with white label, pre-PMRC warning label “This album has not been edited for family listening. The tune “Ugly” contains explicit language. Beware!” Fair enough. Content – they drop the F-bomb – along with threats of smacking you in the face, the dark vocal delivery and late 70′s timing put the Stranglers squarely in the punk category. That said, the oft-slow tempo tracks (i.e. “Princess of the Streets”) and the Doors-like keyboards (”Sometimes”) places the Stranglers altogether out of the traditional punk label and into a rock/power pop column.

The single “Peaches” charted in the UK at #8, helping to propel the LP to #4 on the album charts. My personal favorite track is “(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)” which has a propellant beat, swirling keyboards, saxophone and an infectious chorus…”but the money’s no good, just get a grip on yourself,” a little glimpse into the British New Wave movement of the early 80′s.

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