Tried listening to The Stranglers today....

[BreadBin]

One of my first favourite bands - I still have the family copy of Black and White which I played to death, and a good chunk of my first paypacket was spent on Rattus.

I'm sure I heard JJB say that he thought they were quite prog in an interview a while ago, I can definitely see it 🙂

[spongebob]

I think there’s definitely a hefty prog element to them.

 

Dont forget the ‘Gospel According To…’ was a concept album. 😀

[Beedster]

Imagine Jon Anderson on Stranglers vocals........ 🤔

 

Or Hugh Cornwell in Yes  

[prowla]

The organ gives their sound a sixties (pre-prog) feel.

Some of the "punk" thing was just different hairdos and the band members sneering a bit rather than a big revolution reinventing music.

 

[Beedster]

14 minutes ago, prowla said:

The organ gives their sound a sixties (pre-prog) feel.

Some of the "punk" thing was just different hairdos and the band members sneering a bit rather than a big revolution reinventing music.

 

 

Ha ha, love it, Stranglers actually pre-prog 👍

 

Totally agree re the punk thing

[Woodinblack]

11 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I still have the programme. For me the highlights were Ten Years After, Twelfth Night, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Sabbath*.

 

I remember Sabbath, that was funny, I particularly liked their smoke on the water! 

Actually I say I remember none of it, I actually remember quite a lot, but maybe the music specifically wasn't important. I remember leaving without a girlfriend and getting back with one. I remember watching a guy a few tents away from us watching his bike go up in flames, then him spending the entire weekend rewiring it. I remember spending the last few hours in reading at the new Thames Valley police office, waiting to identify our stuff that was nicked from our tent and I remember the heat and parched land.

But the bands, yes I saw quite a few of them, but I was never really one for listening to bands!

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I remember Sabbath, that was funny, I particularly liked their smoke on the water! 

Actually I say I remember none of it, I actually remember quite a lot, but maybe the music specifically wasn't important. I remember leaving without a girlfriend and getting back with one. I remember watching a guy a few tents away from us watching his bike go up in flames, then him spending the entire weekend rewiring it. I remember spending the last few hours in reading at the new Thames Valley police office, waiting to identify our stuff that was nicked from our tent and I remember the heat and parched land.

But the bands, yes I saw quite a few of them, but I was never really one for listening to bands!

 

I have somehow a knack for being at gigs that end up on live albums. My total is massively inflated because the BBC recorded Reading that year, and eight of them have appeared as albums (as far as I can tell):

Stevie Ray Vaughan (part of his first UK tour, there was a real sense of expectation about his 'Hendrix' covers).
Big Country
Thin Lizzy (final UK performance, I saw them in Gloucester at the previous one too, the only times I saw them).

Man
Ten Years After

Twelfth Night (and a DVD)
Marillion (who were very good despite being dissed as a Genesis cover band at the time).

Strangelrs (apaprently only on You Tube)

[Woodinblack]

11 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Marillion (who were very good despite being dissed as a Genesis cover band at the time).

 

I had gone down to see them at portsmouth guildhall in 83, my friends had said 'oh they are a bit like genesis', and I liked genesis so it sounded fine. They were nothing like genesis but I really enjoyed the gig, and still love script for a jesters tear.

[Barking Spiders]

Don't get the prog comparison at all. I guess they were relatively progressive compared to the Ramones but their misanthropic attitude, tendency to get into punch-ups plus the aggressive nature of their early recordings were far removed from prog as most people understand it. Not sure you'd have seen strippers on stage with Yes!

[PaulWarning]

26 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

Don't get the prog comparison at all. I guess they were relatively progressive compared to the Ramones but their misanthropic attitude, tendency to get into punch-ups plus the aggressive nature of their early recordings were far removed from prog as most people understand it. Not sure you'd have seen strippers on stage with Yes!

they had keyboards, some long songs and odd arrangements, I can see why people thought they had prog rock influence's,  but the lyrics were very punk

[BreadBin]

JJB on prog

 

https://www.loudersound.com/features/jj-burnel-stranglers-caravan

 

"There are songs we’ve done over the years that could be seen as prog – and I wouldn’t deny it"

[Grooverjr]

As someone who only found BC in 2023, I missed this the first time around so have just spent a lovely half hour reading through this thread. Along with Ozrics, my two most favourite long term bands. I have never stopped listening to them since I was in my early teens, whatever else I have been listening to, which has been very varied. Saw them when I was 4 at the famous Battersea Park gig and then my mate's brother in law got us into them seriously when we were 12 or 13. Saw thm twice in the tour to support 10 (overlooked album for me - Never To Look Back and Too Many Teardrops are great) and JJ was immense. I was a total JJ fanboy and he was why I started playing bass and why I only played with a pick for years. For me, Black and White to Feline is one of the most consistently creative periods of any band. Even Gospel has its moments and if you've read the Song by Song book there's a lot more to hear. Fully agree with the comments about Hugh's guitar work. Lots of humour in the lyrics as well, and you can actually hear what they are, which is nice.

Over the years I've come to appreciate the way the songs are quite basic structurally but the way Hugh, JJ and Dave work around that basic structure and the note choice is endlessly fascinating. I get that people would not say they're prog but I suppose the point is that they were always more adventurous and broader in just about every way than the punk they were labelled as. Never bothered me what they were labelled as, they're just a great band who tried stuff. Didn't alway work, but then Prince made some dross as well!  IMO it only ever worked with the original 4 of them. Post Hugh even my JJ love can't make me like it and Hugh's solo stuff is similarly lacking. 

That's my Friday night sorted - backwards from La Folie and see where I get to!

[Stub Mandrel]

16 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

they had keyboards, some long songs and odd arrangements, I can see why people thought they had prog rock influence's,  but the lyrics were very punk

 

Yes, such hardcore punk lyrics...

 

Bonsoir
Ton véhicule n'a pas l'air d'avoir de passager
Peux-tu, veux-tu me recevoir
Sans trop te déranger
Mes bottes ne feront pas trop d'échos dans ton couloir
Pas de bruit avec mes adieux
Pas pour nous les moments perdus
En attendant un incertain au revoir
Parce que j'ai la folie
Oui j'ai la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Il était une fois un étudiant
Qui voulait fort, comme en littérature
Sa copine, elle était si douce
Qu'il pouvait presque, en la mangeant
Rejeter tous les vices
Repousser tous les mals
Détruire toutes beautés
Qui par ailleurs, n'avait jamais été ses complices
Parce qu'il avait la folie
Il avait la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Et si parfois l'on fait des confessions
À qui les raconter
Même le bon Dieu nous a laisse tomber
Un autre endroit, une autre vie
Eh oui, c'est une autre histoire
Mais à qui tout raconter
Chez les ombres de la nuit
Au petit matin, au petit gris
Combien de crimes ont été commis
Contre les mensonges et soi disant les lois du cœur
Combien sont là à cause de la folie
Parce qu'ils ont la folie
Ils ont la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
La folie
La folie
La folie
La folie
La folie

[BreadBin]

Proper punk this.. 

 

I had a woman ship

I took her overseas

She left her hull unlocked

I had to find a dock

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

We didn't use cruel words

To navigate cruel seas

The wind was biting hard

At times I had to scream

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

And when we reached the land

We went aground on the rocks

Became a wreck in the sand

Became a home for a flock

We ventured overland

Fought with the aliens

The young ones used their hands

Pointed the way to a flock

A flock of seagulls!

A flock of seagulls!

Then we retraced our steps

Rebuilt the woman ship

I took her back up north

I lost her in the fog

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler

I was a toiler

I was a toiler

On the sea

On the sea

I was a toiler

I was a toiler

On the sea

I was a toiler

A toiler

A toiler

[Velarian]

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Yes, such hardcore punk lyrics...

 

Bonsoir
Ton véhicule n'a pas l'air d'avoir de passager
Peux-tu, veux-tu me recevoir
Sans trop te déranger
Mes bottes ne feront pas trop d'échos dans ton couloir
Pas de bruit avec mes adieux
Pas pour nous les moments perdus
En attendant un incertain au revoir
Parce que j'ai la folie
Oui j'ai la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Il était une fois un étudiant
Qui voulait fort, comme en littérature
Sa copine, elle était si douce
Qu'il pouvait presque, en la mangeant
Rejeter tous les vices
Repousser tous les mals
Détruire toutes beautés
Qui par ailleurs, n'avait jamais été ses complices
Parce qu'il avait la folie
Il avait la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Et si parfois l'on fait des confessions
À qui les raconter
Même le bon Dieu nous a laisse tomber
Un autre endroit, une autre vie
Eh oui, c'est une autre histoire
Mais à qui tout raconter
Chez les ombres de la nuit
Au petit matin, au petit gris
Combien de crimes ont été commis
Contre les mensonges et soi disant les lois du cœur
Combien sont là à cause de la folie
Parce qu'ils ont la folie
Ils ont la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
Oui c'est la folie
La folie
La folie
La folie
La folie
La folie

This track was inspired by the true story of Issei Sagawa, a Japanese lust murderer, cannibal, and necrophiliac known for the killing of Renée Hartevelt in Paris in 1981.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issei_Sagawa#:~:text=Issei Sagawa (佐川 一政,Hartevelt in Paris in 1981.

 

The La Folie album is about different aspects of "The Madness of Love" and conceptually, each of the songs on the album was intended to explore a different kind of "love"

 

[Grooverjr]

5 hours ago, BreadBin said:

Proper punk this.. 

 

I had a woman ship

I took her overseas

She left her hull unlocked

I had to find a dock

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

We didn't use cruel words

To navigate cruel seas

The wind was biting hard

At times I had to scream

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

And when we reached the land

We went aground on the rocks

Became a wreck in the sand

Became a home for a flock

We ventured overland

Fought with the aliens

The young ones used their hands

Pointed the way to a flock

A flock of seagulls!

A flock of seagulls!

Then we retraced our steps

Rebuilt the woman ship

I took her back up north

I lost her in the fog

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler on the sea

I was a toiler

I was a toiler

I was a toiler

On the sea

On the sea

I was a toiler

I was a toiler

On the sea

I was a toiler

A toiler

A toiler

One of my favourite Stranglers tunes. My daughter thought it was "a toilet seat" when she was about 5! I'm not sure if the story that A Flock of Seagulls got their name from this song is true, but it would be a very weird name to come up with otherwise. 

[Stub Mandrel]

4 hours ago, Velarian said:

This track was inspired by the true story of Issei Sagawa, a Japanese lust murderer, cannibal, and necrophiliac known for the killing of Renée Hartevelt in Paris in 1981.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issei_Sagawa#:~:text=Issei Sagawa (佐川 一政,Hartevelt in Paris in 1981.

 

The La Folie album is about different aspects of "The Madness of Love" and conceptually, each of the songs on the album was intended to explore a different kind of "love"

 

 

I saw the tour 😁

[tauzero]

2 hours ago, Grooverjr said:

I'm not sure if the story that A Flock of Seagulls got their name from this song is true, but it would be a very weird name to come up with otherwise.

 

I don't know, someone may have been wondering what a group of Eric Cantona supporters would be called.

[Dad3353]

14 minutes ago, tauzero said:

I don't know, someone may have been wondering what a group of Eric Cantona supporters would be called.

 

A Tin of Sardines..?

[Lozz196]

The Kung Fu Kickers?

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

As this seems to be the only Stranglers thread on Basschat, I'll ask this question here.

Do any of you have the '50 Years in Black' live double CD?

It was released last year as a limited edition through their web site. It was re-issued once more by popular demand and sold out again.

It does not appear it will be released again. I asked this morning and they said there were no plans to do so.

I would really like to hear it.

[Velarian]

10 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

As this seems to be the only Stranglers thread on Basschat, I'll ask this question here.

Do any of you have the '50 Years in Black' live double CD?

It was released last year as a limited edition through their web site. It was re-issued once more by popular demand and sold out again.

It does not appear it will be released again. I asked this morning and they said there were no plans to do so.

I would really like to hear it.

I’d not even heard of that one and apart from seeing a couple of gigs when Paul Robert’s had joined, I pretty much lost interest in the band after Hugh left. I’m still in touch with a couple of mates who were a bit more hard-core Stranglers fans so I’ll ask them as it’s possible one of them may have it. 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

3 minutes ago, Velarian said:

I’d not even heard of that one and apart from seeing a couple of gigs when Paul Robert’s had joined, I pretty much lost interest in the band after Hugh left. I’m still in touch with a couple of mates who were a bit more hard-core Stranglers fans so I’ll ask them as it’s possible one of them may have it. 

Yeah, I went almost the same route except I got back into them again when Baz joined.

I like a lot of their post Cornwell material.

Thanks for asking.

[Beedster]

11 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

As this seems to be the only Stranglers thread on Basschat, I'll ask this question here.

 

That's pretty shocking given....

 

1. They had one of the most iconic bass players ever (hey, he has a Sig....)

2. People here often say they aspire to JJB's tone

3. They wrote some awesome songs and produced some incredible albums

4. BC members generally like Prog?

[Velarian]

On 26/09/2024 at 09:07, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Yeah, I went almost the same route except I got back into them again when Baz joined.

I like a lot of their post Cornwell material.

Thanks for asking.

Sorry for not getting back to you on the live album question. Unfortunately my enquiries proved to be a dead end and nobody I know has a copy. 😕