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The Stranglers

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Formed in 1974 in Surrey, The Stranglers made their name during the Punk Rock era as a band not to be messed with. Originally consisting of Jet Black (drums), Jean-Jacques Burnel (bass, vocals), Hugh Cornwell (guitar, vocals) and Dave Greenfield (keyboards, vocals) they went on to be one of the most commercially successful bands of their time, outselling many of their contemporaries.

Hit singles such as "Peaches", "Five Minutes", "Nuclear Device" and "Duchess", and albums such as "Rattus Norvegicus", "No More Heroes", "The Raven" and "La Folie" consolidated their reputation as talented songwriters and musicians, with the big hit "Golden Brown" opening them up to a whole different market. Singles and albums were complemented with a busy touring schedule, with the band playing more than 300 gigs in 1976 alone!

In 1990 Hugh Cornwell left to pursue a solo career, and The Stranglers changed line-up for the first time, bringing in Paul Roberts on vocals, and John Ellis (ex-Vibrators) on guitar. They continued to record and tour until 2000 when John Ellis left, to be replaced by Baz Warne (ex-Toy Dolls and Smalltown Heroes).

The Stranglers started off 2004 with a critically-acclaimed new album "Norfolk Coast", their first hit single in more than ten years "Big Thing Coming", and a string of tour dates and festival dates into 2005.

The band celebrate their thirtieth anniversary on September 11th 2004. Here's to the next 30 years!

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Do You Remember The Stranglers?

Do You Remember The Stranglers?

  • Anonymous user
    on
    Well, if not the best band ever, certainly ONE of the best ones! I love 'em- got into them back in '01, and I think I'd say they were my favourite (which, given all my preferred bands, is saying something). JJ has always denied that they were a punk band, although even if that's not what they intended, they are certainly forever seen as one (anybody who brings out songs like 'Ugly', 'Bring On The Nubiles' and 'Grip' will inevitably fall into the punk bracket). One of their most overlooked albums is Black & White, which came out in '78- that's a pity, since it's excellent. My favourite track of theirs would have to be 'Strange Little Girl'- probably my favourite song EVER, really haunting. Poor old Hugh hasn't done brilliantly since going solo- he did a gig at Worcester's Guildhall a few years ago at which hardly anybody turned up. He's brought out an unnecessarily sour song in which he slags off the West Country town of Trowbridge something rotten, mainly because he used to have to regularly drive through it and found it depressing! Did you know that he used to be a biochemist back in the early '70s? JJ and Dave Greenfield have also done a couple of albums as a duo- would like to hear those. All in all, one hell of a group, and I wish them a ratty good future! (By the way, how old IS Jet Black??)
  • Anonymous user
    on
    I remember "Peaches" was the first piece of music I ever heard on a high quality stereo audio system (as opposed to a mono tape player or transistor radio). I've liked them ever since - bought all their albums, seen them live more times than I care to remember, met JJ by complete coincidence via a shared interest in martial arts and even licenced a track from Norfolk Coast for use in an international commercial marketing initiative for the company I now work for. The best band ever? Of course not. But I like 'em - even if Jet Black is older than my dad.

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