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| The band first came together in Guildford in 1974 with Jet and Hugh before
recruiting guitarist turned bassist Jean Jacques. Initially calling themselves
the Guilford Stranglers they found gigs hard to come by and shortened their
name to The Stranglers. In 1975 Dave joined on keyboards. |
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Signing with a management deal with Albion in late 75 got them onto the
London pub circuit and they played a daunting array of gigs travelling in Jets
old ice cream van but picking up fans everywhere includingThe Finchley Boys, a gang
of rowdy football supporters who took the band to their heart and followed them
everywhere and a character called Dagenham Dave. Their stark, aggressive act was
seen as intimidating by audiences and the Stranglers never compromised whether
being clapped or booed. As such as punky bands began to appear though 1976 and
The Stranglers found their music and attitude in common with the new movement
whose members would often attend Stranglers gigsl |
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After lengthy attempts to secure a deal the band were signed in
Dec 76 to UA
and their first single Grip appeared in February charting at 44. Mysteriously
sales of it were attributed to another single and it got no furthere. 2 months later
Rattus Norvegicus was
released to almost universal acclaim and
caused surprise when it reached no4 in the charts. From then on the
rollercoaster began as The Stranglers became arguably the most popular and
successful punk band of the time. Featured in tabloids, a love hate affair
with journalists, controversies, successes, bannings a la GLC and Hugh's wearing
of a t-shirt with Ford looking like 'Fuck'. The Stranglers were unstoppable.
Within 5 months they released three classic double a side singles
Peaches/Go Buddy
Go,
Something Better Change/Straighten Out
and the classic No
More Heroes/ In The Shadows. |
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No More Heroes was also the name of their second album
5 songs of which was recorded in the same
sessions as their first and reached no 2. Controversy came in the shape of the
bands lyrics ie Peaches and
mentions of 'Clitoris' and alleged misogyny in their lyrics which
became a point of dissonance with journalists and the bands aggressive attitude. Unlike most punk bands the
Stranglers walked the walk and
talked the talk and Burnel was no stranger to settling scores and arguments
from on stage or wherever and viewing negative reviews as personal insults.
However no matter how much the journalists hated them they couldn't do without the
Stranglers as countless interviews and features in Sounds, NME and Melody Maker
can attest from 1976-1980.
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| 1978 and 1979 was a
commercial high point as they released the more
experimental Black & White
(that saw them take punk in a new direction),
Live X Certs and
The Raven. They also
scored more hits with
5 Minutes, Nice &
Sleazy
and Walk On By. By the time they reached
Duchess and
The Raven, sales were
beginning to tail off coinciding with the demise and lack of continuing interest in punk. By then
The Stranglers were a serious rock band. Gone were the battered
Telecaster and Precision bass and one of the crowd clothes. Now they
were all dressed in black with shiny new instruments.
Though our part of the story
stops here The Stranglers continued through
bannings, riots, imprisonment, drugs and meninblack, a no2 hit
Golden Brown
selling 600,000 copies, a 5 minute sung entirely in French and losing a key
member. Still going today having never once stopped, they have the same attitude,
outlook and potential for mischief and capacity for great songs.
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