Early accusations of The Stranglers being merely old, bearded, Doors-loving band-wagon-jumpers have, in the 35 years since their debut single, come to sound ridiculous. Okay the old, bearded and Doors-loving part wasn't entirely unfair. But the accusations of band-wagon jumping missed the point. After all, The Stranglers had been hiding away up in Guildford breeding an ugly, scuzzy mutation of mid-sixties rock n' roll since the early part of the decade. The rise of punk just allowed them to unleash their creation on an unsuspecting world.
Since I've been on a historical video kick of late (especially after getting reproached for mentioning said videos on blog aggregator Totally Fuzzy), here's a fabulous BBC doc on the band:
Parts 2, 3, 4
The Sessions is an out-of-print collection that covers The Stranglers (more here) two Peel sessions from 1977 and a Kid Jensen session from 1982.
Don't let free expression get Strangled - leave a comment!
Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find The Sessions link
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3 comments and 85 downloads for that Teenage Treats compilation yesterday was pretty fucking lame.
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I'm probably to cancel that series.
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I hope I don't have to cancel this series of Stranglers rarities for similar comment-less-ness.
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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?5yd3565s345bpw6
Awesome post... Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI've personally never seen or heard any of The Stranglers stuff that ever held any appeal for me other than for 'Dagenham Dave'.
ReplyDeleteToo New Wavy to be Punk, too Prog to be Pub, they certainly rode on the coattails of others.
What was their appeal?
Nice to find this, shame the bit rate is soooooo loooooow 56k!! Still betten than nowt!
ReplyDeleteTheir appeal was on on stage, where a bunch of older men really did mean ir man!
Thanks for this. Often find amazing BBC music docs online which never see tv airtime in the USA. How about it VH1 or someone? ... one night a week 'Classic BBC Night' ???
ReplyDelete3 comment for 85 downloads is pretty good in my books (quite a few of my posts have had 100+ d/loads & no comments)
ReplyDeleteIf you're not gonna post the rest of the series can you at least sent me the sleeve scans (I've only got poor scans grabbed of a certain auction site)
Oh & thanks for these stranglers sessions!! - I only had the 7" bootleg for the 07/03/77 session
Thanx for this,i'm friends with Ian Grant (stranglers ,first manager,when they were still bad)and hes always telling some great stories on facebook about the trouble they caused,totps,gaffer taping journalists to towers etc, much appreciated lidge84
ReplyDeleteYes,they were old but also great fun live,and i'm probably the only one in the world thinking Black & White was their top...cheers
ReplyDeleteYou're not the only one, roberto.Thanks so much for this, jeffen.
ReplyDeletePeaches is arguably the finest song ever written about tits.
ReplyDeleteWhy totally fuzzy complain about the videos?
ReplyDeleteI saw a Hugh Cornwall-less The Stranglers live in the late 80's. Even have a video called Friday the Thirteenth with new guy and for me it's impossible to tell it's not Hugh.
I always thought Peaches was about girl's bums. Only learned about the American slang a few years ago.
Uni
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Bio
"The Appeal of the Stranglers" maybe the answer is worth a post in and of itself.
abramson
I searched high and low for this one for that'll have to do for now - but I'll keep my eye out for an upgrade.
Anon
Yeah it's amazing how much good TV we North Americans miss.
Bristol Boy
While I don't know what your opinion is on that state of affairs let me just say it make me sick.
"Jigsaw" is an incredible site, informative, focused and hella prolific (one of the drawbacks of blogging for me is having less time to read - and download from - the wealth of great blogs out there).
So Yeah I'll post the next volume for you as my thanks.
(P.S. Any cover art at all for V.'s 7, 8, 9 would be appreciated as I have nothing for those).
lidge
Maybe we'll get to hear those stories someday...
Roberto
I've come around on B&W but nothing will ever beat No More Heroes for me
Anon
Welcome!
sr-71
Fuck that comment made me laugh - thanks!
Chris
ReplyDeleteI mentioned the fact that I had youtube of The Undertones documentary and the Fuzzy guys came by to say that MENTIONING videos on TF was unacceptable (not just offering videos for d/l) because that's advertising the competition to Fuzzy Tube.
I thought to let the whole thing slide but then I saw their new hostile, threatening "To Whom It May Concern" message and I felt sorta taken aback.
Thanks for this post. The stranglers were never a band that drove me wild but I appreciate their stuff more and more these days.
ReplyDeleteI love all era's of The Stranglers, why were they / are they so good? Simple they could play better than most and had some fucking brilliant songs.
ReplyDeleteTheir last two albums are brilliant, so anyone who gave up on them a few years back should re-investigate, the singer is now Baz Warne who has given the dynamic back to the band as they are now once again a four piece unit and Baz is a shit hot guitar player.
Thanks for the tip, Marky, and thanks for this, jeffen - you'll find more rare Stranglers links in the comments to your "Stranglers - 3 early demos" post, cheers Dave Sez.
ReplyDeleteHugh Cornwell and Richard Thompson (yes that Richard Thompson) played in a band when at school together. Not a lot of people know that ...
ReplyDeleteRoberto, "Black & White" is my fav as well. I know that it should be "No More Heros" but something about the harsh and dissonant nature of "Black & White's" overall sound sits just right with me.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Really enjoying your blog lately..Undertones, Stranglers...yum! Sorry to hear of your outs with the fuzzy people/person. So..whats wrong with the video posting?
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for this. Get to See Hugh Cornwell in May here in Melbourne.
ReplyDeletegreat posts of the stranglers & great to see that you always have some new surprises for us...tnaks a lot
ReplyDeletecheers for this! - please don't cancel it
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ReplyDeleteMy appreciation of them has shot up wildly over the years.
Sparks
While I'm still tepid on the later eighties as well as the nineties stuff, I agree they're on a real hot comeback.
Dave
Thanks for your always bountiful additions.
Anon
I'd heard that...
Anon
TF thinks that mentioning YouTube lowers traffic for their Fuzzy Tube.
Anon
Just missed him here - I feel like an idiot.
Peramtic
Hopefully there's a lot more surprises to come.
prince
Yeah I actually went to town on the series due to the great feedback...
always loved the Stranglers! (specially their 77/81 period).
ReplyDeletethanx a lot for these Sessions.
(i've missed this lp from the start).
can you post the equally rare "Stranglers IV" U.S. lp please? (there was a unique version of Bear Cage re-titled G.m.b.H. for this occasion)
Anon
ReplyDeleteStranglers IV has a lot of material that is legally available so, due to the itchy-trigger fingers of the British version of the RIAA, I'm a little gun-shy.
The Stranglers were just the DIRTIEST sound of 1977, and for that reason alone they rocked my tiny brain. Was there ever a better bass sound?
ReplyDeleteAll hail!!!