The Stranglers Newcastle Mayfair 26th Feb 1981 & Newcastle City Hall 24th Nov 1981
Before I start today’s post; I just remembered that I also saw The Stranglers as one of the support acts for The Who at Wembley Stadium in 1979. Now, looking back, that was some line-up: The Who, The Stranglers, AC/DC and Nils Lofgren. I must write a full account of that gig when I come to covering The Who. Today I’m reflecting on The Stranglers in 1981.
1981 was another busy year for the band, releasing two studio albums, and touring in support of each. Their popularity was, however, starting to wane a little in the UK, and their three single releases of 1981 (“Thrown Away”, “Just Like Nothing on Earth”, “Let Me Introduce You to the Family”) only made the lower regions of the chart. Indeed, I can’t remember any of those singles at all. But as a live concert attraction The Stranglers remained a big draw, attracting punks and rock fans alike to their gigs.
The Stranglers first album release of the year was “The Gospel According to The Meninblack”, a concept album which explores the conspiracy theories around alien visitations to Earth and the sinister Men in Black, who appear in many biblical stories. This was a very different sort of album from their early punkier releases, and quite a brave move. Hugh Cornwell said of the album in a recent interview (SmellsLikePop, 2011) “I was sitting around Jet Black’s house and he was obsessed with UFOs……I thought that we could do a whole album about stuff they were writing in those books [referring to UFO books]…we all started getting into it. Jet didn’t realize that anyone would be interested in this weird stuff.” “The Gospel According to The Meninblack” made No 8 in the UK album chart, and the Stranglers went out on tour to promote the album. I saw their concert at Newcastle Mayfair on 26th February 1981. Phil Coxon attended every night of the early 1981 UK tour and says of the Mayfair gig: “The venue is in the nightclub style, have a look round and decide to treat myself to a Kentucky. Go back to the venue to see Modern Eon. [Aha so thats who the support was]. There’s a bit of hostility towards them tonight, the first time I’ve witnessed any so far. Their roadie quickly makes his way to the culprits and, even though he was outnumbered, he soon shut them up. Another good night from both bands with another lively crowd. The band coming on to Waltzinblack works a treat. Even though they have totally omitted anything from Rattus or Heroes, it’s still a great set and all the crowds seem to approve.” (From lair.thestranglers.net).
But one album wasn’t enough for the men in black in 1981. In November of that year they released “La Folie”, which was yet another change in style. This time the band consciously set out to make a much more accessible, commercial pop album, and worked with producer Tony Visconti, who helped them to achieve it. “La Folie” is French for “Madness”, and the theme of each song was “The Madness of Love”. The album contained the song “Golden Brown” which was released as a single in January 1982, reaching No. 2 in the UK chart. “Golden Brown” took the bands career in a different direction, and returned them to commercial success.
The Stranglers toured again in late 1981 and early 1982 in support of “La Folie”. The tour saw them returning to the City hall for the first time in four years to play a concert on 24th November 1981, which I attended. Live the Stranglers continued to put on great concerts, although I must admit I wasn’t familiar with the new songs, and missed some of the early classics like “London Lady”, “Grip” and “Hanging Around”.
Setlist from Newcastle City Hall 24th November 1981: Non Stop; Threatened; Just Like Nothing on Earth; Second Coming; The Man They Love to Hate; MeninBlack; Who Wants the World?; Baroque Bordello; Golden Brown; Tramp;Thrown Away; Tank; I Feel Like a Wog; Let Me Introduce You to the Family; Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus); Genetix. Encore: Bring on the Nubiles; Duchess; The Raven
11 Jun
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by Steve on November 29, 2014 at 12:02 am
Went to both of those, as well as one at Sunderland Locarno (1980) and an earlier gig at the City Hall (I think). Happy days.
Posted by vintagerock on November 29, 2014 at 9:26 am
Thanks Steve Happy days indeed Cheers Peter
Posted by Steve on November 29, 2014 at 12:03 am
Oh, there you go, just seen both those other concerts in your “related links”. Good stuff.
Posted by Barry Lewis (@BarryLewis33) on September 9, 2016 at 9:05 pm
I was a big fan of The Stranglers and seeing them play at the Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle when I was 17 in 1981 was a memorable experience! I remember the crowd getting restless waiting for them to come on stage and when the support band (Modern Eon) came on there was a fair degree of hostility and I was hit on the head by a plastic beer glass that somebody threw at them.Their electronic music was deafening and the pitch was quite painful.
I don’t remember the set list The Stranglers played, but I do remember the spitting! The sight of it dripping of JJ Burnel’s base guitar is unfortunately still with me!
Posted by LUDOVIC MALCOVICH on May 22, 2021 at 11:31 am
seen the stranglers play the city hall about 1978, I had seen quite a few groups by now, aged 18, mainly punk and new wave, Eddy & the Hot Rods, Iggy Pop, DEVO, Blondie, The Clash but this gig stood out, for one reason, the quality of the musicianship, I don’t know if they are particularly gifted musicians or if it was one of those nights that it all falls into place, but I left thinking they are more than just another punk group, and they went on to prove that, walking on the beaches was Hugh’s swan song that night, he did kind of ask for people to spit on him which is something I never did understand, the bass was powerful and driven, the keyboards memorizing and the drumming metronome-like, it all just worked very well and sounded great, Hugh’s singing and clever lyrics made it special, the PA must take some credit as the guys in the mixing desk got the balance of volume (lots of it) and clarity spot on. a nod to the support band that night, London (not London SS) I bought their cut price single (everyone’s a winner) from the merchandise stall for 50p (I think) they did give away some copies of it, hidden under random seats, their drummer Jon Moss went on to form culture club with Boy George and enjoyed great world wide success, The ticket cost £1.50 the price of a can of Coke & bag of crisps today, So a good investment for the memory bank for old age. . .
Posted by vintagerock on May 22, 2021 at 12:04 pm
Many thanks for your memories Ludovic
Happy days Peter
Posted by The Stranglers Newcastle Mayfair 26th Feb 1981 & Newcastle City Hall 24th Nov 1981 | stranglers (serbia) on August 19, 2022 at 6:52 pm
[…] by Steve on November 29, 2014 at 12:02 amWent to both of those, as well as one at Sunderland Locarno (1980) and an earlier gig at the City […]