Archive for the ‘Stranglers’ Category

9 Jun

The Stranglers Newcastle City Hall 12th October 1977

Posted by vintagerock in Penetration, Stranglers. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

The Stranglers Newcastle City Hall 12th October 1977
stranglers77tixI have already written about the first couple of times I saw the Stranglers in concert which was at gigs in early 1977 at Newcastle Poly and the City Hall. Well it wasn’t long before they were again, once more headlining at Newcastle City Hall. I think that support on this occasion came from local punk heroes Penetration (or maybe that was the City Hall gig earlier in the year); it is all, I am afraid, a bit of a blur…. I saw the Stranglers quite a few times over the next 7 or 8 years and I’ll blog a little about those gigs over the next few days. The Stranglers live was always guaranteed to be wild, with the crowd going absolutely mental, goaded on by Hugh Cornwell and Jean-Jacques Burnel. By late _DSC3097 [LR]1977 the Stranglers had just released their second album “No More Heroes” and were massively successful with punks and rock fans. These were one band which seemed to be able to bridge the two camps, and thus drew massive crowds to their concerts. They were in the UK singles charts 4 times in 1977, first with “Grip”/”London Lady”, which was a minor hit early in the year reaching No 44, then with “Peaches”/”Go Buddy Go”, which made No 8, “Something Better Change”/”Straighten Out” which reached No 9, and their final hit of 1977 “No More Heroes” which got to No 8.strangled1The October 1977 concert was a pretty wild gig with some trouble as I recall, Hugh and Jean-Jacques arguing with the bouncers (I think Jean-Jacques may have tried to kick one of them at one point), and Hugh encouraging the crowd to push their way past the bouncers and climb up on stage. By the end of the gig the stage was completely full of pogoing fans surrounding the band. All of this resulted in the Stranglers not being welcome in the City Hall for some time. Indeed the next few Stranglers tours missed out the North East completely, and it was 1980 before they returned to the region for a gig at Sunderland Mayfair, which I will write about tomorrow. I believe one of the band (either Jet Black or Jean-Jacques Burnel, depending upon which report you read) was arrested after the 1977 Newcastle gig. But then the band were used to _DSC3130b [CROP][LR]controversy at the time, not least because of their very non-PC songs and lyrics and their attitude towards the press. I would always buy a copy of “Strangled” magazine at each gig, as these were often on sale in place of a programme. This was a regular fanzine type mag; one of my early copies is pictured here. Based on setlists at the time the Stranglers set will have been something like this: No More Heroes; Ugly; Bring on the Nubiles; Dead Ringer; Sometimes; Dagenham Dave; Goodbye Toulouse; Hanging Around; Five Minutes; Bitching; Burning Up Time; I Feel Like a Wog; Straighten Out; Something Better Change. Encore: London Lady; Peaches; (Get A) Grip (On Yourself); Go Buddy Go

Updated 13th of June 2020. Pictures of Hugh Cornwall of the Stranglers and Pauline and Rob of Penetration added. Many thanks to Mark for providing the pictures of the gig!

21 Dec

The Stranglers Newcastle City Hall 15th June 1977

Posted by vintagerock in London, Stranglers. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

The Stranglers Newcastle City Hall 15th June 1977
stranglers1I first saw the Stranglers in the bar of Newcastle Poly in February 1977, and have a natty little ticket from the event (pictured here) which shows a victim of (I think) the Boston Strangler. The gig was in a small upstairs bar, rather than the usual venue of the main ballroom, and completely packed. The audience was a mix of students, and locals with a smattering of people starting to wear punk gear. A group of fashion students were into the punk scene and would dress in Vivienne Westwood gear which they must have bought from Seditionaries in London. The Stranglers played a blistering performance featuring early songs, many of which were to appear on their soon to be released first album, “Rattus Norvegicus”. Their only release at the time of the Poly gig was the first single “Grip”/”London Lady”. “London Lady” was probably my favourite song of theirs at the time. I found a bootleg listed for a performance at Middlesbrough Rock Garden, also on 23rd February 1977. The Rock Garden gig was in fact the night after, on 24th February 1977. The recording shows the set as being: Get A Grip On Yourself; Sometimes; Bitching; School Mam; Peasant In The Big Shitty; Straighten Out; Hanging Around; Ugly; London Lady; Down In The Sewer; Something Better Change; Go Buddy Go. If that set list is correct it seems that the band had already written, and were playing, tracks such as “Bitching” and “School Mam” that would end up on their second album “No More Heroes”.
stranglers2Come June 1977 and The Stranglers were back and headlining at Newcastle City Hall. I remember being surprised that they could contemplate playing such a large venue only a few months after I had seen them play in a students union bar. But by June, punk was making news everywhere, the Stranglers had released “Peaches” which was climbing up the charts, and the gig sold out. The venue was packed with a mix of rock fans, those curious to see what this new “punk” phenomenon was all about, and several sporting their own home-made t-shirts, complete with zips, safety pins, chains, locks etc. This was probably the first big punk gig that the north east had seen, and certainly the first in a public venue that was accessible to all (ie not in a students union or in a bar or club with an over 18 entry). The crowd made the most of it. The Stranglers played an amazing, challenging set: Hugh Cornwell very non-PC spitting and growling lots of apparently sexist and racist innuendo, Jean-Jacques Burnel looking moody, dark and dangerous and driving the band with his lumbering, thundering bass guitar, Dave Greenfield providing the melody with some swirling Hammond organ that could just as easily have come from Deep Purple, and Jet Black, the grumpy looking man in black at the back on drums. The Stranglers were one of the hardest working, and most consistent, live acts at the time. They made it through a set of great songs, and through hard graft, playing up and down the country throughout 1976 and 1977. stranglers-rattus-norvegicus-sleeve-back-70s-1021x1024Caroline Coon, said (from ‘1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion’, 1977): “The Stranglers slogged through over four hundred gigs in two years building up an ever-increasing following. They did not jump on the punk bandwagon but they were astute enough to know which way the rock wind was blowing.” It can be argued that The Stranglers were not punk, but more classic rock. However, Burnel was quoted as saying, “I thought of myself as part of punk at the time because we were inhabiting the same flora and fauna … I would like to think The Stranglers were more punk plus and then some.” (Interview for Punk77). But the kids at the City Hall in June 1977 didn’t care either way. As far as they were concerned, they were getting their first slice of the action, and were seeing a real live punk rock band. And of course they were meant to go totally crazy and spit at the band, and that is exactly what they did. This was a manic gig, and the first of many that the City Hall and other venues would host in the months to come. “I couldn’t care what anybody else says, the Stranglers are still one of the finest rock ‘n’ roll bands this country has spawned in years. Old wave, New Wave, fart, new fart, what do the labels matter, eh? Electric music is electric music. It either hits you where it should or else it apologises and passes by on the other side. And since when did the Stranglers ever apologise for anything? ” (Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 1977). The+Stranglers+-+Rattus+Norvegicus+-+LP+RECORD-392283Support at the City Hall came from London, who were a four piece punk band formed in London in 1976, and were well known for their wild stage act. The original line-up was Riff Regan (vocals), Steve Voice (bass), Jon Moss (drums, later of the Damned and then Culture Club) and Dave Wight (guitar). I’m sure that somewhere I have a flyer for London which I picked up at the gig. I’ll try and find it and load it to this page. The Stranglers hit the UK singles charts four times in 1977 with “Grip”/”London Lady”; “Peaches”/”Go Buddy Go”; “Something Better Change” and “No More Heroes”.
A bootleg recorded in June 1977 at Manchester Electric Circus shows The Stranglers setlist as: Get A Grip On Yourself; Sometimes; I Feel Like A Wog; Dagenham Dave; School Mam; Peasant In The Big Shitty; Peaches; No More Heroes; Hanging Around; Straighten Out; London Lady; Down In The Sewer; Ugly; Something Better Change. I imagine that their set at the City Hall in June 1977 will have been similar. I saw the Stranglers many times after this, and will write about those gigs another time.

13 Apr

Jean Jacques Burnel Newcastle Mayfair 1979

Posted by vintagerock in Jean Jacques Burnel, Stranglers. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Euroman cometh
Jean Jacques Burnel Newcastle Mayfair 1979
And thus a strangler was reborn as a Euroman and he did cometh to the toon of Newcastle to perform at the glorious Mayfair ballroom for a (rather sparse) crowd of punks and rockers. And those of us there, in the presence of the Euroman, did marvel at his skill and prowess as a bass player and as a musician, even if we were a little perplexed at, and surprised by, the nature of the musical tapestry which he unveiled to us. For this was an evening of euro electronica, far removed from the punkish tunings of his regular combo The Stranglers, obviously influenced by the powerful sound of Kraftwerk and other similar Euro bands. Yes this was a strange night, and not at all what I expected at the time. I hadn’t taken the trouble to hunt out the Euroman Cometh lp before going to this gig, and wasn’t sure what I was going to see. What I didn’t expect was a set of heavy synth and drum music. It made for a very different and more enjoyable evening than Marie and I had anticipated. Jean Jacques’ band for the tour featured John Ellis from the Vibrators, and I also recall that he drove his beloved Triumph motorbike on stage and revved it up for the intro to Triumph of the Good City, which is one of the tracks on the album. I picked up a vinyl copy of the album some years ago at a car boot sale, and was pleasantly surprised by it, all over again. It is actually a great album; do listen to it if you get the chance. The CD issue features nine bonus tracks recorded live on the 1979 tour at the Hemel Hempstead gig.

4 Jul

Glastonbury Festival Pilton Farm 25-27 June 2010

Posted by vintagerock in Curved Air, Glastonbury, Gorillaz, Muse, Ray Davies, Rolf Harris, Stevie Wonder, Stranglers. Tagged: , , , , , .

Glastonbury Festival Pilton Farm 25-27 June 2010
So we (me, Marie, Laura, David) decided to sample the delights of a modern festival. It’s 30 years since I last when to 3 day festival and stayed for all 3 days (Reading 1980), so I was quite excited about this. We travelled down on Wed and arrived Wed night. Thursday was spent exploring the massive site and on the evening we sampled Nik Turner’s Space Ritual and Curved Air (who we hardly saw as the tent in which they were playing was completely packed). Highlights were singing along to Rolf Harris who opened the Pyramid stage on Friday, Gorillaz, Muse who were just awesome on Saturday, and Ray Davies and Stevie Wonder on Sunday who turned out all the hits for us. We all had a great weekend; the festival is so big we gave up on the idea of trying to see all of the bands that we had planned and just enjoyed the event; which was great.

ticket


programme

15 Mar

Hugh Cornwell Gala Theatre Durham 5 March 2009

Posted by vintagerock in Hugh Cornwell, Stranglers. Tagged: , , , , .

Hugh Cornwell Gala Theatre Durham 5 March 2009

Norm, Will and I went to see Hugh Cornwell at the Gala Theatre in Durham. It was the first time that any of us had seen him since he left the Straglers. The Gala is a nice little theatre in the centre of Durham which gets many touring shows and tribute acts. First up was a local folk singer (can’t remember his name; I ‘m sure Will can remind me). He was OK, but we decided to retreat to the local Wetherspoons for a swift drink before Hugh took the stage.

Hugh is backed by a two piece band (drummer and bass and himself on Fender Telecaster). The bass player is a young girl who plays some great fuzzy bass licks. He played the whole of his new album Hooverdam before moving onto a few old Stranglers tunes. The Hooverdam songs sound very Stranglerish; its clear that Hugh was the driving force behind writing most of the best Stranglers tunes. Hugh and the band seemed really into it, as was the crowd. A great gig.

Set list:  All of Hoverdam, Tank, 24/7, lay back, leave me alone, black hair, walk on by, always the sun, golden brown, no more heroes, down in the sewer.

Website: http://www.hughcornwell.com/

hughtic1

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