the stranglers

The Guildford Stranglers developed from psychedelic pub-rockers to new wave pseudo-punks and helped to bring punk to the mainstream with the explosive one-two punch of their first two albums. Their diverse musical backgrounds made for an eclectic sound: guitarist Hugh Cornwell had played blues music with Richard Thompson; bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel had played classical guitar symphony orchestras; keyboardist Dave Greenfield had played at military bases in Germany; and drummer Jet Black came from a jazz background.

They got lumped in with the punk scene after they opened for the first UK tours for Patti Smith and the Ramones and their unruly behavior and outbreaks of violence at their shows only increased the association. Burnel says: "I thought of myself as part of it at the time because we were inhabiting the same flora and fauna. We were going to the same - the few pubs that would let us play were attracting a certain kind of public and the girls that we were shagging were young punkettes. I was definitely after girls with fishnet tights ands stilettos and leather jackets and lots of heavy makeup. Hugh was mixing with postgrad girls round Kensington. I wasn’t so fussy and I identified with that scene. I also got into a lot of fights and looked for trouble. I soon considered the punks a bit wimpy. We were a crossover. More hardcore punks definitely didn’t like us and the kids 17/18 adopted us as their punk band."

Their name was abbreviated to the Stranglers by the time they went into the studio to record their first two albums almost on top of one another. Cornwell considers: "We’d been playing around for so long that we’d stock-piled all these songs and it was more than enough for one album. So we had half of one, half of another one recorded at the end of the first sessions. So in order to create a second album it wasn’t that much of an effort, we just had to write two or three more songs...the managers and the record company, they’re the ones who came up with the suggestion of doing an album straight away and it didn’t seem to make any difference at the time...It was the time when we were very close knit and we were living out of each others’ pockets and had the same interests and the same loves and the same hates and the same philosophies and everything."










http://www.thestranglers.net/

Their debut album 'Rattus Norvegicus' was recorded at TW Studios in Fulham, and Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. Martin Rushent produced the album in about a week, capturing the band's live sound as they took a musical tour of the seedy London underground with Hugh Cornwell on guitars and vocals; Jean-Jacques Burnel on bass guitar and vocals; Dave Greenfield on keyboards and vocals; and Jet Black on drums and percussion. 'Rattus Norvegicus' went to number four on the UK charts and has been cerfified platinum. The single 'Peaches' went to number eight on the British pop chart. 

'Rattus Norvegicus'
full album:

All songs credited as written by the Stranglers.

Side 1

1. "Sometimes" (4:56)

Written by Hugh Cornwell, describes a violent argument with a girlfriend.[8] The same girlfriend is the subject of "Strange Little Girl" which was written earlier by Cornwell and Hans Wärmling.

2. "Goodbye Toulouse" (3:12)

Music by Cornwell, lyrics by Burnel. Describes the destruction of Toulouse predicted by Nostradamus.

3. "London Lady" (2:25)

Music by Cornwell, lyrics by Burnel. Loosely based on a contemporary female journalist.

4. "Princess of the Streets" (4:34)

Written in 6/8 time, music and lyrics by Burnel. Penned 'pre-Stranglers'.

5. "Hanging Around" (4:25)

Music by Burnel, lyrics by Cornwell. Describes the characters found in the London pubs at which the band played live.

Side 2

6. "Peaches" (4:03)

Burnel/Cornwell. The Stranglers influenced by reggae.

7. "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)" (3:55)

Music and lyrics by Cornwell. Based on band life in their Chiddingfold squat, featured Eric Clarke, a Welsh coal miner, on saxophone.

8. "Ugly"(4:03)

Music and lyrics by Burnel. Described as 'abstract psychedelia' by Cornwell, the poem Ozymandias is featured.

9. "Down in the Sewer" (7:30)

"Falling"/"Down In The Sewer"/"Trying To Get Out Again"/"Rat's Rally". 

Music by Burnel, lyrics by Cornwell. The 'sewer' refers to London.

bonus 

10. "Peasant in the Big Shitty" 

Music and lyrics by Burnel, written in 9/4 time. Another observation on life in a city. Recorded for Rattus Norvegicus.











It was less than six months before the band returned to the studio to crank out their sophomore album, 'No More Heroes'. Three of the songs were leftover from the previous sessions and they had no trouble coming up with more. Burnel remembers: "'Heroes' and 'Rattus' were recorded at almost the same time. There was a definite weeding process going on...'No More Heroes' was not written till that summer. I got that riff that summer, and 'Something Better Change' as well, both songs were reactions to punk in the summer of ’77.’...We had a good time of course. I’m a completely different person now to what I was then but I had a great time. I exploited my situation to the maximum. It was would be pretty sad if I was trying to be the same geezer. If anything you acquire knowledge and learn to disseminate it. You learn what to like and what to not like and how to react and not react in certain situations. You learn to negotiate with people differently, you get smarter and hopefully develop a sensibility and develop certain responsibilities towards other human beings...There’s lot’s of nooks and crannies in the output and our way of thinking and a lot of people subscribe to it. Sometimes it’s a bit too obtuse and they want to find out more. I’m not blinkered yet and I want to stay that way, stay interested and so does Jet, for as long as possible. You suck in lots of influences and you spit them back out again in a song. And maybe an awful lot of people who like Stranglers also subscribe to that way of thinking, not the given way of thinking and remain interested in things, Surely that’s a genuine reflection of what you are and our output is a reflection of who we are.”



'No More Heroes' went to number two in the UK and has been certified gold. 'Something Better Change' hit number nine on the British pop chart and the title track went to number eight.





'No More Heroes'
full album:

All tracks written by the Stranglers (Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield, Jet Black). 

Side A

1. "I Feel Like a Wog"   3:16

2. "Bitching"   4:25

3. "Dead Ringer"   2:46

4. "Dagenham Dave"   3:18

5. "Bring on the Nubiles"   2:15

6. "Something Better Change"   3:35

Side B

1. "No More Heroes"   3:27

2. "Peasant in the Big Shitty"   3:25

3. "Burning Up Time"   2:25

4. "English Towns"   2:13

5. "School Mam"   6:52

 bonus 

12. "Straighten Out"   2:46

13. "Five Minutes"   3:18

14. "Rok It to the Moon"   2:47