The Stranglers
The Stranglers were my favourite band for about 3 years and they took me down the Punk Rock path opening doors to the Pistols and the Clash. All the detail can be found in The Story of Rock and Roll and you will read why they were so special to music in general, and me specifically. The Stranglers had a reputation for violence and intimidating reporters. They were not a band to be fucked with. In contrast to some of the Punk bands that appeared in 1977 the Stranglers were fantastic musicians and once again I realised that arranging is key to good song writing. The short bursts of bass, then guitar, then keyboards on tracks like ‘London Lady’ add so much to their music. JJ Burnell still has the best bass sound I have ever heard.
On this clip live at Battersea Park you can feel the menace that comes off them as they come up the ramp to the stage. The sound quality is terrible but it just gives you that feeling that only The Stranglers could invoke. Hugh Cornwall doesn’t give a fuck about being a rock star and dancing around like Dave Lee Roth. He is here to snarl out what the Stranglers have to say. The attitude just completely puts Punk Rock in perspective for me. In their day there was no-one like The Stranglers.
JAMES DAUBENEY