The Stranglers

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The Stranglers
The Stranglers in Brighton on March 6th 2014
The Stranglers in Brighton on March 6th 2014
General information
origin Guildford (United Kingdom)
Genre (s) Rock , punk
founding 1974
Website www.stranglers.net
Founding members
Vocals, guitar
Hugh Cornwell (until 1990)
bass
Jean-Jacques Burnel
Drums
Jet black
Keyboard
Hans Warmling (until 1975)
Current occupation
Guitar, vocals
Baz Warne (since 2000)
Bass, vocals
Jean-Jacques Burnel
Drums
Jet black
former members
singing
Paul Roberts (1990-2006)
guitar
John Ellis (1990-2000)
Keyboard
Dave Greenfield (1975-2020, † 2020)
The Stranglers (1985). Left to right: David Paul Greenfield, Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel and Jet Black
Jean-Jacques Burnel (2005)
Jet Black (2006)

The Stranglers are a British punk rock - band whose music by influences of new wave , punk and rock Psychedelic is embossed.

history

In 1974 Hugh Cornwell , Jean-Jacques Burnel , Hans Warmling and Jet Black joined forces in Guildford, England, as Guildford Stranglers ("The Stranglers of Guildford"). The Swede Hans Warmling got out after a year and was replaced by Dave Greenfield . In this line-up they played together until 1990.

The Stranglers began as a pub rock band - they wrote and played rock tracks that they performed in pubs due to the lack of other performance opportunities. Through personal friendships with u. a. the Sex Pistols , Joe Strummer and Chrissie Hynde and through appearances as the opening act of early punk icons like the Ramones or Patti Smith they approached punk and increased the tempo of their songs. With the resulting, independent musical style, which at the time contained punk and psychedelic rock elements and was dominated by Burnel's bass playing and the swinging organ Greenfields, they soon attracted attention and thus came to a record deal in 1976. In 1977 they were able to place three singles in the British top 10, including No More Heroes and Peaches . In the song lyrics, the life of the underdogs was often thematized and brought into parable-like forms (The Raven, Tramp, Down in the Sewer), while the decadent way of life in the upper classes was targeted (London Lady, Goodbye Toulouse, English Towns). Primitive text passages alternated with more demanding ones. The use of symbolic animals such as the raven and the rat , the latter repeatedly appearing in the lettering of the band name, set the tone.

After arguments and fights with journalists, the band had a brief low point around 1980 when they ended up in prison in Nice for inciting unrest and singer Hugh Cornwell had to serve a prison sentence for drug possession. After that, the band's musical style also changed. While the first three studio albums were still clearly punk-heavy and established the reputation that has continued to this day as an outstanding early punk band, the 1980 album The Gospel According to the Meninblack experimentally ushered in a phase of demanding pop music. This phase would determine the style of the band throughout the 1980s and continued to bring commercial success.

The 1981 album La folie contains the Stranglers' greatest hit, Golden Brown , with which they were also successful on the continent for the first time. Until the mid-1980s, they had numerous hits and could land on a regular basis in the charts, including with songs like Strange Little Girl, No Mercy, Big in America and Always the Sun .

After the end of the 1980s the success waned and the Stranglers only attracted attention with cover versions and remixes of their old hits, Cornwell separated from the band and pursued a solo career. Since then, the band has returned to their original style. Supplemented by Paul Roberts and John Ellis, who has since been replaced by Baz Warne, the band continues to this day and regularly releases albums and singles.

The singer Paul Roberts left the Stranglers in mid-2006 to intensify his solo project. Guitarist Baz Warne and bassist JJ Burnel have shared the vocals ever since. Vocal tracks from the album (Suite XVI) , released in October 2006, were re-recorded by Baz Warne.

In 2004 Jean-Jacques Burnel wrote the title and closing credits of the anime series Gankutsuou - The Count of Monte Cristo .

In 2012 the Stranglers released the album Giants, the songs of which were written in Bath , England .

Jet Black has not performed since 2015 due to age, but is still a permanent member of the band. Jim Macaulay has been the tour drummer for performances since 2013.

On May 3, 2020, keyboardist David Paul Greenfield died at the age of 71 from complications from Covid 19.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE UK UK US US
1977 Rattus norvegicus - UK4th
Platinum + silver (parlophone)
Platinum + silver (parlophone)
Platinum + silver (parlophone)

(34 weeks)UK
-
First published: April 15, 1977
Producer: Martin Rushent
No More Heroes - UK2
gold
gold

(18 weeks)UK
-
First published: September 23, 1977
Producer: Martin Rushent
1978 Black and White - UK2
gold
gold

(18 weeks)UK
-
First published: May 12, 1978
Producer: Martin Rushent
1979 The Raven - UK4th
gold
gold

(8 weeks)UK
-
First published: September 21, 1979
Producer: Alan Winstanley, The Stranglers
1981 The Gospel According to the Meninblack - UK8 (5 weeks)
UK
-
First published: February 7th, 1981
Producer: The Stranglers
La folie - UK11
silver
silver

(17 weeks)UK
-
First published: November 9, 1981
Producers: The Stranglers, Steve Churchyard
1983 Feline DE52 (4 weeks)
DE
UK4th
silver
silver

(11 weeks)UK
-
First published: January 10, 1983
Producers: The Stranglers, Steve Churchyard
1984 Aural sculpture DE17 (21 weeks)
DE
UK14th
silver
silver

(10 weeks)UK
-
First published: November 5th, 1984
Producer: Laurie Latham , The Stranglers
1986 Dreamtime - UK16
silver
silver

(6 weeks)UK
US172 (4 weeks)
US
First published: October 17th, 1986
Chart entry in the USA in May 1987.
Producers: Mike Kemp, The Stranglers
1990 10 - UK15th
silver
silver

(4 weeks)UK
-
First published: March 5, 1990
Producer: Roy Thomas Baker
1992 In the night - UK33 (1 week)
UK
-
First published: September 7, 1992
Producer: Mike Kemp
1995 About time - UK31 (1 week)
UK
-
First published: May 1, 1995
Producer: Alan Winstanley, The Stranglers
1997 Written in Red - UK52 (1 week)
UK
-
First published January 27, 1997
Producer: Andy Gill, The Stranglers
2004 Norfolk Coast - UK70 (1 week)
UK
-
First released: February 16, 2004
Producers: David Luffy, Mark Wallis, Pete Glenister
2006 Suite XVI - UK89 (1 week)
UK
-
First published: September 18, 2006
Producer: Louie Nicastro
2012 Giants - UK48 (1 week)
UK
-
First released: March 5, 2012
Producer: Louie Nicastro, The Stranglers

literature

  • Hugh Cornwell: Inside Information (SIS, 1980).
  • David Buckley: No Mercy. The Authorized and Uncensored Biography . Hodder & Stoughton, London 1997, ISBN 0-340-68062-8 .
  • Hugh Cornwell & Jim Drury: The Stranglers: Song by Song (Sanctuary, 2001).
  • Hugh Cornwell: A Multitude of Sins (HarperCollins, 2004).

Web links

Commons : The Stranglers  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. Punk77.co.uk: JJ Burnel - Punk Rock Pt2. Retrieved November 9, 2015 .
  2. Deutschlandfunk : From chance success to long-running hit , March 9, 2012
  3. David Paul Greenfield (29/3 / 49-3 / 5/20)
  4. Chart sources: Chartsurfer DE UK