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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZSTRANGLERS, TheUK rock band which came to fame during the punk era, but had played the London pub circuit two years before, their gloomy Doors-style attracting attention, and outlasted most of the punks. Guitarist/vocalist Hugh Cornwell (b 28 Aug. '49), bassist/vocalist Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield on keyboards and drummer Jet Black began as the Guildford Stranglers '75, were older than punk contemporaries. Album Stranglers IV (Rattus Norvegicus) '77 incl. hits 'Grip' and 'Peaches', the latter notable for overt misogyny, which they retained. No More Heroes '77 was better, title track a UK hit; Black And White '78 competent, live X-Cert '79 merely workmanlike: they seemed set to follow the course of '60s progressive bands they despised. Sneering cover of Dionne Warwick's 'Walk On By' was top 30; The Raven, Meninblack and La Folie '79--81 brought further comparisons with '60s music; hit singles were gathered in The Collection '82. 'Golden Brown' '82 was their biggest hit at no. 2, Cornwell's song about heroin (he was imprisoned '80 on drug offences). A long silence was followed by a switch of labels, return with Feline '83 and Aural Sculpture '84, latter with fetching 'Skin Deep', no. 15 UK hit. Their antipathy towards the press saw them consistently reviled by critics, but the public paid little attention; Dreamtime '86 incl. top 20 'Nice In Nice'. All Live And All Of The Night '88 was followed by 10 '90 (Cornwell left, replaced by vocalist Paul Roberts and guitarist John Ellis), Stranglers In The Night '92, Saturday Night Sunday Morning '93. Off The Beaten Track '86 was compiled by the band, collecting rare tracks. Burnel's solo Euroman Cometh '79 was interesting; Cornwell and Robert Williams collaborated on Nosferatu '79; Greenfield and Burnel worked together on Fire And Water '83; Brunel did solo Un Jour Parfait '88. Cornwell contributed a song to anti-nuclear animated film When The Wind Blows '86, released solo Wolf '88, CCW '92 with Roger Cook and Andy West, solo Wired '93. Greatest Hits 1977--1990 on Epic had 14 tracks; two-CD The Hit Men '97 on EMI Gold compiled 43. Cornwell's solo Guilty '97 exercised his pop side. |