The State of Things, and Mega-Stranglers Part 5

OK, the skinny on my new job is as follows....I work 4-10 hour days AS WELL as having a 3 hour round trip drive each day.... knew that going in, not a big thing....but I DO want to continue the blog, I have so many FANTASTIC guest contributors that you might not likely know I've slacked off until I get laid off next winter..... Jonder's Duke Spirit stuff has been great thus far, and I hope he continues to contribute after he completes that project, Brian, as always, has a TON of unusual stuff he'd like me to bump, Cliff has had some health issues, praying he'll be fine and back soon, and of course, we have Apantabapanta and others.... I also aim to talk to Jose in the next few days about a bad-ass post that was on his blog that I'd like to share.

THIS BLOG IS GOING NOWHERE... it may slow down, it may rely more on outside contributors, it may be 180 degrees different than what it ONCE was, but goddamnit, I LIKE doing it, and I LOVE all my readers, and I am NOT going to stop.......check the stuff I put up over my three day weekend, we should wrap up the Stranglers as well as some more cool stuff......I AM NOT GOING TO BAIL ON YOU, trust me......some of you guys have been VERY loyal/faithful to me, and i am NOT ABOUT to forget about that.........this blog is HERE TO STAY, until some wank-ass shits it down. TRUST ME, check every few hours Fri/Sat/Sun this week, you'll see lots of good stuff, both from ME and from the rest of my fabulous team, to whom I owe and eternal gratitude. DAMNIT, GROWING BORED FOR A LIVING is going to be around for a LONG, LONG while yet........if you don't like that, SORRY ABOUT YOUR FUCKING LUCK frankly.

OK, let us investigate some live Stranglers.. I never got to see them live, certainly wish I had, as they were a "punk" band before it was even fashionable, not to mention their fantastic music, influenced by the Doors and (especially) Music Machine was incredible..... the live music I present here is badass, likely will have to split it into two parts, but there is some wonderful stuff here.

The earliest I have in my stash is "1977 Live at the Hope & Anchor".... primitive set, released LONG before the Stranglers were "the Stranglers", and there is some great music here, early versions of "Tits" and "No More Heroes" set the pace, this is one fans of the band will NOT want to miss.

1979's "Live X Cert" is a dandy as well, with a fine early version of "Grip", a rocking "Go Buddy Go", and plenty of fine early versions of many of their greatest works.... great album here, also.

Next up we have a very good (also odd) one, "The Stranglers and Friends Live In Concert"..... lots of folks help out here, Robert Fripp, Ian Dury, Larry Wallis, Toyah Wilcox and others.....they take on standard Stranglers numbers and breathe new life into them, I'd recommend against missing the fab version of "Peaches" in which they get help from Ian Dury, Wilko Johnson, Davey Payne, John Turnball, & Toyah Wilcox.... just sayin, my fave Stranglers track gets a TOTAL makeover.....

"1981 Apollo Revisited" is a stellar set as well, catching the band just about at their peak.....they run through a set of some of thier best stuff, great versions of "Bring On the Nubiles", "Golden Brown", "Meninblack", and lots more..... run, don't walk.

I'll put up some more live stuff tomorrow, tonight I'll wrap up with 1986's "Browned, Seasoned, and Thickened".... a good enough set, though catching the band a bit past their peak, but still, we can always use another great version of "Golden Brown" or "No More Heroes".... one of the great bands of the 1980's (and 70's), perhaps a bit underappreciated as a live act, hopefully this post and tomorrows will help to straighten out this injustice! Remember, tomorrow (Friday) MORE live Stranglers PLUS some great guest material! Don't miss, my children!

1977 LIVE AT THE HOPE & ANCHOR-01 Tits/02 Choosey Suzie/03 Goodbye Toulouse/04
Bitching/05 Mean To Me/06 School Mam/07 Peasant in the Big Shitty/08 In the Shadows/09 Walk On By/10 Princess of the streets/11 Go Buddy Go/12 No More Heroes/13 Straighten Out

LIVE X CERT-01 Grip/02 Dagenham Dave/03 Burning Up Time/04 Dead Ringer/05 hanging Around/06 I feel Like a Wog/07 Straighten Out/08 Curfew/09 Do You Wanna Death and Night and Blood Yukio/10 5 Minutes/11 Go Buddy Go/12 Peasant In the Big Shitty/13 In the Shadows/14 Sometimes/15 Mean To Me/16 London Lady/17 Goodbye Tolouse/18 hanging Around

THE STRANGLERS AND FRIENDS LIVE IN CONCERT-01 Intro/Jet Black/02 Grip/03 Hanging Around/04 Tank/05 Threatened/06 Toiler on the Sea/07 The Raven/08 Dead Loss Angeles/09 Nice N Sleazy/10 Bring On the Nubiles/11 Peaches/12 Bear Cage/13 Duchess/14 No More Heroes/15 5 Minutes/16 Something Beter Change/17 Down in the Sewer

1981 APOLLO REVISITED-01 Waltzinblack/02 Non Stop/03 Threatened/04 Just Like Nothing On Earth/05 Second Coming/06 The man They Love To Hate/07 Meninblack/08 Who Wants the World/09 Golden Brown/10 Tank/11 Nuclear Device/12 Genetix/13 Bring On the Nubiles/14 Duchesss/15 Let Me Introduce You to the Family/16 Hanging Around/17 The Raven

BROWNED SEASONED AND THICKENED-01 Nuclear Device/02 Toiler on the Sea.03 Ships
That Pass In the Night/04 Small World/05 Just Like Nothing On Earth/06 No More Heroes/07 Who Wants the World/08 Never Say Goodbye/09 Baroque Bordello/10 Golden Brown/11 Princess of the Streets

REMEMBER NOW, for a while, this blog is gonna be a Thursday Night-Sunday kinda thing..... hope that is OK with everyone.... for the next few days, still got PLENTY of Stranglers material to share, and Brian has a BIG bunch of stuff he wants me to give a boost to.... so check back frequently over the weekend.... I WISH I could maintain the everyday pace, but I just can't see it for now.... NOT that I love ya any less, I'm sure you understand!