Chokin' on the Stranglers

This Stranglers thing has really exploded....   so much wonderful guest submission material, and even now we have a bit more. First of all, my old buddy Petty Vandetta sends us a rare gem, the "Fire and Water" outtakes disc.... I never new it existed, but what a wonderful rarity for all the Stranglers fanatics.....

http://www63.zippyshare.com/v/PoM3lwcu/file.html

Also, a new friend of the Blog, Duncan Broohaw, submits a video link of the Stranglers performing "Nice N Sleazy" complete with strippers on stage.... if you love the Stranglers, as so many seem to, this is a wonderful rare gem you will want to experience....

http://www.filefactory.com/file/4giq3ye7a0t5/s-n-s-78.rar

By the way I've really enjoyed posting this weekend after such sporadic posting.......I will try to do better, keep the guest stuff coming, even if this becomes an all Stranglers blog.........love you all, as always!

We got a bit more Stranglers-related stuff

Forgot about the Purple Helmets, which an Anonymous reader sent me a link for, actually I already had a couple of em..... A Stranglers side-project, The Purple Helmets is an ad hoc band, playing 1960's R and B numbers. The recording line-up was: Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield, John Ellis, Alex Gifford (a member of the Stranglers horn-section) and Manny Elias (drummer with Tears For Fears). The band was ostensibly put together (from an earlier incarnation) so that JJ and Dave could do some gigging between Stranglers projects. There MAY be more out there, but what I have are these two albums, "Ride Again" (1988) and "Rise Again" (1989).... for my dough "Ride" is the better effort, as we get fab covers of SO many great songs, "Over Under Sideways Down", "Tobacco Road", "Wooly Bully"...... not just carbon-cover copies either, reminds me of Bowie's "Pinups" project to a point. "Rise" is good too, though it suffers from a bit lesser of selection, highlights being maybe "Rosalyn", "She's Not There", "Oh Pretty Woman" and at least a few more.... track lists if you're interested:

RIDE AGAIN-01 Wooly Bully/02 Over Under Sideways Down/03 Don't Bring Me Down/04 We Gotta Get Out of This Place/05 Baby Please Don't Go/06 I Can't Explain/07 Whatcha Gonna Do About it/08 Keep On Running/09 All Day and All of the Night/10 Louie Louie/11 Tobacco Road/12 I Wanna Be Your Man/13 Hip Hug Her/14 Not Fade Away/15 I'm a Man

RISE AGAIN-01 Brand New Cadillac/02 I'm Crying/03 Rosalyn/04 She's Not There/05 First I Look at the Purse/06 Get Yourself Home/07 Oh Pretty Woman/08 homework/09 Don't You Like What I Do/10 Money/11 Under the Sun/12 baby Let Me Take You Home/13 Sha La Lee/14 baby/15 Everything's Alright.

Old friend Dave Sez submits a retrospective of JJ Burnel's work, a handy compilation of his solo albums and etc.... I hope I got the right one here, looks like a double disc......

DISC 1-01. Jellyfish/02. Never Too Look Back/03. Skin Deep/04. By The Sea/05. Garden Of Eden

/06. Dagenham Dave/07. European Female/08. Coup De Grace

DISC 2-01. Un Jour Parfait/02. Don’t Bring Harry/03. Norfolk Coast/04. Where I Live/05. Frog Crossing Road/06. Talking ‘Bout Me And You/07. In The End/08. The Kiss/09. Go Buddy Go/10. Something Better Change/11. Fred And George/12. Quark Strangeness And Charm/13. Big Thing Coming

Let's See If we Can Wrap-Up the Stranglers

It's been fun and it's been very popular, but I am JUST ABOUT out of material.... don't worry I'll get to some other stuff soon, what I have left here is a series of albums that I don't REALLY recall that much about, Hugh Cornwell's solo efforts..... been forever since I've heard em, BUT, if you are a true Stranglers fanatic, perhaps you will enjoy these or not.... just trying to go all out in the name of completeness....... here are his albums, chronologically......

1979 NOSFERATU-01 Nosferatu/02 Losers In a Lost Land/03 White Room/04 Irate Caterpillar/05 Rhythmic Itch/06 Wired/07 Big Bug/08 Mothra/09 Wrong Way Round/10 Puppets/11 Losers in a Lost Land (instro)

1988 WOLF-01 Another Kind of Love/02 Cherry Rare/03 Never Never/04 Real Slow/05 Break of Dawn/06 Club Land/07 Dreaming Again/08 Decadence/09 All the Tea In China/10 Getting Involved

1993 WIRED-01 Ain't It Strange/02 Make It With You/03 My Kind of Loving/04 Wasted Tears/05 Story of He and She/06 Ain't It Strange/07 Stop/08 Mr Insignificant/09 Turn Your Body Down/10 First Bus To Babylon

1997 GUILTY-01 One Burning Desire/02 Snapper/03 Nerves of Steel/04 Black Eyes, Black hair, Black Suit/ 05 Hot Head/06 Endless Day Endless Night/07Five Miles High/08 Sravendrabellagola/09 Long  Dead Train/10 Torture Garden/11 House of Sorrow

1999 BLACK HAIR, BLACK EYES,  BLACK SUIT-01 One Burning Desire/02 Snapper/03 Nerves of Steel/04 Jesus Will Weep/05 Black Hair Black Eyes Black Suit/06 Hot Head/07 Endless Day Endless Night/08 Not Hungry Enough/09 Sravendrabellagola/10 Long Dead Train/11 House of Sorrow




2001 HI-FI-01 Leave Me Alone/02 Gingerbread Girl/03 One

Day at a Time/04 All Colours of the Rainbow/05 Putting You In the Shade/06 The Big Sleep/07 Mis TeezyWeezy/08 Dark Side of the Room/09 Lay Back On Me Pal/10 Gingerbread Girl/11 The Prison's Going Down/12 Golden Brown (Live)/13 Always the Sun (Live)

2002 FOOTPRINTS IN THE DESERT-01 If You Wanted To/02 Everybody/03 I Can't handle It/04 Fresh Air/05 One Fine Thing/06 Lady In Mind/07 So  Sexual/08 Touch Touch/09 Venus In Furs/10 For What It's Worth/11 Keep It Under Your Hat/12 Coming of Age/13 Sex Bomb/14  2000 Lights


2006 Dirty Dozen Live-01 Duchess/02 First Bus To Babylon/03 Goodbye Tolouse/04 Picked Up By The Wind/05 Hanging Around/06 Black Hair Black Eyes Black Suit/07 Always the Sun/08 Nerves of Steel/09 Nuclear Device/10 Putting You In the Shade/11 Walk on By/12 No More Heroes

2008 HOOVERDAM-01 Please Don't Put Me On a Slow Boat to Talbridge/02 Going to the City/03 Delightful Nightmare/04 Within You Without You/05 Rain on the River/06 Beat of My Heart/07 Philip K Ridiculous/08 The Pleasure of Your Company/09 Wrong Side of the  Tracks/10 Banging On the Same Old Beat

Long Labor Day weekend,and I OWE you guys some stuff, I guess......

Well, I guess we've lost Brain, at least for now, I have invited him to become a regular guest contributor ala Cliff or jonder or whomever, we'l see if he takes us up on that. While I am at it, ANYONE wishing to be a guest contributor is welcome, this could be YOU..... anyway, over this 4-day weekend, I plan on putting up at least a few discs for y'all.... and the place I guess I need to start is wrapping up the Stranglers thing..... Now, understand this, the Stranglers thing as a whole has been one of my post popular "mega-Projects", understandable, they were great and had a very devoted following...... some of the guest contributions on the topic have been off thte charts..... I do still have a few left, which are solo efforts from Stranglers members..... mind you I haven't listened to these an awful lot, and it's been a long, long time, but to COMPLETE the Stranglers picture, I think it's a good idea to present these as well..... ommentary will be kept to a minimum as I really DON'T recall much about these albums, but, I hope you enjoy them.

OK, lets start with Jean-Jacques Burnell, the Stranglers' bassist and resident creep; I have three solo albums and if I recall, they are quite enjoyable.... I know he had a few more, but what I havae for you is "Euroman Cometh", "Euroman Cometh (Live)" and "Un Jour Parfait"..... let me know what you think, would you please?

EUROMAN COMETH-01Euroman/02 Jellyfish/03 Freddie Laker/04 Euromess/05 Duetshland Nicht Uber Alles/06 Do the European/07 Tout Comprende/08 Triumph (of the Good City)/09 Pretty Face/10 Crabs/11 Eurospeed (Your Own Speed)

EUROMAN COMETH  (LIVE)-12 Ode To Joy/Do the European/13 Deutschland Nicht Uber Alles/14 Eurospeed/15 Crabs/16 Tout Comprende/17 Freddie Laker/18 Jellyfish/19 Triumph of the Good City/20 Euroman

UN JOUR PARFAIT-01 Un Jour Parfait Theme/02 Si Je'tais/03 Weekend/04 Tristeville Se Soir/05 Un Jour Parfait/06 Via Dolarosa//07 Le Whiskey /08 Crazy (She Drives Me)/09 Garden of Eden/10 Reves/11 Waltz/12 Via Doloarosa (Spanish)/13 Le Whiskey (Dance Mix)/14 Elle Assure/15 Reve (12 Mix)/16 Les Mensouges Et Les Lames

I think if you give these a try you may find some unknown (to you) gems hidden here..... Burnell has a good bit of talent. Links in the comment section.

Next we have a colaboration between JJ Burnell and Dave Greenfield, entitled "Fire and Water".... didn't really recall it, listened and it's really pretty damn good,give it a spin.....

FIRE AND WATER-01 Liberation/02 Rain and Dole and Tea/03 Vladamir and Sergi/04 Le Soir/05 Trois Pedophiles/06 Dino Rap/07 Nuclear Power (yes Please)/08 Detective Privee/Consequences

Check it out..... next post will be a shitload of Hugh Cornwell stuff, and a couple more surprises to wrap up this Stranglers EXTRAVAGANZA!

Guest stuff, part 2, Stranglers related

My go-to reggae guy, Cliff in the UK, is still under the weather.... we are all praying for a quick recovery for ya, Cliff.... however, he does send along a fine link to a BBC broadcast, "Men In Black, The Stranglers Story"... very very good, narrated by Glen Matlock.... if you are a Stranglers fan you WANT this trust me.

http://www58.zippyshare.com/v/1dxP8xoC/file.html

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Also in the Stranglers deluge, we have old blog friend John Baker presenting THREE great Stranglers bootlegs from his stash.... the Stranglers mega-post was quite popular, and why not? It's the Stranglers! and these are worth your time, trust me.    First up we have "1977 Live at the Roundhouse"
http://www68.zippyshare.com/v/vEIYaU2C/file.html

Next up is 1980s "Live in Toronto"
http://www68.zippyshare.com/v/V8w5JcZm/file.html/

And finally, from 1981"Emerald City" from Cherry Hill New Jersey......
http://www68.zippyshare.com/v/bLvpECh0/file.html

Thanks loads to Jon Baker for these gems!
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Finally, non-Stranglers, from Jonder comes my favorite recent submission.......I will copy the email
as it is in the form of a review:

Cassandra Wilson is a singer best known for her 1990's jazz albums on Blue Note. Her voice is deep, rich, and smoky (most often compared to Betty Carter and Abbie Lincoln). The musical arrangements on her albums draw on acoustic blues and Afro-Caribbean percussion, and her songs can rarely be labeled as traditional jazz.

Ms. Wilson is also known for unconventional interpretations of cover songs. She was born in Mississippi, and was a child of the 60's who became a teen in the 70's. She was raised on popular radio, blues and country classics, as well as jazz standards. Her own music breaks down the boundaries of these genres.

Many of Wilson's pop/rock covers were compiled on the 2009 collection Closer To You (including her sublime versions of "Tupelo Honey", "Harvest Moon" and a slow burning "Last Train to Clarksville"). This is my homemade companion volume, which includes songs released during the past
two decades for Wilson's own albums as well as soundtracks, tributes, and guest appearances on other artists' albums (bassist Lonnie Plaxico, violinist Regina Carter, and guitarist Pat Martino).

Cassandra Wilson and her musical collaborators take surprising approaches to well-known songs and transform them into something new and truly special.

01 Crazy Love (Van Morrison)
02 The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix)
03 Blackbird (The Beatles)
04 I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams)
05 If It's Magic (Stevie Wonder)
06 Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell)
07 Killing Me Softly With His Song (as made famous by Roberta Flack, The
Fugees, etc)
08 If Loving You Is Wrong (as made famous by Luther Ingram, Barbara
Mandrell, etc)
09 One Less Bell To Answer (Burt Bacharach)
10 Longer (Dan Fogelberg)
11 Papa Was A Rollin' Stone (as made famous by The Temptations)
12 Only A Dream In Rio (James Taylor)
13 Painted from Memory (Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach)
14 Crazy (Willie Nelson)
15 Shelter From The Storm (Bob Dylan)
16 Black Crow (Joni Mitchell)

(SCOTT): "Shelter from the Storm" blew me away but the rest is great too....fantastic homemade comp!

A Stranglers Submission/Rarity

From Augustus Owsley Strudel III comes a single of which I was unfamiliar, the Stranglers backing a different singer, "Celia", of Celia and the Mutations,
 on a pair of tracks, "Mony Mony" and "Mean To Me".....don't know the date, but kind of interesting to check out.......

Ultra Mega Stranglers, Part 7

The new job, in case you had not heard,is taking some of my blog time away...... I assure you I (and
my contributing team) will NEVER let it die, it just may take a little bit longer to get your fix......sorry, gotta eat and all that shit, that year of retirement was sweet, but MAN was I getting bored/depressed, and just HAD to get back into the work field.... so it is..... the next installment of my mega-Stranglers post consists of comps, rarities discs,etc..... there will be some overlap, but I really don't have time to sort it all out...... the Stranglers were GREAT we all know that, and putting all their stuff in one place for the fans is a necessity.... sorry it's taken so long, but it's just life/work, and i STILL love music, and TRULY love sharing it with you folks, whom I ALSO truly love.... pick and chose here, Stranglers fans, there is good stuff here, also some overlap, but the Stranglers were one of the best and most underappreciated of the 70's-80's new wave/punk acts.  Their precursors were the Doors and (especially) Music Machine.....

Well, let us begin with "Off the Beaten Track", tons of B-sides and the like, most of these will be well-known to fans, BUT it's a cool collection, and includes a couple of non-lp singles, "5 Minutes" and "Rok it To the Moon"......worthwhile set.

Next up lets throw at ya "1977-90 Greatest Hits",nothing hard to find here, but a novice might find it just the thing for their collection.

Next we have the fab "All 12 Inches", various Stranglers greats remixed and such and originally taken from 12" singles.......don't miss this one, it's a really great one and one every Stranglers fan oughta own.

Next is the comprehensive 2-disc "The Hit Men", covers most of their essential material, and an update of "Grip" ("Grip 89")........much like the earlier "greatest Hits collection", this is a bit more comprehensive, if you want but one Stranglers disc on your shelf, this may be it... a finely selected and programmed collection.

"The Best of the Epic Years" includes a lot of the older classics, some are alternate takes, such as single remixes, or the like.. for completists and fanataics.

From 2002 we have a treasure chest, "Rarities", which includes some totally fantastic and unable to locate elsewhere rare Stranglers tracks, see track list for info, but this is one you REALLY want to have, Stranglers fan! Likely the best collection of hard to find Stranglers tracks you will stumble upon, unfortunately including the unnecessary "radio edit" of "Peaches"........can't win em all.....

Now, they released a few more comps, such as "Peaches", "Very Best Of", and "Gold Collection", all of which I DO have here at my disposal but AM NOT opting to include here, due to the hella-overlap factor......if I missed something important on one of these sets, be sure and let me know, and I will issue either individual tracks or the sets as a whole, just seems like a lotta extra work right now.

Now, HERE is a gem, though.... the 10-Track Collectors Disc, created by a fan club and given away free at some personal appearance events... the cover/ad is included, I think this is a pretty rare find, don't you?

Gonna wrap this long set up with the three disc UA Singles Collection, I know there is some overlap here as well, but a lot of good stuff here, and a rarity raises its head every now and again.

As I said, I have most of the other available Stranglers comps, if I have missed a track you'd want me to include, or a whole set, just let me know and it will be done, these guys just had a LOT of material, enough, in fact that I will get to yet ANOTHER posting, regarding their solo efforts away from the band.......till then, sorry I make you wait so long between posts, breaks my heart, really, but things are settling down and I WILL begin to post a bit more stuff, with help, of course, from my guest contributors (DO NOT miss Jonder's fantabulous Duke Spirit series, it's unreal and I hope he shares some of his other fave bands with us!)

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK-01 Go Buddy Go (B Side)/02 Top Secret (B Side)/03 Old Codger (B Side)/04 Maninwhite (B Side)/05 Rok It To the Moon (B Side)/06 Love 30 (B Side)/07 Shut Up (B Side)/08 Walk On By (Non LP Single)/09 Vietnamerica (B Side)/10 Mean to Me (From "Black and White" Free EP)/11 Cruel Garden (B Side)/12 Yellowcake UF6 (B Side)/13 5 Minutes (non LP Single)

GREATEST HITS 1977-90 01 Peaches/02 Something Better Change/03 No More Heroes/04 Walk
On By/05 Duchess/06 Golden Brown/07 Strange Little Girl/08 European Female/09 Skin Deep/10 Nice In Nice/11 Always the Sun/12 Big In America/13 All Day and All of the Night/14 96 Tears/15 No Mercy

ALL 12 INCHES-01  Midnight Summer Dream (Extended Version)/02 Skin Deep (Extended)/03 No Mercy (Cement Mix)/04 Let Me Down Easy (Extended Version)/05 Nice In Nice (Porridge Mix)/06 Always the Sun (Hot Mix)/07 Big In America (Texas Mix)/08 Shakin Like a Leaf (Jelly Mix)/09 All Day and All of the Night (Jeff Remix)/10 Was It You (Extended)/11 96 Tears (Tearaway Mix)/12 Sweet Smell of Success (Indie-Pendence Mix)

THE HIT MEN DISC 1-Grip '89/02 London Lady/03 Peaches/04 Go Buddy Go/05 Hanging Around/06 Choosey Susie/07 Something Better Change/08 Straighten Out/09 No More Heroes/10 English Towns/11 5 Minutes/12 Nice N Sleazy/13 Toiler on the Sea/14 Mean To Me/15 Walk On By/16 Duchess/17 Nuclear Device/18 Don't Bring Harry/19 The Raven/29 Bearcage/21 Who Wants the World

THE HIT MEN DISC 2-01 Waltzinblack/02 Thrown Away/03 Just Like Nothing On Earth/04 Let Me Introduce You to the family/05 Golden Brown/06 La Folie/07 Tramp/08 Strange Little Girl/09 European Female/10 Midnight Summer Dream/11 Paradise/12 Skin Deep/13 No Mercy.14 Let Me Down Easy/15 Nice In Nice/16 Always the Sun (Sunny Side Up Mix)/17 Big In America/18 Shakin Like a Leaf/19 Was It You? (Remix)/20 All Day and All of the Night/21 96 Tears/22 Sweet Smell of Success

BEST OF THE EPIC YEARS-European Female (Album Version)/02 Midnight Summer Dream (7"
Edit)/03 Paradise (Album Version/04 Skin Deep (Album Version)/05 No Mercy (Album Version)/06 Hot Club (Instrumental)/07 Let Me Down Easy (Album Version)08 Nice In Nice (Album Version)/09 Always the Sun (Original 7" Edit)/10 Big In America (Album Version)/11 Shakin Like a Leaf (Album Version)/12 All Day and All of the Night (Single Version)/13 Was It You (7" Version)/14 96 Tears (Album Version)/15 Sweet Smell of Success (7" Edit)/16 No Mercy (Cement Mix)/17 Always the Sun (Long Hot Sunny Side Up Mix-12" Version)/18 Sweet Smell of Success (Indie-Pendence Mix-12" Version)

RARITIES-01 Choosey Susie/02 Peaches (UK Radio Airplay Version)/03 Mony Mony (Celia and the Mutations)/04 Mean to Me (Celia and the Mutations)/05 No More Heroes (UK radio Edit)/06 Walk on By (UK Radio Edit)/07 Sverige (Swedish)/08 N'Emmenes Pas Harry (French)/09 Fools Rush Out/10 Bear Cage (12" Mix)11 Shah Shah a Go Go (12" mix)/12 The Meninblack (Waiting For Em)/13 La Folie (edited)/14 Rok it to te Moon/15 Shut Up/16 Old Codger/17 Yellowcake UF6/18 Vietnamerica/19 Love 30

10 TRACK COLLECTORS DISC-01 Golden Brown/02 Walk On By/03 European Female/04 Peaches/05 Something Better Change/06 Big Thing Coming/07 Strange Little Girl/08 5 Minutes/09 Always the Sun/10 No More Heroes

THE UA SINGLES COLLECTION DISC 1-01 (Get a) Grip (On Yourself)/02 London Lady/03 Peasant in the Big Shitty (Live 1976)/04 Choosey Susie/05 Peaches/06 Go Buddy Go/07 Something Better Change/08 Straighten out/09 No More Heroes/10 In the Shadows/11 Five Minutes/12 Rok It To the Moon/13 Nice N Sleazy/14 Shut Up/15 Walk on By/16 Mean to Me/17 Tits (live)

THE UA SINGLES COLLECTION DISC 2-01 Walk On By Radio Edit/02 Old Codger/03 Tank/04 Duchess/05 Fools Rush Out/06 Nuclear Device/07 Yellowcake UF6/08 Dont Bring Harry/09 Weird/10 Crabs (Live)/11 In the Shadaows (Live)/12 Bear Cage/13 Bear Cage 12" Extended Mix/14 Shah Shah a Go Go/15 Shah Shah a Go Go 12" Version/16 Sverige/17 N'Emmenes Pas Harry

THE UA SINGLES COLLECTION DISC 3-01 Who Wants the World /02 The Meninblack (Waiting

For Me)/03 Thrown Away/04 Talk Secret/05 Just Like Nothing On Earth/06 Maninwhite/07 Let Me Introduce you to the Family/08 Vietnamerica/09 Golden Brown/10 Love 30/11 La Folie/12 La Folie (radio Edit)/13 Waltzinblack/14 Strange Little Girl/15 Cruel Garden

Lotta stuff here.... hope you like it....... I love you guys and am sorry I've been slacking here a bit with the new job and all..... it should get better, if You don't abandon me I SWEAR I won't ever abandon you........this blog will NOT die before I do. Enjoy, and feel free to request and contribute and and comment, and just continue to be a part of our family here! Having a bit of computer trouble, but I will continue to FIGHT to bring you the best blog (????) on the internet!

Mega Stranglers part 6, more LIVE goodies

So, by 1988, the Stranglers had become what they were going to become, and looking to go in various directions..... for example, THIS live LP ("All Live And All of the Night") has a HORN SECTION (yes, really) on it, not my favorite thing, but different at least..... Stranglers fans will like the unique factor, lotta good stuff here, anyway (note: I DO NOT have the extended,  bonus version with extra tracks, if you do, please help out?

Now, MUCH more of interest to me is "The Early Years Live, '74-'76"... tremendously sloppy early versions of thier classics, from various venues/dates, a couple tracks get doubled ("Grip" and "Go Buddy Go"), but still fine to hear these gems, and ALWAYS great to find another version of "Peaches", which will ALWAYS be MY fave!

1993's "Saturday Night Sunday Morning" is significant in that it is the last known recorded show featuring Hugh Cornwell,  not bad, "Goldne Brown", "No More Heroes", "96 Tears"... (where's "Peaches?" where's "Grip"?)..... anyway, worthwhile, any Stranglers fan is gonna want this as well.

I also seem to have a copy of a 1985 recording "Death and Night and Blood", a good run down of most of their classic material, don't,honestly, recall listening to it to be honest, but it's the Stranglers running through some of their best material, when they were right near their peak......


OK, couple of bootlegs as well... earliest being a 1980 Toronto show, gets pretty frantic with fine versions of "Bring on the Nublies", "Boroque Borddello", and a fine "I feel Like a Wog", the entire set magnificently shows off thte Stranglers sleazy charm.

I have a London show from 1984 (unsure of date or venue), they really put out on this one as well, right up to the fabulous encore of "European Female" and (YES!) "Peaches"

Last one I have for now is a 1985 Zurich set, it gets pretty revved up as well, most of their early greats are here (except, oddly, "Grip"), but by now you have the idea......I have a buncha Stranglers stuff, if they were/are your "thing" eat hearty!

Morse Stranglers stuff coming, some comps with maybe a rarity or two, also some solo work from
some of the members... stay tuned, we'll have some good guest material in the next couple days too.

ALL LIVE AND ALL OF THE NIGHT-01 No More Heroes/02 Was It You/03 Down In the Sewer/04 Always the Sun/05 Golden Brown/06 North Winds/07 European Female/08 Strange Little Girl/09 Nice N Sleazy/10 Toiler on the Sea/11 Sea/12 London Lady

THE EARLY YEARS-01 Grip/02 Bitching/03 Go Buddy Go/04 Grip/05 Sometimes/06 Bitching/07 Peasant in the Big Shitty/08 hanging Around/09 Peaches/10 Ugly/11 Down in the Sewer/12 Go Buddy Go/13 Wasted/14 Strange Little Girl/15 My Young Dream/16 Princess of the streets

SATURDAY NIGHT SUNDAY MORNING-01 Toiler on the Sea/02 96 Tears/03 Always the Sun/04 No More Heroes/05 Golden Brown/06  Tank/07 Strange Little Girl/08 Something Better Change/09 Hanging Around/10 All Day and All of the Night/11 Duchess/12 Was It You

DEATH & NIGHT & BLOOD-01 Something Better Change/02 No Mercy/03 Skin Deep/04 let Me Down Easy/05 Death and Night and Blood/06 Peaches/07 Golden Brown/08 London Lady/09 I Feel Like a Wog/10 Uptown/11 Midsummernight Dream/European Female/12 Burning Up Time/13 Strange Little Girl/14 Souls/15 Threatened/16 Nice N Sleazy/17 Straighten Out/18 Punch and Judy/19 European Female/20 Dead Ringer

TORONTO 1980-01 Intro/02 Duchess/03 Hanging Around/04 Boroque Bordello/05 Down in the Sewer/06 Who Wants the World/07 Threatened/08 Bring on the Nubiles/09 tank/10 Nuclear Devices/11 Dead Loss Angeles/12 The Raven/13 I Felt Like a Wog

LONDON 1984-01 Something Better Change/02 No Mercy/03 London Day/04 Uptown/05 Midnight Summer Dream/06 Golden Brown/07 Nice N Sleazy/08 Let Me Down Easy/09 She Was Quite Close To Me/10 Dead Ringer/11 Strange Little Girl/12 Burning Up Time/13 Punch and Judy/14 Straighten Out/15 European Female/Peaches

ZURICH 1985-01 Something Better Change/02 Uptown/03 Dead Ringer/04 No Mercy/05 Souls/06 Nice N Sleazy/07 Skin Deep/08 Let Me Down Easy/09 Midnight Summer Dream/10 European Female/11 Golden Brown/12 Strange Little Girl/13 Peaches/14 Death and Night and Blood/15 She Was Quite Close To Me/16 Punch & Judy/17 I Feel Like a Wog/18 Down in the Sewer

As always, lemme know whatcha think... lotta material here, and a lot more to come from one of my favorite bands in high school/college..... opinions, por favor?

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!

Mega-Stranglers, Part 4,the EP's and Singles

OK, hope like hell you've been enjoying the Stranglers greatness, as promis ed there is quite a bit more to come, lets just see how bad ya REALLY want it !!!!!!!!

Let's begin with an unusual 9" disc, evidently given away for free to fans of the band... hey, don't quibble.... three fine tracks ("Tits", "Walk On By", and "Mean to Me") are all great, I wish I would have tripped over one of these in 1993 or so.......

The also released a fine EP, "Don't Bring Harry", has some good stuff, not available elsewhere... there are English and French versions both of the title track, but in between there are semi-Stranglers classics such as  "Crabs" and "In the Shadows"... this is a worthwhile EP, I'd appreciate your givin it a chance.

Next a 2-sided single from 1982, nothing spectacular, except, there's a special 12" mix of :Midnight Summers", as well as multiple versions of "Vladimir and Olga"......

The "Paradise" single has some good stuff on it as well, no undiscovered classics, but three Stranglers tracks which you MAY feel are essential (I don't really), but ya try to put ALL yer cards on the table.

Another 12' Single is 1984's "Let Me Down Easy"..... three intriguing tracks (one an instrumental) as I continue to TRY to get you your radiohead FIX, I know that by now they are considered a litle dated, but WHEN DID I EVER CARE ABOUT THAT? Nope, not my mindset, I am just trying tonight to to HELP these people with the disabilities.... PLEASE support the discs that are posted in honor of some disabled soldier or something, lets continue, through small steps, to try to make the world something of a beter place on which we can ALL live.

The next mega-single (as best as I can determine, is 1984's "Skin Deep", with a tremendous extended version of the title track here.... I'd LOVE to show up and play catch with them at one of their practices, but that's just that..........I

Their classic reworking of "96 Tears" gets a lot of love, no need to worry,,,,this was put together by
my cousin Eric, also a military man .... there are also a couple more tracks here that are worthwhile
it's the STRANGLERS for God Sake.... you know NOW, without hearing if this is for you, but lemme tell ya..... this is yet another version of that oft-covered classic, and the rest of the shit here is great as well.......
Last one I got for ya is "Sweet Smell of Success".....I THINK this gives us all the Stranglers non-lp stuff, I could be wrong...... anyway, look for some LIVE stuff tomorrow (or next time I post)!)

FREE 9" EP-01 01 Walk On By/02 Mean To Me/03 Tits

DON'T BRING HARRY-01 Don't Bring Harry (English)/02 Wired/03 Sveriege/04  Crabs/05 I the Shadows/06 Don't Bring Harry (French)

MIDNIGHT SUMMMERS DREAM-01 Midnight Summers Dream/02 Vladimir and Olga

PARADISE-01 Paradise/02 Prwsher/03 Permission

LET ME DOWN EASY-01 Let Me Down Easy/02 Achilles Heel/03 Place De Victores
(instrumental)

SKIN DEEP-01 Skin Deep (extended)/02 Here and There/03 Vladimir and the Beast (Part 3)

96 TEARS-01 96 Tears/02 Instead of This/03 Poisonality

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS-01 Sweet Smell of Success/02 Motobike/03 Something

Kay, these are kinda sorta rare, hope you appreciate em.....as I said, next up is LIVE material hopefully tomorrow.......until then enjoy the remainder of your weekend!

Mega Stranglers Part 3

From 1990, "10" was the final album the band released, prior to the departure of founding member Hugh Cornwell. People share mixed emotions on it, I am not that fond of it (they cover "96 Tears" and "All Day and All of the Night") both really fine efforts, but the band is sounding tired..... not a worthless record by any means, "Sweet Smell of Success" is a good one, and at least this is a loaded, bonus edition CD version with a lot of extra tracks.

New members Paul Roberts and John Ellis take over on "Stranglers in the Night".... I like it, personally, it hearkens back to their rough-edged, Music Machine influenced greatness....often a major participant leaving is a death knell, but in this case, it seemed to offer the band a bit of breathing room. "Heaven and Hell", "Sugar Bullets", and "Brainbox" all work fine for me, a surprisingly good and listenable album.

"About Time" came out in 1995, and, reminded me more of what I thought "Stranglers in the Night" may sound like.... the horns return, electric violins, is it "interesting"? well, no, not terrible, nor does it rock especially.... however, I'm sure it has its fans, here is is for any of you Strangler junkies!

"Written in Red", I think, is kind of a mess as well, it appears in several versions with live numbers and the like, this version doesn't have much to recommend it, save perhaps "In Heaven She Walks", which really IS a good one.

"Coup De Grace", also falls short, JJ Burrell really steps to the forefront with writing and singing a lot more material than in past, sorta sounds like maybe a solo effort for him..... as the band had been entertaining military troops in places such as the Falkland Islands and Bosnia, there are recurring 'war" themes throughout, nonetheless, I am not/was not terrible impressed........

ALL bands (well, NEARLY) Do reach this point at some time.... often, if I have the material, it's good that we can "document" the fall as well as the rise.

In 2004 (2004!) they resurfaced with a new strummer, Baz Warne, and released "Norfolk Coast", it's not NEARLY as awful as I thought it would be.... .the title track is really good, and "Tucker's Grave" is a winner as well..... the traditional Stranglers swirling keyboards are FINALLY back up front where they belong. No classic, but a good one, worth a download anyway.

I found on the bay something called "Suite XVI".... gotta say, never heard anything on it, and don't REALLY want to.... this ship has sailed. It's here for you though......and, apparently, they released another album, subsequently, "Giants", which was not available, I don't have, and I guess we will have to live without.....

No matter you have a full picture pretty much of the once-great Stranglers, this will wrap up the studio albums, but I have a LOT of other stuff coming from their glory days. Maybe some even later tonight.

Do you enjoy the Mega-post format? I do, as long as it doesn't become permanent.... would be too restrictive for me, you know I GOTTA be free form..... I've "done" many of the greats in "mega" format, but if there is someone else, please suggest.

10-01 Sweet Smell Of Success/02 Someone Like You/03 96 Tears/04 In this Place/05 Celebrate/06 Man of the Earth/07 Too Many Teardrops/08 Where I Live/09 Out of My Mind/10 Never Look Back/11 Instead of this (Bonus)/12 Poisonality (Bonus)/13 Motorbike (Bonus)/14 Something (Bonus)/14 Something (Bonus)/15 You (Bonus)/16 Viva Vlad(Bonus)/17 All Day and All of the Night (Bonus)/18 Always the Sun (Sunny Side Up Mix)

STRANGLERS IN THE NIGHT-01 Time To Die/02 Sugar Bullets/03 Heaven and Hell/04 Laughing in the Rain/05 This Town/06 Brainbox/07Southern Mountains/08 Gain Entry to Your Soul/09 Grand Canyon/10 Wet Afternoon/11 Never See/12 Leave it to the Dogs

ABOUT TIME-01 Golden Boy /02 Money/03 Face/04 Sinister/05 Little Blue Lies/06 Still Life/07 Paradise Row/08 She Gave It All/09 Lies and Deception/10 Lucky Fingers/11 And the Boat Sails By

WRITTEN IN RED-01 Valley of the Birds/02 In Heaven She Walks/03 In a While/04 Sliver Into Blue/05 Blue Song/06 Here/07 Joy de Vivre/08 Miss You/09 Daddy's Riding In the Range/10 Summer in the City/11 Wonderful Land

COUP DE GRACE-01 God Is Good/02 You Don't Think That What You've done Is Wrong/03 Tonight/04 Jump Over My Shadow/05 Miss You/06 Coup de Grace (SOS)/07 I the End/08 No Reason/09 Known Only Unto God/10 The Light

NORFOLK COAST-01 Norfolk Coast/02 Big Thing Coming/03 Long Black Veil/04 I've Been Wild/Dutch Moon/06 Lost Control/07 Into the Fire/08 Tucker's Grave/09 I Don't agree/10 Sanfte Kuss/11 Mine All Mine

SUITE XVI-01 Unbroken/02 Spectre of love/03 She's Slipping Away/04 Summat Outanowt/05 Anything Can Happen/06 See Me Coming/07 Bless You (Save You.. Spare You, Damn You)/08 A Soldiers Diary/09 Barbara (Shangri-La)/10 I Hate You/11 Relentless


This bout wraps up the Stranglers stuff, as per their studio efforts... don't despair, they were a fave of mine for quite a while, so I'm not gonna leave you hanging..... LOTS of more stuff any of you Stranglers-junkies will froth over..... BUT I am going to switch gears once again, REALLY quickly, from my buddy from Greece, Apantabapanta, who continually works on the "Encyclopedia of Disbanded Rock Bands".... might take him a while, and he could CERTAINLY use some help (Sorry, I WISH I had the time) , but he'd done a fine job up until now, and his posts are just phenomenal...... informative, and with the right links to get you SOLID background information. What Apanta does here is a little different than what others might do, and I salute him bug time, for being an ORIGINAL, as well as a great and knowledgeable guest-poster to this blog, one who is welcome here, ANY time he wishes, yes, a favorite contributor of mine (OK, you ALL are favorite contributors of mine!)