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Live (X Cert)
''Live (X Cert)'' is the first live album by the Stranglers, released in February 1979 by United Artists. It contains tracks recorded at The Roundhouse in June and November 1977 and at Battersea Park in September 1978. It captures the raw punk sound of the band prior to the more experimental music of their fourth album, 1979's ''The Raven''. It also contains some amusing between-song audience baiting and provides a fairly accurate picture of the Stranglers' live sound during this period. CD reissues were augmented with extra live tracks recorded at The Nashville, West Kensington in 1976, and The Hope and Anchor, Islington in 1977. The album spent ten weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No. 7. It was the band's fourth album release, and their fourth consecutive UK top ten album. Critical reception The album received a mixed reception at the time of release. Nick Kent of the ''NME'' remarked that those who have the band's first three studio albums "don't need inferior ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the UK punk scene. Formed as the Guildford Stranglers in Guildford, Surrey, in early 1974, they originally built a following within the mid-1970s pub rock scene. While their aggressive, no-compromise attitude had them identified by the media with the emerging UK punk rock scene that followed, their idiosyncratic approach rarely followed any single musical genre, and the group went on to explore a variety of musical styles, from new wave, art rock and gothic rock through the sophisti-pop of some of their 1980s output. They had major mainstream success with their 1982 single "Golden Brown". Their other hits include " No More Heroes", "Peaches", " Always the Sun", " Skin Deep" and " Big Thing Coming". The Stranglers' early sou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omnibus Press
Omnibus Press is a publisher of music-related books. It publishes around 30 new titles a year to add to a backlist of over 250 titles currently in print. History Omnibus Press was launched in 1972 as a general non-fiction publisher to complement the sheet music published and distributed by its parent company Music Sales Group. Music Sales had launched a separate company called Book Sales Ltd and the earliest Book Sales catalogue, issued in the early 70s, included compilations of underground comic strips, art and photography titles and one of the earliest books on the then newly discovered art of video. After former ''Melody Maker'' music journalist Chris Charlesworth joined as Omnibus editor in 1983, it was decided to concentrate exclusively on music books, and among its earliest acquisitions was Rock Family Trees by music archivist Pete Frame which remains in print and have been the basis of two BBC TV series. Over the succeeding decades Omnibus has published many biographies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanging Around (The Stranglers Song)
"Hanging Around" is a song by English rock band the Stranglers, released on their debut album ''Rattus Norvegicus''. Composition and release The song grew out of a bass line by Jean-Jacques Burnel to which Hugh Cornwell added lyrics. The lyrics were inspired by people who used to 'hang around' the London clubs, particularly the Nashville, where the band used to perform. The first verse focuses on "a woman in red who was always there getting drunk and passing out, which ccording to Cornwellused to make us laugh". The second verse makes reference to Earl's Court Road near the Nashville where drug hustlers hung about. The third verse refers to "a friend of ours called Garry Coward-Williams, who was always smiling, and a friend of his we called Duncan Doughnuts, who was 20 going on 40. I could never believe how old he looked. His whole manner and appearance was of a middle-aged man". For the fourth verse, Cornwell had run out of ideas, so Burnel provided the lyrics for it, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
(Get A) Grip (on Yourself)
"Grip", or "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)", is a single by the Stranglers from the album ''Rattus Norvegicus''. The Stranglers' first single, it reached number 44 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was written by Hugh Cornwell, and featured steel mill worker Eric Clarke on saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ....Cornwell and Drury 2001, pp. 33–34. The first line of the lyrics references a "Morry Thou" or Morris 1000. References 1977 debut singles 1977 songs The Stranglers songs Song recordings produced by Martin Rushent Songs written by Hugh Cornwell Songs written by Dave Greenfield Songs written by Jet Black Songs written by Jean-Jacques Burnel United Artists Records singles {{1970s-rock-song-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Cornwell
Hugh Alan Cornwell (born 28 August 1949) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and writer, best known for being the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the punk rock and new wave band the Stranglers from 1974 to 1990. Since leaving the Stranglers, Cornwell has gone on to record a further ten solo studio albums and continues to record and perform live. Early life and career Cornwell grew up in Tufnell Park and Kentish Town and attended William Ellis School in Highgate, where he played bass in a band with Richard Thompson, later a member of folk rock band Fairport Convention. In the late 1960s, after earning a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Bristol, he embarked on post-graduate research at Lund University in Sweden. Not long after his arrival he formed the band Johnny Sox.Gimarc, George (2005) ''Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock 1970-1982'', Backbeat Books, , p. 9, 262 The Stranglers Cornwell returned to the UK ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and an acronymic play on the British TV show ''Top of the Pops)''. Publication of the magazine ceased in 1984. The unexpired portion of mail subscriptions was completed by ''Rolling Stone'' sister publication ''Record'', which itself folded in 1985. ''Trouser Press'' has continued to exist in various formats. History The magazine's original scope was British bands and artists (early issues featured the slogan "America's Only British Rock Magazine"). Initial issues contained occasional interviews with major artists like Brian Eno and Robert Fripp and extensive record reviews. After 14 issues, the title was shortened to simply ''Trouser Press'', and it gradually transformed into a professional magazine w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black And White (The Stranglers Album)
''Black and White'' is the third studio album by English new wave band the Stranglers. It was released on 12 May 1978, through record label United Artists in most of the world and A&M in America. Background As with the Stranglers' first two albums, ''Black and White'' was produced by Martin Rushent. The album sees the Stranglers adopting a more experimental approach to song structures and time signatures (for example, "Curfew" features 7/4 time). The band recorded a version of "Sweden" sung in Swedish, called "Sverige", and released it in Sweden. The song was partly inspired by Cornwell's PhD placement at Lund University in the mid-1970s. In an anecdote related in the Swedish online magazine ''Blaskan'', it is stated that the song was inspired by a disastrous visit to Sweden during a European tour, when a gig was violently interrupted by a gang of "raggare" ( greasers). The song title "Death and Night and Blood" is taken from a line from Yukio Mishima's novel ''Confessions of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No More Heroes (album)
''No More Heroes'' is the second studio album by English new wave band the Stranglers. It was released on 23 September 1977, through record label United Artists in most of the world and A&M in the United States, five months after their debut album, ''Rattus Norvegicus''. Background ''No More Heroes'' was produced by Martin Rushent. The album consists of new material with four songs left over from the ''Rattus Norvegicus'' sessions ("Something Better Change", "Bitching", "Peasant in the Big Shitty" and "School Mam"). The album cover features a photo of a wreath placed on a coffin with the tails of several rats (the Stranglers' trademark). The brass plaque on the album cover was engraved by Steven Stapleton of Nurse with Wound. Two singles were released from the album: "No More Heroes", and a double A-side of "Something Better Change" and the non-album track "Straighten Out". Critical reception ''No More Heroes'' has been praised by retrospective critics. AllMusic called '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rattus Norvegicus (album)
''Rattus Norvegicus'' (alternative title ''The Stranglers IV'') is the debut studio album by the Stranglers, released on 15 April 1977. It was one of the highest-selling albums of the punk era in Britain, eventually achieving platinum record sales. Two of its tracks, "Peaches" and " (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)", were released as 7-inch singles in the UK. Background The album was originally going to be titled ''Dead on Arrival'' but it was changed at the last minute. The ''Stranglers IV'' prefix was a deliberate attempt by the band to cause confusion. The released title is the taxonomic name for the common brown rat. The album was produced in one week by Martin Rushent and was a snapshot of the band's live set at the time. The first 10,000 copies of the original vinyl release included a free 7-inch single, containing "Peasant in the Big Shitty" (live) and "Choosey Susie". The album launch party was held in the Water Rat pub on the King's Road, in the World's End district of C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Kent
Nick Kent (born 24 December 1951) is a British rock critic best known for his writing for the ''NME'' in the 1970s, and his books ''The Dark Stuff'' (1994) and ''Apathy for the Devil'' (2010). Early life Kent, the son of a former Abbey Road Studios sound engineer, began his career as a writer at age 21 in 1972, inspired by Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson. Kent's writing talent was evident at college when, after analysing James Joyce's ''Ulysses'', he was recommended to apply for further English study. But after dropping out of two universities he started to make a name for himself as a music critic in London's underground scene. Career Along with his contemporaries, such as Paul Morley, Charles Shaar Murray, Paul Rambali and Danny Baker, Kent is widely considered one of the most important and influential UK music journalists of the 1970s. He wrote for the British music publication ''New Musical Express'', moving to ''The Face'' later on in his career. Kent's writing pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sounds (magazine)
''Sounds'' was a UK weekly pop/rock music newspaper, published from 10 October 1970 to 6 April 1991. It was known for giving away posters in the centre of the paper (initially black and white, then colour from late 1971) and later for covering heavy metal (especially the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM)) and punk and Oi! music in its late 1970s–early 1980s heyday. History It was produced by Spotlight Publications (part of Morgan Grampian), which was set up by John Thompson and Jo Saul with Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left ''Melody Maker'' to start their own company. ''Sounds'' was their first project, a weekly paper devoted to progressive rock and described by Hutton, to those he was attempting to recruit from his former publication, as "a leftwing ''Melody Maker''". ''Sounds'' was intended to be a weekly rival to titles such as ''Melody Maker'' and ''New Musical Express'' (''NME''). ''Sounds'' was one of the first music papers to cover punk. Mick Middles c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smash Hits
''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand for a Spin-off (media), spin-off Smash Hits (TV channel), digital television channel, now named Box Hits, and website. A Smash Hits Radio, digital radio station was also available but closed on 5 August 2013. Overview ''Smash Hits'' featured the lyrics of latest hits and interviews with big names in music. It was initially published monthly, then went fortnightly. The style of the magazine was initially serious, but from the mid-1980s became increasingly irreverent. Its interviewing technique was novel at the time and, rather than looking up to the big names, it often made fun of them, asking strange questions rather than talking about their music. Created by journalist Nick Logan, the title was launched in 1978 and appeared monthly for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
