The Stranglers

Feel free to sing along, you wankers.

The Stranglers are an English rock music group, formed on September 11, 1974 in Guildford, Surrey. They were originally called The Guildford Stranglers and operated out of an off licence in the Surrey town called the 'Jackpot' which was run by their drummer. Original personnel were drummer Jet Black (real name Brian Duffy), bass player/vocalist Jean Jacques Burnel, guitarist/vocalist Hugh Cornwell and keyboardist/guitarist Hans Warmling . Hans would be replaced by keyboardist Dave Greenfield within a year. None of the band actually came from Guildford - Black is from Ilford , Burnel from Notting Hill , Cornwell from Kentish Town and Greenfield from Brighton. Hans Warmling hailed from Sweden to where he returned after leaving The band.

They began as a sinister sounding, hard-edged pub rock group, but eventually branched out to explore other styles of music. The Stranglers were, beginning in 1976, tangentially associated with punk rock, due in part to their opening for The Ramones' first British tour. the Stranglers were also associated with new wave music as well as gothic rock, but their idiosyncratic approach never fitted completely within any musical genre. JJ Burnel has however said in an interview, "I certainly considered myself to be a punk-rocker". In another interview he goes further saying, "I would like to think we (The Stranglers) were more punk plus and then some".

History

The group's members came from some very different backgrounds: Cornwell had been a blues musician prior to forming the band, bassist Jean Jacques Burnel had been a classical guitarist who had performed with symphony orchestras, Jet Black was a former jazz drummer, and Dave Greenfield had played at military bases in Germany. One of their early touchstones was a considerable influence from pre-punk psychedelic rock bands, especially The Doors, and The music Machine.

However, despite their association with punk rock, The Stranglers were generally not regarded as punks by their musical peers. They wrote a string of top ten hits, including "No More Heroes" and "Peaches", which placed the band at the forefront of the New Wave movement - a branch One step removed from the more confrontational punks - not to mention that the Stranglers' material was fiercely intellectual. The band has been quoted as saying that they did not consider themselves to be a "punk" band. It was their frequent run-ins with the law and their strong following amongst British street gangs like the Finchley Boys that gave them a menacing persona. A nationwide UK tour in May 1977 where they were supported by the four-piece band London did nothing but strengthen their credibility and fanbase. Their 1978 appearance from the University of Surrey on the TV programme Rock goes To College created an infamous incident where the group walked off stage after smashing their instruments and verbally abusing the audience. As the producer of RGTC was later to become the producer of The Old Grey Whistle Test it also accounted for their lack of an invitation to the latter.

Source: www.wikipedia.com