The second "tribute" was that bad I actually thought they were going to launch into an ungodly version of Sting's 'Message in a Bottle', rather than 'Tank'.

The Manglers by name...

naw. it is not perfect, but it inspired me to check out the actual band. This is not a full time thing, they do it on a rare occasion. Actually just started as a one off thing for Halloween a few years back. That performance was just at a house party for a friend of his.

I do not know if you are familiar with Doug Donut. He is actually a very great musician in his own right. One of the best drummers to come out of punk rock as well. He was in the band Death Sentence out of Canada.

While I can admit it is far from being professional, it is still a tribute to something the guy loves, so I can respect it for what it is.

But yeah, as I say... not a full time tribute to them.... just something he does for fun, even he will admit he is not on their level, but does it anyways out of genuine care for The Stranglers. The name The Manglers was meant as a similar name and as a way of admitting it was mangling the band... but out of respect nonetheless.

They really are an exceptional band!
I remember the first time I heard "Peaches" it totally warped my fragile little mind!
I need to get more of their catalogue, at the moment I only have a couple live recordings (which are glorious) and a "Best Of", given to me by my friend's wife-of-a-minister Mother, which I thought was a little odd at the time...

The three to get are Rattus Norvegicus with some superb Doors sounding organ work on it, No More Heroes sees the band at its most agressive and The Raven probably the creative high point of the band

Thank you I've heard quite a bit from Rattus Norvegicus and I like the sound of it I'll need to check out the other two!

You might want to check out Black and White as well, not as good as the three mentioned but from the same period and has some really good stuff on it.

Just found Rattus Norvegicus in full on Youtube! It sounds properly exceptional, think I may have to try and buy it from somewhere :D


Edit: Holy balls! That opening bassline in "Goodbye Toulouse"! That is awesome as all hell!

i also only have Rattus Norvegicus

whch is pretty good, i dare say

just going to leave this here....

Luv the stranglers <3

Very unique band with very simple but memorable songs
they remained punk but had a new age twist i honestly prefer them over the clash.

I like Waltzin Black. :)

they were somewhat psychedelic with their use of vintage keyboards. It's difficult to compare them to other punk bands of the first wave, they were quite unique. They evolved towards more "danceable" music in the early eighties and went even pop, but were still good at what they did.

Seen em thrice, and Hugh Cornwell solo once. Sadly this is only in the last 10 years, really wish I could have seen them back in the day. Quality band.

One of my favourite bands. My favourite song is No More Heroes.

There was always a direct link between the Stranglers and both the Doors and Deep Purple in that respect.

Rattus Norvegicus obviously had a big influence on Mark E Smith.

I like it, too. We need more of this irony in pop songs.

In my opinion "Golden brown" is the best song of the year 1982. Or at least one of the five best. Other good songs of this year are "The look of love" and "Eye in the sky".

I would like to mention the following songs from the Stranglers:
European female
Skin deep

Thank you very much for this inspiration.

I am quite a philistine concerning jazz and American music. I didn‘t know that "Golden brown" from the Stranglers was a cover. But now it seems quite logical to me.

Do you know when the original has been released or composed? The video seems to be from the sixties.

The Strangler‘s version reminds of a time when covers were still witty and intelligent.

:laughing:

I almost thought the song might be a Dave Brubeck cover when I first noticed that video listed on YouTube.

This is from the uploader...

Yes, I also thought into that direction for a few seconds. But then it was clear to me that such a video can‘t be a retro inscenation.

This story is absolutely crazy. :) And so this video is a real artwork.

By the way: I asked myself just for fun from which year the video could be. It was just a contest for me. And I would have said 1965.

There’s so many layers of surreal in this

That guy killed it making that video

This is a good example of why we need to relax copyright laws.

I was a huge fan as long as it was with Hugh. Now it's like Canada dry.

The Stranglers at their experimental postpunk best

That's pretty cool, I'd pick up Black and White (1978) The Raven (1979) and above all The Gospel According to the Meninblack (1981), but No More Heroes and La Folie are pretty good too.

Wouldn't bother with anything after Feline (1983), things really took a nasty turn toward adult contemporary by then.

What Waterloo are we talking btw? Is it like a record shop? The only Waterloo I've ever been to is a town somewhere between Montreal and the American border, nothing to write home about tbh.

Sounds fun. Never been to Texas, want to explore Austin in particular one of these days.

It's a seminal album for sure, even if I don't really go back to it that much. Peaches rules.

Hmm I'd go for the Gospel According to Meninblack, I love it and somehow I think it would be your thing too since you're into stuff like 23 Skidoo. But Black and White has amazing stuff too.

One interesting episode in the Stranglers' story was the affinity noted art critic George Melly had for them. He believed they were the Dada Surrealists of the punk movement, and gave them a cameo in his BBC4 feature on Surrealism (17 min in) in 1978.




After that they wrote a song about him being a dirty old man who shags choir boys (while always keeping his socks on) and had him sing it. He loved it!

When you're a bunch of bohemian weirdos of a certain age who are done pretending to be punks

I love it!

Someone whose opinion I respect said that the production/mixing leaves a lot to be desired and is not of a standard comparable to the Stranglers. Maybe, but I'll take that over an impeccably recorded album with songs that are not as imaginative.

Also, Hugh in this video is my platonic ideal of Looking Really ****ing Cool. My man oozes menace.

Listened to Rattus properly for the first time in don't know how many years and liked it so much more than before. I think back in the day I wasn't quite ready for how much of a pub rock album it is, with the way the lyrics are barked out and yelled etc. I just wanted something more akin to the arty postpunk of The Raven and Gospel, or at least the punk of No More Heroes. Always loved Peaches and Grip though.

It's the Stranglers album of choice of their original following, a bunch of loud working or low-middle class pub-going British geezers, and it rules.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b9/5d...3933870c84.jpg

Really nifty electropop track wherein Hugh prophesizes the impending collapse of the American empire. Cool video too. Just wish the keyboard solo by the late great Dave Greenfield was a bit less banal and half-arsed.

This is the closest I've heard to a direct homage to The Strangers and it's so good too. Ariel you beautiful freak.

What you get when you refuse to bury that which is dead

Top tune!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRNM...WildwiNdGaRcia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1MxrNnxdOo

Super important band here in New Jersey. They always came out here and turned a lot of us onto punk