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Strang things Stranglers have said to you

Started by Bennett Brauer, February 12, 2019, 01:22:34 AM

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Bennett Brauer

Jean-Jacques Burnell once grabbed me by the lapels at a party and said he reckoned that SOTCAA guy was a bit up himself. (I saw Dave Greenfield winking at me in the distance so I just nodded and he let me go.)

Nowhere Man

They said "Whatever happened to the heroes?" "No more heroes anymore mate"

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

I know someone who used to work for the Stranglers as a stage manager or something, and told me many interesting tales of them. There was one time when J J Burnell said " It's alright Chris, no problem " to him . This was quite strange in context, as yer man Chris had accidentally stood on his back while he was in the middle of doing press ups ( sleeping in the bunk bed above the bass playing feller, you see ). A lot of other people would have said something like " you appear to have stood on my back, you clumsy oaf ".

Buelligan

Texture like sun makes me dance winged eagles in the light.  That's how I understand it anyway, it's my life.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

It seems to me that the OP is NOTBBC - type alumni who is also making a reference with " Strang " , here. Jolly good . Younger readers should not be under the impression  that there is a typo in the title of this thread . As you were.

Bennett Brauer

Quote from: Lisa Jesusandmarychain on February 12, 2019, 07:50:30 AM
It seems to me that the OP is NOTBBC - type alumni who is also making a reference with " Strang " , here. Jolly good . Younger readers should not be under the impression  that there is a typo in the title of this thread . As you were.

I only remember Strang from the old days on CaB when you had to stand up and ask politely if you wanted to post something. Glad you got the awful joke though.

The Lurker

I was listening to the Undr The Cosh podcast (fully recommend it if you're into football) on the way to work this morning, in it Nicky Weaver mentioned a story of going to a festival with Stuart "Psycho" Pearce which ended up with Psycho in the moshpit when watching his favourite band - The Stranglers. Weaver asked Psycho if he'd ever seen them before to which he shouted back "77 times!"

Some food for thought for you all this afternoon.


NoSleep

Whilst homeless for a period my mate put me up in his living room, where Hugh Cornwell had once also been allowed to stay at an earlier time.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Quote from: NoSleep on February 12, 2019, 01:21:33 PM
Whilst homeless for a period my mate put me up in his living room, where Hugh Cornwell had once also been allowed to stay at an earlier time.
So you never actually met him, and he never actually said anything to you? You can just about fuck off out of this thread, you can.

Neville Chamberlain

JJ Burnel trod on my foot mid-song at an in-store gig in HMV in Birmingham in, oooh, 1996 or something. Ever the gent, he apologised and just carried on playing! *swoon*

Dex Sawash


Jittlebags


Jockice

I did a phone interview with Hugh Cornwell in which he hung up on me after less than five minutes, seemingly on the grounds that I hadn't memorised his entire tour schedule. He really is a prick.

ToneLa

Some shite about arses on the beach while ripping off Mark E Smith's delivery

NoSleep

Quote from: Lisa Jesusandmarychain on February 12, 2019, 01:26:48 PM
So you never actually met him, and he never actually said anything to you? You can just about fuck off out of this thread, you can.

Your own is about somebody else who met them, so hardly the strongest of cases against mine.

I was at a party with Hugh Cornwell, and accidentally got involved in a conversation with people talking about yachts.
I didn't (and don't) own a yacht, and neither did H.Cornwell.  So after a while we both wandered away, mildly baffled. 
That is the end of my timeless, gripping Stranglers anecdote.

Cuellar

The Boston Strangler told me to, in his words, 'eff off' once when I was in....Boston!

iamcoop

I think Cornwell is like a lot of normal people - he can be a twat or really nice depending on what mood he's in.

The Stranglers made some amazing records and seem to be oddly overlooked these days when people appraise the whole punk/new wave era. As for ripping off Mark E Smiths vocal delivery, the first Stranglers demos pre-date any work by The Fall by a couple of years.

Some of their behaviour in the early days was a bit pathetic, and they had a load of questionable lyrics no doubt, but they also made some musically rich and intelligent songs and changed their style quite remarkably over their career. Plus, 90% of punk bands at the time posed like they were a bunch of hard men whilst The Stranglers, as far as I can tell, were one of the only ones to actually leave the stage and smack people in the face when they kept gobbing at them. Again, pretty pathetic when all's said and done but I still love 'em. The scruffy, greasy bastards.

iamcoop


Jockice

#20
Quote from: iamcoop on February 12, 2019, 07:48:12 PM
I think Cornwell is like a lot of normal people - he can be a twat or really nice depending on what mood he's in.

Yes. I can totally understand that. It's just a shame that on my one (telephone) encounter with him he was the former. He was just really antagonistic from the start. I don't mind a bit of that (I mean, I've also interviewed the likes of Kevin Rowland and Mark E Smith) but i just couldn't understand why he was so angry about not knowing when he was playing Bournemouth or Leicester when I was doing an interview for a Sheffield newspaper.

But these things happen. Interviewing is an inexact science and sometimes the interviewer and interviewee just don't hit it off for whatever reason.

Now I've interviewed members of The Pogues on a couple of occasions, been to the pub with them, and on another occasion invited backstage after the show. I didn't go in the end because the mate I went with was scared. I've always got on brilliantly with them anyway.

But when a colleague did a phoner with one of them it went so badly that the band member (think it was Jem but can't remember for definite) got their management to make an official complaint to our editor. Which I still find hilarious. Not very anti-establishment, is it?

iamcoop

Quote from: Jockice on February 12, 2019, 08:35:01 PM
Yes. I can totally understand that. It's just a shame that on my one (telephone) encounter with him he was the former. He was just really antagonistic from the start. I don't mind a bit of that (I mean, I've also interviewed the likes of Kevin Rowland and Mark E Smith) but i just couldn't understand why he was so angry about not knowing when he was playing Bournemouth or Leicester when I was doing an interview for a Sheffield newspaper.

But these things happen. Interviewing is an inexact science and sometimes the interviewer and interviewee just don't hit it off for whatever reason.

It doesn't surprise me, I know people who have politely asked him to sign a record after a gig and basically been told to fuck off for no discernible reason. Again, I understand we all have off days but surely plastering on a fake smile and at least pretending you don't want to act like a complete cunt to them is a pre requisite to being a professional musician that relies on people continually parting with their money to keep your career afloat. Could be one of the contributing factors to why his solo career never really did anything whilst The Stranglers, despite largely being musically stagnant for years still sell out Brixton academy sized venues (that and the fact 90% of his solo stuff has been complete dross).

Jockice

Quote from: iamcoop on February 12, 2019, 09:03:06 PM
It doesn't surprise me, I know people who have politely asked him to sign a record after a gig and basically been told to fuck off for no discernible reason. Again, I understand we all have off days but surely plastering on a fake smile and at least pretending you don't want to act like a complete cunt to them is a pre requisite to being a professional musician that relies on people continually parting with their money to keep your career afloat. Could be one of the contributing factors to why his solo career never really did anything whilst The Stranglers, despite largely being musically stagnant for years still sell out Brixton academy sized venues (that and the fact 90% of his solo stuff has been complete dross).

Well a female colleague of mine did a phoner with him a couple of years later and says they got on fine. So who knows. Could have been fault on both sides. At least he didn't tie me to the Eiffel Tower or whatever it is they used to do with journalists.

I've never been a huge Stranglers fan but as a teenager I had mates who were so I heard all their stuff and saw them play a couple of times. I quite liked them but taped their stuff off these mates rather than buying it. Apart from the Nuclear Device single. Which I actually paid for.

One of those mates has since moved to Australia but was back in town at the same time they were playing a couple of years ago ago. So I went and saw them for the first time in 30 years. And thoroughly enjoyed it. A big nostalgia trip really but great fun. And I should imagine much better than Cornwell live.

iamcoop

Quote from: Jockice on February 12, 2019, 09:24:56 PM


One of those mates has since moved to Australia but was back in town at the same time they were playing a couple of years ago ago. So I went and saw them for the first time in 30 years. And thoroughly enjoyed it. A big nostalgia trip really but great fun. And I should imagine much better than Cornwell live.

I'm far to young to have seen them with Cornwell unfortunately, they're still very good live but I think I'm done with them these days. I'll be fucked if I'm paying £25+ to watch just 2 original members churn out stuff I've heard a hundred times before.

I still maintain their 77-81 output is essential listening to any new wave/punk fan, Black and White in particular still sounds fantastic now. The easy listening 80s phase has a lot of gems with increasingly diminishing returns but I think think they're unfairly overlooked in the pantheon of British rock groups.

Anyway probably one for oscillations, this. I've often toyed with starting a thread about them as they're my favourite group but there are plenty of people that fucking hate them, a view which I can weirdly sympathise with despite my love of them.

Jockice

Quote from: iamcoop on February 12, 2019, 09:47:53 PM

Anyway probably one for oscillations, this. I've often toyed with starting a thread about them as they're my favourite group but there are plenty of people that fucking hate them, a view which I can weirdly sympathise with despite my love of them.

Go for it mate.