The Stranglers began in 1974, as a pub
rock group out of Guildford, Surrey. Though hard-edged,
and quite dark, and with a name ideally suited to the
punk movement of the mid-'70s, The Stranglers were a bit
more sophisticated, musically, than most of their peers -
as later records such as 'Golden Brown' would prove.
The group was an odd assortment, with blues musician,
singer/guitarist Hugh Cornwell, former classical
guitarist, and, so, unlikely Stranglers bassist Jean
Jacques Burnel, veteran drummer Jet Black, and American
keyboard wizard Dave Greenfield.
Songs such as 'No More Heroes' and 'Peaches', with
Cornwell's really aggressive vocals, seemed to fit into
the punk scene of the time, but, as with Blondie, it
seemed lazy to label them 'punk' or 'new wave', when
their music was so eclectic.
- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.
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