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.

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