The Stranglers

Exactly,Dean.

I was never drawn to the 'real punk' bands. Funnily enough after the initial swathes of bands,and there weren't many,the bands that got to make at least a second album started to make more,for want of a better word,intricate records.John Lydon formed P.I.L. who were massively influenced by bands like Faust,Can and dub.The Clash started to release double and triple albums and the bands that formed under the influence of The Clash and The Pistols formed the New Wave/Indie brigade.   

I can remember walking into a record shop with a friend, both of us prog fans,and hearing the newly released Stranglers debut,'Rattus Norvegicus'.Both of us were blown away by the album.I purchased it immediately.My first 'Punk' purchase.

When I told the 'real punks' at school,they laughed at me saying that was typical of a prog fan.The Stranglers weren't punk just prog dressed up as punk and they (The Stranglers) had keyboards and that was not punk and neither were XTC,so there! Ah,from the mouths of babes...er,sorry,punks.

Now,did I ever tell you that I saw The Stranglers at the infamous Battersea Park gig when Peter Gabriel supported them?...No.Well make yourself comfortable and I will tell you....Picture goes hazy...

Edited by Man Erg - August 08 2009 at 13:19

chopper wrote: When did The Stranglers ever sound like Yes and Genesis?

many many times. but I have given up fighting for the Stranglers. most people in here confuse image with music when it comes to the Stranglers. anyone who listens to them with an open mind should realize how very progressive they are. I once made a checklist of the criteria which are being used to decide whether a band is prog or not, and the Stranglers scored on all but 3 or 4 of these criteria, which is an excellent result. there are many bands in the archives whose score is a lot lower.
the rejection of the Stranglers are the reason why I asked for having my status of prog reviewer removed. if I am so fundamentally wrong about them I can not be trusted with this status. of course I do believe that I am right, but the majority was against me

I don't know the song Harlequin ( sorry people ) , but Tits can't be really taken as  a typical Stranglers song as it was a one off at a gig  , played only once as far as I know , I think if its on Black & White these days on CD , its just as a filler , back in the day ( 1978 ) it was a freebie  on the B-side to Walk on By , which itself was later released as a single despite 75,000 being given away with B&W . Tits was basically a joke song the band put in when they didn't have so much material to use .

Probably one of the worlds greatest bands with some prog sensibilities but...  Not prog.  

definitely nice to see someone is of my opinion, though

BaldJean wrote:   you can't have a spokesman for the government be of a basically different opinion than the president

sure you can, those are the best kind

yes, then as well.   

Thank you for your suggestion, The Stranglers where evaluated and rejected by the Crossover and the Prog Related Teams earlier this year.

Soo what? Jet Black is over 70 years old?? Some Stranglers, although Hugh Cornwell left the band 1990... some old things just don't change.