This is an album that holds a very special place in my heart. It takes me back to a wonderful time in my life when my obsession with music was starting to open doors for me in many ways; I was a lead-reporter for Sheffield Hallam's quarterly magazine S-Press, which saw me travelling round to review gigs, receiving free demos for my delectation from a wealth of artists old and new, and even interviewing the odd big name. On this particular occasion back in 2004, around the time of The Stranglers' first release for over six years, Norfolk Coast, my editor called me to say that she had secured an interview for me with Jean Jacques Burnel, the bass-playing stronghold of The Stranglers for thirty-plus years, ahead of their gig at The Sheffield Leadmill. It was an opportunity for me to meet an idol, and also a chance to use my reporting skills to throw some publicity into the student market for one of my favourite ever bands.
I'd been going to see The Stranglers consistently for several years by this stage - I had a mate called Ian Cropper who was a Stranglers fanatic, and he took it upon himself to organise mass trips to see them at weird and wonderful venues across the country. I always tagged along, and thus thought it appropriate that I invite Ian to come and meet his hero with me in The Leadmill. He had told me many stories about the band and particularly JJ - who had karate kicked a mad fan straight back off the stage mid-song during one of Ian's first gigs back on The Ravern tour in 1979. Needless to say i was a little wary about this meeting, though I needn't have been. he was a total gentleman. It was a Sunday afternoon - several hours before the band played the venue, and we were escorted in to see the back-end of the band sound-checking. It was a rather surreal experience - my first look at the behind-the-scenes so to speak. Our introduction to JJ Burnel by his agent was very informal, and this mountain of a man was very polite and warm indeed. We went on to chat for several hours, and JJ was extremely open about all sorts of things; his past, his personal life, his enemies within the industry, and the fall-outs within the band. His famous quote (having been asked if he had met many of his own heroes in the industry), which me and Ian still talk fondly about today, was: "Ronnie Wood was a wanker, Roger Daltrey a complete cunt, and if I ever get my hands on Ray Davies I'll fucking strangle him!" Needless to say we had a magic afternoon, JJ put us on the guest list for that evening's gig (the fifth time I'd get to see them), and I wrote a successful centre-page article in S-Press which opened the band up to a whole new audience.
The album that they were currently touring at the time was Norfolk Coast. I had received a copy in the post as a pre-requisite to the interview, and was amazed by its strength considering it was the band's fifteenth studio album released thirty years after their initial conception. Since I was approaching it from a press-perspective, I received all of the mainstream reviews which championed the album as a great success. Q Magazine said it was "easily their best work," Uncut reckoned it was "their best album in years," Mojo claimed it was "a must-have for any Stranglers fan," and Guitarist, which shares my own opinion closest, said "fantastic...Norfolk Coast is going to surprise a lot of people." It certainly did, and none more so than me.
The album begins with the thumping title-track Norfolk Coast, in which Paul Roberts' gritty vocal and JJ Burnel's pounding bass shine. Big Thing Coming is a vibrant, rousing number which may, incidentally, have been foretelling The Stranglers own reinvention and impending success with the album: "There is a big change coming/I don't care who you are/It will change everyone." Long Black Veil is typical of The Stranglers' trademark sound; dark and whimsical, it has a killer hook ala Golden Brown. I've Been Wild, as JJ told me himself, is an admission of his own fraught and lawless youth: "There were times when I did things I shouldn't have done/Should have stopped long before I'd begun." However, it is also an acceptance of middle-age, and the quieter side of life. JJ recalled the fact that as a younger man he often fought before he thought, or got embroiled in three day drinking sessions, or did the craziest, most unexplainable things. A man after my own heart it seems.
Dutch Moon is a delectable and graceful acoustic number with Spanish undertones. Lost Control is more like the trademark heavy sound with eminent swirling keyboards by Dave Greenfield. Into The Fire is another of those tunes with a killer hook; the keyboards lift Baz Warne's guitars high into the sky, as the stereotypical masculine harmonies boss the track. The following record, for me, is the band's ultimate treasure. A track so fine that I'd go as far as to say it is the best song they have ever produced - a very brave statement considering this is a band that has brought us Golden Brown, Always The Sun, Strange Little Girl, Peaches, No More Heroes, and a whole host of other classics that I haven't time to mention. Tucker's Grave, which was written about Edwin Tucker who committed suicide in 1747 in the very room in which he died, is a progressive, contemplative, and atmospheric passage into a realm that many would never consider possible for The Stranglers. It has a four dimensional sound in which Greenfield's magical playing is once again paramount. The harmonies are something you would expect to hear on a Crosby, Stills & Nash record, and the lyrics captivating with their medieval mystique. A total masterpiece. One of my tracks of the noughties without doubt.
I Don't Agree is more like the aggressive, angst-ridden Stranglers of old: "I don't agree however well you put it/I don't agree I think you better prove it/I don't agree however much you ham it/I don't agree, I just will not permit it." Sanfte Cuss is a light and effeminate track with a skiffle-like approach in which JJ's multi-lingual vocal is put to great effect. The album closes with Mine All Mine, a brilliant, arousing, melodic stomper in which the band put their final stamp on a scintillating collection.
Jet Black, the band's long-standing drummer, is now in his seventies. The band had to lie about his age in the early days to keep him in it. JJ Burnel has hinted in the last year or so that the end of The Stranglers is almost imminent since they couldn't possibly imagine continuing without him. Despite many line-up changes, including the departure of two prominent front-men (Hugh Cornwell and Paul Roberts), the inner core of Burnel, Black and Greenfield are essential to the essence of this fantastic band. I have been lucky enough to see them live in their various guises half a dozen times. If the end is in fact imminent then I am both happy to have shared in their journey, and to have had the wonderful opportunity to meet JJ Burnel in my Uni days. They are one of Britain's classic bands - they should be cherished, celebrated, and thrust in the face of every new generation. If you are new to The Stranglers then Norfolk Coast, one of their finest records, is a great place to start.
Long Live our CLASSIC BANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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