----FEATURE_LIST
* " ” " " " ' i ' ' Dreamtime. comes out at the their plethora ofsolo work (such as beginning of November. It will J.J.‘s LP Euroman Commit) cause probably surpise no one who has any strain within the group?
. heard the singles ‘Golden Brown’ ‘On the contrary. we encourage
a through to ‘Nice In Nice‘. though we each other to do them. That‘s
1 can hope. Their conversion to a another factor why we've been
i : soft~focus approach has lost them a together so long. It enables us to
: f few listeners. but tapped the have a fresh outlook when we
i I reservoir of pop stardom. And still embark on a new LP.'
' 1 they seem to be standing outside the i The Stranglers‘ way of working is
- _ pop circus. looking in with wry i completely democratic. all members
amusement. i gettingjoint songwriting credits. As
. It was much the same story in 1977. ; J.J. puts it. ‘Someone will obviously
when The Stranglers crested the initiate the idea. and as soon as Jet
‘ wave of notoriety thanks to their 5 puts his drumbeat to it it‘s partly his association with the punk as well. [can‘t see how other groups
3 movement. The group had started ' separate songwriting credits. They
around two years before as The do. and I think that causes a lot of Guildford Stranglers. when J.J. met jealousy. It‘s all down to jealousy
. . . Hugh Cornwell. an eat-laboratory i and greed. don‘t you think so?‘ Jean JacquCS BurnCI 15a man With a bad rCPUtathn' I assistant turned singer/guitarist. and Well. ofcourse. Jean Jacques has a leb talks 10 ThC Stranglers‘ bassman and finds out Jet Black. a bearded. overweight persuasive manner. he‘s well Whether he is as dark as hC is painted. drummer who droye theband i informed and probably a formidable
around Gurldford in his ice cream opponent in an argument. although I van. A year later the quartet was stay clear ofconfrontation. Our completed by keyboard wizard Dave conversation includes Tony Benn's Greenfield. When the punk workers‘ co-operatives.
explosion started. The Stranglers. nationalisation. astronomy. karate although they supported the cause. (ofcourse) and extraterrestrials. the and were grateful for the exposure it ; source of one ofThe Stranglers‘ most gave them. were treated with a offbeat projects. (‘At the time of The
certain coolness. ‘ Gospel According To The Men In AsJ.J. explains. ‘We were a bit 1 Black LP we were thinking about not older than the average. We started touring conventionally. but just
out late. I think by the time it was going round as a panel and making happening. . . a lot ofthese bands speeches explaining The Bible in this were coming to see us when they still i Von Daniken type way.‘)
had long hairand everything. and lle's much happier discussing his werejust thinking about forming love ofkarate. and in his time off I groups. And I think that by the time from The Stranglers teaches. though 5 they got known we were quite not as much as he‘d like. ‘Karate and
proficient. a bit more fluid with our i The Stranglers. that just about i instruments. Also. that we had a 1 covers everything there is in life.’ i keyboard-h wasn‘t the time thing I0 The attraction ofkarate toJ.J. is t have a keyboard.‘ that it is a complete way oflife in Another cause for concern was itself. a holistic approach to life.
their lyrics. Most people like at least : breaking down all the barriers . some Stranglers songs. but the early ; between other systems, ‘In the West g meathead lyrics. htm'cvcrironically we tend to divide things up. to the ‘ expressed (‘Home is a black leather ; detriment ofthe whole idea.‘
jacket fitting sweetly to my brain'). ? He illustrates- thc idea with an
are acutely embarrassing. Often anecdote about the scientist misinterpreted or ignored- 0f mOFC Velikovsky, whose theories ofthe
usually backfiring - The StrilnglCTS‘ planet Venus were ridiculed by the sense of humour and irony is scientific establishment of the time. suffused into all their work. 5 only to be vindicated decades later
‘Someone without a sense ofhumour i by space probes. The point being. can't be too bright.‘ J .J. insists. On Velikovsky ‘was interdisciplinary.
the charge of sexism that‘s been i He used information and science dogging him {Or IhC 12181 dccadt‘. 1-1 ‘ from so many disciplines that he cut manages a weary ‘lt‘s a fair cop. across all those borders. The modern guv‘. and we leave it at that. scientific establishment thought he In 1981 an abrupt mellowing in was an insult. their sound rewarded them with an "I‘he same with our attitudes to enormous hit in the physical and mental health. lfyou harpsichord~dominated ‘Golden want to get strong you take up Brown‘. and since then a string of ' weightlifting. you want to build up commercial. mellow singles. For your stamina you do jogging. you ldon~t mind owning Up [0 having incite a “01*! understandably‘ the material with Such a pleasant i want to get flexible you do Scam“ thought“ Mime talking With 50” 0f bud WCSS that COUId cream 1‘ airbrusth sound. is the name The ' acrobatics. or gymnastics. or ballet. chmjilulucs BumL‘l-ilihc i‘CWFCSCTV'aliOh-s- Stranglers. with all its violent ‘ All these things you do in karate. Strilhglcri bh‘Ck'hCle hilSSlSI- I And he confounds me by asking connotations. a bit inappropriate? Plus more. because you don‘t only still have a picture of him in my head about the weather. J,J_ is momentarily taken aback: It‘s do something 215 an end in itself‘ as a taut. lean machine with It's neither easy nor a good idea to something that's never occurred to because all these things help you not short-cropped black hair. legs apart. judge somebody- on the basis of one him. to hm,c huanS “'5 d “1‘. other Pumping mm." “1 " Fcnd” PrCCiSi‘m telephone COhVCTSaIlO'L hut thC ‘Possibly you‘re right. When I people. Hopefully they build a firm as if his life depended on it. His rumoured arrogance was think of the word ‘Stranglers‘ now I unshuking spirit and alert senses. Smmdi“ Stump“! “llmcrthc Carl-V C‘mSPlCUOUSIY“759‘”deJ-J- don’t think 0f“ 213 [Wing 3 “013m and cultivate a spirit ofself-denial Stranglers' records. where it sounds displayed instead confidence and word. It‘s just a name But you‘re ; sometimes we. like J .J. is trying to slam a juggernaut politeness in roughly equal probably “gm WC do!“ fight every .WC havc five senscs‘ at least. The), ' . Ihmut—‘h the SPWkCFS‘ And his hand! quantities. Maybe The Stranglers night now. And we used to have a ' should be kept alert and glorified. i (‘ilrd‘currl'lng mi-“E’J'm-‘t‘Wh" bu” firan 115- - -hlile115‘hC.V‘VC hCCh mass Punch-upever)’ night.‘ ; Enjoy them all the time.‘ i L each other up every night. treated painted. ()rmaybe they‘re working . Fora” ihzii‘ theirgrcatcststrcngth ; j journalists with the contempt they overtime to build up good relations . is eaehmher_'1‘he Men In Bhlek‘ The 7.1“,SUWWIUM dry/)lm_l.ngm I felt they deserved and were arrested with the pres-Sagan]. - Rat Pack‘ whatcvcr‘ thcyirC an Edinburgh ])/m_hum(;(m H1940“ in FrimCC {Or illngCdl.‘ iimcmptmg ‘0 1 A new Stranglers album. entitled j insular crew. Being so Close“ docs ‘ '
liThe List 17 — 30 October