Sometimes I think if you broke it down by country the lion's share of my music is of British origin. The British Invasion generally refers to the early Sixties as a rule, but I don't really think it ever stopped. I'm not one of those rock fans who has to know where the band came from before I decide if I like them or not. I'm just a fly by the seat of my pants consumer. I can remember a time when album artwork was a minor factor in my inclination to plunk down the ungodly amount of $6.98 for a mid Seventies record, but I got over it. Of course today we buy CDs and many times the artwork never makes it out of the jewel box. I can no longer see the fine print explaining the history behind the recording now anyway with my reading glasses. It's frustrating for sure, but you get used to it. Just don't try to dine in low lighting without them unless you just want to order what the waiter just identified the daily special. Everyone likes the "compact" part of compact disc, but the loss of album artwork and its mysterious effect on the record buying public is something to be mourned. As I have mentioned in this space ad nauseum, I was searching for new music in my 27th year and I stumbled on The Stranglers. WBCN-FM in Boston, where I worked as a volunteer intern for four years in the go-go Eighties (cue Killing Joke here), was playing the single "Skin Deep" for a short amount of time in 1984. I loved it instantly. It didn't sound like anything else out there to me at the time. I wouldn't call it particularly unique today, but it still has its charm. The Stranglers were mostly from Guilford in the UK. They started out as The Guilford Stranglers, but smartly dumped the Guilford eventually. Beginning with their first release in 1977, The Stranglers were associated with the Punk movement. I'm no music historian, but I didn't/don't see them as Punk at all musically. Punk, however, was the perfect moniker for whatever was going on in 1977. Short, irreverent, loud and snotty music with attitude will always have its place in rock history. But Punk to me was The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and The Clash on top with scores of Dead Kennedy like bands filling the void. I never considered Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, Patti Smith and bands of that ilk particularly punk. Iggy & The Stooges were Punk. Today, Green Day is the face of modern day Punk for better or for worse. I'm aware that Punk is 80% attitude and half musical as Yogi Berra might have once opined, but I like to think of it as more of a sound genre. Was Billy Idol New Wave or Punk? Does it matter? Of course not, but if we are basing it on attitude he was certainly a Punk. If not, he made great music; not that they are mutually exclusive ideas by any stretch. I STILL love Blitzkrieg Bop every time I hear it. It might be the greatest song title EVER too! And I can't even pogo anymore...
The Stanglers did not make aural assault music. In fact they made quite the opposite. Melodies, lyrics, musicianship...what a concept. The Stranglers have in the neighborhood of 16 records on the market. They covered The Kinks, ? & The Mysterians and Dionne Warwick, but they had a slew of original and very interesting singles. Peaches, Golden Brown, Always The Sun and Something Better Change just to rattle off a few. If they slipped under your radar pick up a copy of their Greatest Hits 1977-1990. It's a great starter kit. I hope you like Skin Deep as much as I do. The Stranglers never got much radio airplay, but they had/are having a great run and should be proud. I love their 'tweener status, but the fact is they were just plain good and shouldn't be forgotten.
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