While EMI was preparing the band’s final contractual releases, the group became the focus of interest from various record companies eager to sign up such a proven and established act, as JJ recalls: ‘When we left EMI, everyone was after us. I remember going on Richard Branson’s boat in London as he wanted to sign us to Virgin. We eventually plumped for CBS and they put a lot of money behind the release of Feline.’ Much of Dark Matters was put together remotely. “Finding these fragments that Dave had left us felt exciting,” Warne explains. “We got permission from his widow, which was important, then we realised we needed to pour it out.” To mark the 40th anniversary, FELINE will be available as a limited gatefold double album on remastered 180g Heavyweight transparent pink and red vinyl on BMG.

Hello again Temple Meads, forever associated with Stranglers tours. Travelled to Bristol on the train with Nik Malham. Had a pot of Earl Grey in a local tea shop, very civilised! Me, Robbo and Eddie got a B & B for the night, had a few scrumpys before the gig. Ructions later when Rob and Eddie didn’t get in and stormed off in a huff. I watched the gig with Linsey, Krista and Phil Coxon, who I think taped the gig (we only ever taped gigs for passing around our group I hasten to add). I’ve still got a copy somewhere. With the release of their seventh album on new label Epic Records, legendary punks The Stranglers wanted to shake things up a bit, exploring new sonic territories and pushing their own boundaries. We spent the morning looking round Edinburgh and some of us went to the castle and it’s museum. Very interesting with a lot of WWII memorabilia but for me the greatest moment came when I saw the tattered flag of the French 45 infanterie regiment and it’s eagle standard, captured by Sergeant Ewart of the Scots Greys during the legendary charge of the Union Brigade during the battle of Waterloo. To see it at last having read so much about the charge of the Greys was a hair stood on end moment, brilliant! (Google it people!!). So you see, Stranglers tours aren’t only about gigs, boozing and shagging, not quite anyway! We’ve also added in extra memories from Mark’s touring mate Phil Coxon from Derby-who has already supplied us with tour diaries from ’79 -’82. Phil’s sections are all attributed to him, all other text is from Mark. Over to our tour guides…Thirty years ago exactly, the band set out on a tour of the UK in support of their new album Feline. In the year since their last tour, they had left EMI, moved to CBS and released a new studio album. Mark Senior from Sheffield planned to attempt the full tour and he recounts his exploits for us here..

Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. The atmosphere was mental and the pub was absolutely heaving, all we could see were the heads of John and Hugh. The sound was absolutely terrible and I bet the bootleg sounds God awful, it wasn’t a gig you’d want as a live album, but on the night it was just great! After the gig we got the train into London and dossed with John and Spence at their place on the Westway. The following blog-piece written around the 30th anniversary of the album, courtesy of Owen Carne, is worthy of bringing up the agenda once again… I was to follow the band on one more UK tour and several in Europe after moving over here but things would never again quite reach the dizzy heights of that fantastic few weeks in 1983. That was the tour that, for some of us, was THE tour!This was the band’s seventh studio album and the first since moving to Epic Records, reaching #4 in the UK Album chart. Feline is now available, courtesy of BMG, on limited red and pink transparent double vinyl and 2CD edition both featuring a wealth of bonus material from this era of the band. Overall the MOV is the winner for me but this is alot cheaper and sounds quite ok so if you get a well pressed one it should keep you happy! The Strange Circumstances Which Lead To) Vladimir & Olga (Requesting Rehabilitation In A Siberian Health Resort As A Result Of Stress In Furthering The People’s Policies) When the gig was over we filed out into the night with no idea of the repercussions to come although it was obvious there would be some. As it turned out the actions of a few nutcases would rebound on the band big time.

We arrived in Edinburgh at 3pm and met a bloke Robbo knew in the Duke of Wellington pub who’d said he’d put a few of us up. The bloke was brilliant, buying us all beer and letting five or six of us doss at his house after the gig. Edinburgh was a nice place and in the pubs the locals were much more friendly than we had experienced in Glasgow, we all had a good time and the gig, though perhaps not quite as good as the last two, was enjoyable and relaxed (if relaxed is a word that could ever be used about a Stranglers concert). I bought a concert poster which I still have. After the gig we met Robbo’s mate and his wife in the pub and dossed down in his living room after a good session on the beer. Edinburgh Playhouse poster Jean-Jacques Burnel of The Stranglers opens up about song inspirations, his life and more. By GARRY BUSHEL Sun, Oct 22, 2023 Jean-Jacques Burnel of The Stranglers (Image: Getty) When he was ten, Jean-Jacques Burnel was beaten up on his way home by an older boy from a local secondary school. “He punched me again and again in […] Battle Of The Mid-80s Horn Sections: The Stranglers – Aural Sculpture As we were standing outside the station the t-shirt guy drove passed and gave us a lift, we stopped on the way at a farm to buy scrumpy. I knew it would be potent when I saw a cow, obviously drunk, lapping at a puddle of the stuff in the yard.He and I worked very closely together when I was head of production for the band. His opening catch phrase was always ‘Hello Boy’ (which I adopted and use to this day). He was both a great boss and friend, great fun to be around and, god, we got up to some seriously silly pranks on tour. Off tour he was quite a private person and lived alone in Ingatestone. It was a real sadness when Bill was diagnosed with a inoperable brain tumour just after he attended my wedding and he died a couple of years later aged 50. I truly miss him very much as he was my mentor to become a manager as his approach, knowledge, manner and humour were all top drawer. Greenfield came up with the music for their most famous song, 1982’s Golden Brown, a harpsichord piece in 6/8 waltz time, which lyricist Cornwell later said was about both heroin and a girl. When the record company rejected it, the band invoked a contractual clause to make them put it out. “They released it at Christmas, expecting it to be drowned in a tsunami of Christmas singles,” Burnel recalls with relish. “After it was a hit all over the world, they asked for ‘another Golden Brown’. So we gave them a seven-minute song in French.” This was La Folie, which made allusions to Japanese necrophiliac murderer and cannibal Issei Sagawa. It charted at No 47. a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.535. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.