Guildford, UK · punk · new wave

The Stranglers

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Punk's most musically awkward first-wavers — swirling organ and sneering menace where their peers just went fast, 'Golden Brown' the elegant outlier.

The Stranglers began as the Guildford Stranglers in 1974, built by drummer Jet Black after he had made money running an ice-cream van business and an off-licence that doubled as the group's early base. They spent their first years working the pub rock circuit before punk's arrival pulled them into that scene, a label that never quite fit their sound.

That combination came with a reputation for hostility toward press and audiences alike, matched by growling vocals and lyrics from Burnel and Cornwell that could be openly misanthropic on the early records, before the band's output grew steadily more refined.

Their catalogue moved through new wave, art rock and even gothic rock before softening into the polished sophisti-pop of some of their 1980s work. Alongside 'Peaches', 'No More Heroes' and 'Golden Brown' sat further hits such as 'Strange Little Girl', 'Skin Deep' and 'Always the Sun', and across more than five decades they placed 23 singles and 20 albums in the UK top 40.

Hugh Cornwell left in 1990, ending the songwriting partnership with Burnel, though the group carried on with new members. Jet Black retired from touring in 2018, and Dave Greenfield died in 2020, leaving Jean-Jacques Burnel as the sole original member still on the road with the band.

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punknew wave