The Stranglers Prog?
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Suggest New Bands and Artists
Forum Description: Suggest, create polls, and classify new bands you would like included on Prog Archives
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=32468
Printed Date: May 06 2024 at 07:43
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Topic: The Stranglers Prog?
Posted By: Frank Zoppa
Subject: The Stranglers Prog?
Date Posted: December 22 2006 at 10:52
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Would anyone regard erstwhile pub Rock stalwarts The Stranglers as Prog or even borderline Prog. They have a history of elaborate lengthy musical songs for example: Down in the Sewer - The Raven - Toiler on the Sea - Genetix and more recently Relentless. They also do the best ever version of Dionne Warwicks Walk on By, which, at nearly 7 minutes and being mainly instrumental, is essential listening Keyboard player Dave Greenfield has a history of playing prog bands and his style is very Rick Wakeman-like. He also sported a tache and a goatee in 1977 whilst the Stranglers were in the centre of the punk movement. Guitarist Hugh Cornwell has cited as a hero Frank Zappa a number of times and Hugh even collaborated on an album - Nosferatu - with Captain Beefheart drummer Robert Williams also on musical duties were Ian Underwood, members of Devo The Clash and Ian Dury!! A bizarre off the wall album which is well worth a listen. The Stranglers recent offering - Suite XVI - see's them going down this [pseudo] prog path again, with odd arrangements and lengthy musical numbers. Curious to hear anyones comments Oh and Golden Brown was in a 16:9 time signiture Frank Zoppa |
Replies:
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: December 22 2006 at 11:01
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Why not...everyone else is here.....come on down!
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Kotro
Date Posted: December 22 2006 at 12:01
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Definitly Prog-Related... Not sure if they should go beyond that, even though Art-Rock is also pretty inclusive... ------------- Bigger on the inside. |
Posted By: Cygnus X-2
Date Posted: December 22 2006 at 13:03
If only 16/9 was a time signature... if you meant 9/16 then that's applicable.  ------------- 
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Frank Zoppa wrote:Posted By: Stjernestøv
Date Posted: December 22 2006 at 13:31
The widescreen time signature!  ------------- "My stories? No, my little lord, not mine. The stories are, before me and after me, before you too." |
Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: December 22 2006 at 16:06
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I like them very much, especially on the album "la folie" which has some very good beats, and the unforgettable "golden brown". Not straight prog but I certainly wouldn't call them "punk", they are much more than this simple form of music. ------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood) |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: January 12 2007 at 08:02
Surely the intro is in 13 - 3 lots of 3 followed by a bar of 4?
Talking of The Stranglers, I was rummaging through the Woolies sale bin last week and found a Stranglers Best Of compilation for a mere fiver. I haven't really listened to them in years but a quick glance at the track listing made me realise what a load of great songs they have. I then remembered that I had "Black and White" on vinyl which I hadn't played for about 20 years, so I forked out another Lady Godiva on ebay for the extended CD version. What a great album it is, and the extended version has their version of "Walk on by" plus "Old Codger" with a great vocal from George Melly and, ahem, the slightly non-PC "T*ts". JJ Burnel's growling bass sound is one Chris Squire would be proud of.
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: January 12 2007 at 08:06
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The "Barracuda" bass he calls it.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: January 12 2007 at 08:08
Why?
Do you know what sort of bass it was?
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: January 12 2007 at 08:09
Can't rember off hand.....Fender Precision I fancy. As to why he called it Barracuda bass, I don't know. Maybe because its a big "Fish"? Or is a barracuda deep, low and growling?  ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: January 12 2007 at 12:56
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Great band with some prog credentials, and punk attitude, but by no means a punk band.. I thought Golden Brown was a 'waltz' 3/4??  ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: January 12 2007 at 13:59
Sorry to contradict you... Art Rock USED TO be pretty inclusive, because it was used in the way Prog-Related is now before the latter category was created. We of the AR team have recently started a cleanup of the category, which still includes everything under the sun, and are waiting for the green light to the Heavy Prog subgenre in order to proceed with aforesaid cleanup. Personally, I quite like The Stranglers and wouldn't frown on their addition by any means - after all, we've got Talk Talk here (I removed them from AR and placed them under PR just this morning), as well as The Doors, who were obviously a major influence on this so-called 'punk' band. However, I think that for the good of the site it would be better to stop adding bands to Proto-Prog and Prog-Related, at least for some time, because each and every one of these additions creates disruption on the forums. I was on the verge of adding Blue Oyster Cult before the holidays, but agreed with the other Admins that it was better to hold it off - even though they are one of my favourite bands. |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: January 12 2007 at 15:45
Mostly it is Andy, but there's a bar of 4/4 at the end of each pattern in the opening riff. |
Posted By: The Wizard
Date Posted: January 13 2007 at 09:27
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Definetely...listen to the underrated classic 'The Gospel According to the Men in Black'. That should definetely convince you they are a prog band with punk credentials. -------------  
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Posted By: Dick Heath
Date Posted: January 13 2007 at 13:26
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Just bought myself a new copy of Stranglers and friends in a sale this afternoon, and reminded what a bloody good punk band they were, and here Fripp/Hammill/Hillage guest and are too, very punk. It just goes against the grain for a band who had a punk hit No More Heroes, (which inpart attack the establishment including dinosaur rock), to consider some revisionist b*****ks to accept a band in here as 'prog related', who were one of the earliest antidotes to 70's prog. Myoptic hindsight IMHO. Go ask the band and have the suggestion laughed in your face; the Stranglers' fan may be more brutal. What next: including the anti-prog Clash because their spin-off band Big Audio Dynamite's first album was a great fusion of punk, beat box, film sound track on tunes that lasted more than 4 minutes; or the Sex Pistols because John Lyden's PIL's Compact album was a Bill Laswell inspired fusion of punk, world, and mainstream rock? ------------- The best eclectic music on the Web,8-11pm BST/GMT THURS. CLICK ON: http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php - http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php Host by PA's Dick Heath. |
Posted By: Chus
Date Posted: January 13 2007 at 16:44
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^^^it doesn't really matter if they "strangle" you.. come to think of it: Ian Anderson denies that JT are prog; it is said that Fripp also dissaproves. So the opinion of the artist doesn't really matter if the music speaks for itself ------------- Jesus Gabriel |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: January 14 2007 at 03:58
So there is! Just counted it... for the first time in only... 25 years. I should really pay more attention..  ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: January 14 2007 at 05:51
You learn something new every day mate. |
Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: January 14 2007 at 06:16
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I could live with their inclusion in prog-related.
Another band that was punk in spirit and not in music was The Police >> I heard a pre-Regatta De Blanc concert boadcast this Friday night and these guys were gooooood
 >> anything but basic music. They did most of Outlandos and previewed two tracks from theirsecond. At least as good as The Stranglers were. ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: January 14 2007 at 06:22
 I've always been a big fan of The Police, who are 'prog-related' in the most literal sense of the word (Stewart Copeland played in Curved Air and was married to Sonja Kristina, Andy Summers played with Soft Machine and Fripp). However, even if at risk of sounding like the proverbial stuck record, I think it would be better to avoid further PR additions for some time - at least until there is a major restructuring of the site and its aims. In fact, every controversial addition means extra work and stress for us of the Admin team  ...
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