Jean Jacques Burnel

Un entretien avec le bassiste, compositeur et chanteur de rock J.-J. Burnel. Il témoigne notamment de l'influence qu'a eu son groupe, les Stranglers, sur la scène punk britannique, de son rapport au public et aux médias ou encore des recompositions du groupe depuis le départ de Hugh Cornwell en 1990. …

Singer/songwriter Jacques Dutronc gained popularity in his native France with his provocative songs that matched the rebellious spirit of the '60s so well. Though he was absent from the musical scene for nearly a decade, pursuing a film career, he successfully returned to music in the early '80s and still remains one of the most popular performers in the French-speaking world.

As part of The Stranglers' celebration of their Ruby Anniversary, the definitive collection of the B-side recordings they made whilst signed to Epic is released for the first time, via their own label. Appropriately, as befits a band marking forty years together, Here & There: The Epic B-sides Collection 1983-1991 gathers 40 tracks across 2 CDs and is also released as a 40 track digital package. The Stranglers released no less than 13 singles in the UK during this period, which saw them produce five albums: four studio and one live. The Stranglers signed to Epic Records in 1982 having been with United Artists / Liberty since 1977. The change of label coincided with changes in marketing policy across the UK industry - often dubbed "the Frankie Goes to Hollywood effect". Previously, The Stranglers' had released only one 12" single - an extended version of Bear Cage in 1980 - but from 2nd Epic single, Midnight Summer Dream until 1990, each release had a 12" version which required extra studio or, increasingly, live tracks to "add value" to the package.

The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning four decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" bands to have originated in the UK punk scene…

“Autonomy” is a sensational addition to our Ace’s long-standing producer’s series. After cutting his teeth as a recording engineer for artists from T.Rex to Shirley Bassey, Martin Rushent broke through in 1977 producing the Stranglers. From that point, he helped give new wave bands a delicious pop edge helming seminal recordings by 999, Buzzcocks, XTC, Generation X and the Rezillos to name a few. As the 80s dawned he set up Genetic sound and armed with the latest technology his pioneering work with the Human League on “Dare” defined the sound of UK synthpop and brought him international recognition. After that, the hits and cutting edge production work continued.

Despite its rather cheeky title, Greatest Hits 1977-1990 is a good place to sample the entire Stranglers output. From the squalor of the late-'70s material, to the smoothed-out gloom pop of songs like "Skin Deep" and other mid- to late-'80s neo-goth rock, this is a solid anthology that values substance over style and exhaustive track selection. For sure, a well-edited Stranglers anthology is the only way to enjoy them; they recorded way too much dross to spend time searching out all of their plentiful, marginal records.