Screen Wonders 3.6

The Stranglers, it’s now been almost 38 years since this band came into being. Formed by drummer Jet Black in ’74, the line-up has gone through a few changes throughout the years, finally culminating (at the time of this recording) in Jet, JJ Burnel, Dave Greenfield, Paul Roberts on vocals and ex Toy Doll Baz Warne on guitar, the latter two replacing Hugh Cornwell’s role in the band since 1990. This performance was filmed at the end of 2005 at the Shepherds Bush Empire, and although I wasn’t at this particular gig (mainly due to the terrible visibility for short-arses like me at the venue) I did spot my brother in the audience at the beginning – thoroughly enjoying himself with the plethora of other 40+ year old males that have always made up The Stranglers fan-base.

No single box set–however sumptuously packaged, however comprehensively compiled–could hope to contain the bewildering, diverse array of musical styles and opinions that was brought together under the loose description "punk" between 1976 and 1979.

No single box set–however sumptuously packaged, however comprehensively compiled–could hope to contain the bewildering, diverse array of musical styles and opinions that was brought together under the loose description "punk" between 1976 and 1979. There were so many fresh ideas and concepts–the final, irreversible emancipation of women in rock and the creation of an entirely new, non-R&B, guitar-based music form–contained within that one word, no compilation could hope to represent it fairly. 1-2-3-4 has a damn good try, though. Five CDs, featuring 100 tracks from the good, bad and downright ugly of punk.