Jean-Jacques Burnel, a musician, producer, songwriter and bassist with The Stranglers chats with Kevin Cooper about collaborating with Simple Minds, Hugh Cornwell leaving the band, Jett Black’s health and their forthcoming Definitive UK Tour.

Jean-Jacques Burnel is a Franco-English musician, producer and songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist with the rock band The Stranglers.

They are an English rock band who emerged via the punk scene and after a career that has spanned over four decades; they have had twenty-three UK top forty singles and seventeen UK top forty albums, making them one of the longest surviving and most continuously successful bands to have originated in the UK punk scene.

Formed as the Guildford Stranglers in 1974, they went on to have mainstream success with their 1982 single Golden Brown. Their other hits include No More Heroes, Peaches, Always The Sun and Skin Deep. After the departure of founding member, Hugh Cornell in 1990, The Stranglers continued to have success with their 2003 hit Big Thing Coming which saw them return to form.

Burnel is currently a 7^th degree black belt (Nanadan) in Karate and is head of Shidokan UK. He is also a very keen motorcyclist and has owned many Triumph motorbikes.

Before going into rehearsals for their forthcoming tour, Jean-Jacques took some time out to have a chat with Kevin cooper and this is what he had to say.

JJ how are you today?

Hi Kevin I’m fine thanks mate how are you?

I’m very well thank you and before we move on let me thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.

No thank you for bothering to actually want to speak to me. It goes both ways.

Well it seems to have become an annual event just like the Christmas panto. Whenever we are coming up to March I either speak to Baz or your good self (laughter).

(Laughter) he’s behind you. I totally agree with you that it has now become tradition hasn’t it. Every March The Stranglers go out on tour here in the UK and the good thing is that more and more people seem to want to be part of it. Maybe it breaks up the winter and it heralds in the spring. That sounds quite good actually ‘The Stranglers herald in the spring’ (laughter).

It reminds me of the late 70s when most of the big bands would go out on a Christmas tour; Lindisfarne spring to mind.

That’s right; a lot of the bands did that didn’t they, including Gary Glitter.

(Laughter) we won’t go there.

Surely there is nothing wrong with mentioning the fact that Gary Glitter used to play a Christmas show every year (hysterical laughter).

If you now look at the re-runs of Top Of The Pops they have totally written Gary Glitter out of the UK’s musical history.

Yes I know and to be honest with you, I have got an opinion about all that. Don’t get me wrong I feel that it was total bullshit what he did but it’s also bullshit to write him out of history. It’s like these statues which people are demanding to be taken down; they want to erase and then rewrite history. Getting rid of historical statues of people who are considered incorrect, in today’s present way of thinking, is wrong. In most cases I would say “yes they were wrong” but at the end of the day that is all part of our history. It’s all bullshit and I feel that it actually reflects more on the people who want these things banned; its rewriting history and I simply do not agree with that but anyway.

I can remember going to the NEC in Birmingham many times to see the Gary Glitter Christmas Gang Show.

I never went but friends of mine who did go all tell me that it was brilliant. They all tell me that it was really good fun. To take Gary Glitters music out of our history is, in my opinion, political correctness gone mad. It reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984 where they rewrite history every week. It’s all bullshit.

Anyway let’s not get on to politics (laughter).

Well it’s all politics isn’t it?

Well my personal opinion is that we should invite President Trump over to the UK and see just what he has got to say for himself.

To my mind it is like free speech within universities, the students are not allowed to hold extreme views or to have those views challenged simply because they are not allowed to speak.

Did you recently see where a female student was demonstrating against Trump on the freeway, she got hit by a car and now she is suing the University for letting her demonstrate (laughter).

It’s all total bullshit. Political correctness is, in my opinion, is merely a form of censorship.

That’s right and unfortunately at this moment in time the UK is going just a step too far with it.

Yes we are, but fortunately you have got bands like The Stranglers who stand up to be counted.

Yes we have, very much so, always have and always will hopefully.

Hopefully indeed (laughter).

Right on that note let’s push on and talk about music. As you well know I could speak for England and I think that is why you have been avoiding me and have been letting Baz speak to me (laughter).

(Laughter) I haven’t been avoiding you. I would never avoid the chance to speak to you Kevin as whenever we have spoken in the past you have always left me thinking.

So let me ask you, how is life treating you?

Life is good; I mean The Stranglers are in a good place. I am personally in a good place which hasn’t always been the case so I really do feel blessed at the moment.

You are about to go back out on the road on The Definitive Tour. The Oxford English Dictionary defines definitive as being ‘of a conclusion’ or ‘done or reached decisively and with authority’. Based on that I have to ask you will the next tour be the end of The Stranglers?

Certainly not. Not unless I keel over and die tomorrow or perhaps Dave (laughter). There is another definition of the word definitive which is ‘how you define yourself’. That is where you can use definitive as the catch all word. Everyone thinks that it means the last tour but it also means how you define yourself. And we define ourselves by playing every March and playing our material as we feel like (laughter). It is obviously a word which has thrilled a few people whilst upsetting a few other people so I personally think that it is a useful Stranglers word. It is ambiguous and that works for me (laughter).

Have you started rehearsing for the tour as yet?

No not as yet as we have got quite a lot to do. We are off to Australia and New Zealand where we will be playing the set that we played here in the UK last year. Then when we get back we will have to rehearse the UK set which is going to be quite a bit different to what we have been playing recently. The Stranglers hardly ever play in Ireland but on the forthcoming tour we are playing three big shows over there just before the UK tour. So we don’t want to upset the production of the UK tour in Ireland because we can’t take the same production with us. What all of this means is that we will have to learn three sets in one week (laughter).

Any sign as yet of a new studio album?

It’s funny that you are asking me that again (laughter). I know that the last time that we spoke I said that we were busy recording but I have to come clean and tell you that simply was not the case. However, I would like us to begin recording sooner rather than later because I have now got quite a lot of material going around in my head. I like to put the pressure on the rest of the band, because they always want to record a song straight away but I think that the best way is for them to want to record it; I find that they learn the pieces better, they understand what they can do and what they can’t do, and I want to create space in the music.

In the studio you have the luxury of putting lots of different ideas down. However, when you come to playing the songs live you have only got one set of hands to play all of those different ideas. Therefore you have to create synthesis so it becomes the most efficient thing for the parts that you are learning, otherwise you have got too much choice. So as you can see I like to keep the pressure on the blokes in the band to make them really want to record something that we have written. A rather longwinded answer to your question and an explanation of where we are at this moment in time.

On the subject of creating a synthesis, isn’t that how the late Jimi Hendrix created his guitar solos?

Yes he did, he really did. You are absolutely spot on and that is why I really do enjoy our chats, you know your subject matter. Whenever you hear all of those wonderful guitar solos from the late Jimi Hendrix, in actual fact he never played those. He played five or six different solos and when it came to mixing it down, he would choose the best part. He created a synthesis of all of the different parts. So you have got generations of different guitarists who listened to Jimi Hendrix, all of those guitar solos and learnt to play them note for note but that is not exactly as he played them (laughter). He would say “oh that first part is good so I will keep that” and then he would take the second part of his third take, stick that onto the first part and he would painstakingly create his solos that way.

I have tried to use that very same methodology with The Stranglers. Modern recording techniques are such that they give you an infinite number of both variety and choices, but not the right one. You can only get the right one when you are playing live unless you are cheating and are using backing tapes and stuff.

So is there any news on a new Stranglers studio album?

This will shock you, yes there is (laughter). We are looking at finishing the album sometime this year with a release date of 2019 which will be finalised in September. To be honest with you it has been really difficult as I have around one hundred and fifty ideas for new songs for the album written down. What I have to do is to take them as far as I can before I start culling which, as you can imagine, is quite a lengthy process. Plus the fact you have to remember that The Stranglers have been so in demand all over the world. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great, I love playing live and we love being together. However, there comes a time where you are chomping at the bit to do something new.

I’m glad that you have cleared that up because for the past three years I have been asking you and Baz the same question and you have both told me “oh yes, it’s in the can, we just have to tidy a few things up and it is ready to go” when clearly that is not the case (laughter).

(Laughter) what can I say, I’m sorry if both Baz and I have mislead you but it will be well worth the wait (laughter).

When the album is finally released will you break with tradition or will you tour the new album in March?

If we have the album ready by then, I would love to do our normal March tour with a lot of new material. In an ideal world that would be the plan but sometimes with all the best will in the world you can screw up really (laughter). But as I said, that is the plan.

You will be bringing The Definitive Tour to Rock City here in Nottingham on Monday 12^th March. What can we expect because for the past few years you have treated us to gigs which contained whole albums?

Yes that’s right we played the Black And White album in its entirety two years ago now, and I have to say that really was good fun. To be honest with you the set list for the forthcoming tour is looking a hell of a lot different to anything that we done recently.

Will it be a Stranglers greatest hits tour or will we be treated to some of your favourite Stranglers tracks?

(Laughter) have you been speaking to someone about this (laughter). There is let’s say quite a bit of overlapping and I have to be transparent with you and say no, this time it will not be a greatest hits tour.

I will just have to be patient and wait and see.

Yes you will and I think that is the more enjoyable part of it. If I divulge everything now to you, or at least out intentions, which obviously could change, then it wouldn’t be as exciting for you on the night.

You always play Rock City and you always put on a tremendous show.

I know7 we have discussed this a lot of times between ourselves. Rock City is not the perfect stage for The Stranglers production. However, it has such a great fucking vibe and the people of Nottingham seem to have taken that place to their hearts. I mean it’s a smelly shithole with a really good vibe where your feet stick to the floor (laughter). It has a really great rock and roll vibe and unlike a lot of venues which have got plush backstage areas and deep stages, Rock City doesn’t. However, what it doesn’t have it makes up for in vibe.

To quote you from the last time that we spoke, you said then of Rock City “it’s scuzzy but it’s a must play venue”.

(Laughter) yes that just about sums the place up (laughter).

This year The Stranglers will have been together for forty-four years, have you enjoyed the ride?

Being totally open and honest with you I would have to say that I have enjoyed ninety-nine percent of the ride. When I look back The Stranglers have been a lifetime in which I have seen a lot of people come and go. There have been lots of different things happening in that time too. I personally think that The Stranglers have remained quite true to themselves and I know that at the moment we have written some stuff which is timeless. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure that we have done some stuff which is dated of course but a lot of our stuff hasn’t dated. During that time I have seen fashions and trends come and go and now people are starting to be honest about our influence, which is rewarding as they didn’t do that before. I take a lot of pride from that because, as you well know, we have taken quite a lot of criticism over the years. We have had our fair share of ups and downs but we seem to have survived them.

What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?

Crikey, that is such a hard question. You are asking that of someone who has had a forty-four year career in the same band (laughter). I have had so many ups and quite a few downs you know. However, I would have to say that it would probably be The Stranglers being signed to a major record label after being totally rejected by twenty-four record companies. That really was a highlight. There have been a few others such as when Golden Brown was a worldwide hit despite the record company not wanting to release it (laughter). That really was two fingers up to them. Also probably another highlight was the reviews that we got for the album Norfolk Coast fourteen years after (Hugh) Cornwell had left the band. It was at that time that I regained my confidence.

The last time that I spoke to Baz he said that the Norfolk Coast album was the turning point for The Stranglers; it allowed you to move forward.

Yes, absolutely it was. At that time we were going round in ever decreasing circles and I personally was losing faith and I certainly wasn’t happy. The dynamic in the band wasn’t good and we were simply going round in ever decreasing circles. As they say I had lost my mojo. At that time I was in a really shit place in my personal life. My marriage was going down the pan so for me to be re-vindicated with Norfolk Coast was brilliant and from that point things seem to just keep getting better and better. I actually wrote two albums in one week. Looking back I suppose that everyone who is remotely creative has those dark places that they go to.

So from highlights to low points. What would you say has been the low point of your time spent with The Stranglers?

I think that the lowest point was when Hugh left the band and I discovered that he had been doing all kinds of stuff behind our backs. That really hurt.

You mention tracks that have stood the test of time, I have been watching the DVD for (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) which you recently re-recorded with Simple Minds and I have to say that it still sounds as fresh today as it did back in 1977 over forty years ago.

Well thank you, thanks for that. I will take that as a really huge compliment. I think that it still does sound fresh which is not a bad thing. You can’t say that about too many pieces so that is a really big plus.

Whose idea was the collaboration with Simple Minds?

After we had played a few shows with them, which I have to say were great, there was no pressure, we were reaching out to their audience who might not necessarily have considered listening to The Stranglers and I’m pleased to say that we won them over which was great. After one of the shows Jim (Kerr) and Charlie (Burchill) admitted to me that the first band that they ever saw was The Stranglers while Jim and Charlie were still in a band called Johnny & The Self Abusers, a long time before they became Simple Minds. Apparently when they saw us they had their road to Damascus enlightenment moment and say that it was because of The Stranglers that they started their band.

They are both really big fans of that song and they wanted to have the opportunity to record it with us, which we did. You have seen the video on YouTube and it was absolutely brilliant. It was good fun and we really didn’t mind recycling a really old Stranglers track (laughter).

Is a collaboration something that you would do again, if it felt right?

Yes, of course. However, the problem which The Stranglers have had is that everyone has tried to avoid us, most probably thinking that we would take their heads off or something (laughter). There has always been a reticence from lots of other musicians, and even people later to have anything to do with us. That comes from a reputation way back. But yes, of course I would be both flattered and honoured to play or to collaborate with other people. It’s never been easy with The Stranglers because as I have said people are still wary of us in some quarters. We have always fought our corner so maybe that is why we have got a bad reputation. We have always been straight and honest with people. If someone is going to poke me in the eye then I am going to poke them back (laughter). It is as simple as that.

That is why I always keep out of your way at Rock City (laughter).

(Laughter) you are safe….for now (laughter).

Moving swiftly on, what was the first record that you bought?

(Laughter) I know this, it was My Boy Lollipop by Millie. You can’t beat a bit of SKA. I remember it well; it was released on Island Records and it was the very first single that I ever bought.

Who did you first see performing live in concert?

Now that’s a good one, and it would have been John Williams playing a classical recital at Dorking Halls.

What was the last song or piece of music that made you cry?

That’s a good question, and that would have been Clair de Lune by Debussy.

Now I told Jim Kerr this and he said that I must tell you the next time that we spoke, so here goes. I put that very same question to Burt Bacharach and he told me that it was your cover of the Dionne Warwick song Walk On By. I asked him if the song had moved him that much to which he replied “no, it was bloody rubbish”.

(Hysterical laughter) that is so funny.

I ask you every time that we speak, how’s Jett (Black)?

Jett is alright within himself, as he said to me on the phone a couple of weeks ago now, his whole body is simply shutting down. Jett has had health issues all of the forty odd years that I have known him. Sadly he is not going to be getting any better at his age. (Laughter) he did abuse himself in every single rock and roll way that he could plus some ways which you might not even be able to imagine (laughter). So he is now paying the price but he is great, he still has an opinion about what we do. He is still very much interested in what the band does. Unfortunately however, he can’t play anymore so it is what it is with Jett bless him.

JJ on that note let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me today, it’s been great, as usual. You take care and I will see you here in Nottingham at Rock City.

No thank you Kevin, it’s been a pleasure. You take care and make sure that you come and say hello when we get to Nottingham. Bye for now.

Baz Warne, vocalist and guitarist with The Stranglers chats with Kevin Cooper about the theft of his motorbike, playing bass on Nellie The Elephant, rehearsing the Black And White album, and their forthcoming tour of the UK.

Barry ‘Baz’ Warne is the current guitarist and vocalist of The Stranglers. Earlier in his career, he was the guitarist and front-man of numerous bands. He formed the Troubleshooters in 1985, who released two singles before changing their name to the Small Town Heroes in 1992. In 2000 Baz was invited to audition for The Stranglers, whom he had met in 1995 when Small Town Heroes supported The Stranglers on tour. In 2006 he took over the role of the lead vocals and The Stranglers became a four piece band. Now in the band for over 15 years, he can truly say that he is one of The Stranglers.

Taking time out from his busy rehearsal schedule to talk to Kevin Cooper, this is what he had to say.

Baz good morning how are you?

I’m very well my friend how are you?

I’m very well thank you and let me just say that it is good to speak to you again.

It’s always a pleasure Kevin. So tell me what’s the weather like down there in sunny Nottingham today?

It’s a good day today with hardly a cloud in a very blue sky.

That’s good. Well here I am looking out over a beautiful calm North Sea complete with a blue sky, fluffy white clouds, sun and seagulls. It’s all really rather nice (laughter).

The last time we spoke was the day after you had been down to Long Eaton to pick up your new Triumph Tiger Explorer XC motor bike. How are you finding it?

Yes that’s right Kevin I had been down to see Pete Cox in Long Eaton. I have to tell you that I have had some trials and tribulations with it since then. Whilst I was away on tour over in Europe last November it got nicked out of the garages underneath the apartments where I live. The good news is that I got it back with minimal damage done to it. You can’t steal, ride and start a motorbike like that unless you have got the keys and the codes and all of the bits of shit, so that was a bit traumatic. I garage it now with a friend because as you can imagine I am away an awful lot. I am actually moving quite soon which will be a relief and the bike will be safe then. I will be able to garage it somewhere else just in case these little bastards come back and try to steal it again (laughter).

Unfortunately Baz it’s the way of the world, if they want it they will take it.

True Kevin although I seem to think that the bastards knew that I wasn’t around. Where I live is pretty secure and there were a few little bits and pieces which indicated that they may have had some inside help. It’s a fourteen grand motor bike and unless you have got everything that you need you physically can’t start it. If they had tried to go into a dealership to get a new key or anything like that a flag would have come up and the bike would have been flagged as being nicked. They stashed it, covering it in branches, leaves and fucking bracken in case it had a tracking device on it, which it actually does.

And then they came back a couple of days later to see if it was still there. If it had have been they would have taken it away, broken it up and sold it for parts. Anyway I got it back but we never did catch the little bastards who did it but we will, I’m sure that we will.   When we got back from the tour I went downstairs to thank the concierges because he had been quite helpful to the police and he showed me the CCTV footage of these two little bastards stealing my bike (laughter). But like I say I have got it back and it is now once again as good as they day that I got it. Anyway enough of that shite (laughter).

Is it the same bike that JJ (Burnell) has got?

Almost, the version that JJ has got is not the XC model but to look at them they are practically identical. I like it because it is a big 1200cc touring machine which means that me and my girlfriend can get away on it quite a lot.

So apart from the grief with the bike just how is life treating you?

Very well thank you. We have just spent possibly the hardest rehearsal period that we have ever had in memory down in Somerset rehearsing the Black And White album, doing that over and over and over again in a confined space at quite high volumes. Whenever we go down there we take a cottage for two or three weeks where we all live together like when Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer took the mickey out of Slade (laughter) it’s a bit like that. We are all living together in this cottage and we have all got our chores to do (laughter). Very often we would finish work and go and have a pint in a little country pub, go and get some dinner and then tumble into bed at 9 o’clock which is unheard of for us and certainly for me (laughter).

We had to put the hours in because we have only played Black And White once before which was at The Stranglers Convention back in 2011. There was one song which we had opted not to play but now of course we have got to do the whole thing. What I will say is that it was very interesting but also very tiring. I came home after a fortnight of that and I spoke to JJ yesterday and the two of us agreed that it was the hardest rehearsals that we have done for some time.

You are going out on the road to tour the whole of the Black And White album. Is that something that you enjoy doing because it seems to have become the norm now touring a whole album?

It’s certainly a challenge. I mean remembering when Black And White originally came out I was actually fourteen years old (laughter). I have got nothing to do with the album whatsoever. In actual fact it was the very first Stranglers album that I bought and then after that I went back and bought the first two. Over the years we have played quite a few songs off the Black And White album; there is probably only three of four songs off the album that we haven’t played on a regular basis. It’s an interesting concept and it has certainly stirred up a lot of interest.

As you know we tour every March now and with each progressive year we always think right, this will be the last one. You can’t help but think that people are going to get sick of it. I always think to myself ‘are we trying to fucking milk this thing too much’. But you know what, they come out in their absolute droves. This year we have opted to play a couple of larger places in London and Manchester simply because of the response that we have had in the past years. Those gigs have already shown massive promise so it is interesting. I think that people like to see an album played in its original sequence and they like to see just how these songs have stood up over the years. If the last couple of weeks is anything to go by then let me tell you, these songs have stood up fantastically.

We had a great time and there were big smiles all round when something was achieved. When we finished at the end of the day Dave Greenfield in particular would always say ‘that was a good day’s work’. So we are all quite satisfied with that. But what you have to remember Kevin is that it only constitutes forty-five minutes so we have rehearsed another entire set as well. So the whole evening will be close to touching two hours actually all told. We have got some interesting production going on together with great lights and to be honest with you before we went off to rehearse there is always a bit of trepidation of, will this work will this not work. But after three days we came out and let me tell you Kevin once a little progress has been made, man does that ease your mind. I came home feeling lighter than when I went and that had nothing at all to do with the West Country Cider (laughter).

Putting you on the spot do you have a favourite track off the album?

That is very difficult for me to say. If somebody put a gun to my head and I was pressed into choosing just one track I would have to say Hey! (Rise Of The Robots) which has always been one of my favourites. I also love Death & Night & Blood, but then again I love Threatened, I love Curfew, I love Sweden (All Quiet On The Eastern Front).  When you sit and look at these songs in a list you just think to yourself bloody hell (laughter). To be honest with you Kevin I will say that in my opinion Black And White wasn’t an absolute cast-iron, stonewall classic. There are two or three songs on there that are fillers in my opinion if I am honest.

But if you are looking at an album of twelve songs from that era; of that time, then you are looking at an album of twelve songs where nine of them are absolute classics on there. I mean that is pretty damn good in anybody’s book. Again I will stress that this is just my opinion. I know that a lot of people like the more obscure and very dark stuff on the Black side of the album. To me it is a bit of a challenge to listen too but it is great to play.

So picking you up on that, where would Black And White sit in your list of favourite Stranglers albums?

Well it would certainly be in the top three. I have always had a soft spot for the No More Heroes album. I know that a lot of people go on about Rattus Norvegicus which to me as a debut album there is no finer. But I have always loved No More Heroes, and I love songs like Peasant In The Big Shitty, which is probably my all-time favourite Stranglers tune. It is so sinister and dark with a different rhythm to it. Dave sings it of course which also renders it a bit spooky as well (laughter). So I would certainly say that Black And White is there in my top three without a doubt.

Staying on the subject of touring albums, the next album release by The Stranglers was Live (X Cert) which was recorded live at both The Roundhouse Chalk Farm and Battersea Park. Will you tour that album or will you go straight onto The Raven?

(Hysterical laughter) I think that people are going to expect us to do that Kevin but as you know that has never been a Stranglers trait. Between you, me and the goalposts we have actually got plans to write and record a totally new album this year.

You are a bugger because you told me last year that you and JJ were writing new material (laughter).

(Laughter) in that case Kevin we are all buggers (laughter). To be honest with you we didn’t realise that people would still be clambering to see us playing live just as much as they are. Me and JJ are amassing new material all of the time. I have got notebooks full of ideas and I know that he has too. I was over at his place recently and we just sat around playing acoustic guitars for a whole week, while putting little notes and sketchers down. We really need to be away from all of the distractions of life so to speak, in somewhere that is pretty isolated. That is just the way that we work and unfortunately we just didn’t get that opportunity last year.

Grabbing snippets here and there whilst amassing a small body of ideas is one thing but sitting in proper solitude with recording equipment and hashing these ideas out and trying to formulate them into songs is quite another thing. I have already said to the rest of the guys that I don’t think that we can possibly tour again without playing two or three new songs; road testing them like we used to in the old days. Play them before we record them whilst ironing out the wrinkles and everything. That unfortunately didn’t happen simply because we didn’t have the time. I know that probably sounds like a cop-out but it is true.

We need to sit and really properly have two or three totally uninterrupted months because that is how me and JJ do it. We then take what we have come up with to Dave for his input together with whoever is going to be drumming. (Laughter) so if I said that to you last year Kevin and I am again saying that to you this year, I’m sorry and I just hope that I am not saying the same thing to you next year (laughter).

You have just mentioned drummers, I have to ask you how is Jet’s health?

Well I spoke to Jet around two weeks ago now, he sounded fine but what you have to remember Kevin is that Jet is a seventy-seven year old man. His health is fine but every year as we start the run-up to the March tours we are always concerned about just how much Jet is going to be able to do; will we see him will we not. Being honest Jet doesn’t even know. As you will know with all best laid plans there is always a risk element involved. We have taken Jet on tour quite a few times in the past and he has fallen ill earlier than we would have wanted, and we have had to replace him.

Jet is pragmatic and realistic enough to realise that he is not dependable now and that is purely and simply down to his age, nothing else. I know that it rankles him and I know that he is twenty-one years old in his head as we all are but Jet can only do what Jet can only do. So it remains to be seen if he will join us at some stage during the tour.

On the subject of the tour, you are being supported by The Alarm which is, in my opinion, a great choice.

We have been friends with Mike Peters for many, many years now. He’s a top man is Mike although I do know that he has had his health issues together with his trials and tribulations and everything. When were toured with Simple Minds last December we were playing in London and Mike came backstage to see us after the show. He looked exactly the same as he always has in fact I looked at some photographs that had been taken of Mike back in 1983 and he looks just the same; he has never changed the bastard (laughter). He is a lovely down to earth fella and we are looking forward to having him along. A good rousing kick up your arse special guest band, it can’t hurt things.

You are once again playing here in Nottingham at Rock City on Monday 7^th March. You obviously like playing there?

To be honest with you Kevin, the best thing about playing Rock City is that it is one of those gigs that you simply must do. It has arguably been on the circuit longer than any other venue in the country that I can think of. Whenever we play Rock City there is always a fantastic turnout; the crowds are always enthusiastic and I am told that the ticket sales for this year’s gig are doing far better than they have in previous years, so onwards and upwards.

Let me take you back to 1984 and The Toy Dolls version of Nellie The Elephant. Just what part did a certain Barry “Baz” Warne have to play in that?

(Hysterical laughter) bollocks. Yes alright, you’ve got me, I will just have to come clean and admit that I actually played the bass on that record but if ever you tell anyone I will hunt you down and kill you, bastard (laughter).

On that note let me thank you for taking the time to speak to me Baz.

It’s been, as usual, an absolute pleasure speaking to you Kevin. You take care and I will see you in Nottingham. Thanks very much and bye for now.

The Stranglers performing their March On 2015 Tour at Rock City Nottingham on Tuesday 24^th March 2015.

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Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

Any artists with careers spanning over four decades, can be excused for putting their feet up, but not so The Stranglers. On the back of a successful Ruby Anniversary Tour, these 70’s punk icons are still not only on the scene, but they continue to tour year in year out with as much verve and passion as ever before.

With Jean-Jacques Burnell and Baz Warne leading from the front, a packed Rock City crowd erupted at the first chords of opener Longships, and never stood still again until the end of a two hour set, which delivered material from almost all of their 17 studio albums together with recent numbers from their latest offering, Giants.

Drummer Jet Black was regularly derided for being ancient when The Stranglers first hit the charts in the 1970’s, but decades on he is still there, well almost; he missed this show due to his poor health. But Jim MacAulay did a sterling job whilst Dave Greenfield was outstanding on keyboards. Not known for having much to say, JJ left the banter to the affable northerner, Baz Warne, who joined the band a decade and a half ago. In all, it was a tight knit unit that delivered a 26 song set.

There were also a few less karate kicks from JJ, but these days fewer members of the audience want to take a pop at the martial arts expert.

It was the music that did the talking as a mixed audience pogoed in unison to rare outings such as I’ve Been Wild, Four Horsemen and Relentless, whilst the decidedly mellow Golden Brown got one of the biggest cheers of the night. The old favourites, (Get A) Grip (On Yourself), Always The Sun, Skin Deep and Duchess were all delivered with the energy of twenty year olds.

Coming back for the first encore; Peaches with its thunderous bass line was as good as when the original author sang it, and with a second encore providing a stunning version of No More Heroes, there is no doubt that these aging punk rockers can still entertain.