It has often been said that the Stranglers are probably the most enduring band of the UK punk/new wave era, while at the same time, being the least celebrated. A number of present day bands cite the Stranglers as an influence; their concerts are always packed; and the loyalty of their fans is legendary, regularly following the band from gig to gig (both domestically and internationally). Yet, at times, bad or non existent press, have branded the Stranglers as the unwelcome "Lepers of Rock".

The original Stranglers’ line up began to coalesce during 1975 and brought together four individuals with very different backgrounds and interests. This diversity was probably a factor in keeping them together during the band's first phase (up until 1990).

Hugh Cornwell was a Biochemistry graduate from Bristol University who had gone to Lund University in Sweden to pursue research. Here, he formed a band called ‘Johnny Sox’ with two American draft dodgers and a Swede. Disillusioned with the politics of research (and with a desire to make the band succeed) he persuaded the other members that London was the place to be; they arrived in London - minus the drummer - in early 1974.

During the seventies, Jet Black had been a successful businessman. He was founder and owner of one of Britain’s first retail domestic brewing companies, (domestic brewing in Britain had been illegal before the seventies), and with both a wholesale and export side to the business, he pioneered many new products in the industry. More famously, he also owned a fleet of ice cream vans and ran a retail Off License, (a Liquor/Beer Store), all of which were located in Guildford, in the county of Surrey which is south-west of London.

Eventually, and perhaps inexplicably, losing interest in the routines of the business world, Jet began to look to music as an escape. In his teens, he had been a semi professional drummer working the pubs and clubs located mostly on the east side of London. Many London pubs at the time routinely featured live music, which became the basis of his early gigging experience.

Firstly, he realised that he needed to re-establish for himself whether he could still cut-it as a drummer and during late 1973 and early 1974, he was to spend many months working the circuit.

By 1974, he had made the historic decision to form a professional band, or more accurately, a band which was eventually to become professional. Without the experience of having done so before, he set about recruiting musicians for a series of rehearsals and try-outs in a search for the necessary personnel, while still playing nightly gigs to widen his experience. He recalls that after auditioning approximately 25 guitarists and well over 40 bass players, he one day answered a ‘Melody Maker’ advert seeking a drummer.

This led to a meeting between Jet, Hugh Cornwell and his drummer-less band ‘Johnny Sox’, in the Camden area of north London. Whereas many historians have recounted how Jet “joined” ‘Johnny Sox’, Jet points out that there was never any “joining”, and certainly no gigs were ever played.

He spent that first meeting doing a 30 minute run-through with the band which he found “interesting”, in the astonishingly furniture-less north London squat. There had been something about that 30 minutes which intrigued him and he suggested to the penniless outfit that a move to his vast Guildford business premises would be a good idea because, not only would it be more comfortable, but in his opinion, the band would be going nowhere without some serious preparatory work.

‘Johnny Sox’ were unimpressed by the offer until Jet mentioned he had suitable accommodation for them above his Off License!

There were daily rehearsals at the new address for awhile but after a time Jet reached the opinion that no-one with the exception of Hugh was actually committed, or prepared to do any serious work. Eventually Jet declared, “get serious or get out”. They got out.

This then, was the actual moment of the birth of the Stranglers, as Jet now offered Hugh the post of front man to his prospective new band, and that was the end of ‘Johnny Sox’.

Jean Jacques (JJ) Burnel, was introduced to Jet & Hugh through a chance hitch hiking incident. Although an accomplished young classical guitarist, he had never seriously considered a music career -- his main passion being Karate. His ambition at the time had been to travel to Japan, in order to further his development in this martial art. JJ has since fulfilled this ambition and currently teaches at his own Dojo in the UK. His other passion, maintained throughout his career, was, and is, for motorcycles.

Soon after that initial meeting, and upon discovering that he had always fancied playing bass, and was also a keen songwriter, it was suggested he join Hugh & Jet in the fledgling outfit.

Until that point, JJ had never actually played a bass, but fortunately, Hugh owned one and this made JJ’s acceptance of the offer more practical. The soon-to-be Stranglers were now three.

The foursome was (temporarily) completed by guitarist Hans Warmling, a friend of Hugh's from Sweden (photo courtesy of Joel Ekstrand). In this guise, the band started gigging around the Guildford area, under a variety of names.

By this time, to the amazement of everyone who knew him, Jet made the decision to commit himself totally to his music project and made plans to sell his business interests. Soon everyone departed from the Guildford premises which had seen the birth of the band and Jet rented a house in the tiny village of Chiddingfold where the band spent about a year preparing for their career. It was also during this period that the band’s strange name emerged.

After each days rehearsal and/or songwriting sessions, there was usually time for relaxation and over a period of some weeks, there seemed to be a near-daily “strangling”. This was either fictional - by way of some TV film or play - or actual, in newspaper and other media reports. The word “stranglers” or “strangling”, was so omnipresent around this period that it began to be adopted as a comic reference in the house and it was after an early Guildford gig, and a disastrous one at that - everything that could have gone wrong, did - that JJ happened to say, “the stranglers have really done it this time”, a jokey reference to the band’s performance that night. It’s generally considered that this immortal line was the origin of the name. It was of course in jest, but since no alternative was ever agreed upon, it eventually stuck.

The number of gigs slowly increased, and demo tapes were recorded; however, a record deal was not forthcoming. Eventually, Hans tired of the slow progress the band was making, despite their efforts, and quit the band and returned to Sweden.

In July 1975, an advertisement in ‘Melody Maker’, produced one Dave Greenfield, keyboard player. Dave had already played in a large number of bands and it was immediately obvious to the others that he was a natural addition to the line-up. The unusual inclusion of swirling keyboards at the time was to give the band a very distinctive sound, setting them apart from their contemporaries.

The end result was a very dedicated and hard working band, that was almost constantly on the road. This determination first led to a deal with Albion, a London agency which gave them access to some of the City's most influential pub venues. In December 1976, the band signed a recording contract with United Artists. To the Stranglers and those that knew them, this was the culmination of all their persistence over a two year period; ironically, their signing angered a number of established bands who thought that these “upstarts" had come from nowhere!

So began the ever changing recording career of the Stranglers. The punk scene was a matter of weeks from its own genesis in Britain and indeed, many of the soon-to-be punk stars had become regulars at the Stranglers’ performances, the Stranglers being the clear leaders of an as yet un-named new style of music.

The band's diversity had been clear from an early stage (and may have actually contributed to the difficulty in finding a record deal, as they could not be easily pigeon holed); this flexibility and their experimental creativity were evident on an increasingly wide range of songs, with many stylistic twists and turns being showcased. New technology and techniques were happily embraced (as is clearly evident on such albums as "The Gospel According to the Meninblack") and new horizons were explored with the inclusion of a brass section (from "Aural Sculpture" to "10") and steel guitar (on "Dreamtime").

Through all this diversity, one image stuck to the band -- black. In the early eighties, the band's fascination with the Meninblack, (mysterious visitors to UFO witnesses, possibly not of human origin, who tried to silence their victims), led to "The Gospel According to the Meninblack", which gave an alternative view to biblical happenings, from the perspective of alien intervention. Soon the band themselves were being dubbed "The Meninblack", further strengthened by the all black dress adopted on stage. Even today, this name is still applied to the band.

By 1990, and the completion of the tenth studio album "10", Hugh Cornwell thought that the band could, artistically, go no further. August 11th saw the last performance of the Stranglers with Hugh, at the Alexandra Palace in London (seen at right). At this point, the others had seen no hint of Hugh's pending departure, and only found out later.

Hugh has since gone on to produce an album under the guise of "Cornwell, Cook and West" and solo efforts "Wired", "Guilty", "Hi Fi" and “Beyond Elysian Fields”. He is also to be seen touring solo, or with his new band.

In the aftermath, JJ, Jet and Dave concluded that they disagreed with Hugh's assessment of the band's prospects and decided to continue, albeit in a new format.

The first new recruit was John Ellis, well, not entirely new. John had both associated, and collaborated with the band for many years in one way or another. He was a former member of the ‘Vibrators’ whose very first gig was in a support role to the Stranglers way back in the seventies. He had been a member of JJ's ‘Euroband’ for the "Euroman Cometh" (solo album) tour in 1979 and had played guitar for the gigs at the Rainbow (London, UK) which featured a number of artists filling in for an incarcerated Hugh Cornwell (jailed briefly for drugs possession). More recently he had been a member of the ‘Purple Helmets’, a cover band featuring both JJ and Dave and had joined the band's live set as an additional guitarist during the "10" tour. As an established member of the Stranglers’ extended family, John was the obvious choice as the new guitarist and he fitted neatly into the band for awhile.

Although some demo tracks were recorded with the band in this format, with JJ taking a larger vocal role, the band decided to look for a singer. A number of familiar names became associated with the search, most notably Dave Vanian (the Damned) and Ian McNabb (the Icicle Works).

During auditions, the band was soon faced with one Paul Roberts, who proclaimed "I'm your new lead singer"; upon hearing his wide vocal range and quality, the band agreed and the Stranglers MK II were born. The new lineup now presented a completely different (and more dynamic) image, with Paul crashing and writhing about the stage. At the same time, the horn section was abandoned, giving a more straight forward presentation.

This reincarnation of the Stranglers produced four albums: "Stranglers in the Night", "About Time", "Written in Red" and "Coup de Grace". As always, these albums showed a great musical diversity, blending in the talents of Paul and John.

In March 2000, after nearly ten years with the band, John Ellis left to pursue other interests. He was replaced by ‘Small Town Heroes’ guitarist, Baz Warne. Baz will be familiar to Stranglers fans who attended the UK "About Time" tour in 1995, as ‘Small Town Heroes’ provided the support. He was almost immediately thrown into the spotlight for live performances in Bosnia and several festivals around Europe. With Baz securely in place, 2004 saw the release of the much acclaimed fifteenth studio album ‘Norfolk Coast’.

May 2006 saw the departure of Paul Roberts, after sixteen years service with the band. This was an amicable split, with Paul moving on to pursue other interests. The band was now a four piece for the first time since Hugh's departure in 1990, with Baz sharing vocal duties alongside JJ. The first gig in the new format was at the Midsummer Buzz Festival in Weston-Super-Mare in June 2006, with a new album -- Suite XVI –- following in September of the same year.

The Stranglers are now over thirty years old, and have seen many changes in their career, but we can certainly look forward to plenty more exciting yearsinblack.