Hugh Cornwell left the Stranglers in August 1990, following a concert at the Alexandra Palace in London, England. This move came as a complete surprise to everyone involved with the band (including the remaining three members).

Since his departure from the Stranglers, Hugh has recorded four studio albums. The first of these was under the CCW (Cornwell, Cook and West) banner. The second, "Wired" was recorded as a solo effort. Interesting additions to this latter project are those of Robert Williams on drums/percussion and Alex Gifford on bass. Williams is credited with Hugh on the 1979 release "Nosferatu"; Gifford was part of the brass section with the Stranglers, as well as being a member of the Purple Helmets. 1997 saw the release of "Guilty", on the "snapper" label: this album was released in North America in 1999, under the title "Black Hair, Black Eyes, Black Suit", on the "Velvel" label. The North American version features a slightly different track-listing. In 2001, Hugh released "Hi-Fi" (KOCH: KOC-CD 8220).

The title of "Beyond Elysian Fields" (2004, Track Records: TRA 1050) refers to an area of New Orleans, where this particular album was recorded. Information on the first single from this release, "(Under Her) Spell" can be found here.

An official Hugh Cornwell web page, "The Torture Garden" is now available at http://www.hughcornwell.com. This site features up-to-date news and background information on Hugh's solo activities.

To promote the release of "Black Hair, Black Eyes, Black Suit", Hugh embarked on a North American tour in March 1999. These were one-man shows, "plugged and un-plugged" (ie. a selection of tracks utilizing either electric or acoustic guitar). We caught up with the tour on the Philadelphia stop-over.

While the performance concentrated on the new album, brand new (unreleased) material, Stranglers tracks and solo material back to "Nosferatu" were also given an airing. The new material certainly benefits from a live treatment, while the wide range of Stranglers material was a welcome addition. The renditions of "Wired" and "Mothra" from "Nosferatu" certainly stood out (talking to Hugh afterwards, he was clearly excited at being able to include these particular tracks). As a bonus, the enthusiastic crowd (of about 30 or so) provided vocal backing for many of the songs, old and new, in a tiny venue perfectly suited to this type of performance.

All in all, Hugh put on a very enjoyable show: the ability to translate songs originally written for a full band into a coherent solo performance was very impressive. We look forward to seeing Hugh with his band in the not too distant future.

The track listing for this tour (not necessarily in order) was: