The UK tribute band, Orange Alert, has just announced a batch of upcoming gigs. Highlights include:

Supporting The Damned at Bradford Rio's on 23 April.
Headlining at Huddersfield University on 30 April.
A double header with the Ex Pistols at The Pavilion Vaults, Scarborough on 7 May.

For more details, check out their web page at http://www.bigfoot.com/~orangealert (new address).

A short review of Hugh's Philadelphia gig has been added to our Hugh Cornwell page.

Hugh's tour continues to evolve: check out the Torture Garden, for full details.

We have just added a site-specific search engine to our main page. Use this facility to search the pages of the Rat's Lair, via this link-button:

As we are using an outside supplier to provide this service, we would welcome comments on its usefulness.

A page on the Stranglers tape-only releases has just been added to our reference articles page. The "Aural Quest" computer game has now been appended to this page.

Due to the Highways Department closing all shows whilst the Eclipse Week is in progress, the future of the eclipse gig is, unfortunately, becoming uncertain. We will continue to keep you up to date, via this page, as things unfold.

The Epic-era albums are scheduled for re-issue in Japan on March 20th, complete with lots of bonus tracks. Apparently, each CD is priced around 1,800 yen. The releases (with bonus tracks as noted) are:

"Feline" (Catalogue no. ESCA 7747)

Bonus tracks: Vladimir and Olga; Pawsher; Permission; Here and There; Vladimir and the Beast (Part 3); (Medley:) Midnight Summer Dream/The European Female (live in Paris, 1985).

Aural Sculpture (Catalogue no. ESCA 7748)

Bonus tracks: In One Door; Hot Club; Achilles Heel; Place de Victoires; Vladimir Goes to Havana; The Aural Sculpture Manifesto.

Dreamtime (Catalogue no. ESCA 7749)

Bonus tracks: Head on the Line; Since You Went Away; Norman Normal; Dry Day; Hitman; Viva! Vlad.

All Live and All of the Night (Catalogue no. ESCA 7750)

Bonus tracks (all credited as live recordings): Souls; Uptown; Who Wants the World?; Nuclear Device; All Day and All of the Night; Punch and Judy.

10 (Catalogue no. ESCA 7751)

Bonus tracks: Instead of This; Poisonality; Motorbike; Something; You.

At this time, Hugh is touring North America. Just a reminder to check out the Torture Garden, for full details: some venues have changed, whilst new dates have been added.

An article on Hugh has appeared in the Canadian press. The article is available on the Jam Music site.

No More Heroes (the UK tribute band) have just announced a batch of gigs in Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Manchester and Crewe. The Oxford gig on April 17th is of particular interest -- this one will be with the UK Subs. More dates are to be announced soon. For full details, check out their web site.

A live CD is currently in the planning stages, for release later this year -- keep checking their site for news on this one.

Finally, copies of "Rats, Ravens and Men in Black" are apparently running out -- with no plans to produce any more. Time to order before its too late!

We have been advised that the unofficial yahoo club (with chat room) is no more. The service has been moved to the Down in the Sewer site.

JJ has been in the producer's chair again, working on material for UK band "Schindler". The single "Ever" (Eastworld, EW004CD) will be released on May 17th. An album, also produced by JJ, is due out in September. The band are described as being "a fusion of Joy Division and Husker Du", creating "sublime melancholic guitar pop".

Enquiries regarding this release should be directed to Plastic Head Music Distribution.

According to Chris Pearson, Station Manager with the forces radio and TV service in the Falklands, the gig in Stanley (formerly Port Stanley) on March 10th WILL be open to the public.

Time to start packing those bags....

Apparently, Hugh's US release is being featured on the Rolling Stone site, complete with audio files and rating system. Go to the "recordings" section, and then the "this week" section.

Dates continue to be added to Hugh's itinery, plus an appearance on Canadian TV. Check out The Torture Garden for further details.

Niki Greene has asked us to thank everyone who replied to her regarding Voiceprint's search for fan club members with outstanding Strangled subscriptions. Voiceprint have stated that a T-shirt should be on its way to all respondents shortly.

Niki would also like to clarify that she is NOT a contact name for Voiceprint.

It appears that yet another compilation has been released in the UK. Titled "The Stranglers Hits Collection" (EMI 7243 4 98749 2 3, 1999), the track-listing is:

Peaches; Go Buddy Go; Top Secret; Maninwhite; Walk on By; Golden Brown; Shut Up; Mean to Me; London Lady; Cruel Garden; Strange Little Girl; Fools Rush Out; Old Codger; Love 30; 5 Minutes; Grip; Dagenham Dave; Who Wants the World.

For those of you looking for bass tabs on the web, John Roskruge has come to the rescue with his unofficial Stranglers & SLF bass tabs site.

The site can be found at http://www.soft.net.uk/johnrosk

The John Ellis has just been updated. Among other things, more news about his limited-edition (50 copies) release.

The Stranglers are playing Warsaw, Poland on 7th March, then two weeks in the Falklands (the Falklands gigs are likely to be forces-only -- sorry).

There is also talk of 40 theatre dates at the end of the year (UK). More details when they become available.

Recent events (losing our web address and the poor response of the web host) have highlighted the limitations of running things from a "home page" site. Given the activity which the Rat's Lair receives and the enthusiastic support shown by the fans, the band and their associates, we made the decision to invest in a domain name and move the site to a new host. This move gives us a permanent web address, plus a significant increase in storage space (to allow for future expansion).

Effective immediately, the Rat's Lair can be found at:

http://www.stranglers.net

Please update your links/bookmarks: if you come across any outdated links on the internet, please inform the webmaster or site-author of the change.

Best wishes,

Adrian and Christina Liggins