John Ellis has asked us to post the following.

The Stranglers would like to apologise to all our fans in the Ukraine who attended the festival in Kiev on 26th June. Unfortunately the flight from Gatwick on Ukraine Airways was severly delayed due to technical problems and we would not have arrived at the festival site in time to play.

In light of recent email we received regarding the relationship between Marian Shepherd and Owen Carne ("SIS UK") and the VoicePrint fan club, Marian has asked us to post the following:

Marian Shepherd and Owen Carne of SIS UK have continued to be approached as a key source of UK based Stranglers information since the closure of SIS/Boxbeet, even though the company is no longer trading. As such the SIS UK name, which is, after all, where the whole thing began (directed by the Stranglers themselves) in days of yore, still exists, and is in regular close contact with the band. The Voiceprint group of companies, who stepped in as a new 'official fanclub', accordingly approached SIS UK to provide the contents of their newsletter and SIS accordingly agreed to write issue two, the material for which was sent to Voiceprint in March this year. Voiceprint have said that the finished newsletter will be sent out in the very near future. To avoid any possible confusion, SIS UK would like to clarify that it remains totally independent, is not affiliated to or employed by the Voiceprint Group of companies in any way, and all administrative enquiries should therefore be addressed directly to Voiceprint. The SIS UK phone line is still in operation (at 0891-299728).

The Rat's Lair (run by the totally voluntary organisation "SIS OnLine") was sanctioned by the then existent SIS/Boxbeet in 1996, and has maintained its direct links to SIS/SIS UK ever since.

Watch this space for further developments/further statements direct from SIS UK. You probably all know that SIS has been pretty prolific in its output of CD and video product during the 90s -- a full SIS discography and videography will follow in the very near future.

John tells us that he's now taking last orders for the hand made (limited edition) CD. Given their limited nature (a production of 50 only), these CDs will cost £30.00 each + postage. Anyone interested in getting a copy should contact John via the following address (but please do not send money yet):

FURIOUS PRODUCTIONS
16 Crouch Hill
London N4 4AU
U.K.

The Stranglers are currently in Cyprus for a series of concerts. These gigs are for the troops stationed in Cyprus, and are therefore not open to the public.

John has kindly given us permission to provide realaudio files of samples from his art gallery CDs. These can be found on our John Ellis page.

We have now added an "Audio Files" section to our "Reference Articles" area.

"Rare, Live & Unreleased 1974-76" is now available in the UK, as a CD, on the Castle Music label (catalogue number ESM CD 715). This is a re-release (with new packaging and title) of 1992's "The Early Years 74-75-76: Rare Live & Unreleased" (Newspeak, SPEAK CD 101).

This album contains material from early demos and early live performances. While the recording quality is not always the greatest (given the age and poorer recording equipment), this material stands as an important historical record of the band's early days. The track-listing is:

[The 1976 Demos] Grip; Bitching; Go Buddy Go. [Hammersmith Odeon 23.10.76] Get a Grip; Sometimes; Bitching; Peasant in the Big Shitty; Hanging Around; Peaches; Ugly; Down in the Sewer; Go Buddy Go. [The 1974 Demos] Wasted; Strange Little Girl; My Young Dreams. ["Nob Gig" Railway Tavern 1975] Princess of the Streets.

To further enhance navigation around the Rat's Lair, an automatically-updated site map has now been added to our search engine facility. These functions can be found by clicking on the "question mark" button (see below), on our main page.

As a taster for the October/November UK tour (see below), we have just received confirmation of the following gigs. As always, this information is subject to changes beyond the control of the band, management or promoter, so please check with the venue before travelling.

19th June - Kieler Woche Festival, Kiel, Germany.

26th June - Rockiev 99, Kiev, Ukraine

17th July - Atlantic Highway Rock Festival, Milky Way, Dowland Farm, Bideford, N. Devon. For tickets call 01258 356311; the price is £19.99 (plus handling fee) prior to 21st June -- children under 10 are free. There is a web site for this festival at: http://www.timart.co.uk/rock.

31st July - Derby Rock & Blues Festival.

The JJ-produced CD single by UK-band, Schindler is scheduled to be released on June 21st. However, Stranglers fans can get it now via mail-order, direct from PHD music. Tel UK: 01491-825029 Ext-Mail Order, or email: plasticheadMO@compuserve.com. Cost is £3.00 including postage and packing anywhere in the world. The new PHD web site with online ordering should go online shortly at http://www.plastichead.com. Andys records in the UK will also be stocking this CD from this Friday.

The CD contains three tracks: "Time", "Stability" and "Ever". As well as doing producer's duties, JJ provides backing vocals and additional keyboards.

Volumes 2 to 4 of John's set of five "gallery music" CDs are now available, on the Voiceprint label. Full details can be found on our John Ellis page.

No More Heroes, the Stranglers tribute band are set to play their first Scottish dates for two years. Friday June 18th the band will be at the View Field Hotel at Arbroath; Saturday June 19th sees them playing the West Port Bar at Dundee.

This Saturday (17th April) they will be at the Bullingdon Arms, Oxford, with Charlie Harper and the UK Subs.

For more information, check out the No More Heroes website.

The Dave Greenfield Appreciation Society listserver (DEGAS) has closed down.

Some time ago, users of the SIS phone service were able to listen to a demo version of the latest installment of the Vlad chronicles. Titled "Vladimir and the Pearl" and created by JJ and Dave, this track was still awaiting drums.

Marian Shepherd at SIS UK has kindly provided us with, and given us permission to post, a copy of this demo (still minus the drums). A link to this track and to the necessary player can be found on our Vladimir Chronicles page.

This audio file is copyright Burnel/Greenfield/SIS UK and is provided for personal use only. Please respect this copyright, so that we may be able to bring you more audio files in the future.

Festival Records have released Coup de Grace in Australia (catalogue number D31965).