Having listened to the Stranglers for over 40 years I am actually jealous that you are discovering them for the first time. One of the greatest and oddest rock bands of all time.
The internet has a lot to answer for with all the god forsaken music it floods people with but posts like these are a godsend as they are teaching the younger generations what real music played with real instruments is all about and hopefully we can "reincarnate" the day music died !
I have a completely different impression! I've been watching more and more reaction videos over the past few days. It was primarily about people who, for the first time in their lives, heard something, for example, from Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin and were literally mowed down by their music. These people suddenly had to realize that they don't really have a clue about music. We were spared that because we have been able to enjoy this great music of the ancestors for decades, while the kids have wasted their time with crap whose name nobody remembers anymore. Seen from this perspective, we are a generation that was granted the grace of early birth, that still had the chance to experience, for example, Led Zeppelin live on stage. Who saw The Wall being released or admired a guitarist like Rory Gallagher at work. Poor youth... bad karma maybe...?
The Stranglers, like The Damned, are worshipped by colossal, loyal, worldwide fanbases. Both bands were very much ignored by the press. Look deeper, as you have, and you will see the utter admiration, respect and love we have for both bands. They never ever disappoint and are still going today, changing their sounds and always capturing wonderful melodies.
The Stranglers and the Damned. Two of my all time fave bands from the late 70s/early 80s. Met both bands in my early 20s. I'm 62 now and still love them as much as I did in then. They make me so happy. I miss those days. Love them so much.
Also European Female! But Golden Brown was so original when it came out, and so different from their earlier Punk records, that it made a real impact. I had no idea at the time that it was hinting at drugs.
Fundamentally written by their genius of a keyboardist Dave Greenfield. The time signature complexity show his ability. Tragically lost to COVID in 2020.
Glad to see you discovered the best band ever ....I'm going to 2 of their gigs this week , that makes about 50 in total, I guess that makes me a super fan l 🤣Try listening to a few of their albums , I recommend the first 3 for starters and maybe the latest and last, Dark Matters. They are retiring from touring after this year so if you get an opportunity to see them, don't miss it.
The first six albums are pure genius, the mid and late 80's material is fine but sufferers from tinny production. Probably want to avoid the 90's albums, but their last three 'Norfolk Coast', Suite XVi, and Giants are all excellent. They have a new album out in September called Dark Matters.
Bought my first Stranglers 45 in August of 1977 - Peaches. But I also recall the month and year I first heard Golden Brown…April of 1983. It’s been almost 40 years and I never stopped listening. I have introduced this song to well over a dozen people…everyone loves it.
Great band, great song. They were never really a 'punk band'. Just came out around the same time. They could all play their instruments well and knew more than just three chords.
Prettiest song about heroin ever! Allegedly.. Instant Hit by The Slits is a great drugs song too..Not all The Stranglers' songs are gorgeous like this...
As someone else already mentioned, I first heard this in Snatch. I watched that movie in high school when I wasn't quite ready for this music so I don't think I actually listened to it again until a few years later. Great song! I haven't really gotten much into The Stranglers yet, but I really need to.
For anyone that didn’t know - brown / this song - is about heroin. Song makes more sense now right? Also fun fact - original score was written by Dave Brubeck in the 60s (if you like jazz)
It’s funny how the incredible diversity of UK punk never struck as odd back in the day. Hugh really did/does have one of the most charismatic voices from that time. I generally hate covers but their version of Walk on By is so good. Next song should be a two-fer… Dead Los Angelese and Nuclear Device
This has always been one of my favourite tracks, even before I knew what the lyrics meant. The musical content is unique. I enjoyed your summation. You have a talent for this.
I have a distinct memory of listening to this on my way to school in the school bus; it was number 2 in the UK at the time. How about a reaction to something from Gary Numan; maybe one from 'Down in the Park', 'I Die, You Die', 'Complex' or 'We are Glass'?
You seem to like a lot of songs about heroin. Just something I’ve noticed over several videos. Not judging, the topic inspires a lot of great art and you have really great taste in music. Also - it’s not an adrenaline rush - it’s like being wrapped in the warmest most comfortable blanket you’ve ever felt while whatever stress and anxiety that was pestering you melts away.
Nice reaction, it's Hugh Cornwell on lead guitar and Vocals, Jean-Jaques Burnell on Bass, Jet Black drums and Dave Greenfield on keyboards. Others to check out are Strange Little Girl, another beautiful song, and then Peaches and Nice 'N' Sleazy both more punk in style, with the latter having some lovely bass guitar work on it
One of the more popular Stranglers songs with the wider public but I was never so keen. I much prefer the earlier, more punky stuff. I do enjoy much of the later stuff too, just nowhere near as much. "Go Buddy Go", anything from the "Rattus Norvegicus" album, "Nuclear Device", "Bear Cage", "Tank", there are just too many great tracks to list any more than a fraction of those you need to listen to. "Down In The Sewers" can't be beat.
The Stranglers' first 3 albums could loosely be described as "punk", with aggressive songs like "Goodbye Toulouse", "Nice and sleazy" and "I feel like a wog" (an anti-racism song). In the early 80s, the band adopted a more commercial approach and produced some excellent, unusual pop music. "Midnight summer dream", "European female" and "Always the sun" are good examples of this later phase.
I'd say your next Stranglers song should be Tank, from the Black and White album. About as far away in every sense from Golden Brown as it can be. Keep coming back to them though as they have a myriad of different styles to delight you with.
Yeah it was. It was number 2 about to be number one then one of the band members told the press it was about heroin and people then hated it after that
@@80sandretrogubbins25 If you havent caught up on the joke by now someone remixed Dave Brubecks 'take five' performance with the Golden Brown soundtrack. It works reasonably well.
Reaction request for Dum Dum Boys by Iggy Pop. You have done quite a few Bowie reactions and Bowie produced this record, Iggy and Bowie were great friends.
Also (as I know from experience) even the whitest Chinese heroin when smoked or cooked up turns brown so I don't think it's entirely about the colour in its raw state.
'I'm never any good at reading music'... you'd be amazed how many great musicians can't read music and have only limited understanding of music theory. Notably the beatles. Some of the greatest bands ever knew almost nothing about theory... joy division among them. So don't be too down on yourself about that. You're in some pretty good company.
