Comments on: Guildford, the birthplace of Punk? A Strangler speaks…

By: Down from the edge of London…. | The Clash Blog

Down from the edge of London…. | The Clash Blog — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 03:36:09 +0000

[...] drop by and read the blog. While I welcome all readers I find it amusing to come back to find that something I wrote last August about The Stranglers still seems to be pissing people off (see comments at end of the post). Point being if JJ Burnell [...]

By: Tim at The Clash Blog

Tim at The Clash Blog — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:22:01 +0000

With a case put as eloquently as that where would I begin to debate? Thar rumour that lovers of the Stranglers are delusional pricks continues to gather steam. You’re doing a lot for Glasgow tourism too….well done you.

By: Baldasacootmick

Baldasacootmick — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:44:57 +0000

\The Clash are/were utter piss; almost as bad a the pistols, so untalented. The Stranglers were, quite simply, musically way, way ahead of the rest. 20 years ahead of their time.
Also, you’re all a bunch of cunts. Come to Glasgow & I’ll break you all in two, you fucking shower of Clash twats

By: Tim at The Clash Blog

Tim at The Clash Blog — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:42:10 +0000

Opinions are welcome. I don’t see any link between the two bands…and that was the point of the post.

By: tim

tim — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:57:02 +0000

The clash more of a band- now thats talking bollocks. The stranglers were a band that were prepared to goto war for each other. Im not sure theres that much link between stranglers and the clash at all. Both great bands in their own right. I think strummer loved the band when he was in the 101ers because technically the stranglers were streets ahead of the guys he was playing with. But then the stranglers were technically way ahead of most of the punk bands. Yep they jumped on the punk bandwagon and as a life long stranglers fan I don’t care. The stranglers were the nasty agressive actions speak louder than words face of punk. While the pistols swore and acted punk the stranglers were punk. The pistols were a scruffy boy band of ‘in my opinion’ no artistic or musical merit whatsoever. The clash, the stranglers, siouxie , damned for me opitimised the various flavours of punk. The clash were more overtly political than the other 3 and strummers was undoubtedly a great lyricist. So to cut a long story short I don’t give a monkeys whether the clash were or were not influenced by the stranglers because both bands are legends

By: dan king

dan king — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:19:07 +0000

burnel has always talked a lot of what we generally term as -bollocks – so never mind that…i have heard it over and over as…..the clash were more progressive and more of a ‘band’….

By: Lone Akita

Lone Akita — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:58:28 +0000

The Jam were a punk band, with the punk sound and energy, town called malice was not a punk song. thats what i said.
to me Joe strummer just came across as someone putting on an act.
i heared Joe was a friend of the stranglers till his manager told them they were not popular, and he should’nt speak to them, and he didnt.
pathetic.

By: Tim at The Clash Blog

Tim at The Clash Blog — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:35:00 +0000

You brought up the ‘punk sound and energy’ of The Jam. Make your mind up. All good bands progress and change of course….as did The Clash. Your assessment of them was brilliant. My original post wasn’t about how ‘punk’ the Clash were, it was about Burnel saying Joe stole his ideas. You seem to feel he did – I don’t.

By: Lone Akita

Lone Akita — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:21:38 +0000

i most certainly dont call town called malice punk, do you call rock the casbah punk?
all the best punk bands have released AT LEAST one song that isnt punk, so your point about that makes no sense. The Jam were definitely a punk band,
listen to the albums in the city and the modern world and look at the style of the LP’S and the singles and the way they performed and you’d be mad to say they were’nt a punk band!
Joe strummer used to grovel to The Stranglers, saying how much he like’d them,
and that he’d love a band like theres.
that clearly says he was influenced by them, although clearly The Stranglers greatness didnt influence him that much because if they did, the clash wouldnt have been so ridiculous.

By: Chairman Ralph

Chairman Ralph — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:47:33 +0000

Personally, I think this is a case of Burnel trying to stir the pot a bit — which is understandable, given that a) Hugh Cornwell isn’t there to kick around anymore, and b) both bands’ destines were so different. As Hugh himself observed in THE STRANGLERS: SONG BY SONG, the Stranglers outpaced the Clash on the singles charts, but didn’t come anywhere near their sales worldwide…and were never really favored in the music press, which accounts for their cult status today, I think (though it’s not a problem for me, as I like both bands).

But, putting those factors aside, I find it hard to see any magpie tendencies on Joe Strummer’s part — especially given his long- and well-documented enthusiasm for rootsy musical styles, weighted heavily toward the 1950s and 1960s (and not nearly so much thereafter). From my own perspective as a performer, it’s natural for people — after a suitable period has passed — to gravitate back toward the music that originally inspired them. What separates LONDON CALLING from the Dr. Feelgood era is the subject matter, basically — I don’t think old Lee B. would have sung a lyric like, “The ice age is comin’, the sun’s zoomin’ in”!

Still, OK, let’s take Burnel’s argument for granted…if Joe really was copying anybody, I don’t think he’d have turned to the Stranglers for inspiration, as he already had enough juices flowing within the West London scene of which he was a well-recognized part. Don’t forget, by punk-era standards, 25-year-old Joe was practically a senior citizen — but one who’d been around the block a little bit, had a strong stage presence, and a fair idea of what he wanted to do.

So, even if that were the case — and I don’t think it is — I don’t believe that the Stranglers’ ‘muso’-ey-type leanings would have proven an attractive model for Joe, not when he had so many inspirations closer at hand (and not necessarily the latest, greatest band, either: after all, the 101′ers could draw on many Latin influences vis-a-vis the backgrounds of singer-saxophonist Alvaro Rojas, and the drummer, Richard Dudanski, and that’s only one example coming to mind). So, as much as I love Burnel’s bass style, I honestly can’t see what he’s going on about here, sorry!