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The Stranglers

ARTIST · PUNK / NEW WAVE

The Stranglers

Minor-key aggression with prog flirtation—stubborn outsiders who charted anyway.

  • Punk rock
  • New wave
  • Post-punk

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Biography

Peaches and No More Heroes soundtracked UK pub punk without cartoon safety pins.

Golden Brown proved harpsichord melancholia could live beside leather jackets.

Jean-Jacques Burnel’s bass tone rewrote pocket expectations for punk-rooted acts.

Lossless streams keep Farfisa buzz, riding eighth notes, and vocal sneer.

The Stranglers were formed in Guildford by Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield, and Jet Black. Their keyboard-heavy punk sound set them apart. Rattus Norvegicus (1977) included Peaches and Hanging Around, and No More Heroes (1977) followed.

Golden Brown, a waltz-time song with a harpsichord, was a Top 10 hit in 1982. Cornwell left in 1990. Greenfield died in 2020 and Black in 2022.

The Stranglers: recent news, 2020–2026

  1. 2020 Keyboardist Dave Greenfield died in May at the age of 71.
  2. 2021 Dark Matters was released in September.
  3. 2022 Founding drummer Jet Black died in December at the age of 84.

Interesting facts about The Stranglers

  • 01 English rock band formed in Guildford in 1974.
  • 02 Golden Brown (1982) reached number two on the UK Singles Chart.
  • 03 Multiple UK top-ten albums across the punk and new-wave eras.
  • 04 Golden Brown is in 3/4 time and features a harpsichord.
  • 05 Hugh Cornwell left the band in 1990.

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