Hugh Cornwell Vintage TV Sessions 20th November 2014

 

Here is something perhaps a little obscure or maybe just unseen by many by virtue of the fact that it was briefly out there amidst so much other stuff in the modern TV channel ocean. I think that the relatively short lived Vintage TV was somehow related to the Sky group of companies/channels. This edition, hosted by sixties icon, Petula Clark, featured an eclectic line up including Hugh, The South and Ralph McTell (best known for his cover of the Anti-Nowhere League's 'Streets of London' :)).

This edited DVD features Hugh's involvement only, whith two live tracks separated by the shorttest of interviews with the host.

DVD image: https://we.tl/t-JxJIFsIbqr

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-7tXk5YirSC

Hugh And JJ Inked

 

A lino print that I did recently, a relatively easy one as the contrast and resolution of the original image was not the best. I don't know the history of the original photograph, but it is clearly of a 1979/1980 vintage and from a time when Hugh and JJ were still close conspirators.

Linoprint in black ink on cream card

20cm x 30cm.

Sam's Minneapolis 20th May 1981

 

I am surprised that it has taken me 14 years to post this one! A soundboard recording and one of the best, if not the best of its era. There seems to be only one flaw, that being the cut off of 'Ice'. Hugh is on great form and Muffin the Mule makes several appearances in 'Nuclear Device'. This is a good example of the MIB set that I has promoting in the last '51' tour related post. Wouldn't it be good?

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-gPhVerAitM

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-g4mevMSgUC

The Stranglers '51' Tour

 

Here we go again then with something of a break in a now established tradition. An Autumn rather than a Spring tour. Some obvious gaps in the dates, most notably Glasgow and the middle of England, as a result of contractual restrictions arising from the Castle and Pistols gigs.

What would I like to see? Obviously the big anniversary was marked last year with suits and chandeliers, so I am not looking for that. It could be an opportunity to do something different. Sadly, the band have been rather reluctant to follow the example of some of their comtemporaries of comparable long standing in touring albums or notable sets. To date, The Stranglers have done this only twice, with the Roundhouse residency '77 ('Rattus Revisited') set in 2007 and the 'Black and White' tour of 2016. All other opportunities to mark a significant anniversary have gone well, unmarked.

Rather than being money for old rope affairs, these 'themed' shows can be an opportunity for a bit of creativity and fun. Look at the Damned's 'Night of a Thousand Vampires', now there was an event! And with such events comes different merchandising opportunities. Gary Numan has been a master of this since 2006. He has toured his three big albums from the '79 to '80 period on two separate occasions and far from being a case of relying on past glories, with the care and attention that he, his band and the entourage needed to take a show on the road inputed, the gigs were stunnning.

What about recreating the set of the 'Who Wants The World?' tour - the October dates would coincide with the 45th anniversary of American leg of that tour. The sets were pretty short back then, just 15 or 16 songs which would allow the other half of the set to include the 'Peaches' and 'Golden Brown' and other crowd pleasers beloved of the casual gig-goer. Just imagine the stark lighting of the MIB era. The band could add in another element of authenticity by using hastily hired equipment and Toby could battle with keyboards that are prone to make unexpected and random noises!

A pipedream I am sure, but I can at least imagine these things.

I do hope though that 'White Stallion' is dropped from the set as the tangerine fucker is now firmly back in the saddle and riding out as one of two horsemen of the apocalyse. I appreciate it that it is their big current anthem, but the lyrics have rather a hollow ring to them now...

'The white stallion's rule is over

The pain is all in the past'

Hugh Cornwell Mercury Lounge New York 17th March 1999

 

Here's a late '90's acoustic gig from Hugh in New York. Here too he was dipping his toes into 'Nosferatu' waters with the inclusion of 'Mothra' and 'Wired'. I was always rather surprised that he didn't play more of the album early on, at a time when he had a reluctance to play Stranglers material. 'Nosferatu' could have been a workable compromise since it was a 'solo' album recorded at the height of Stranglers' first flush of success. Rather that than 'One in a Million'! Perhaps the experimantal nature of the 'Nosferatu' material jarred to much with his newer, more melodic, material. Who knows?

MP3: https://we.tl/t-WMW0WdfY5Y

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-C1JLmiwmGM

Nosferatu Staked - The Critics Don't Get It (10th November 1979)

 

Ill Met By Moonlight

(Messers Vanian and Cornwell compare vampiric breath)

The Cornwell/Williams 'Nosferatu project had a difficult gestation suffereing from a number of delays to its release schedule. This is perhaps not surprising give the extent of the frenetic activity within Camp Stranglers in the second half of 1979.

When it eventually landed on the critics' turntables, the reception that it received would perhaps been enough to see old Nosferatu scampering for the reassuring comfort of his coffin. Basically, they didn't get it, seeing the album as a Cornwell vanity project, a dabble in experimental surrealism that was beyond his capability, despite the luminaries in such avant garde music that he had on board.... Ian Underwood (Zappa), Williams (Beefheart) and Mothersbaugh x 2 (Devo).

See for yourself...

New Musical Express (10th November 1979)

Record Mirror (10th November 1979)

Nosferatu Hits The Road - 46 Years After Release!

'The one you've all been waiting for!'
Duncan Poundcake 1979

46 years! I finally get to see the Hugh Cornwell performance that was missing. Cornwell takes the plunge and announces his intention to play Nosferatu in its entirity. Let's call it a spin-off, since rather than a solo album it was a collaboration with Robert Williams. But as spin-offs go it was the best of the bunch, and the competition from his fellow Stranglers has been of a very good quality over the years. 

Dark and brooding as an album it can be quite an uncomfortable listen at times. Cornwell and Williams did not balk at the notion of being experimental in both sound and lyrical contant, the latter of which provides the listener with a rich canvas of imagery from implausible circus freak-show attractions to armoured steam trains traversing the continent menacingly, carrying with it a revolutionary message. 

Fair play to Hugh for finally giving this remarkable album its place in the spotlight (or at least a little eerie limelight) four decades after the original dates failed to materialise.

Needless to say I will be digging up some Nosferatu related material to post in the coming days.

'Amazing!'
Duncan Poundcake 1979