Strolling along, minding my own business

Continuing my trip back through the 1977 album charts.

11/09/77 : Rattus Norvegicus - The Stranglers

Our second visit with the lads this year - I didn't love the music on our last visit but enjoyed the overall experience and I have no reason to expect I won't do the same here.

Yeah, it's a very similar mix of more skill, craft, menace and Hammond Organ than I was expecting.  It's got a bit less quirk than No More Heroes which made it a bit less interesting for me, but "Hanging Around", "Peaches" and "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)" are fine tracks indeed that I was aware of but hadn't heard in years.  This also also feels very influential on what came after - there was obviously spill-over into the 80s but there were still a lot of 90s/00s indie bands around making these kinds of sounds. 

We're at #8 in the charts this week on their 21st week of a surprisingly successful 33 week run, with it having peaked at #4 in its second week.  The top five this week were Diana Ross (a new entry starting a seven week run at the top, which is fantastically successful for any year - let alone one that's been so light on women so far), Jean Michel Jarre, an Elvis best-of, Elvis again and a Connie Francis best-of and the highest new entry were Camel (#20) who were a prog band that I vaguely remember.

Wikipedia tells me the album is also known as The Stranglers IV, but it's their debut album and they just did that to confuse people.  The topics covered on the album are quite diverse - life in their squat, London pub culture, Ozymandias and the destruction of Toulouse as predicted by Nostradamus!  The critics were very positive on the album, but it didn't do a lot away from these shores - it got to #82 in Australia and that was it.

"Customers also listened to" Iggy Pop, Ian Dury, The Clash and The Damned, none of which surprise me in the slightest!  Like our last visit with the lads, this was an enjoyable and interesting "not my kind of thing" and you can certainly feel its influence - it's nice to be reminded that punk wasn't just The Sex Pistols angry posturing.

04/09/77 - Probably not as good as I thought
18/09/77 - Astonishingly average

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