[mctownie]

Has Baz unwittingly caused the end of Paul Roberts' Stranglers career???

It was obvious to many of us a few years ago when we realized that Baz could sing that a natural progression or regression could be back to a 4 piece band and Paul was suddenly dispensable.

Now if a guitarist who couldnt sing had replaced John Ellis then surely the option of 'letting' Paul go wouldnt have occured.

I think it would have been very difficult credibility wise to replace a 'karokee frontman' with another karokee frontman (harsh I know)where as to basically not replace him (allowing JJ to sing all his old songs again) reverting back to the 4 piece act that many of us still look back to fondly, as JJ put it would not lose any of the fan base and maybe even increase it?!?!

Has JJ been waiting for the right moment to ditch PR? If Baz had been in the band when him and Paul werent getting on during and after the Coup De Farce album I personally think he would have gone then.

[PaulinLondon]

Interesting point by why put all the effort (including Paul's) into the writing and production of Norfolk Coast which resulted in the deserved re-emergence of the band ? That album must have taken a lot of hard work by all five of the members.

I do believe that difficulties surfaced post Norfolk Cost and possibly on the back of Norfolk Coast.

[MULLY]

Why go to all the bother &/or pretence of recording all the new songs on 'Suite XVI' with PR on vocals if this decision was made a while ago?

IMHO I think this all came about quite recently - albeit, there may have been 'rumblings of discontent' post NC - but why waste money/studio time etc.. and then re-record the vocals post split? Doesn't make sense to me.

[mctownie]

[ALV2500]

I wont dispute that Paul did have "some" talent but is he in the same league as the others ???

Give me a break.........N0 FRIGGIN WAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paul had a good voice, I give him that. Unfortunately, if you want to front a band like the stranglers, you need much more.

Paul didn't cut it on stage. I'm not sure he contributed much in the songwriting department either. So he had a good voice and was a nice guy........it's not enough.

I wish Paul the best in his future but let's be honest, the other members are different class and Baz has proved that he is worthy.

Baz can write, sing and pull it of live. He is a Strangler !

I have talked to so many people who stopped going to see the band. Not because they were minus Hugh, but because they were plus paul.

Paul didn't have the persona for fronting this mega band live and the majority in the crowd saw through that. I have talked to a lot of people who are going to see the band now that Paul is gone.

Again, I wish him the best but the band are sooooo much stronger now that they have no passengers.

See you all at the Glasgow gig.



AL,

Cincinnati, Ohio

[BELLE 77]

it took 16 years to get used to a frontman
version of the stranglers and 1 opening
song at Bilston to forget all about him.
Good luck and best wishes to paul
but this was never a frontman band.
Belle

[yellowcakeuf6]

[Homer]

so the 'Protected message' says fcuk all then

[kinski]

[BELLE 77]

the protected message may
be in brail for the deaf to see it.

[jem750]

Easy to say after the event, but my first thoughts when I first saw Baz with the band were:

They could ditch Paul and become a 4 piece again......

He just seemed a Strangler from the start, have seen a few of his solo performances and appreciated some real talent.

Think the best ever was at Pontins, Sundevils, Sat morning? Fucking awesome! Keep on rocking in the freeworld!

Jez

[Damian]

All very interesting this but I can't remember anyone saying 'ditch Paul go back to a 4 piece' before he left.

[doninblack]

[Dom P]

[doninblack]

[Damian]

[gadge]

have got the new album and it's the best thing they've done for over 25 years - I'm really proud of the lads
lots of energy [esp. Summat Outanowt, A Soldier's Diary], great bass, superb keyboards [back to rollercoaster organ of late 70s on eg She's Slipping Away, Relentless], some great songs [Bless You, Anything Can Happen, Unbroken, and superb vocals [!]
such a shame baz hadn't come along in 1990............................

[theraven1979]

Hang on a mo - Let's not forget those early 90s gigs with Paul and John - THE best live band at the time

Jim

[Homer]

Have to agree with Jim there, first tour with Paul was amazing......I remember doing Newcastle Riverside,Leeds Warehouse and Norwich,The Waterfront.......middle of the red light district

[yellowcakeuf6]

[ALV2500]

The 2002 QMU gig was great even if I did travel 3000 miles to see it. of course, the wankers who think it's cool to throw beer at the band need to be bitch slapped ( I talked to JJ about it at the Montreal gig 2 years later and he was still pissed off about it and rightly so )

Something tells me the next Glasgow gig will be better. The new line up will be there and hopefully the beer throwing arse wipes will stay home.

AL

[mctownie]

After seeing the gig last night at Nantwich I cant wait for the proper gigs in September.

Baz's vocals were superb, there was a great confidence about him and the band and Baz and JJ sharing the vocals together was brilliant. They do not need or miss PR one bit!

[GlasgowToiler]

Interesting theories...

Have to say, when Hugh left, a load of mates chucked it...

I persevered, went to the King Tuts in Glasgow gig and was blown away..

But this could have been a mixture of welcoming PR, being treated to every classic and being so close to the band...I was Impressed....

Over the years I continued to buy the albums and go see the band but gradually PR began pissing me off, so much that I referred to him as the Stranglers Poseur

Was at the ABC in Glasgow recently and once again was blown away...

Can't wait till they come back.....

[rugbyinblack]

Would Paul have left? Yes of course he would. Why should he stick around when A) so called fans give him crap b) the band give him crap. This site appears to be a collection of archeologists. Paul and to a lesser extent John kept the band alive and so called fans gave them crap for doing so. Hugh hasn't had a voice since he left the band BEF? What a waste of recording time, it almost matches his tour of cash points such as Allendale in Northumberland playing to 50 people must have been a high point for him, the only good thing to come from his music is the drumming of Chris Bell.

The only thing now is that Paul will release music that JJ couldn't understand and that JJ will hopefully start to write music that he should have been 16 years ago.

[jem750]

[mctownie]

Having seen the band 5 times without Paul and gone to those gigs with a number of people who had seen them with and without him there was a unanimous conclusion :

The band are better without him both live and on record. They look and sound like the Stranglers again - not Pauls fault necesarily but they are the facts.

[gizzard]

[Ian9331]

The Stranglers with a frontman doesn't work. Be it PR or whoever. People I know who have liked and seen The Stranglers MK1 say they just couldn't take to him. But, if it wasn't for Paul Roberts when Hugh suddenly announced his departure would The Stranglers still be together now? Currently Hugh on top form again for the first time in years..... does he feel 'Threatened'?

[Michael]

Well, I think that Paul did a good job and certainly gave 100%. I have only had the pleasure of seeing the band in concert twice (once in Hannover and once in Portadown) both times with Paul as the front man - both were excellent. Some of the albumn tracks the band have produced in the post Hugh days before Pauls departure were briliant and his singing talents brought to the fore. With better PR etc chart sussess would surely have occurred. Time to Die, Heaven or Hell, Sinister, Golden Boy, In Heavan she Walks, Valley of the Birds, Lost Control to name a few. Paul was not Hugh and Baz is not Paul, each vocalist has brought his own style and prescence to the group, enabaling the band to move in different musical directions and develop their talents further. Good luck to Paul, better luck to The Stranglers.

[ravenlunatic]

As I have stated before, I loved the band with Hugh, but was happy to accept the great talent of Paul as a means for the band to carry on in some form. I look back on Pauls years as a kind of stasis, a living museum with Paul as the curator, keeping the legend alive until one day fate would decree that another would come along and allow the magic to return. To me, Baz is the one for whom we have all waited so patiently.
But it is interesting to hear the opinion of those outside the circle of hardcore fans, and I had an interesting chat with the landlord of a local pub last weekend. I was sporting my Suite XVI T shirt and he asked me if I had ever seen the Stranglers, I laughed and assured him that I was something of an enthusiast, and that I had seen them 4 times in one week recently. He went on to say that he had seen the band with Hugh a few times and then went to see them with "that long haired bloke who carried on like some fucking kareoke singer" (his words, not mine). He said that "that bloke" kept doing all sorts of "strange things" (he went on to perform a number of very realistic head flicking/finger clicking/mic.swinging impressions!) And concluded that after that he had considered the band a lost cause. I of course bought him up to speed with member changes and album releases, and urged him to give them another go. He was pleased to hear what I had said and thought that he would give them a listen, and even went on to suggest that we give him a shout next time we go and see them live.
Now the thing is, this is almost exactly the same conversation I have had a dozen times with different people over the last couple of months. I really feel that there are a lot of lapsed fans out there who are finding themselves attracted to the band once more, if only they could find about the band from some sort of publicity rether than casual conversations, but of course that in itself is another subject.

[johnny sox]

I fully agree to forum member almv2500. Paul had a good voice but he hadn't the same charisma as Hugh. The Paul era albums sound okay but I've only visited 2 Paul Roberts era shows because of his poor aura.
I think Paul is also responsible for the new, completely different stranglers sound. Most of the stranglers fans had Dreamtime and 10 in mind when "Stranglers in the Night" was released. This album was okay but it was much too different of what the fans had in their ears for so many years. The music of "Stranglers in the Night" may have higher standards but the fans wanted a Dreamtime or 10 encore. Is Paul's new band called "The Changeling"?

[johnny sox]

Sharing money into 4 is more fun than into 5, eh?

[jem750]

[Bobinblack]

[theraven1979]

I'd agree I guess but a bugger in a way that now Paul has left you realise they do need a well defined front man - both JJ and Baz talented as they are there doesn't seem to be any one up front driving. You sometimes wonder when the front man is gonna appear onstage

Jim

[AlwaysTheSun]

the years after hugh left were an absolute debacle ellis with his grotesque guitar solos was pathetic and roberts was only marginally better.

[puffinboots]

The Stranglers were good and bad with Hugh, The Stranglers were good and bad with Paul, The Stranglers are good so far with Baz....
Hugh fans - go see Hugh, Stranglers fans - go see them, Baz solo fans - go see him, Paul fans - go see him, Burnel solo fans - go see him.
I've seen over 250 gigs in all there guises - they were all great for some reason. The Stranglers are still entertaining us...and there's still some that aren't happy - stop spending money on them then. there's fucking something for everyone in The Stranglers family! I think calling ANY ex and current member "talentless" is a shit attitude.

[Bobinblack]

Thanks for the advice there Puffinboots - can I go see The Strangs AND Hugh because I like them both?

To be fair, people are entitled to their opinions about their fave line up but what the hell does it matter? Without being critical of any of them, I'm sure the band(s) are happy as long as people are buying their stuff and paying to see them, are they bothered about our opinions?

Must admit, I've seen the band and Hugh & band a few times this year, and whilst loving the Stranglers gigs, I was more excited at Hugh's

Still, there was hardly anyone at his gigs - their loss is what I say, his Stranglers versions were bloody great!

[adam_neil]

[Bobinblack]

[**Dutchess**]

[Bobinblack]

[pigeon]

Paul did a good job in the stranglers and without him we won't have the lineup there is now. Paul was singer for the best gig i have seen the stranglers do at the sheperds bush empire on march 2nd 2002. He also wrote the songs "valley of the birds" "in heaven she walks" "in a while" "here" "sugar bullets" "heaven or hell" "sinister" "lost control" "brainbox" "grand canyon" which are all great songs.

The new line up is back to the four piece & the 10 times i have seen them so far my favourite gigs have been dartford july06, Manchester october 06, Paris 07 & the roundhouse. The next album is how good we will see this line up is as they can start from scratch without having to re record it in a rush release.

I think it's going to sound like black and white.

[shah]

I don't think there should be any blame on Paul.
Seems to me that the Stranglers picked him. So if there's any blame...
He fell into line, saluted the flag, wrote some good songs when JJ wasn't feeling up to it (About Time was a great effort relative to the work before and after), he always gave his all at the gigs, was always a nice guy and just wanted more of his songs considered. JJ was rejuvenated by Baz, the axis shifted and the sulking began.

Sure he was a bit narcissistic, sure he wasn't as acerbic as Hugh but he was bloody good on the block....and he knew the irony of it.

[AlwaysTheSun]

Shah i'm afraid About Time was pretty dreadful , just like all of the ellis-roberts efforts.

[shah]

I think it's relative.

Relative to ITN and WIR and CDG, AT was very good. I still enjoy 6/7 of the tracks when they shuffle around.

Relative to NC and S16, it's not very good.

Relative to B&W, Raven, MIB it's mundane drivel.

[ThruBeingCool]

Yup! I'll go with "relative"

[Claireinblack]

[Jon the Impaler]

[Mart]

One track i just cant get my head around is Tonight, its painful to hear and god knows ive tried, put it on again last night and the lyrics are embarressing

[Mart]

Just wanted to get that off my chest

[Jon the Impaler]

[Jon the Impaler]

Maybe one day it will all be in a book , the reason Paul left , the reason JE left ..... we have the books No Mercy , Hugh's book , Song by Song ....... yet the era since Hugh , there's a great void of written material that I'm sure that us fans at least would love to read .
I think the only real way this will come about is a book from JJ .

[pigeon]

I think the only way we will get the real truth will be a book from Jet,paul or john, on the MK2 era, john ellis would be my choice as he gave a good analaysis of the MK2 albums when me and adam spoke to him

Adam Neil "What did you think of About time john?"

JE "the production was shit".

[wadey1]

ID LOVE TO READ A BOOK WRITTEN BY JET BLACK, HE IS SUCH A WITTY WISE MAN, IMAGINE HOW GOOD AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HIS WOULD BE.

[pigeon]

Well while were waiting for that, we've got the Crass interview with Jet in the PDF to look forward to the next best thing.

[yellowcakeuf6]

[gizzard]

[suchi]

[johnnyg1968]

He is gone now and lets enjoy the best line up since mk1

[mick12345]

come on the baz

[Andy Oushudno]

Just been reading in my local evening paper, Express & Star.
Was surprised to see Paul Roberts is to appear in Cannock starring in the Panto, Aladdin!!!
I hope to Christ he dosen't stage dive onto the kids in the front rows!!
Think I'll book a box this year just in case.

Watch out JJ he's behind you

[Arthur Streeb-Greebling]

[NMH1965]