A BIOGRAPHY www.stranglers.net A BIOGRAPHY www.stranglers.net A BIOGRAPHY The Stranglers – A Biography is published by www.stranglers.net Copyright © 2011 by The Stranglers Web. Reproduction in any form is forbidden without express permission from The Stranglers Web. All images used either belong to The Stranglers Web or are taken from sources believed to be in the public domain. In the event that there is a problem or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial and the material will be removed immediately upon proof of ownership of copyright. If you are the owner of material that appears in this PDF please send proof and the material will be removed promptly. However, if you are the owner and would rather credit be given for the material, instead of removal, we will gratefully give the appropriate credit desired. 2 COPYRIGHT © 2011 THE STRANGLERS www.stranglers.net A BIOGRAPHY Contents Biography One - Foreword.............................. 4 Jet’s Musical Odyssey................................. 5 Biography Two - The Prelude.......................... 19 Biography Three - The Inception...................... 21 Biography Four - The Beginning - 1973/1974........... 34 Biography Five - 1975................................ 35 Biography Six - 1976................................. 36 Biography Seven - 1977............................... 37 Biography Eight - 1980............................... 38 Biography Nine - 1990................................ 39 Biography Ten - 1997................................. 41 Biography Eleven - 2000.............................. 42 Baz’s Musical Journey................................ 43 Biography Twelve - 2004.............................. 54 Biography Thirteen - 2006............................ 55 Biography Fourteen - 2008............................ 56 Biography Fifteen - 2009............................. 58 Biography Sixteen - 2010............................. 59 Biography Seventeen - 2011........................... 60 Discography.......................................... 61 COPYRIGHT © 2011 THE STRANGLERS 3 A BIOGRAPHY www.stranglers.net Biography One - Foreword HE STRANGLERS’ story, which began in the very early 1970s, is both long and complex. Primarily by way of it’s considerable magnitude but also of it’s rich, eventful Tand often controversial nature. Over the decades, vast quantities of copy have emerged from the presses of the world, covering stories ranging from factual to fictional, and mendacious to salacious. Here at stranglers.net, we are committed to maintaining this biography section as faithfully as is possible to the real story as related by the people who are in a position to know the facts. It is not the work of one person but a collection of detail, complied over many years, by various contributors. Our intention is to update and improve the content as and when circumstances permit and when new information comes to light. Some of the information here, has been culled from interviews with band members themselves and were not at the time thought of as biography pieces but that nevertheless is what they have become. Serious researchers, may wish to study this entire section from top to bottom, whilst others may only be interested in a general outline of this career. So as a rule of thumb, reading from top to bottom will be found to be roughly chronological but not necessarily solely ‘band’ biographical. The opening ‘ODYSSEY’ section for example, is ‘person’ biographical, covering the formative years of Jet Black and eventually leading up to the formation of the band. Relative in that context of course, but may not be of particular interest to researchers of the actual ‘band’ story. So, to follow the sequences which are likely to be of direct interest to researchers of ‘band’ history, you may prefer to cherry-pick each section prefaced with ‘BIOGRAPHY’ shown in the red bar on the relevant page which is always specifically and directly band related, and as far as is possible, chronologically sequenced. Sections NOT prefaced with ‘BIOGRAPHY’ may in fact be biographical, but not necessarily ‘of the band’. 4 COPYRIGHT © 2011 THE STRANGLERS www.stranglers.net A BIOGRAPHY Jet’s Musical Odyssey (A Jet Black interview with Ava Rave covering his formative ‘musical’ life through school years, work, business and on right up to the eventual creation of the band.) AR: I’m interested in the beginning, the very beginning. My understanding is that you were in your mid thirties, in business, apparently doing OK, and you suddenly decided to start a band. Can we start by getting to understand how that all came about? JB: You have to understand that I didn’t just suddenly become interested in music at that point in my life. By my mid thirties, I had quite a lot of experience in music. If you really want me to start at the beginning I guess I need to go back to when I was about five, and that’s a very long time ago! My earliest recollection in music terms, was when one day I found myself going to have piano lessons. I don’t now remember how that came about. If it had been under my own initiative, I think I would have remembered that. There is no residual recollection of having a burning desire to play the piano. I can’t see that the idea came from my parents either, although it must have. The problem there is that my mother was non musical and my father, I think, actually hated music. I don’t think he even understood what the point of it was. I’m pretty much certain that he never experienced any pleasure from music in his entire life. Anyway, it didn’t last for long, maybe a few months. But I do well remember - in fact it’s permanently carved into my memory - that my teacher used to have an annual concert featuring all of her students. This was something she staged for the benefit of the parents. I remember being ushered onto a stage in some village hall in front of maybe a hundred or so. I was terrified. I froze, and after a spine chilling pause which seemed like hours, the teacher had to come up to me, to show me where to start. I must have been the youngest performer that year. So it was all very embarrassing. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to bring such humiliation upon themselves. I don’t know if that was actually why it didn’t go on much longer, but it didn’t. I suppose I ought to own up that I wasn’t very good, but also the domestic environment wasn’t conducive to any kind of study. Music or otherwise. What with my father hating music in the first place and then having to listen to my pathetic efforts on the piano, it’s not so difficult to see how it all fell apart. Plus the romance had long since departed from my parents’ marriage and it had descended into domestic warfare. AR: So what was the next chapter in the Black career? JB: Just a few years later, when I was about ten, I was sent to a school on the south coast. I have written about this before so I don’t think I need all the detail. However, I was sent there because I was a chronic Asthmatic in those days. It was thought at that time that the COPYRIGHT © 2011 THE STRANGLERS 5 A BIOGRAPHY www.stranglers.net best environment for the condition was clean fresh air. Holy Cross School stood on top of the cliffs near Broadstairs and from that point of view it was an ideal location for the condition. I was there for around eighteen months in all and loved it. As a side issue, I quickly became less ill and it wasn’t until many years later that I came to the conclusion that it hadn’t been so much to do with the clean air, but the clean - as in peaceful - environment. Home life was fraught with domestic strife. I believe it is now thought that nervous anxiety can play a part in Asthma. So anyway, one day the class was asked if anyone would like to learn to play the violin. Don’t know why, but I put my hand up. I must have forgotten about the horrors of my piano life! Within a short time, I was the best in the school. I was the one who did the virtuoso spot on parents day. So that was my first success of sorts in a musical context. AR: How long did the violin thing last? JB: Not very long actually. It was fine while I was in Broadstairs but pretty much the minute I got home, the Asthma started up again and Dad hated the fiddle noise and I was sent down to the shed at the bottom of the garden to practice. To his credit, he did find a new local teacher for me, but it just fizzled out. There was no enjoyment in it at home and it was a bit like trying to make ice in the middle of a bonfire. You just can’t win. I felt completely unenthused. AR: So, the violin chapter ends, what was the next step? JB: I guess it was my ‘discovery’ of music. Obviously, I knew what music was, but there came a day when I discovered foot tapping music. It opened my eyes. I was now only just, a young teenager, and had journeyed to a youth club which was situated outside of what might have been considered my ‘manor’. Friends had told me about this place where there was a fantastic music scene. I had no idea what they had really meant, but there I was one evening with some pals, in a dingy amenity hut or barn. Just a lot of kids standing around and talking and there was a tiny stage at one end. I believe there was a piano and drum kit. After awhile the main door opened and in walks a man in a boiler suit and a hard hat, or whatever it was that they wore in those days.