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Vol. I
No. 9 No More Heroes? Artist in Profile Late January 2006, I am on a 747 flying to visit my ailing father in Florida. I am well aware that his time on the planet is limited, so once more I go into the breech ,crossing my fingers for no hurricanes. Since it is a slightly lengthy trip, I decide to bring some reading material. Highly recommended by an old and dear friend, I pack into my sparse luggage A Multitude of Sins, the autobiography of original front man for British rock band The Stranglers.
Hugh is enjoying a an incredible solo career, releasing four excellent studio albums, “Wired” (1993), “Guilty” (1997), “Hi Fi” (2001) and “Beyond Elysian Fields” (2006). I was fortunate enough to procure a fanzine promo disc of Hugh and his band, “Live It and Breathe It,” with cuts from “Beyond Elysian Fields” (Producer Tony Visconti), Guilty and a few Stranglers favorites. Mixed by Chris Goulstone at the Chapel of Rock, the tracks are selections the latest released triple CD “People, Places, Pieces”. His new line-up is stripped down to three players; Hugh (Vocals, electric and acoustic guitar), Steve Lawrence (Bass guitar and backing vocals), and Windsor McGilvray (Drums, percussion and backing vocals). It is always interesting to see how solid songs can be when you strip away all the fancy production and go back to the basics. Hugh Cornwell shows that with a firm rhythm section , great harmonies, and an incredible front man with solid material can fill the room with great music. “Multitude of Sins” begins with the break-up of the Stranglers
after packing the Alexandra Palace in the summer of 1990. A tired group
of mates that have been unhappy for some time and going the route of the
Beatles (recording separately, fighting on stage, etc) at the height of
their success. Judging from the reactions of the other band members, there
was some relief mixed with indifference. Dave Greenslade, (Keyboardist)
summed it up when he responded “Will we be having a meeting?”
Each chapter has a sin attached to it. Leave Me Alone, Rock n Roll Part
One and Two, Sex, Drugs, Inside Information (Prison Atrocities), Celebrity
(Pride) and so on. Young Master Cornwell then goes off to school in Sweden where he studies the Sciences. For a few years, he even lands a well paying research position after graduation. He expounds on his first sexual experience with a nurse and the crazy bunch of Swedish Hippies he hangs out with. Eventually Rock and Roll wins over, and he forms a band with his Nordic buds called “Johnny Sox.” Together they begin gigging throughout Europe with an occasional bank robbery from their vocalist and song writer Gyrth Godwin. They even went as far (for a promotional stunt) as having a reporter interview him as the “mysterious bank robber “ the police had been in pursuit of. The formation as well as the disintegration of the Stranglers played a big part in this book. With two of the remaining Johnny Sox, Hugh met Jet Black (Drums) and Jean Jacques Burnell, (Bass) and Dave Greenslade (keyboards) lived in a series of tenements and shop fronts, slowly forming the Stranglers signature sound. Along the way, a plethora of celebrities on the rise of the Punk scene drift in and out of the gigs and recording sessions. Joe Strummer of the Clash has numerous appearances, and turned out to be a good friend to Hugh. There is even a story about passing out at Charlie Watts house after too much wine and listening to Miles Davis. Mose Allison connects with him and so does Fee Waynbill of the Tubes.
Well, lucky for you I was a captive audience in my plane seat, with nothing more than airline brochures as an alternative. Don’t get me wrong! I thoroughly enjoyed this journey with such a seasoned veteran of the 70’s and 80’s Rock and Roll. It was refreshing to read about a very human individual who has grown beyond the self indulgence of youth. A Multitude of Sins “ is a perfect title for this self exposed confession to the fickle beast called the Public. It seems to me that Hugh has his card fairly out in the open. Air out the skeletons and the Press are impudent. And on that note, I have no more to say, but to read it! Grade: A- |
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Copyright © 2005-06, Humboldt Sentinel. All rights reserved. |
I
had seen the Stranglers in the Eighties in SF for two different tours:
“The Raven” and “Aural Sculpture,” both incredible
albums. Although their popularity in Europe was massive, this was a fairly
unknown band in the States. Famous for their hits “Golden Brown”
and “Strange Little Girl,” they also revived an old Kinks
tune, “All Day and All of the Night” plus a creepy version
of “Walk On By” by Burt Bacharach. They had 21 top forty singles
in the thirteen years Hugh sang with them, but now tour ‘Hugh-less’
and sound tight as ever. Apparently there has been some bad sentiments
from the lads with Hugh, but, life goes on.
A
large portion of the book was given to a short book he wrote about the
prison system called Inside Information. This is stuck n the middle of
the book which was not really a good choice. It could have been broken
up into two chapters, perhaps with half as a tag on. The author speaks
of this apologetically in the book itself, which is a bit of a negative
way to draw your readers in. The same goes for on stage apologies. Why
lose face? Sympathy? Hugh! You are too cool for that. In any case, the
stories were socially important, just a bit lengthy. If you knew we’d
have that reaction, why do it? 