Hugh Cornwell

One of only seven east coast dates by the dynamic frontman of 1970s punk/art band The Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell come to Port City Music Hall on Monday, September 14.  
The original guitarist, singer and main songwriter in The Stranglers enjoyed massive UK and European success with ten hit albums and twenty-one top forty singles in the 17-year period he was in the band. The Stranglers etched themselves into the UK's musical psyche with 'Peaches', 'No More Heroes', 'Golden Brown', 'Always The Sun', 'Grip', 'Nice N Sleazy', 'Duchess', 'Walk On By', 'Strange Little Girl' and 'Skin Deep'.

The Stranglers burst onto the neophyte British punk scene in 1976, opening for The Ramone's first London show and then for Patti Smith. The punk fanzine "Sniffin' Glue" said "their sound is 1976...the Stranglers are a pleasure to boogie to -- sometimes they sound like the Doors, other times like Television, but they've got an ID of their own." Critics assailed them in the beginning for their lack of musical prowess, audiences walked out on them, feminists railed against their explicit sexism and the older generation reacted to their dark, often violent songs and chaotic shows. The Stranglers reigned supreme however on the charts and in record sales throughout the bulk of the punk era.
Their first U.K. Top Ten hit, 1977's "Peaches," continued to incite the politically correct community along with other seemingly misogynistic ditties as: "London Lady," "Bring on the Nubiles," "Choosy Susie." The band's defenders claimed everyone was missing the heavy dose of irony intended.

Cornwell has revelled in his musical freedom ever since a 1990 sold-out Stranglers gig at London's Alexandra Palace where he announced he would be leaving the group. He has released seven solo albums, Wolf (1988) Wired (1993) Guilty (1997) Hifi (2001) Beyond Elysian Fields (2004) Footprints in the Desert (2005) Dirty Dozen (2006) and three collaborations, Nosferatu (1979) featuring Robert Williams, CCW (1992) featuring Roger Cook and Andy West, and Sons Of Shiva (2002) featuring Sex W Johnston.

LINKS:Hugh Cornwell Website: http://www.hooverdamdownload.com/The Stranglers bio on AllMusic.com: http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fifrxqr5ldae~T1

VIDEO:

Hugh Cornwell interview "Bites the Big Apple" reminisces on The Screen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqIwaBdNf0E

Hugh Cornwell, 2009 "Down in the Sewer"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxt_HDTff8U

The Stranglers live (1978):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hb_JG74DZY&feature=related

Vintage Stranglers cleaned up for TV; "Walk On By"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXHToM3qt6w&NR=1

1990 Stranglers Music Vid: "96 Tears"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YGFDco26FA&feature=fvw