Feline

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Suddenly finding ourselves without a gig to go to we went, with our White City hosts Spence and John, to see The Alarm at the famous Marquee, Wardour street. Not as good as the Stranglers but a decent gig, the Alarm were just starting to get a big reputation in those days. Afterwards we found ourselves standing at the bar with Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers and chatted with him over a pint or two. TVS Studios, Gillingham October ’82 There were three singles released from Feline: the first was " European Female" which reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1983, and was followed by a remixed 7" version of "Midnight Summer Dream" in February (which peaked at No. 35 in the UK). The third and final single released was "Paradise" (released in July 1983) which reached No. 48. [6] Reception [ edit ] Legal matters ensued with the result that a further single be released to terminate the contract. So we handed them a song that they had previously refused when we were originally seeking a record deal several years previously, Strange Little Girl. We then signed to Sony ,CBS. We decided to attempt an album which would marry various European influences and references. Spanish guitars, synths, electronic drums. Completely different from anything we had done before and since.’ Pete Jones and I had decided to do the French leg of the tour and, after a week’s rest, off we went. Pete arrived at our house on Thursday night and we set off on Friday morning via London and Dover. Pete got so carried away flirting with a tasty French hottie on the ferry that he sprinkled sugar on his chips instead of salt, he ate them too!

We’ve also added in extra memories from Mark’s touring mate Phil Coxon from Derby-who has already supplied us with tour diaries from ’79 -’82. Phil’s sections are all attributed to him, all other text is from Mark. Over to our tour guides… Originally released in January 1983, FELINE is The STRANGLERS’ seventh studio LP and was their first for then-new label, Epic Records (Sony). The 40th anniversary edition, released courtesy of BMG, will be released on 3rd March 2023.The Strange Circumstances Which Lead To) Vladimir & Olga (Requesting Rehabilitation In A Siberian Health Resort As A Result Of Stress In Furthering The People’s Policies)

Hello again Temple Meads, forever associated with Stranglers tours. Travelled to Bristol on the train with Nik Malham. Had a pot of Earl Grey in a local tea shop, very civilised! Me, Robbo and Eddie got a B & B for the night, had a few scrumpys before the gig. Ructions later when Rob and Eddie didn’t get in and stormed off in a huff. I watched the gig with Linsey, Krista and Phil Coxon, who I think taped the gig (we only ever taped gigs for passing around our group I hasten to add). I’ve still got a copy somewhere. Thirty years ago exactly, the band set out on a tour of the UK in support of their new album Feline. In the year since their last tour, they had left EMI, moved to CBS and released a new studio album. Mark Senior from Sheffield planned to attempt the full tour and he recounts his exploits for us here.. Greenfield came up with the music for their most famous song, 1982’s Golden Brown, a harpsichord piece in 6/8 waltz time, which lyricist Cornwell later said was about both heroin and a girl. When the record company rejected it, the band invoked a contractual clause to make them put it out. “They released it at Christmas, expecting it to be drowned in a tsunami of Christmas singles,” Burnel recalls with relish. “After it was a hit all over the world, they asked for ‘another Golden Brown’. So we gave them a seven-minute song in French.” This was La Folie, which made allusions to Japanese necrophiliac murderer and cannibal Issei Sagawa. It charted at No 47.

In addition, to counterbalance the delicate acoustic guitar sound, Jet chose to use the synthetic effects of the Simmons electronic drum kit, which had recently appeared and were de rigeur at that time. ‘We weren’t luddites and there was all this new technology around and Jet was up for it,’ JJ remembers, ‘We had already been criticised by our peers for using synthesisers. Everything was happening with digital in the eighties and we wanted to embrace it. If something suited us, fine. If it didn’t, we dispensed with it. We thought that was what we should be doing – experimenting.’ Jet & his Simmons kit Forty years on, JJ Burnel reflects ‘ After the success of Golden Brown ,which the record company initially didn’t want to release, they asked us to repeat the formula. Obviously we didn’t agree and gave them a six minute single in French…La Folie.

The songs showed an interesting juxtaposition of old and new sounds which became the album’s trademark. In addition to the band’s altered guitar and drum sounds, Dave’s keyboard sound had evolved too. Gone were his more familiar runs and arpeggios, which characterised earlier albums, to be replaced with huge, powerful washes. Dave at work, ICP Brussels, Sept ’82 Inside we hung around for ages until the band came on, they played Midnight Summer Dream, European Female and, joy of joys, Who Wants The World? (watch full Tube footage here). We didn’t get a chance to speak to the band but I got a couple of photos of the lovely Paula and a kiss! Feline UK tour: There were certainly a few other regulars on the scene but the following list is a fair proportion of the “hard core” fans on the Feline tour : I was to follow the band on one more UK tour and several in Europe after moving over here but things would never again quite reach the dizzy heights of that fantastic few weeks in 1983. That was the tour that, for some of us, was THE tour! Overall the MOV is the winner for me but this is alot cheaper and sounds quite ok so if you get a well pressed one it should keep you happy!a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.535. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. Home at 9.30, three and a half hours sleep, off to Birmingham at 4.30. I don’t have much info on this one but I know Phil was there, the diary says “reasonable gig”. We had a few drinks in the Holiday Inn with the band afterwards, I slept in the hotel fire escape.