Euroman Cometh

A lovely little re-up request from Carlo...

Imagine, you're the bass player in one of the happening punk bands of 1978, and on the strength of that success, you persuade the record company to let you make an electronic solo concept album, with the theme of a politically united Europe. Sound feasible? Well, I guess it helped that he was British born of French parents, homeless, living in the studio during the Black And White recording sessions and in The Stranglers, but even so...Predictably, it fell through the cracks into obscurity.

 A favourite album of mine is one that you may not have heard of, Stranglers bassist J.J. Burnel’s 1979 solo project ‘Euroman Cometh’. I originally bought it way back when because I was a big fan of the band and wanted to own everything that J.J.  and the other band members put out. At the time I remember being somewhat non-plussed by this album. It was, of course, bass heavy but also political in a way that I couldn’t follow and other worldly; and as a teenager at the time I just didn’t appreciate it. In the intervening years, however, I have come to appreciate that album more and more for its genre defying avant-garde approach even though I can’t agree with the political; it was an album out of time…and has remained somewhat ignored and obscure. Musically, it was an attempt at incorporating electronic sounds into rock. Lyrically, it evolved around the idea of United States of Europe, in the Cold war context. "A Europe riddled with American values and soviet subversion is a diseased sycophantic old whore: a Europe strong, united and independent is a child of the future." stated J.J. Burnel in the inner sleeve. Opening with a list of people he's descended from (Charlemagne, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler (?!?)) voiced over a synthetic drone, it goes on to paint a future vision of a European nation state that stands independently from the U.S. and Russia.

It was merely a dream at the time, but drenched in intuitive foresight, and leaving aside the Nostradamus element (from a guy who was probably smarting at the U.K's patronising myopic view of his homeland), it actually sounds like the future too. Printed on the sleeve is a tribute to the Meriden Motorcycle Co-operative that manufactured Triumph motorcycles from 1976-83. The tribute reads, "The Triumph Workers Co-operative at Meriden have proved that personally motivated enterprise coupled with group interest is a necessary ingredient in successful socialism and the sham they call national socialism could only be suggested and perpetrated by enemies of the people." Burnel's 750cc Triumph Bonneville T140, manufactured by the Meriden Co-operative, revs its engine during the track "Triumph (Of the Good City)". Dirty synths and even dirtier basslines (naturally), rumble and twitch, pummelling a trough of post-punk electro-clash almost 40 years too soon.
Yeah, 1979 was a hell of a year...

Fire And Water (Remembering Dave Greenfield)

In 1979, the Stranglers were at their most prolific with a live contractual album, a studio album considered by many to be their finest and solo albums from the band's two frontmen. After 1979, for a couple of years the band hit something of a low, beset as they were with multiple problems, personal and financial and not all of human making (potentially!). However, in 1983, the Stranglers' phoenix rose once again from the ashes with the release of 'Feline'. Whilst the album was not to everyone's taste (it represented a radical departure from the norm, even for a band with a reputation for challenging the expectations of their fan base), but the band were obviously comfortable and confident with this new direction. On the live front, they embarked on a tour that took them around Europe and Stateside, it was their heaviest schedule since the early days. The promotion of 'Feline' took up much of 1983, but seemingly the creative juices were still overflowing, leaving JJ and Dave with no other option but to dress up as women and head back into the studio to record a film soundtrack no less. Whist the film 'Ecoutez Vos Murs' may have been off the mur, the resultant album 'Fire and Water' is a joy of an album. There is not a duff track on it. Dave's playing stands out massively for me, this being an opportunity for him to play in a style that was free from the constraints imposed by that 'Stranglers sound'. Layer upon layer of sound are laid down, as befits a soundtrack I suppose. Listen to 'Liberation', Le Soir and especially 'Consequences'. Couple that with JJ's newfound discovery of actually singing and the result is a rich mixture of sounds that manage to conjour cafe bars in European boulevards (albeit via the drizzle of Thatcherite Britain as presented in 'Rain & Dole and Tea'). 'Fire and Water, also prepared the foundations for JJ's 'Un Jour Parfait' on which he was again ably assisted by Mr Greenfield.