Walk On By by The Stranglers

I thought it would be rather appropriate if my next blog post in this series celebrated the work of Hal David, who died a few days ago.
Hal David, for the uninitiated, was the songwriting partner of Burt Bacharach. Hal David wrote the lyrics for many very well known songs during his long career, including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" and "Do You Know The Way To San Jose".

I was originally thinking of including a different single by The Stranglers when i first composed a mental list of records to talk about here. My first thought was to use their first ever single "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)", which i own and which got to the heady heights of number 44 in the UK charts in early 1977.
Maybe i'll get around to that one day?

But, due to the death of Hal David, i thought i'd include this single instead. It has always been a favourite of mine anyway and i love the way The Stranglers covered this classic song and really made it their own.

As you might be able to see from the photo above, i got this single free with The Stranglers 3rd album, Black And White. The 'Black and White' album was released in May of 1978 and got to number 2 in the UK album charts. It was their 3rd album release in 18 months! Can you imagine a band doing that now, except as a kind of gimmick?

The "Walk On By" single was given away free with the first 75,000 copies of the album and is in white vinyl. The A Side of the single is "Walk On By" itself and the B Side included two tracks, "Mean To Me" and "Tits".
 
"Walk On By" was originally a hit single for Dionne Warwick , for whom it was written, back in 1964 and reached number 8 in the UK charts.

Giving away free singles with albums was something that The Stranglers had done before and was done by other bands at that time as well. It was obviously a marketing ploy to get fans to rush out and buy the album as soon as it came out, in the hope of getting that freebie. Thereby increasing the chances of a high chart position the next week.
Limited edition coloured vinyl, or picture sleeves on singles were done for exactly the same reason. Some things you just can't replicate with an mp3 can you?

When i bought The Stranglers first album 'Rattus Norvegicus' in April, 1977, the first 10,000 copies also came with a free single. I own that one as well and who knows, that may feature here at some time too as there is a personal story behind that album.

During the earlier days of Punk Rock, The Stranglers often got a bit of a bad press. Partly, i think, because of the age of some of the members and also because their music did hark back, at least partially, to earlier days. They were even compared to The Doors at times, i seem to remember. They were also accused of playing too well and treated with suspicion by some.
The content of some of their lyrics didn't help them at times either.

Personally, i liked them as soon as i heard them. Maybe because they reminded me of bands that i was listening to anyway? So, i was buying their records from the moment they came out and continued to do so until the turn of the decade when their music went downhill, in my opinion anyway.
I still own many of those early vinyl singles. But, as is so often the case, not the albums.

I first heard about The Stranglers when i read an article in Sounds magazine around 1976. I can't be sure of the year, but the article and the bands name, stuck in my mind. It was comparing the way that two very different bands toured in the UK at that time. The two bands were Deep Purple and The Stranglers. I suspect that i remember the article because Deep Purple were a favourite band of mine and were still huge back then.
I remember that The Stranglers spoke of how they were travelling around the country to gigs in an old ice cream van. A far cry from the way that Deep Purple were travelling!

I saw The Stranglers live twice. Both times in 1977 and both times in Liverpool. And thereby hangs a tale and one to be told at a later date.
The first gig was at the famous 'Eric's' club on Sunday 19th June 1977. 'Eric's' was famously situated in Matthew Street, opposite where 'The Cavern Club' had stood. It was a great venue and one that i visited several times in 1977 and 1978.

The 'Eric's' gig actually took place on the Sunday lunchtime. The Stranglers played two shows at 'Eric's' that day. The second being in the evening. I remember that i couldn't go to the evening show as i had to catch a train back home that same afternoon.
The story at the time was that The Stranglers should have played the Empire Theatre in Liverpool that day. But, due to all the furore at that time over the Sex Pistols song "God Save The Queen", that gig was cancelled and replaced with two at 'Eric's' instead. This was right at the time of The Queens silver jubilee celebrations and many people were a little bit touchy.
I know where i would rather have seen The Stranglers and i'm very pleased that i got what i wanted. I remember it as being a good gig, although a little bit strange. After all, it was a Sunday lunchtime. Not the sort of time you expect to see a major Punk band in a small underground club.
One song from this gig that sticks in my mind was "London Lady" which includes the lyrics, "Have you ever been to Liverpool?" I seem to remember the crowd singing along to that bit.

My second Stranglers gig was on 14th October 1977, this time at Liverpool University. This was during the tour for The Stranglers 2nd album 'No More Heroes'.

All i can say about this gig is, what a difference a few months make.
Whereas the gig at 'Eric's' had been an intimate and very enjoyable affair, the gig at Liverpool University was a very different experience.
Punk Rock had become far more mainstream in those few months and the clothes worn by many in the, far bigger, crowd reflected this. I even saw girls using kettles as handbags!
There was also a hint of violence in the air at all times. Something that was missing at 'Eric's'. Sure, Punk music was aggressive and crowds could often be boisterous. But, there's a huge difference between being boisterous and being violent. Unfortunately, this was the shape of things to come at many Punk gigs in the coming months and years.

1977 was a pivotal year for many people and for many reasons.
As i've mentioned in another one of these posts, it certainly had an effect on me as well. 1978, when "Walk On By" was released was just a continuation of that.
The Stranglers played a part in all of that for me. They were the first Punk band that i saw live and one of the first whose music i bought and played. And i'm still happily playing that music today.
Maybe, i'm still a rebel at heart?