Jean Jaques Burnel of The Stranglers
As long as you had a ticket to get in to the venue it was very easy to wander backstage at the Winter Gardens. I knocked on the dressing room door and asked if I could come in and take a few photos. The Stranglers were quite obliging. I did individual shots just before they were due to go onstage. Jean-Jacques Burnel their classically trained bassist was the least friendly but looked up from reading the NME for me to grab this shot.
Although allied to the punk scene they were always more experimental than bands of that era producing dark bass-heavy rhythms interlaceing keyboards with more intellectual lyrics and recording several concept albums as their sound became more sophisticated. By the end of the 1970s they had several hit singles including ‘Peaches’ and ‘No More Heroes’ and had become more independent producing their own recordings and gaining a huge following in Japan. They are the longest running former punk band in continuous existence. Jean-Jacques helped form the band originally called The Guildford Stranglers in 1974 and they are still recording and performing live with original members Dave Greenfield on keyboards and 70 year old Jet Black on drums.
