Black and White (The Stranglers album)

Black and White
Black and White
Studio album by The Stranglers
Released	12 May 1978
Recorded	February 1978
Studio	T.W. Studios, Fulham, London
Genre	Post-punk, punk rock, new wave
Length	39:50
Label	United Artists
Producer	Martin Rushent
The Stranglers chronology
Singles from Black and White
	"Nice 'n' Sleazy"; Released: 1978; "Walk On By"; Released: 1978;

Black and White is the third studio album by English new wave band The Stranglers. It was released on 12 May 1978, through record label United Artists.

Background[]

As with The Stranglers' first two albums, Black and White was produced by Martin Rushent. The album sees The Stranglers adopting a more experimental approach to song structures and time signatures (for example, "Curfew" features 7/4 time).^{[citation needed]}

The band recorded a version of "Sweden" sung in Swedish, called "Sverige", and released it in Sweden. The song was partly inspired by Cornwell's PhD placement at Lund University in the mid-1970s. In an anecdote related in the Swedish online magazine Blaskan, it is stated that the song was inspired by a disastrous visit to Sweden during a European tour, when a gig was violently interrupted by a gang of "raggare" (greasers).^[1]

The song title "Death and Night and Blood" is taken from a line from Yukio Mishima's novel Confessions of a Mask.

The song "In the Shadows" had previously been released as the B-side to the band's 1977 single "No More Heroes".

Release[]

Black and White was released on 12 May 1978. The album peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart, spending eighteen weeks on the chart.^[2]

The first 75,000 LPs came with a free white vinyl 7" composed of three tracks: "Walk On By" (a cover of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David song written for and originally recorded by Dionne Warwick), "Mean to Me" and "Tits".

The US version of the album, on the A&M label, was pressed on black and white marbled vinyl, but came without the three-track single.

Singles released from the album were "Nice 'n' Sleazy", b/w "Shut Up", and "Walk On By", b/w "Tank" and "Old Codger". "Old Codger" featured a guest vocal from jazz singer George Melly. An edited version of "Walk On By" with "Tank" was also pressed as a double A-side radio-play single.

Most of these tracks were included in the remastered 2001 CD re-issue of the album.

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[4]
Record Collector	^[5]
Record Mirror	^[6]
Sounds	^[7]

Reviews of the album were positive. NME called the 'A' side "by far the best work they've ever done", Tim Lott of Record Mirror said the album "belies my expectations of The Stranglers as a spent force and Melody Maker stated the album, while not as good as their debut, showed that the band could "enlarge their ideas and still come up with good tunes".^[8]

Some retrospective critics view Black and White in a lesser light to the band's previous albums. AllMusic called it "arguably the weakest" of The Stranglers' first three albums, "yet it still has some absolutely stunning moments."^[3] Trouser Press wrote, "Black and White lacks only good songs. Except for 'Nice 'n' Sleazy', most of the tracks are merely inferior rehashes of earlier work, making the LP easily forgettable."^[9]

Conversely, David Quantick writing for BBC Music said "The Stranglers turned everything round on their third album", stating that the album was both "essential" and "extraordinary" and "displayed clear influences on the work of Gang of Four and Joy Division.".^[10] Record Collector's Tim Peacock said Black and White "served notice that The Stranglers had already outstripped punk", calling it "stark, compelling and every inch as necessary as contemporaneous envelope-pushers including PiL's First Issue and Wire's Chairs Missing."^[11]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by The Stranglers (Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield, Jet Black), except as noted. CD releases have a slightly different running order, with 'Hey! Rise Of The Robots' appearing after 'Outside Tokyo', and 'In The Shadows' coming after 'Threatened'..

White Side
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Tank"	2:54
2.	"Nice 'n' Sleazy"	3:11
3.	"Outside Tokyo"	2:06
4.	"Sweden (All Quiet on the Eastern Front)"	2:47
5.	"Hey! (Rise of the Robots)"	2:13
6.	"Toiler on the Sea"	5:23

Black Side
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Curfew"	3:10
2.	"Threatened"	3:30
3.	"Do You Wanna"	2:38
4.	"Death and Night and Blood (Yukio)"	2:50
5.	"In the Shadows"	4:15
6.	"Enough Time"	4:16

Bonus 7"
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Walk On By"	Burt Bacharach, Hal David	6:22
2.	"Mean to Me"		1:55
3.	"Tits"		5:25

2001 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Mean to Me"		1:55
14.	"Walk On By"	Bacharach, David	6:22
15.	"Shut Up"		1:07
16.	"Sverige"		2:49
17.	"Old Codger"		2:49
18.	"Tits"		5:25

Personnel[]

The Stranglers

Hugh Cornwell – guitar, lead and backing vocals
Jean-Jacques Burnel – bass guitar, lead and backing vocals
Dave Greenfield – keyboards (Hammond L100 Organ, Hohner Cembalet electric piano, Minimoog synthesizer), lead and backing vocals
Jet Black – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

Lora Logic – saxophone ("Hey!")
George Melly – vocals ("Old Codger")
Lew Lewis – harmonica ("Old Codger")

Technical

Martin Rushent – production
Alan Winstanley – engineering
Kevin Sparrow – sleeve design
Ruan O'Lochlainn – cover photography

References[]

^ "I huvudet på en gammal punkare", 2006 article in online Swedish magazine, Blaskan | http://www.blaskan.nu/Blaskan/Nummer44/Punkspecial/i_huvudet_pa_en_gammal_punkare_capo.html Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Stranglers". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Ogg, Alex. "Black and White – The Stranglers". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Stranglers". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
^ Peacock, Tim (April 2018). "The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes, Black And White, Live (X Cert), The Raven, The Gospel According To The Meninblack, La Folie". Record Collector. No. 478. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
^ Lott, Tim (13 May 1978). "Ugly but Nice". Record Mirror. p. 20.
^ McAllister, Donna (13 May 1978). "Lewd lullabies". Sounds. p. 45.
^ Twomey, Chris (1992). The Stranglers - The Men They Love To Hate. EMI Records Ltd. pp. 51–52.
^ Robbins, Ira. "Stranglers". Trouser Press. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
^ Quantick, David (2012). "The Stranglers Black And White Review". BBC Music. BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
^ Peacock, Tim. "Rattus Norvegicus - The Stranglers". Record Collector. Diamond Publishing. Retrieved 17 March 2021.

External links[]

Black and White at Discogs (list of releases)

[1] "I huvudet på en gammal punkare", 2006 article in online Swedish magazine, Blaskan | http://www.blaskan.nu/Blaskan/Nummer44/Punkspecial/i_huvudet_pa_en_gammal_punkare_capo.html Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine

[2] "Stranglers". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 October 2020.

[AllMusic-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Ogg, Alex. "Black and White – The Stranglers". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 April 2013.

[4] Larkin, Colin (2011). "Stranglers". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.

[5] Peacock, Tim (April 2018). "The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes, Black And White, Live (X Cert), The Raven, The Gospel According To The Meninblack, La Folie". Record Collector. No. 478. Retrieved 24 October 2020.

[6] Lott, Tim (13 May 1978). "Ugly but Nice". Record Mirror. p. 20.

[7] McAllister, Donna (13 May 1978). "Lewd lullabies". Sounds. p. 45.

[twomey-8] Twomey, Chris (1992). The Stranglers - The Men They Love To Hate. EMI Records Ltd. pp. 51–52.

[Trouser_Press-9] Robbins, Ira. "Stranglers". Trouser Press. Retrieved 27 April 2013.

[10] Quantick, David (2012). "The Stranglers Black And White Review". BBC Music. BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2021.

[11] Peacock, Tim. "Rattus Norvegicus - The Stranglers". Record Collector. Diamond Publishing. Retrieved 17 March 2021.

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hide v t The Stranglers
Jet Black Jean-Jacques Burnel Baz Warne Jim Macaulay Hugh Cornwell Dave Greenfield Paul Roberts John Ellis Hans Wärmling Ian Barnard
Studio albums	Rattus Norvegicus No More Heroes Black and White The Raven The Gospel According to the Meninblack La folie Feline Aural Sculpture Dreamtime 10 Stranglers in the Night About Time Written in Red Coup de Grace Norfolk Coast Suite XVI Giants Dark Matters
Live albums	Live at the Hope and Anchor Live (X Cert) All Live and All of the Night Saturday Night, Sunday Morning The Stranglers and Friends – Live in Concert Friday the Thirteenth Live at the Hammersmith Odeon '81 Live at the Apollo Apollo Revisited Coast to Coast: Live on Tour Live at the Apollo 2010 (DVD & CD)
Compilations	IV The Collection 1977–1982 Off the Beaten Track Rarities (1998) Singles (The UA Years) Greatest Hits 1977–1990 All Twelve Inches The Early Years '74 '75 '76 Rare Live and Unreleased Strangled from Birth and Beyond The Sessions The Hit Men Collection The Stranglers The Masters Lies and Deception Peaches: The Very Best of The Stranglers Rarities (2002) Out of the Black Sweet Smell of Success – Best of the Epic Years Live 'n' Sleazy Gold The Very Best of The Stranglers Decades Apart
Singles	"(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)" "Peaches" "Something Better Change" "No More Heroes" "5 Minutes" "Nice 'n' Sleazy" "Walk On By" "Duchess" "Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus)" "Bear Cage" "Who Wants the World?" "Thrown Away" "Just Like Nothing On Earth" "Let Me Introduce You to the Family" "Golden Brown" "La Folie" "Strange Little Girl" "European Female" "Midnight Summer Dream" "Paradise" "Skin Deep" "No Mercy" "Let Me Down Easy" "Nice in Nice" "Always the Sun" "Big in America" "Shakin' Like a Leaf" "All Day and All of the Night" "Grip '89" "96 Tears" "Sweet Smell of Success" "Always the Sun (Sunny Side Up Mix)" "Golden Brown" (Re-issue) "Heaven or Hell" "Sugar Bullets" "Lies and Deception" "In Heaven She Walks" "Big Thing Coming" "Long Black Veil" "Spectre of Love" "Retro Rockets" "Mercury Rising" "And If You Should See Dave" "If Something's Gonna Kill Me (It Might As Well Be Love)"
Other songs	"Tramp"
DVD releases	The Collection 1977–1982 Live At Alexandra Palace Friday the Thirteenth Euro Live On Stage on Screen Rattus at the Roundhouse Live at the Apollo 2010 (DVD & CD)
Related	Discography Soulsec Celia and the Mutations