10 Best Singles From The Golden Age Of Punk
5. No More Heroes - The Stranglers
Alongside a number of other bands who came to fame in the first explosion of punk, The Stranglers had already been playing as a band since 1974, when they were known as The Guildford Stranglers. Looking back now, they neither looked nor sounded like the bands they were lumped in with. The drummer Jet Black and keyboard player Dave Greenfield in particular still sported the facial hair that had been de rigueur in rock bands since the start of the seventies.
Frontman Hugh Cornwell and bass player Jean-Jacques Burnel fitted the more traditional image, but even they were a few years older than the bands they were competing with. The keyboard dominated sound of The Stranglers was actually reminiscent of the decidedly un-punk band The Doors at times. Regardless, they managed to deftly tailor their sound and lyrical approach to the sounds of the new wave/punk explosion and created some of the most memorable singles.
'Peaches', Hanging Around', 'Get A Grip On Yourself' and of course 'No More Heroes' are perfect examples of the channelling of frustration and nihilism into a hard-hitting killer song that instantly transports you back to the days when 'No Future' sounded like a rallying cry.