The Stranglers - Black And White

Original Release Date

1978

Release Information

UK LP+7" 1978 (United Artists - UAK 30222 / FREE 9)
UK LP 1978 (United Artists - UAK 30222)
US LP 1978 (A&M - SP-4706)
UK CD 2018 (Parlophone - 0190295892524)

1 Tank 2:58
2 Nice 'n' Sleazy 3:13
3 Outside Tokyo 2:09
4 Sweden (All Quiet On The Eastern Front) 2:50
5 Hey! (Rise Of The Robots) 2:15
6 Toiler On The Sea 5:28
7 Curfew 3:16
8 Threatened 3:35
9 Do You Wanna? 2:28
10 Death And Night And Blood (Yukio) 2:49
11 In The Shadows 4:35
12 Enough Time 4:21

Bonus 7"
1 Walk On By 6:22
2 Mean To Me 1:56
3 Tits 5:26

Bonus Tracks on CD:
Associated Recordings
13 Shut Up 1:07
14 Walk On By 6:21
15 Mean To Me 1:56
16 Tits (Live) 5:27
17 Old Codger 2:51
18 Sverige (Jag Ar Insnoad Pa Ostfronten) 2:51
19 Walk On By (Single Edit) 4:25

[Note: UK and US LPs are split into "White Side" (1-6) and "Black Side" (7-12). The US LP credits 'Do You Wanna? / Death And Night And Blood (Yukio)' as one song, meaning side two on the US has five tracks listed.]

Chart Placings

UK Chart Hit: 2, 18 wks

Credits

UK/US LP:

Hugh Cornwell - guitars and vocals
Jean Jacques Burnel - bass and vocals
Dave Greenfield - keyboards and vocals
Jet Black - drums and percussion

Lora Logic plays saxophone on 'Hey!'

Produced by Martin Rushent
February/March 1978
Engineer: Alan Winstanley

___________________________________________________

Additional CD Credits:

Master assembly: Pete Mew

13: B side of Nice 'N' Sleazy. Produced by Martin Rushent at T.W. Studios, Fulham. Engineer Alan Winstanley. Mixed at Advision Studios UP 36379B
14: FREE 9B
15, 16: FREE 9A
17: B side of Walk On By. Produced by Martin Pontius Rushent, Alan Winstanley and The Stranglers. George Melly - vox, Lew Lewis - harp, The Stranglers backing track. UP 36429B
18: Svenska version av 'Sweden' (All Quiet On The Eastern Front). Produced by Martin Rushent. Engineer Alan Winstanley. UP 36459
19: Single edit. Produced by Martin Pontius Rushent UP 36429A [Punky note: this is actually the shortened promo mix]

Additional Credits

Hugh Cornwell sings lead vocals on all tracks except:
Jean Jacques Burnel - 'Curfew', 'Threatened', 'Death And Night And Blood (Yukio)' and 'Shut Up'
Dave Greenfield - 'Do You Wanna'
George Melly - 'Old Codger'

Reviews & Opinions

IRA ROBBINS, TROUSER PRESS: Tricked out with gray-swirl vinyl and a limited edition bonus 45 (three tunes, including a wonderful gruff version of 'Walk on By'), '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.

PUNKY GIBBON: Expanding their lyrics to embrace much wider issues than the women they've slapped around, album number three addresses such wide-reaching (and sometimes abstract) topics as technology, time, futuristic state control scenarios, the apocalypse, Homosexual Japanese authors and the military. Side two is given over to such cheery ditties as 'Curfew', 'Death And Night And Blood (Yukio)' and 'In The Shadows', employing synthesisers and odd time signatures to great effect. On the "white" side, 'Tank' investigates the benefits of enrolling in the army, 'Sweden (All Quiet On The Eastern Front)' - a diatribe aimed at the country Cornwell worked and lived in for several years ("Sense of humour's gone astray somewhere", he notes dryly) and the almost hardcore 'Hey! Rise Of The Robots' (complete with Lora Logic on sax) demonstrate how powerful and punky-sounding the band are. Two of the songs have gone down in legend: the autobiographical Nice 'N' Sleazy and the grandly sweeping 'Toiler On The Sea'. It's worth buying the album for these two cuts alone, but all of it is good. It initially came with a three-track single, comprised of 'Mean To Me', a wonderfully grumpy version of 'Walk On By', and 'Tits', a live recording with the group introducing themselves to the audience. American promo versions came on swirl vinyl.

Additional Notes

All timings are from the CD. The US LP mistitles 'Toiler On The Sea' as 'Toiler Of The Sea'. It is worth noting that the 2001 CD reissue previously listed on Punky Gibbon had some tracks re sequenced ('Hey!' placed before 'Sweden', 'In The Shadows' moved to site before 'Do You Wanna'). The Parlophone reissue rectifies this but apparently uses the same remaster as the 2001 edition (please note: only few pages of the booklet are pictured).

Images

UK LP+7" 1978 (United Artists - UAK 30222 / FREE 9) and UK LP 1978 (United Artists - UAK 30222). The free single came in black die-cut sleeve with insert, same label on both sides, white vinyl (although some were mispressed on beige vinyl). Click here for more

US LP 1978 (A&M - SP-4706). Black or grey marbled vinyl. Click here for more

UK CD 2018 (Parlophone - 0190295892524). Click here for more