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It’s a shame that Baz still has to contend with this after 25 years as a Strangler, of course Baz is not Hugh, and I very much doubt he wants to be, after all, he didn’t join a tribute act. What he did do for me, and obviously many other Stranglers fans, considering the number of sold-out shows at impressive venues around the world the band still plays, was to revitalize and re-energize The Stranglers. For me personally, The Stranglers had lost their mojo even when Hugh was still in the band when people seem to forget that the last few albums with him were lack lustre affairs. JJ had lost his mojo and was playing one of those humiliatingly naff Steinberger headless basses, there was an awful brass section and Dave’s trademark organ was reduced to weak synth background noise. I remember being hugely disappointed at their last ever gig with Hugh at Alexandra Palace, it was awful. There was no energy, no passion and it was obvious the band were going through the motions and destined to call it a day. However, as much as I wanted to continue to support the band when they decided to continue after Hugh left, I just couldn’t handle the Paul Roberts, John Ellis line-up era. Paul’s overtly theatrical vocals and performances just didn’t cut it with me until I heard the track “Norfolk Coast”. There was Dave’s swirling organ again and finally an old-school killer bass intro from JJ that had me intrigued. The album of the same name was still patchy but promising, and it was no coincidence that the ousting of the much-maligned Ellis and the addition of new guitarist Baz Warne had something to do with it.
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Anyway, I digress…back to the night and Baz explains that “No Grass On A Busy Street” is a collection of various diary entries, interviews and tour blogs throughout his 25 years with The Stranglers. However, he has fleshed these chapters out with his current thoughts, looking back on the earlier writing, which give an interesting contemporary perspective. He has also included some more background on his upbringing and family life, of growing up in Sunderland in the Northeast of England and on his time in Canada, where the family relocated due to his Dad’s work. He told us he added this new autobiographical section rather reluctantly and on the advice of his publisher, as he couldn’t believe that anyone would be interested in his life outside The Stranglers. He’s wrong of course, and some of the funniest and most revealing moments during the talk are when he discusses his family and early years. Mark asks questions on a wide variety of topics that despite sometimes veering on the trivial, such as “what’s the hottest gig you’ve ever played?” Baz answers all with a mixture of charm, candour and good humour. For example, after a particularly sweaty show at Fibbers in York, “I was so hot and soaked through that I didn’t want to get on the bed, so I laid on the floor and when I got up there was a large Baz-sized outline on the carpet” and “We’d have a competition to see who had collected the most sweat in their Dr. Martens”.
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Baz then spoke about Toby’s recent TV appearance on The Repair Shop with admiration, where Toby took in Dave Greenfield’s old battered and broken organ to get it repaired. Baz mentioned that he really wants to get a new album out with Toby and that very same keyboard on it. He mentioned that hopefully the new album would be “full of joy” and that he’s already written a “really fast punky tune, a serious kick up the arse”. Ruts DC guitarist Leigh Heggarty who is also in Wingmen with Baz, was in attendance and they exchanged some banter and Baz told us the good news that they are working on a new Wingmen album along with Paul Gray from The Damned and Marty Love from the Johnny Moped Band. Baz regaled us with more tales of life on the road including humorous encounters with Blondie and Debbie Harry, Simple Minds and their American Tour Manager and Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs. He stressed the importance of the road crew or “technicians, as we have to call them these days” and dealing with outdoor festivals in dangerous pouring rain. He also touched on the much-anticipated Stranglers documentary, of daring to drop “Golden Brown” from the set, the on-the-road routines and the song writing process in particular how proud he and JJ were with “The Lines” after they finished it and recorded it in one take. He then strapped on his guitar and treated us to a sublime version of the song.
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