Day 65: The Stranglers – La Folie
Album cover courtesy of Liberty
I like a bit of baroque music. Give me a bit of harpsicord and some music that sounds like poncey people would drink sherry to it in the 17th century, I’ll be happy. However, unfortunately I don’t know enough about it, I can’t think of a short-ish album to listen to off the top of my head. I’ve been looking at some Bach but the recordings I’m looking at are like two hours long – paired with the writing and research and what have you, that would take so long that I’d genuinely have to put it in the calendar.
So I thought, what am I to do today, I’d like to hear some harpsicord but I’m limited on time. Naturally, I decided to go for the Stranglers, whichever album has “Golden Brown”, please and thank you. My baroque-y harpsicord itch gets scratched for the length of one song but I also don’t have to tread unknown waters to get there.
The Stranglers were formed in 1974 in Guildford on the back off the ‘70s pub rock scene, but later were associated with punk and new wave. The band was started after drummer Jet Black, then an off-licence owner, ice cream man and home-brew kit manufacturer, placed an ad in the Melody Maker that led to him meeting guitarist and vocalist Hugh Cornwell.
La Folie is the band’s sixth studio album. It was released in 1981 as a concept album about love where the band chose to take their music to a slightly different direction. It looked like it would be their lowest-charting album, until they released “Golden Brown” as a single. The jaunty waltz-rhythm tune with the harpsicord is both about a lady and heroin, with Cornwell saying “both provided me with pleasurable times.” It ended up becoming a huge worldwide hit, boosting the sales of the album.
It's a fun record to listen to – it’s slightly sardonic ‘80s new wave sophisti-pop where every song has a clearly different vibe to the song that came before it. “Golden Brown” is phenomenal, I especially love the end of the song, and it scratches the itch that I was hoping it would. I also like “Let Me Introduce You to the Family” and "How to Find True Love and Happiness in the Present Day".
You can’t always get what you want but sometimes you get what you need, as I’m sure we’ve all heard a certain large-mouthed man tell us. Today wasn’t what I thought I’d listen to but I got what I needed. It’s yet another 8.5/10, I’ve had a good time listening to La Folie. I promise I’ll book that gargantuan Bach day into my schedule posthaste.