''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 United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

in most of the world and A&M in America.

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). 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 , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion raggare Raggare is a subculture found mostly in Sweden and parts of Norway and Finland, and to a lesser extent in Denmark, Germany, and Austria. Raggare are related to the American greaser and rockabilly subcultures and are known for their lov ...

" ( greasers). 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 The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

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 The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, spending eighteen weeks on the chart. 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 Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...

and Hal David song written for and originally recorded by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles ch ...

), "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 Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for '' The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with a ...

. 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

Reviews of the album were positive. '' NME'' called the 'A' side "by far the best work they've ever done",

Tim Lott Tim Lott (born 23 January 1956) is a British author. He worked as a music journalist and ran a magazine publishing business, launching '' Flexipop'' magazine in 1980 with ex-''Record Mirror'' journalist Barry Cain. Early life and education In ...

of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'' said the album "belies my expectations of The Stranglers as a spent force" and ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' 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". Some retrospective critics view ''Black and White'' in a lesser light to the band's previous albums.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

called it "arguably the weakest" of the Stranglers' first three albums, "yet it still has some absolutely stunning moments." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' 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." 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 The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

and Joy Division.". ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

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

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's ''

Chairs Missing ''Chairs Missing'' is the second studio album by English rock band Wire. It was released on 8 September 1978 by Harvest Records. The album peaked at number 48 in the UK Albums Chart. Although it features some of the minimalist punk rock of the ...

''."

Track listing

;2016 expanded vinyl edition Self-released by the Stranglers, ''Black and White'' received a deluxe vinyl reissue in 2016, limited to 1000 numbered copies. The original 12-track album is coupled with a bonus 7-track album, which includes various associated tracks from the period and the previously unreleased "Social Secs/Wasting Time". *Side one and two as per original vinyl edition * "Social Secs", later renamed "Wasting Time", is the original version of "Yellowcake UF₆", before it was reversed and the vocals taken out, and becoming the B-side of the "

Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus) "Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus)" is a 1979 single by British band The Stranglers. The second single from their album ''The Raven'', it peaked at No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart. Hugh Cornwell stated in ''Song by Song'' that the song was writte ...

" single in 1979. The original riff also resurfaced on "Do the European" from bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel's solo album ''

Euroman Cometh ''Euroman Cometh'' is the debut solo album by the Stranglers' bassist J.J. Burnel, released in April 1979 by United Artists. It is a concept album of sorts, as most of the songs concern the ideal of a united Europe, both culturally and economi ...

'', which he was working on at the time. ;2018 CD reissue bonus tracks ( Parlophone)

Personnel

; The Stranglers * Hugh Cornwell – guitar, lead and backing vocals (lead vocals on 1-6, 11, 12 and all bonus tracks except "Shut Up" and "Old Codger") * Jean-Jacques Burnel – bass guitar, lead and backing vocals (lead vocals on 7, 8, 10 and "Shut Up") * Dave Greenfield – keyboards ( Hammond L100 Organ, Hohner Cembalet

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first pop ...

synthesizer), lead and backing vocals (lead vocals on 9) * Jet Black – drums, percussion ; Additional personnel * Lora Logic – saxophone ("Hey!") *

– vocals ("Old Codger") * Lew Lewis – harmonica ("Old Codger") ; Technical * Martin Rushent – production * Alan Winstanley –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

; co-production ("Old Codger") * Kevin Sparrow – sleeve design * Ruan O'Lochlainn – cover photography * The Stranglers – co-production ("Old Codger") * Andy Pearce – remastering (2016 vinyl reissue) * Pete Mew – remastering (2018 CD reissue)

References

External links

* {{Authority control The Stranglers albums Albums produced by Martin Rushent 1978 albums United Artists Records albums A&M Records albums