RIP Dave Greenfield

[Pingu]

Of the Stranglers 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/04/stranglers-keyboardist-dave-greenfield-dies-after-contracting-covid-19

[Sergeant Pluck]

Just saw that. How sad. One of the first bands I really got into, and saw live.

Golden brown, finer temptress
Through the ages she's heading west
From far away
Stays for a day
Never a frown with golden brown

RIP.

[Mr Larrington]

Onoz!  Now Uncle Marvo, the notorious Aqua-Pikey, will never get the fiver Mr Greenfield still owes him after Unc healed his instrument in 1974.

[madcow]

Rattus Norvegicus was released 43 years ago. For me it was the soundtrack to the summer of 1977. It still sounds so good. RIP and thanks for the music.

[rafletcher]

Rattus Norvegicus was released 43 years ago. For me it was the soundtrack to the summer of 1977. It still sounds so good. RIP and thanks for the music.

Indeed. I was a student at Portsmouth Poly that summer, and spent time “looking at the peaches” on Southsea beach.

[madcow]

I spent 6 weeks on a geography expedition in Iceland. “Peaches” was in the charts when we left the UK.
Our coach dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and after it had gone some of us looked at each other and said “Oh shit, there goes the charabanc .......”
We were ,indeed , stuck there the whole summer.

[Redlight]

I was still at school when punk was starting. On Thursdays, if you had a note from your parents, 5th and 6th formers were allowed to go down "into the town" at lunchtime. My friend Steve led an expedition of five of us to Will Parker Records to buy Rattus Norvegicus the week it was issued. It was the first 'punk'* record any of us had bought and we felt like real pioneers walking back to school with it displayed (out of its shop carrier bag immediately) proudly under Steve's arm.

* irrelevant aside: at the time of their first success, most of The 'new wave' Stranglers were older than all of the members of the 'old wave' Genesis. Drummer, Jet Black was almost 40 when Peaches was issued.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Went to see the Stranglers at their 40th anniversary gig in Guildford.  I didn't buy Rattus Norvegicus until 1979.  The keyboard solo at the end of Down in the Sewer was an inspiration and I must have frustrated my parents trying to copy it on my piano.