FINE GOLD UK  

HUGH CORNWELL: SINGING MODERN CLASSICS

Everyone’s writing (talking about?) the 25th of punk and how The Stranglers faked their place on the canvass of the now media-friendly picture. Hugh Cornwell was there; the Meninblack’s singer, co-writer, guitarist and quarter-talent.

So, over two decades later where is the ‘now’ for the man who went solo @ the turn of the nineties. Well he’s doing very nicely, thank you for asking! His current album, hi fi, is all grown-up, loveable and deliriously listenable.

Hugh Cornwell, 52, the performer, began way back in the early-to-mid-seventies performing solo in restaurants owned by TV chef Keith Floyd. He had a brief flirtation with Swedish-born band, Johnny Sox, before meeting up with Jet Black and John (JJ) Burnell to form the The Stranglers.

The next few years saw the band take-on-board keyboard-maestro, Dave Greenfield, and perfect a pub-rock-based sound that let them slip undercover of the emerging ’punk’ scene. The rest, as they say, is history .. though suffice to say their sound, and 10 studios albums (as the original four-piece), remain timeless and still revered among music lovers of a certain age.

Back to the future, and Hugh’s current set, hi fi. The ten song collection almost starts in the middle and springs off on musical tangents. Track five, The Big Sleep, seemingly acts as the cornerstone with Hugh facing up to death - whether it’s his own/parents/friends/relations/nostalgia/The Stranglers:

“Point your suit at me and take my breath away/Better in black and white and chrome I have to say/ Now the big sleep.” Putting the past to rest and using its inspiration to dictate the future. Wonderful, broody and menacing in a truly tuneful way!

The album takes in pop, the opening Leave Me Alone (which could happily grace a modern singles top 10), psychedelic acoustic-driven adult-rock, All The Colours Of The Rainbow, Gingerbread Girl and The Prison’s Going Down; to name but three. Then there’s the late Stranglers period melancholy of One Day At A Time, which Hugh has described as his “protest song.”

Mention Hugh Cornwell, Paul Weller and Joe Strummer and the reply will be: “The Stranglers, The Jam and The Clash.” Shame, because with hi fi, Heliocentric and Global-A-Go-Go these three legends are making the best music of their quarter-century careers.

Find out more about Hugh Cornwell, and hi fi, @ his excellent award-winning website,

www.hughcornwell.com.                                                         

www.stranglers.net

Burning Up Time