The stranglers

Keeping The Stranglers afloat, defying punks and prudes, despite losing “bitter” Hugh, “genius” Dave and a year on heroin, has taught Jean-Jacques Burnel a thing or two about rock’n’roll: “It’s not dyeing your hair with Just For Men.”

When the Irish band were a folksy blues three-piece, it was Eric Bell who defined Thin Lizzy on their 1971 self-titled debut and early 70s follow-ups, Shades Of A Blue Orphanage and Vagabonds Of The Western World

For a brief moment in 1989, the Fine Young Cannibals were the biggest band on the planet. The Birmingham trio scored a global No.1 album, with two consecutive singles that topped the Billboard Hot 100

Steve Fairclough has the inside story of the eye-catching group photo for the cover of the 1979 Madness LP, One Step Beyond …

Reeling from illness and uncertain times, Skunk Anansie ’s future hung in the balance. But with new album The Painful Truth, they “stood on top of the cliff, held hands and jumped into the clouds”.

“I used to watch a lot of telly as a kid,” says Jarvis Cocker, relaxing on a sofa in the meeting room at Rough Trade Records HQ in Notting Hill. “It would give me a representation of the world that wa