Rattus Norvegicus (album)

Rattus Norvegicus (alternative title The Stranglers IV) is the debut studio album by the Stranglers, released on 15 April 1977.

This article is about the 1977 album alternately known as "The Stranglers IV". For the 1980 Stranglers compilation, see IV (The Stranglers album).

Rattus Norvegicus
Studio album by The Stranglers
Released	15 April 1977 (1977-04-15)
Recorded	20 December 1976 – 28 January 1977
Studio	TW Studios, Fulham, Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, England
Genre	Punk rock[1] new wave art punk
Length	40:05
Label	United Artists
Producer	Martin Rushent
The Stranglers chronology
Rattus Norvegicus (1977) No More Heroes (1977)
Singles from Rattus Norvegicus
"(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)" Released: 28 January 1977 "Peaches" Released: 21 May 1977

It was one of the highest-selling albums of the punk era in Britain, eventually achieving platinum record sales. Two of its tracks, "Peaches" and "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)", were released as 7" singles in the UK.

Background

The album was originally going to be titled Dead on Arrival but it was changed at the last minute.[2] The released title is the taxonomic name for the common brown rat. The album was produced in one week by Martin Rushent and was a snapshot of the band's live set at the time.

The first 10,000 copies of the original vinyl release included a free 7" single, containing "Peasant in the Big Shitty (live)" and "Choosey Susie".

A remastered version of the album was reissued on CD in 2001 and included three additional tracks. The album launch party was held in the Water Rat pub on the King's Road, in the World's End district of Chelsea.

Lyrics

According to the book The Stranglers-Song by Song, "Sometimes" describes a violent argument with a girlfriend.[3] The same girlfriend is the subject of "Strange Little Girl" which was written earlier by Cornwell and Hans Wärmling.[4] "Goodbye Toulouse" describes the destruction of Toulouse predicted by Nostradamus.[5]

"London Lady" is loosely based on a contemporary female journalist[6], and "Hanging Around" describes the characters found in the London pubs that the band played live at.[7] In 1981, it was covered by Hazel O'Connor on her third album, Cover Plus, and released by her as a single that same year.

"(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)" is based on the band's life in their Chiddingfold squat. It features Eric Clarke, a Welsh coal miner, on saxophone.[8] "Ugly" mentions the poem Ozymandias.[9]

"Down in the Sewer" has four sections: Falling, Down in the Sewer, Trying To Get Out Again, and Rat's Rally. The 'sewer' refers to London.[10] Lyrically the song references an episode of the 1975 post-apocalyptic BBC TV drama Survivors titled "Lights of London", where the protagonists leave the safety of a farming community to head for the city, which they find can only be entered through a rat infested sewer.

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[12]
The Village Voice	C[13]

Rattus Norvegicus was ranked at No. 10 among the top "Albums of the Year" for 1977 by NME, with "Peaches" ranked at No. 18 among the year's top tracks.[14] NME later ranked it at No. 196 in its 2014 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[15] It was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[16] In 2000 it was voted number 766 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[17]

During promotion of The Head on the Door in 1985, Robert Smith of the Cure cited Rattus Norvegicus as one of his five favorite albums.[18]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sometimes"	Hugh Cornwell	4:56
2.	"Goodbye Toulouse"	Jean-Jacques Burnel	3:12
3.	"London Lady"	Burnel	2:25
4.	"Princess of the Streets" (Penned 'pre-Stranglers')	Burnel	4:34
5.	"Hanging Around"	Cornwell	4:25
6.	"Peaches"	Burnel/Cornwell	4:03
7.	"(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)"	Cornwell	3:55
8.	"Ugly"	Burnel	4:03
9.	"Down in the Sewer"	Cornwell	7:30
Total length:			40:05

2001 bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Choosey Susie"	Burnel	3:14
11.	"Go Buddy Go"	Burnel	3:58
12.	"Peasant in the Big Shitty" (Live at The Nashville pub in West Kensington, 10 Dec 1976[19])	Burnel	3:42

Charts and certifications

Chart	Peak Position	Certifications (sales thresholds)
UK Albums Chart[20]	4	UK: Platinum[21]
Australian Charts	82

Single	Chart	Peak Position	Certifications (sales thresholds)
"(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)"	UK Singles Chart[22]	44
	New Zealand Chart	35
"Peaches"	UK Singles Chart	8	UK: Silver[23]
	Australian Chart	54

Personnel

The Stranglers Hugh Cornwell – guitars, lead (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9) and backing vocals Jean-Jacques Burnel – bass guitar, lead (3, 4, 8, 10, 11) and backing vocals Dave Greenfield – keyboards (Hammond L100 Organ, Hohner Cembalet electric piano, Minimoog synthesizer), backing and lead (12) vocals Jet Black – percussion

Additional personnel Eric Clarke – Guest tenor saxophone (track 7) Martin Rushent – production Alan Winstanley – engineering Benny King – assistance and mixing engineering Doug Bennett – mixing engineering Trevor Rogers – sleeve photography Paul Henry – sleeve art direction, artwork and design

References

1. U.K. Punk's Dark Lord, the Stranglers' Hugh Cornwell, Brings New Aggro Archived 28 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
2. Buckley 1997, p. 75
3. Cornwell & Drury 2001, p. 15
4. Cornwell 2004, pp. 98–99
5. Cornwell & Drury 2001, p. 19
6. Cornwell & Drury 2001, p. 22
7. Cornwell & Drury 2001, p. 27.
8. Cornwell & Drury 2001, pp. 33–34
9. Cornwell & Drury 2001, pp. 36–37
10. Cornwell & Drury 2001, pp. 38–43
11. Cleary, David. "Rattus Norvegicus – The Stranglers". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
12. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
13. Christgau, Robert (5 September 1977). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
14. "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
15. "Rocklist.net NME: The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time : October 2013". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. 9 May 1992. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
16. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
17. Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 242. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
18. "The Cure on 4C+" Robert Smith interview. Canal plus. 11 December 1985. Retrieved 7 June 2015 on youtube.
19. Note: "The Nashville" was later renamed "The Three Kings" and is situated next door to the exit from West Kensington Tube Station
20. "Rattus Norvegicus". Official Charts. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
21. "Stranglers - Rattus Norvegicus". bpi. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
22. "Stranglers". Official Charts. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
23. "Stranglers - Peaches". bpi. Retrieved 6 June 2019.

Bibliography

• Buckley, David (1997). No Mercy-The Authorised and Uncensored Biography of The Stranglers. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-68062-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Cornwell, Hugh (2004). A Multitude of Sins. London: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-719082-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Cornwell, Hugh; Drury, Jim (2001). The Stranglers-Song by Song. London: Sanctuary Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-86074-362-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• The Stranglers: Rattus Norvegicus at Discogs (list of releases)
• Stranglers early success: the making of Rattus Norvegicus/No More Heroes; interviews with J.J. Burnel and Jet Black plus publicist Alan Edwards, producer Martin Rushent, music writers Chas de Whalley and Barry Cain