The Saints: (I'm) Stranded (1976)

 |   |  1 min read

The Saints: (I'm) Stranded (1976)

Bob Geldof once observed, "Rock music of the Seventies was changed by three bands -- the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Saints".

That the Saints out of suburban Brisbane -- hardly the home of rock music, let alone an angry and intelligent version -- should be in that illustrious company comes as no surprise to anyone who followed their career from this exceptional debut single, through wild covers (Lipstick on your Collar, Dizzy Miss Lizzy) and into their literate pop-rock of the Eighties.

Helmed by the socialist, Irish Catholic rebel Chris Bailey, the Saints were no mere punk band. In fact they arrived fully formed before British punk of the Pistols kind. And with long hair, a flair for melody and danceable music which said something, they were always a band apart.

They received huge acclaim the UK and US press (Sounds in Britain named (I'm) Stranded as "the single of this and every week"; NME said their album All Fools Day was "sensational"), but it was Bailey as an engaging frontmasn which consolidated their reputation.

He was smart, could see through the hype and freely admitted later "we have a long history of being contrary bastards". That too set them apart, and kept listeners on their toes.

Dozens of people passed through the Saints ranks and inevitably Bailey went solo (see interview here).

But for a debut single and launch-pad for a fascinating career, (I'm) Stranded takes some beating. 

For more oddities, one-offs or songs with a backstory see From the Vaults

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Big Walter and the Thunderbirds: Watusie Freeze Part 1 (1959)

Big Walter and the Thunderbirds: Watusie Freeze Part 1 (1959)

As with most sensible people, Elsewhere has long enjoyed music which isn't. The comedic noise of Spike Jones, the Goons, Spinal Tap, the exotica of Martin Denny, Esquivel, the outer space sounds of... > Read more

Blind Willie Johnson: I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole (1927)

Blind Willie Johnson: I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole (1927)

Last year as part of a short series on blues artists we profiled the remarkable Blind Willie Johnson whose music is out there in the endless cosmos on board Voyager 1. Johnson possessed an... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Elsewhere Art . . . Frank Zappa

Elsewhere Art . . . Frank Zappa

I have done a few collages of Frank Zappa (one of Frank as the Mona Lisa) because his distinctive appearance lent itself to a kind of cut-up and refracted image . . . which I felt also reflected... > Read more

BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2009 Staff Benda Bilili: Tres Tres Fort (Crammed/Southbound)

BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2009 Staff Benda Bilili: Tres Tres Fort (Crammed/Southbound)

Elsewhere has previously noted the surprising music which comes out of Kinshasa in the Congo, notably the Congotronics albums. But where that music hit a strange place somewhere around cheap... > Read more