Biography
Born in London in 1952 to French parents, bass player Jean-Jacques Burnel stood out among the Stranglers’ founding lineup for his outspoken nature and firm commitment to European unity. A dedicated motorcyclist who had once embraced the skinhead style, he held a black belt in karate and earned an economics degree from Bradford University before working as a van driver in Guildford, Surrey. There he encountered guitarist Hugh Cornwell in the early seventies via the American vocalist fronting the group Bobbysox. Burnel set aside his intention to teach karate full-time—though he later resumed the activity on a part-time basis—in order to join Cornwell on bass and vocals. Once the Stranglers achieved prominence, he found himself defending the band against journalists who alternately portrayed them as too cerebral for their punk contemporaries or as crude misogynists, clashes that occasionally escalated into physical confrontations he himself instigated. Burnel became the first member to pursue an outside venture with the 1979 solo album Euroman Cometh, an explicit endorsement of European federalism that featured guitar from ex-Damned member Brian James, harmonica by ex-Eddie And The Hot Rods player Lew Lewis, and drumming from both ex-Chelsea’s Carey Fortune and ex-Drones’ Pete Howells. The accompanying tour proved problematic; the hastily assembled Euroband included ex-Vibrators guitarist John Ellis—who was simultaneously performing with support act Rapid Eye Movement—alongside Lewis, Howells, and keyboardist Penny Tobin. A planned 1980 solo single, “Girl From The Snow Country,” was pulled before release, yet the few copies that escaped deletion, together with a subsequent bootleg, remain prized artifacts among new-wave collectors. His next extracurricular effort paired him with keyboardist Dave Greenfield on the score for Vincent Coudanne’s film Ecoutez Vos Murs. Throughout the following years Burnel contributed as producer or session musician to several overseas acts, among them France’s Taxi Girl, Norway’s Ping Pong, Belgium’s the Revenge, and Japan’s ARB. In 1986 he assembled the Purple Helmets, a covers outfit devoted to sixties material, with Ellis, Alex Gifford, and Laurent Sinclair; the quartet’s debut appearance at France’s Trans Musicale Avant Festival was so favorably received that the project continued, Greenfield stepping in for Sinclair and Tears For Fears drummer Manny Elias rounding out the lineup. Burnel’s second solo record, C’est Un Jour Parfait, was cut almost entirely in French and issued across the continent, though Britain was excluded from its distribution.
Albums
Singles
