“Grip” by The Stranglers

"Grip", sometimes billed in full as "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)", was the Stranglers' first single, released on United Artists in January 1977 as a double A-side with "London Lady"; it also appears on the album Rattus Norvegicus. Hugh Cornwell wrote it while the band were renting a house in Chiddingfold, their base since 1975, and though all four Stranglers share the credit, he has said it was completely his, the first song where he felt he'd cracked it. Its opening line even name-checks a Morris Minor 1000 by its slang name.

It was their calling card, too. In 1976 it went out to labels on a three-song demo with "Bitching" and "Go Buddy Go", and on Martin Rushent's first day as assistant to Andrew Lauder, United Artists' head of A&R, he was played "Grip" and asked whether the label should sign the band. Rushent went on to produce it.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.