Song · The Stranglers
“Hanging Around” by The Stranglers
From the album Rattus Norvegicus (1977)
“Hanging Around” by The Stranglers appears on 3 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1978 and 2003. It was first released in 1977 on the album Rattus Norvegicus. Its best result is #32 on the John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1978). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,557 alternative song of all time.
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"Hanging Around" sits on Rattus Norvegicus, the Stranglers' 1977 debut, and it's built from the bottom up: Jean-Jacques Burnel came up with the driving bass line, and Hugh Cornwell hung words on it about the characters who loitered around London's clubs, the Nashville above all, where the band played. Martin Rushent produced it, with Cornwell singing lead and playing guitar, Dave Greenfield on keyboards and Jet Black on drums.
It's a portrait gallery of urban alienation. There's a woman in red who kept drinking until she passed out, the drug hustlers on Earl's Court Road near the club, a couple of friends including one who looked 20 going on 40, and, when Cornwell ran dry, a last verse from Burnel about the Coleherne, a gay pub he used to frequent.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 32 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1978) | 50 |
| 1988 | 325 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) | 496 |
| 2003 | 1958 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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