La folie (album)

The Stranglers had initially been the most commercially successful band of the punk/new wave period in Britain, but by 1981, their success had waned noticeably. La folie was a conscious attempt to deliver a more commercial product.{{cite book |last1=Twomey |first1=Chris |title=The Stranglers - The Men They Love To Hate |date=1992 |publisher=EMI Records Ltd|pages=105–106}} It is co-produced by the band with engineer Steve Churchyard and mixed by Tony Visconti.{{cite journal |url=https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/tony-visconti/8382 |title=Tony Visconti|last=White |first=Paul |journal=Home & Studio Recording|date=October 1985 |issue=Oct 1985 |pages=54–58 |accessdate=14 December 2021}}{{cite book|first1= Hugh |last1= Cornwell |author-link= Hugh Cornwell |first2= Jim |last2= Drury |title= The Stranglers Song By Song |year= 2001 |page= 191 |publisher= Sanctuary Publishing Ltd |isbn= 1-86074-362-5}} The band's record company, EMI, gave Visconti a brief to mix each song as a potential single.

The album's French language title ({{IPA|fr|la fɔ.li|pron}}) literally translates to "madness". In various interviews, the band related that this referred to "The Madness of Love" and that conceptually, each of the songs on the album was intended to explore a different kind or aspect of "love".{{cite book |last=Buckley |first=David |year=1997 |title=No Mercy: The Authorised and Uncensored Biography of The Stranglers |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |location=London |isbn=978-0-340-68062-9}} The title track is based upon the story of Issei Sagawa. Guitarist Hugh Cornwell related in his 2001 book The Stranglers – Song by Song that the correct title of the album's opening track was "Non Stop Nun", and he apparently had been unaware that the record company had printed it as simply "Non Stop".{{cite book |last=Cornwell |first=Hugh |year=2001 |title=The Stranglers: Song by Song |publisher=Sanctuary |location=London |isbn=978-1-86074-362-7}}

The lyrics to "Ain't Nothin' to It" are credited to American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist Mezz Mezzrow. The band compiled expressions from Mezzrow's autobiography Really the Blues, which contains many passages of jive talk, and used them for the lyrics of the song.{{cite book|first1= Hugh |last1= Cornwell |author-link= Hugh Cornwell |first2= Jim |last2= Drury |title= The Stranglers Song By Song |year= 2001 |page= 203 |publisher= Sanctuary Publishing Ltd |isbn= 1-86074-362-5}}

There has been much controversy surrounding the lyrics to "Golden Brown".{{fact|date=April 2025}} In The Stranglers – Song by Song, Cornwell states, ""Golden Brown" works on two levels. It's about heroin and also about a girl". Essentially, the lyrics describe how "both provided me with pleasurable times".{{cite book|first1= Hugh |last1= Cornwell |author-link= Hugh Cornwell |first2= Jim |last2= Drury |title= The Stranglers Song By Song |year= 2001 |publisher= Sanctuary Publishing Ltd |isbn= 1-86074-362-5}}

{{music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/la-folie-mw0000106934 |title=La folie – The Stranglers : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic |last=Cleary |first=David |publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=30 April 2013}}

| rev2 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|chapter=Stranglers|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th concise|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

|rev3 = The Great Rock Discography

|rev3score = 7/10{{Cite book| last = Strong| first = Martin C.| title = The Great Rock Discography| publisher = Canongate Books| location = Edinburgh| isbn = 1-84195-312-1| page = 1012| date = 2002| edition = 6th}}

| rev4 = Record Collector

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Peacock|first=Tim|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/rattus-norvegicus-heroes-black-white-live-x-cert-raven-gospel-according-meninblack-la-folie|title=The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes, Black And White, Live (X Cert), The Raven, The Gospel According To The Meninblack, La Folie|magazine=Record Collector|issue=478|date=April 2018|accessdate=14 December 2021}}

| rev5 = Rock 82

| rev5score = (favorable){{cite journal|last=Vesić|first=Dušan|title=La Folie, The Stranglers|journal=Rock 82|publisher=NIP Politika|location=Belgrade|issue=13|page=7|language=Serbian}}

}}

La folie was preceded by the release of the album's first single, "Let Me Introduce You to the Family", released on 7 November 1981 and reaching No. 42 in the UK Singles Chart.{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/stranglers/ |title=Stranglers | Artist | Official Charts |publisher=Official Charts Company |accessdate=30 April 2013}} La folie was released two days later.

Upon its release, La folie looked set to be the band's lowest-charting album, but, buoyed by the success of the album's second single, "Golden Brown", released 10 January 1982 and reaching No. 2 in the singles chart, the album eventually peaked at No. 11 in the UK Albums Chart, spending eighteen weeks in the chart. The single would go on to become EMI's highest-selling single for many years. One more single was released from the album, the album's title track "La folie", on 20 April 1982, which reached No. 47.

Trouser Press wrote of the album: "Subtle, effective, mature and energetic – but no outstanding songs."{{cite web |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=stranglers |title=trouserpress.com :: Stranglers |last=Robbins |first=Ira |work=trouserpress.com |accessdate=30 April 2013}} AllMusic called it a fine and welcome album in the Stranglers' body of work, describing it as "mainly a collection of tight, punchy songs that often suggest the forthright approach of American new wave bands."

All tracks are written and arranged by the Stranglers (Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield and Jet Black), except where noted.

{{track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Non Stop

| length1 = 2:29

| title2 = Everybody Loves You When You're Dead

| length2 = 2:41

| title3 = Tramp

| length3 = 3:04

| title4 = Let Me Introduce You to the Family

| length4 = 3:07

| title5 = Ain't Nothin' to It

| lyrics5 = Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow

| music5 =

| length5 = 3:56

| title6 = The Man They Love to Hate

| length6 = 4:22

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| title7 = Pin Up

| length7 = 2:46

| title8 = It Only Takes Two to Tango

| length8 = 3:37

| title9 = Golden Brown

| length9 = 3:28

| title10 = How to Find True Love and Happiness in the Present Day

| length10 = 3:04

| title11 = La folie

| length11 = 6:04

| total_length = 41:27

}}

{{track listing

| headline = 2001 CD reissue bonus tracks (EMI)

| extra_column = Origin

| title12 = Cruel Garden

| extra12 = B-side of "Strange Little Girl"

| length12 = 2:14

| title13 = Cocktail Nubiles{{ref|a|a}}

| writer13 = The Stranglers, Johnny Richards, Carolyn Leigh{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/1404856-The-Stranglers-Tomorrow-Was-The-Hereafter|title = The Stranglers – Tomorrow Was The Hereafter|website = Discogs| date=31 August 1980 |accessdate=14 December 2021}}

| extra13 = B-side of "Tomorrow Was the Hereafter", 1980

| length13 = 7:08

| title14 = Vietnamerica

| extra14 = B-side of "Let Me Introduce You to the Family" {{ref|b|b}}

| length14 = 4:01

| title15 = Love 30

| extra15 = B-side of "Golden Brown"

| length15 = 3:55

| title16 = You Hold the Key to My Love in Your Hands

| note16 = 1981 demo

| extra16 = Hits and Heroes, 1999

| length16 = 2:40

| title17 = Strange Little Girl

| extra17 = Non-album single, 1982

| writer17 = Black, Burnel, Cornwell, Greenfield, Hans Wärmling

| length17 = 2:40

| total_length = 56:17

}}

• {{note|a|a}}"Cocktail Nubiles" is a loungey version of "Bring on the Nubiles" from No More Heroes, using the music from the Frank Sinatra pop standard "Young at Heart". It was recorded during sessions for The Gospel According to the Meninblack in 1980. "Cocktail Nubiles" was released on the exclusive fan club release "Tomorrow Was the Hereafter".{{Cite web|url=https://songssmiths.wordpress.com/2020/09/09/40-years-after-the-stranglers-tomorrow-was-the-hereafter/|title = 40 Years After: The Stranglers – "Tomorrow was the Hereafter"|website = Songsmiths| date=9 September 2020 |accessdate=14 December 2021}}
• {{note|b|b}}Originally released on the 1980 compilation album IV (US and Canada only).

{{track listing

| headline = 2018 CD reissue bonus tracks (Parlophone)

| extra_column = Origin

| title12 = Vietnamerica

| extra12 = B-side of "Let Me Introduce You to the Family"

| length12 = 4:01

| title13 = Love 30

| extra13 = B-side of "Golden Brown"

| length13 = 3:55

| title14 = Waltzinblack

| extra14 = B-side of "La folie" {{ref|c|c}}

| length14 = 3:39

| title15 = Strange Little Girl

| extra15 = Non-album single

| writer15 = Black, Burnel, Cornwell, Greenfield, Wärmling

| length15 = 2:40

| title16 = Cruel Garden

| extra16 = B-side of "Strange Little Girl"

| length16 = 2:14

| title17 = You Hold the Key to My Love in Your Hands

| note17 = 1981 demo

| extra17 = Hits and Heroes

| length17 = 2:40

| title18 = La folie

| note18 = edit

| extra18 = DJ-edit release

| length18 = 3:45

| total_length = 62:14

}}

• {{note|c|c}}Originally from The Gospel According to the Meninblack.

Self-released by the Stranglers, La folie received a deluxe vinyl reissue in 2018, limited to 1000 numbered copies. The original 11-track album is coupled with a bonus 12-track album, entitled Extra Texture, the first side of which features non-album single "Strange Little Girl", associated B-sides, a radio edit, a demo, and a BBC radio session track. The second side collects 6 La folie tracks recorded live by the BBC on the La folie tour at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on 8 February 1982.{{cite web|url=http://www.thestranglers.co.uk/?p=15358|title=La Folie limited vinyl reissue|publisher=thestranglers.co.uk|access-date=14 December 2021}}

• Side one and two as per original vinyl edition

;Extra Texture

{{track listing

| headline = Side three

| extra_column = Origin

| title1 = The Man They Love to Hate

| note1 = BBC Radio 1 session, 24 January 1982{{ref|d|d}}

| extra1 = The Radio 1 Sessions - The Evening Show, 1989{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/1625214-The-Stranglers-The-Radio-1-Sessions-The-Evening-Show|title= The Radio 1 Sessions - The Evening Show|website = Discogs|year= 1989|accessdate=14 December 2021}}

| length1 = 3:45

| title2 = Strange Little Girl

| writer2 = Black, Burnel, Cornwell, Greenfield, Wärmling

| extra2 = Non-album single

| length2 = 2:40

| title3 = Cruel Garden

| extra3 = B-side of "Strange Little Girl"

| length3 = 2:14

| title4 = Love 30

| extra4 = B-side of "Golden Brown"

| length4 = 3:55

| title5 = La folie

| note5 = single edit

| extra5 = Promo single, 1982

| length5 = 3:30

| title6 = You Hold the Key to My Love in Your Hands

| note6 = demo

| extra6 = Hits and Heroes

| length6 = 2:40

}}

• {{note|d|d}}First transmitted on 11 February 1982 on the David Jensen Evening Show.

;Live at Hammersmith Odeon

{{track listing

| headline = Side four

| extra_column = Origin

| title7 = Non Stop

| note7 = live

| extra7 = In Concert, 1982{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/7735853-The-Stranglers-In-Concert-276|title=In Concert-276|date=10 May 1982 |publisher=Discogs|access-date=14 December 2021}}

| length7 = 2:27

| title8 = The Man They Love to Hate

| note8 = live

| extra8 = In Concert

| length8 = 4:45

| title9 = Golden Brown

| note9 = live

| extra9 = In Concert

| length9 = 3:40

| title10 = How to Find True Love and Happiness in the Present Day

| note10 = live

| extra10 = In Concert

| length10 = 4:05

| title11 = Let Me Introduce You to the Family

| note11 = live

| extra11 = In Concert

| length11 = 3:05

| title12 = Tramp

| note12 = live

| extra12 = In Concert

| length12 = 2:55

| total_length =

}}

The Stranglers

• Hugh Cornwell – guitar, lead and backing vocals
• Dave Greenfield – keyboards
• Jean-Jacques Burnel – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on "The Man They Love to Hate" and "La folie", co-lead vocals on "It Only Takes Two to Tango"
• Jet Black – drums, percussion

Technical

• The Stranglers – producer, cover concept
• Steve Churchyard – producer, engineer
• Tony Visconti – mixing
• Jay Pee – art direction
• Phil Jude – front cover photography
• Ava Carrier – back cover photography
• Shoot That Tiger! – liner sleeve {{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/544293-The-Stranglers-La-Folie|title = The Stranglers – la Folie (1981, LP)|website = Discogs| year=1981 }}

Bonus tracks

• Dale Griffin – producer on "The Man They Love to Hate"" (BBC radio session)
• The Stranglers – producer on "Vietnamerica" and "Waltzinblack"
• Tony Visconti – producer on "You Hold the Key to My Love in Your Hands"
• Steve Churchyard – mixing on "Love 30"

{{Reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|24306|La folie}}

{{The Stranglers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Folie (album), La}}

Category:The Stranglers albums

Category:1981 albums

Category:Liberty Records albums

Category:New wave albums by English artists