On this day:
45 years ago on April 4, 1980 at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London, Robert Fripp joined an all-star cast of musicians in support of the Stranglers whose singer and guitarist Hugh Cornwell was serving two months in Pentonville prison on a drugs charge.
The band had been booked to play two nights as part of the venue’s 50th Anniversary concert series sponsored by Levi jeans. Rather than disappoint ticket holders by cancelling, they decided to make a stand over what was seen to be an overly harsh sentence, and one aimed at making an example of rock musicians, and so brought together a lineup of sympathetic friends and colleagues to fill in for the missing Hugh.
Main guitar duties were handled by John Ellis who had worked with Peter Gabriel and Peter Hammill, the latter joining on vocals to belt out an angry version of Tank along with Fripp, hot from the League of Gentlemen rehearsal room, on lead guitar. Robert also played on an instrumental version of Threatened and contributed fast lead lines to Toiler on the Sea with Phil Daniels on vocals.
Other guitarists helping out were Wilko Johnson, Robert Smith from the Cure and Steve Hillage. Vocalists included Hazel O’Connor, Richard Jobson, Ian Dury and Robert’s future wife Toyah who took on lead vocals on Duchess and Something Better Change. Elsewhere Nik Turner from Hawkwind, dressed as a policeman, played sax, and Steel Pulse provided a rhythm section.
After serving 6 weeks in jail Hugh Cornwell regained his freedom - but not for long. On tour in France in June, this time saw three of the Stranglers locked up for a week accused of inciting a riot in Nice. Meanwhile, after the two nights at the Rainbow, Robert began his own lengthy tour on April 10, with the League of Gentlemen out on the road for most of the rest of the year. Though they had their own ups and downs at least none of them were arrested as far as we know.
