With riots, prison sentences and equipment stolen, 1980 and the earlier part of 1981 was an incredibly turbulent time for The Stranglers. Their misfortune provided the press with excellent stories but rarely was their music written about. Understandably, with its paranoid exploration of extraterrestrial themes, The Gospel According To The Meninblack hadn’t really caught on. With everything to play for when it came to making the next album, La Folie – and indeed the hit single, ‘Golden Brown’ – it would see The Stranglers back at the top of their game. In this book, Laura Shenton MA LLCM DipRSL offers an in-depth perspective on La Folie from a range of angles including how the album came to be, how it was presented and received at the time (live as well as on record), and what it means in terms of The Stranglers’ legacy today.

Laura Shenton MA LLCM DipRSL has been thinking about music since she first heard it, possibly whilst still in the womb. She has a Masters’ degree in "Music Since 1900" from Liverpool Hope University. Her hobbies and interests include writing, playing the piano, staying up into the small hours wondering about life whilst eating crisps and obsessing about music, hamsters and dogs. In particular, her writing buddy is the best dog in the world - a black Labrador.