La folie is the sixth studio album by English new wave band the Stranglers. It was released on 9 November 1981, through the EMI record label Liberty.
Background
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.[3] It is co-produced by the band with engineerSteve Churchyard and mixed by Tony Visconti.[4][5] The band's record company, EMI, gave Visconti a brief to mix each song as a potential single.[3]
The album's French language title (pronounced[lafɔ.li]) 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".[6] The title track is based upon the story of Issei Sagawa.[3] 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".[7]
The lyrics to "Ain't Nothin' to It" are credited to American jazzclarinetist and saxophonistMezz 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.[8]
There has been much controversy surrounding the lyrics to "Golden Brown". 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".[9]
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,[15] the album eventually peaked at No. 11 in the UK Albums Chart, spending eighteen weeks in the chart.[15] 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.[15]
Trouser Press wrote of the album: "Subtle, effective, mature and energetic – but no outstanding songs."[16]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."[10]
^c Originally from The Gospel According to the Meninblack.
2018 expanded vinyl edition
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.[19]
Side one and two as per original vinyl edition
Extra Texture
Side three
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Origin
Length
1.
"The Man They Love to Hate" (BBC Radio 1 session, 24 January 1982d)
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" [7]
