No More Heroes (The Stranglers song)

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"No More Heroes"
Single by the Stranglers
from the album No More Heroes
B-side"In the Shadows"
ReleasedSeptember 1977 (1977-09) (UK)
StudioT.W. Studios (Fulham)
Genre
Length3:29
LabelUnited Artists
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Martin Rushent
The Stranglers singles chronology
"Something Better Change"
(1977) 		"No More Heroes"
(1977) 		"5 Minutes"
(1978)
Music video
"No More Heroes" on YouTube

"No More Heroes" is a song by English rock band the Stranglers, released as a single from their studio album of the same name. It is one of the group's most successful singles (featuring regularly both in greatest hits and punk and new wave compilation albums), having peaked at No. 8[1][2] in the UK Singles Chart.[3]

The song's lyrics refer to several historical figures, starting with the Ukrainian Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky who "got an ice pick / that made his ears burn".[4]. The second verse reels off "dear old Lenny" i.e. the stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce, "the Great Elmyra", identified by Cornwell as painter and art forger Elmyr de Hory,[5] and the fictional character Sancho Panza from the novel Don Quixote.[6] Then finally the playwright William Shakespeare and the emperor Nero.

At the time of the single's release, the B-side "In the Shadows" was a non-album track; however, it appeared on the Stranglers' next studio album, Black and White (1978).

The band's publishers threatened legal action against Elastica in 1995, arguing that their single "Waking Up" borrowed elements of "No More Heroes". Elastica eventually settled out of court.[7]

A cover version of the song by Violent Femmes featured in the movie Mystery Men (1999), and was also heard in two episodes of the BBC television series Ashes to Ashes: episode 1 of Series 1[2] and episode 4 of Series 3. It was included in the soundtrack to Series 1. The song was featured on the closing credits of TV series Zapped, Season 2, Episode 6. Former Stranglers member and song co-writer Hugh Cornwell released an acoustic version of the song on his ninth solo studio album Monster (2018), along with acoustic versions of nine other Stranglers songs. It also featured in Episode 1 of Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy.

The video game series No More Heroes is named after this song and the album.[8]

Charts[edit]

Chart (1977) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[9] 8

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Official Charts Company - The Stranglers - No More Heroes". Archive.is. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  2. ^ a b Everyhit.com (NB Enter either Stranglers in "Name of artist" and/or No More Heroes in "Title of Song" for details
  3. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 535. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ^ Listen to New Wave Rock
  5. ^ Hugh Cornwell, Jim Drury The Stranglers: Song by Song 2011 "What about the Great Elmyra? He was a master forger who lived in Majorca. Orson Welles made a documentary which featured him called F For Fake. When he died the art world realised how extensive his forging was."
  6. ^ "How depth of heroes has been confused with crass celebrity". The Irish Times. 16 April 2011.
  7. ^ "Stylus Magazine: Elastica". Archived from the original on 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  8. ^ "SUDA51, Game Creator (No More Heroes, Killer7) - toco toco". YouTube. 1 Aug 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  9. ^ "The Stranglers: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 August 2017.

External links[edit]

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