The Stranglers are an English rock music group, formed on September 11 1974 in Guildford, Surrey. They were originally called The Guildford Stranglers and operated out of a Guildford off licence called the 'Jackpot' which was run by their drummer. Original personnel were drummer Jet Black (real name Brian Duffy), bass player/vocalist Jean Jacques Burnel, guitarist/vocalist Hugh Cornwell and keyboardist/guitarist Hans Warmling. Hans was replaced by keyboardist Dave Greenfield within a year. None of the band actually came from Guildford - Black is from Ilford, Burnel from Notting Hill, Cornwell from Kentish Town and Greenfield from Brighton. Hans Warmling came from Sweden, and returned there after leaving the band.

They began as a pub rock group, but later branched out to explore other styles of music. The Stranglers were, beginning in 1976, tangentially associated with punk rock, due in part to their opening for The Ramones' first British tour. The Stranglers were also associated with New Wave as well as gothic rock, but their idiosyncratic approach never fitted completely within any musical genre. JJ Burnel said of the matter in an interview, " I thought of myself as part of it (Punk) at the time because we were inhabiting the same flora and fauna. " In the same interview he goes further saying, "I would like to think we (The Stranglers) were more punk plus and then some".