Jean-Jacques Burnel, or “JJ” as he was universally known, was the French bassist who gave The Stranglers their distinctive sound.

Over the years The Stranglers have acquired the status of beloved punk legends but back in those early days of punk, pretty much everyone I knew detested The Stranglers.

Partially because they were so “old” – drummer Jet Black turned 40 in 1978 – and partially because they were a bunch of obnoxious arseholes. And proud of it.

None more so than Burnel, the son of a French chef who seemed to take pride in pushing punk’s aggressive attitude not only into violence but outright misogyny.

I remember a story where the band abducted a female journalist, Jane Suck, who had been sent to interview them, and tied her up. Another (male) journalist was debagged and tied trouserless to the Eiffel Tower.

Burnel, a black belt in karate and motorcycle enthusiast, once punched journalist Jon Savage in the face for daring to write a less than positive review of their second album (and, quite possibly, for being both posh and gay).

Then there was that 1978 Battersea gig (which I was at) when their response to increasing allegations of sexism was to bring some strippers onstage while playing this song, Nice N Sleazy.

And yet… Burnel was (and still is one hell of a bassist, with a sound so distinctive that it could be described, along with the Doorsy keyboards of Dave Greenfield, as the band’s musical trademark.

It first came to prominence on Peaches, a song that only encouraged those allegations of sexism with its narrative of a man admiring scantily-clad women on beaches (with a perplexing invitation to “take a look at that cli-TORIS”).

But my favourite is the aforementioned Nice ‘N’ Sleazy, with Cornwell’s choppy reggae guitar dovetailing beautifully with JJ’s characteristically melodic bassline.