Pulp
The current guise of Pulp is not the one you’d have seen back in 1978, the year the group were originally formed by singer, Jarvis Cocker. Indeed, they weren’t even known as how they’re referred to today – instead, entitled Arabacus Pulp. Their first show is reputed to have occurred at the Rotherham Arts Centre a couple of years later – a shambles by all recollections, not half aided due to Jarvis’ personal love of The Teardrop Explodes and Echo & The Bunnymen.
Band-members came and went – indeed, one bassist was sacked due to his urge to lie down in between songs when on-stage – and, amidst the frequent line-up alterations, results eventually materialised from their early endeavours; they obtained a John Peel session in the UK for Radio One, for instance, gained a bit of press-support (particularly from the now-defunct ‘Melody Maker’) and released their first song, ‘What Do You Say?’, on an obscure indie-compilation.
The band’s first mini-LP, ‘It’, finally surfaced in April ’83: virtually acoustic throughout, all that’s recognisable of the Pulp from then compared to now is Jarvis’ somewhat domineering croon, and a sense of timeless melody that runs through such tracks as the downbeat and exquisite ‘Blue Girls’. Singles followed – namely, the startling ‘Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)’, written about Jarvis’ mother – and the next LP, ‘Freaks’ – fittingly titled for such a raucous and chilling collection of material – was unleashed to critical support, though public ignorance, in 1987.
Unconvinced at this point by the band’s ability to ever break into the consciousness of the music-audience for the time, Cocker moved to London to attend a film-course at St Martin’s College of Art. As a result, the new Pulp album only surfaced in 1992 – ‘Separations’, possessive of anthemic and haunting opuses such as the compelling ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’ and soaring Don’t You Want Me Anymore?’
Yet, it wouldn’t take much longer until the ball got rolling. Changes in management, the signing to Island Records and a more permanent set of members already firm-in-place – Candida Doyle on keys, Russell Senior on guitar/violin (who’d been with the group for some years prior), Steve Mackey on bass and Nick Banks on drums – ensured that upcoming efforts, such as 45s, ‘OU’, ‘Razzmatazz’, and ‘The Sisters EP’, obtained the band serious attention and a credibility on the band’s style and ‘geek-chic’ which had never been afforded previously. However, with the emergence of ‘Lipgloss’ and ‘Do You Remember The First Time’, the band had achieved themselves a pair of hits, the advancing ‘His ‘N’ Hers’ album reaching the top-ten in the UK.
And, by the time ‘Different Class’, the band’s fifth studio-album, appeared, things had gone insane. Being the mid-90s and the peak of guitar-scene ‘Britpop’ meant that those with talent became mega-stars, and those with just a mere inkling of a gift were resigned to Warhol’s depicted 15 minutes of fame, their careers ruined overnight. Luckily, for Pulp, anthems such as ‘Common People’ and ‘Mis-Shapes’ went top-five, ‘Disco 2000’ and ‘Something Changed’ themselves becoming top-ten smashes. The LP shot to number one selling over a million copies, and provided the group a chance to really play live overseas and develop followings in Europe, Japan and even a cult fan-base in the States. To deal with the pressure of their duties, Mark Webber, a part-time guitar/piano-player and runner of their official fanzine, joined the ranks on a permanent basis. A further peak of the period included a seminal Glastonbury Festival headline-slot.
But Jarvis had become a media-icon, a celebrity beyond other mere celebs, a role-model, and the most peculiar sex-symbol for years. Naturally, this wasn’t an easy mindset to adjust to, the frontman disappearing from the limelight for some months, writing bleaker material. Around the time, long-term member Senior decided to pursue other musical activities and left the group. Yet, amidst the confusion and difficulty, 1998 finally saw the release of their much-anticipated album, ‘This Is Hardcore’. It wasn’t the commercial follow-up many were expecting/hoping for following ‘Different Class’. Alternatively, it bore the benefits of lush string-arrangements, a recurring seediness over the subject-matter of sex and haunting songs and singles that weren’t able to repeat earlier successes – despite being the band’s strongest material up to the period.
After further tours in the UK and abroad, the band took time out for a break. The frontman presented his own Channel Four series on ‘Outsider Art’, Mark Webber started up a regular film club-night, Little Stabs At Happiness, and Banks maintained the upkeep of his pub in the band’s native Sheffield. When they eventually came to recording seventh record, ‘We Love Life’, the band chose not to use sessions produced with long-term collaborator Chris Thomas (Sex Pistols, The Beatles), choosing to work with the legendary Scott Walker, the link established after Mackey and Cocker played together at Meltdown, a musical event in London curated by the star around the time.
Adding an epic and majestic quality not seen quite before, when ‘We Love Life’ surfaced in 2001, it represented a cleaner-living Pulp, a band comfortable in experimentation without the worry of alienating listeners, and served as the provider for such memorable musical-moments as the aloft ‘Sunrise’ and beautiful melancholy of ‘Bad Cover Version’ and ‘Roadkill’. Elsewhere, its themes extended into the wildlife, and a fleet of summer-festival appearances over the year preceding and during its release promoted the effort to a strong potential. A sell-out UK tour and further hit singles confirmed the band as a talent with staying-power and a versatility lost amongst their peers.
This brings up to present day. The group’s next plans for 2002 are unclear, though it’s known that Jarvis is getting married, a forest-tour of Britain already undertaken as you read. With further sure-to-be memorable festival appearances scheduled for the summer, it seems that Pulp will be gone for quite some time following this year. And this is something to mourn with great woe.
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