Pulp - Fact (2002)

Pulp were formed in 1978 at The City School in Sheffield by Jarvis Cocker, then 15 years old, and Peter Dalton, then 14. Cocker's original preference was to name the band after the film 'Pulp' starring Michael Caine, though it was decided that this was too short. Instead, the two took inspiration from a copy of the Financial Times which listed the Arabicas coffee bean in its commodity index, and they used this, with a slight spelling change, and the band became Arabicus. Early rehearsals took place in Cocker's house and featured Cocker, Dalton and Dalton's younger brother Ian, and after finally deciding on Arabicus Pulp as their name, a fixed line-up was then established, with Cocker and Dalton joined by two friends of theirs, David "Fungus" Lockwood and Mark Swift. The band played their first public gig at Rotherham Arts Centre in July 1980, and later that year, Cocker met future member Russell Senior, who recognised Cocker from his charismatic sales techniques in his part-time job at the local fish market. Their musical style at this time was varied, being described as a cross between ABBA and The Fall, and a local fanzine also noted this eclecticism, describing them as sounding "as if they listen to the John Peel show every night in an endless quest for influences". Indeed, in October 1981 they gave a demo tape to Peel, who granted the renamed Pulp a session on his show, which was a giant leap forward for the young band, and who became well known on the local music scene as a result. 

The tracks recorded were in the typical Sheffield electronic new wave and post-punk sound of the time, a la The Human League and The Comsat Angels. Despite their exposure on national radio, success was not forthcoming and, apart from Cocker, most of the core line-up left for university, and so a new set of musicians had to be recruited, with Cocker being joined by Simon Hinkler (who later joined The Mission), David Hinkler, Wayne Furniss, Peter Boam, Gary Wilson, and Cocker's sister, Saskia. They managed to get enough local backing to record a mini-album in late 1982, entitled 'It' (the title was a pun on pulp-it, as if the band were preaching to the audience), and this was released in April 1983 by Red Rhino Records. It largely consisted of folkish, romantic pop songs influenced by Leonard Cohen, and was a change of direction from the Peel Session two years earlier. Although 'It' failed commercially, the band were confident enough to seek commercial success, and even recorded a single, 'Everybody's Problem'/'There Was'. The single demonstrated a shift of style advised by Red Rhino's Tony Perrin, who had convinced Cocker that he could write commercial pop songs , but this approach also failed, and Cocker was becoming unhappy with his chosen musical direction. He was all set to break up the band and go to university himself before a practice with Russell Senior (violin, guitar, vocals) and Magnus Doyle (drums) led to the establishment of a new, more experimental, artier and noisier direction for Pulp. They were subsequently augmented by Peter Mansell (bass) and Tim Allcard (keyboards, saxophone, poetry). This new incarnation of Pulp survived a number of ill-fated gigs, before Allcard left to be replaced on keyboards by Magnus Doyle's sister Candida. 

Following her first performance with the band in 1985, they were signed to Fire Records, but in November of that year, Cocker fell out of a window while trying to impress a girl with a Spider-Man impression and ended up in hospital, temporarily requiring the use of a wheelchair in which he appeared during concerts. Pulp's relationship with Fire Records was tempestuous, and Cocker admitted later that the band only accepted the deal as it was the only offer on the table, but it did produce a couple of expanded singles in 'Little Girl' and 'Dogs Are Everywhere'. Pulp's next major release was 'Freaks' in 1987, which was recorded in a week due to record label pressure, and Cocker has commented that given a bit more time they could have produced a much better record. Despite the rush to record it, 'Freaks' was delayed for a year, and when it finally appeared it was not well received, with its darker style being the antithesis of the happy and optimistic 'It'. When 'Freaks' failed to be a success, the band recorded some tracks with Chakk's label FON in Sheffield, and a single titled 'Death Comes To Town' was due to be released by FON in early 1988, but their relationship disintegrated and the release was cancelled. It was during this time that Cocker was taking a part-time foundation course at Sheffield Polytechnic, which led to him leaving for London to study film at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and effectively folding the band. The hiatus was short-lived however, as Steve Mackey, a regular at their Sheffield and London gigs, was also studying in London and was asked to join the band as a bass player, augmenting the line-up of Cocker, Mackey, Senior, Candida Doyle, and Nick Banks on drums. In mid-1989, they began recording another album for Fire, to be titled 'Seperations', this time with a bigger budget and production from Alan Smyth. It was a progression from the style of 'Freaks', with Leonard Cohen-esque ballads on one side, and an acid house infused track-listing on side two. The disparate styles can be attributed to Cocker and Mackey's different and changing tastes, with Mackey introducing Cocker to house music, which led to them both going to raves, while Cocker introduced Mackey to Scott Walker and Serge Gainsbourg. 

Like 'Freaks', the release of 'Separations' was delayed, which somewhat lessened its potential impact, but a 12" single was lifted from the album, and 'My Legendary Girlfriend' became NME's single of the week. Pulp's repertoire was growing rapidly, and tracks such as 'Babies', 'Space' and 'She's A Lady' were being played live throughout 1991, and in October of that year, they played their first overseas gig, at a concert organised by French magazine Les Inrockuptibles. However, the band were still frustrated that Fire Records had not released 'Separations', and so Pulp left the label and signed to Warp Records imprint Gift Records in 1992. Buoyed by a changing musical current, in June 1992 Pulp released 'O.U.' on Gift, while Fire finally released Separations in the same month. They then signed to Island Records, who jointly released (with Gift) the singles 'Babies' and 'Razzmatazz' to increasing chart success, and the next single 'Lipgloss' became their first top 40 hit on the UK Singles Chart, followed by their biggest hit to date with 'Do You Remember The First Time?'. These singles preceded the Ed Buller-produced album 'His 'n' Hers', which was released in 1994, reaching number nine on the UK Albums Chart, and being nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. This sudden increase in popularity was helped by the massive media interest in Britpop, alongside acts such as Suede, Oasis and Blur, with Pulp supporting the latter in a 1994 tour of the United States. 1995 saw the peak of their fame, with the release of their 'Common People' single, which reached the number two slot on the UK Singles Chart, and in June 1995 they stood in at the last minute for the Stone Roses at the Glastonbury Festival. 

A double A-side single, 'Sorted For E's & Wizz'/'Mis-Shapes', was set to precede the release of their 1995 album 'Different Class', but as soon as the single came out the Daily Mirror printed a front-page story headed "BAN THIS SICK STUNT", alongside a story by Kate Thornton which said the song was "pro-drugs" and called for it to be banned. The single had an inlay which showed how to conceal amphetamines in a DIY 'wrap', although Cocker released a statement two days later saying: "...'Sorted' is not a pro-drugs song. Nowhere on the sleeve does it say you are supposed to put drugs in here but I understand the confusion", and as there is no such thing as bad publicity, the single soared to number two on the UK Singles Charts. 'A Different Class' appeared in October 1995, and debuted at the top of the UK albums chart, garnering significant critical praise along the way, and it was the first album to feature Pulp fan-club president Mark Webber, who had become a permanent member of the band on guitar and keyboards. The album followed similar themes to their previous work, with observations of life expressed through Cocker's sexualised, sometimes dark and witty lyrics, and two more singles were released, with both 'Disco 2000' and 'Something Changed' breaking the top ten in the UK, while the album went on to win the 1996 Mercury Music Prize. 

It was at this time that Cocker gained significant media exposure due to a notorious prank at the 1996 BRIT Awards, where he invaded the stage in protest during Michael Jackson's performance of 'Earth Song' and "wiggled his backside" at the audience. After complaints by Jackson and his entourage, Cocker spent the night in Kensington Police Station charged with actual bodily harm and assaulting the child performers. However, with British comedian and former solicitor Bob Mortimer acting as legal representation, he was released without charge, and the subsequent controversy in the UK and elsewhere caused Pulp's record sales to soar as a result. In March 1996, an unauthorised compilation of Pulp's early recordings on Fire Records entitled 'Countdown 1992–1983' was released on the Nectar Masters label, and although it received largely negative reviews, due to the band's popularity at the time it reached the top 10 of the UK charts. Later in 1996, Pulp gained some recognition for the inclusion of the track 'Mile End' on the 'Trainspotting' soundtrack, leading to them headlining the 1996 V Festival, which would be their last public performance for almost two years. It was during this period of intense fame and tabloid scrutiny that longtime member and major innovator in the band's sound Russell Senior decided to leave the band, and although they were due to begin working on a new album in late 1996, Cocker was having difficulty with the celebrity lifestyle, battling cocaine addiction and a break-up of a long-term relationship, and so when they came to begin work they had only one song, 'Help The Aged'. 

This creative inertia meant the band took over a year to finish the next record, and it wasn't until November 1997 that Pulp re-emerged with 'Help The Aged' as their new single. The album it was taken from, 1998's 'This Is Hardcore', had a markedly different style from their previous two albums, with its minimal sound and subject matter reminiscent of earlier, pre-Britpop tracks such as 'Sheffield: Sex City', and much of the subject matter of the songs involved Cocker's disillusionment with his long-desired wish for fame. The band then spent the few years "in the wilderness" before reappearing in 2001 with a new album, 'We Love Life', and the extended period between the release of the two records was partly attributed to having initially recorded the songs which comprise the album, and then being dissatisfied with the results, although subsequent interviews also suggested interpersonal and artistic differences. Despite persuading singer/songwriter Scott Walker to produce the record, and this new phase in Pulp's development fell short of expectations, and 'We Love Life' and was to be Pulp's recording. In 2002 the band announced that they were leaving Island Records, who swiftly released a greatest hits package, including one new track. Throughout their career Pulp used the b-sides of their singles to release their more experimental recordings, tracks that didn't fit onto the albums, or songs that they felt were too god to throw away, and so this post brings together all of their stand-alone singles, b-sides and bonus tracks from their two-decade career. It's a three disc set, as a number of these tracks break the eight-minute mark, but I'm all for a bit of experimentation, and tracks like 'The Tunnel' and 'Deep Fried In Kelvin' do show the band in a whole new light. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1983-1990

01 Looking For Life (b-side of 'My Lighthouse' 1983
02 Sink Or Swim (bonus track on the re-issue of 'It' 1983)
03 Please Don't Worry (bonus track on the re-issue of 'It' 1983)
04 Everybody's Problem (single 1983)
05 There Was ... (b-side of 'Everybody's Problem')
06 Tunnel (b-side of 'They Suffocate At Night' 1987)
07 Manon (b-side of 'Master Of The Universe' 1987)
08 Silence (b-side of 'Master Of The Universe' 1987)
09 Is This House? (b-side of 'My Legendary Girlfriend' 1990)

Disc II - 1991-1993
01 Countdown (single  1991)
02 Death Goes To The Disco (b-side of 'Countdown')
03 Sickly Grin (b-side of limited 7" edition of 'My Legendary Girlfriend' 1992)
04 Back In LA (b-side of limited 7" edition of 'My Legendary Girlfriend' 1992)
05 O.U. (Gone, Gone) (single 1992)
06 Space (b-side of 'O.U. (Gone, Gone)')
07 Styloroc (Nites Of Suburbia) (b-side of 'Babies' 1992)
08 Sheffield: Sex City (b-side of 'Babies' 1992)
09 Deep Fried In Kelvin (b-side of 'Lipgloss' 1993)
10 You're A Nightmare (b-side of 'Lipgloss' 1993)

Disc III - 1994-2002
01 Street Lites (b-side of 'Do You Remember The First Time?' 1994)
02 P.T.A. (Parent Teacher Association) (b-side of 'Mis-shapes' 1995)
03 The Babysitter (b-side of the special edition of 'Do You Remember The First Time?' 1996)
04 Ansaphone (b-side of 'Disco 2000' 1996)
05 Mile End (b-side of 'Something Changed' 1996)
06 We Are The Boyz (b-side of 'Party Hard' 1998)
07 Ladies' Man (b-side of 'This Is Hardcore' 1998)
08 Cocaine Socialism (b-side of 'A Little Soul' 1998)
09 Like A Friend (b-side of 'A Little Soul' 1998)
10 Yesterday (b-side of 'Bad Cover Version' 2002)
11 Forever In My Dreams (b-side of 'Bad Cover Version' 2002)