Jump to content

Julian Cope

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by John (talk | contribs) at 17:40, 17 July 2007 (fmt). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Julian Cope

Julian Cope (born Julian David Cope, on 21 October, 1957) is a Welsh rock musician, writer, antiquary, musicologist, poet and forward-thinker who came to prominence as singer of Liverpool post-punk band The Teardrop Explodes in 1978. The name for the band came from a Marvel comic (Daredevil no.77). Cope has since released many solo albums and is a founding member of the bands Queen Elizabeth and Brain Donor. In addition to his musical career, Julian Cope has written several books of non-fiction and autobiography.

Career

Born Deri, Mid Glamorgan in South Wales, Cope grew up in Tamworth, Staffordshire in the English Midlands. He attended the City of Liverpool College of Higher Education (COLCHE - linked to Lancaster University) near Prescot - some years later the college became part of Liverpool Polytechnic as CF Mott Campus. Cope's musical career began as bass player with a band known as Crucial Three, which also featured Ian McCulloch (future guitarist and singer for Echo and the Bunnymen) and Pete Wylie. The band lasted for little more than six weeks and disbanded without any public performances or formal recordings, although the song "Books" was later recorded by both Cope's and McCulloch's subsequent bands. Cope went on to form other short-lived bands before first achieving fame and success as the singer, original bassist and primary songwriter of The Teardrop Explodes. In 1981 he compiled Fire Escape in the Sky: The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker, which was released by Zoo Records, and sparked renewed interest in the work of the reclusive singer; though years later Cope commented that Walker's 'Pale White Intellectual' outlook on life no longer held any fascination for him.

After The Teardrop Explodes disbanded in late-1982, Cope returned to his hometown of Tamworth and soon began recording his most poignant materials. In 1983 he recorded some memorable tunes for John Peel's show. He re-worked these introspective works for his first solo album, World Shut Your Mouth, released in 1984. This was soon followed by Fried, which featured a sleeve with Cope clad only in a turtle shell. Cope's third solo album was the well-received Saint Julian and produced the single "World Shut Your Mouth", which would become his biggest solo hit, reaching the UK Top 20 in 1986.

Cope was extremely displeased with his fourth solo album, My Nation Underground, feeling that he had been pressured by his management into recording something that did not represent his artistic intentions. This only spawned one Top 40 single in 'Charlotte Anne'. He recorded his next album, Skellington, in secret during the course of a single weekend, playing in the same studio used for My Nation Underground, but creating something low-fi and an intentional departure from his previous album. His management had no desire to release Skellington, and Cope refused to record any other material while he feuded with them to try to get his new work released. This was to become the first of many feuds with his record companies. He would also release by stealth an album in aid of Roky Erickson entitled Droolian, and his ongoing battle with those he referred to as "greedheads" would eventually see him turn his back on the music industry. In the course of one of his stand-offs, Cope began to write his first autobiographical book, Head-On which was primarily covered the years 1976 to 1982, focusing on Cope's time before and during the life of The Teardrop Explodes and ending with the break-up of that band. This was followed a few years later by Repossessed, covering the years 1983 to 1989 and the recording of Cope's first series of solo albums, as well as the writing of Head-On. The books were republished in one volume in 2000, titled Head-On/Repossessed and both were critically heralded as amongst the best retrospectives covering the late-70s and 1980s popular music scene.[citation needed] Peggy Suicide and Jehovahkill, both recorded in the early 1990s, reflected his interest in the occult, animal rights, the goddess and ecology. In 1995, Cope hit top form again with his '20 Mothers' album spawning the single 'Try, Try, Try'. The music captured the buzz and energy of his earlier days, while providing ample evidence that he could still make sounds move forward.

In addition to his two volumes of autobiography, Cope has written three other books of nonfiction. Krautrocksampler, released in 1996 and now out of print, covers the German krautrock musical movement. Reviews at the time were ecstatic, Rolling Stone citing it as "a work of real passion and scholarship". NME agreed: "This is a superb book ... this is an extraordinary book." Mojo went further, writing: "Brilliantly researched, Krautrocksampler abounds with revelations, and Cope's enthusiasm verges on the lethal ... a sort of lysergic Lester Bangs." In The Sunday Times, the reviewer wrote: "German 1970s minimalism is invading the British rock scene ... an Englishman is to blame ... Krautrocksampler is a lively history of a fascinating period, half encyclopedia, half psychedelic detective story." Before the publication of this book the genre itself had all but disappeared off the musical map; both the phrase and the genre are now firmly ingrained and have subsequently been heralded in the likes of Mojo and The Wire. The book was also the subject of fierce controversy due to Cope's outspoken remarks that Can's Bel-Air was a 'shambles'. 1998 saw the release of the widely-acclaimed bestseller The Modern Antiquarian, a large and comprehensive full-colour 448-page work detailing stone circles and other ancient monuments in the British Isles, which sold out of its first edition of 20,000 in its first month of publication and was accompanied by a BBC Two documentary. The Times called the book: "A ripping good read ... it is deeply impressive ... ancient history: the new rock 'n' roll." The Independent called it: "A unique blend of information, observation, personal experience and opinion which is as unlike the normal run of archaeology books as you can imagine." The renowned archaeologist Ronald Hutton went further, calling the book: "the best popular guide to Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments for half a century." The Modern Antiquarian was followed in 2004 with an even larger 484-page study of similar monuments across Europe entitled The Megalithic European, the most extensive study of European megalithic sites to date. In addition to his books on prehistoric monuments, Cope hosts a community-based Modern Antiquarian website [1] that invites contributors to add their own knowledge of the ancient sites of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Cope has lectured nationally on the subject of prehistory, and also at the British Museum on the subjects of Avebury and Odin.

Cope has opted out of the mainstream in recent years, preferring to release and promote his music himself, rather than working with a major record label. He continues to record new material both under his own name and with regular collaborators under the band names Brain Donor - his proto-metal power trio, and Queen Elizabeth, an ambient two-piece. Most of his more recent releases are available either primarily or exclusively through Cope's extensive and interactive website, Head Heritage[2]. Cope is also a musicologist, and an avid champion of obscure and underground music. His Album of the Month reviews on the Unsung section of his website [3] have promoted bands such as Comets on Fire, Sunn O))) (with whom he performed a guest vocal on their White1 album) and several Japanese bands which will feature in his soon-to-be-published book Japrocksampler (September 2007). Unsung is another community-based site that invites contributors' reviews, and Cope and the site's numerous contributors have been instrumental in kickstarting the interest in bands like Sir Lord Baltimore, Blue Cheer, Les Rallizes Denudes and the Groundhogs. Cope is also considered to be one of the first bloggers; he has been airing his sometimes controversial views since 1998 via his website's "Address Drudion" on the first day of each month [4].

Julian Cope continues to perform live in the UK (including an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2003) and other parts of Europe in recent years. Due to his responsibilities to his family as well as his discomfort with intercontinental air travel, Cope has not toured more beyond Europe for several years. In 2005, he dropped attempts to plan a tour of the United States because a work visa could not be secured through the INS.

Julian Cope lives near Avebury, Wiltshire (UK) with his wife, Dorian, and their two daughters, Albany (Big Al/Alghost) and Avalon (Vince). He will be appearing at Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Inverness-shire, in August 2007

Discography

The Teardrop Explodes

Singles

  • "Sleeping Gas" (1979)
  • "Bouncing Babies" (1979)
  • "Treason (It's just a Story)" (1980)
  • "When I Dream" (1980) (#UK 47)
  • "Reward" (1981) (UK #6)
  • "Treason (It's Just a Story)" (reissued 1981) (UK #18)
  • "Ha Ha I'm Drowning" (1981)
  • "Passionate Friend" (1981) (UK #25)
  • "Colours Fly Away" (1981) (UK #54)
  • "Tiny Children" (1982) (UK #44)
  • "You Disappear From View" (1983) (UK #41)
  • "Serious Danger" (1990)
  • "Count to Ten and Run for Cover" (1990)

Albums

Compilations

Solo

Singles

  • 1983 "Sunshine Playroom" (UK #64)
  • 1984 "The Greatness And Perfection Of Love" (UK #52)
  • 1985 "Sunspots"
  • 1986 "World Shut Your Mouth" (UK #19)
  • 1987 "Trampolene" (UK #31)
  • 1987 "Eve's Volcano (Covered In Sin)" (UK #41)
  • 1988 "Charlotte Anne" (UK #35)
  • 1988 "5 O'Clock World" (UK #42)
  • 1988 "China Doll" (UK #53)
  • 1991 "Beautiful Love" (UK #32)
  • 1991 "Safesurfer"
  • 1991 "East Easy Rider" (UK #51)
  • 1991 "Head" (UK #57)
  • 1992 "World Shut Your Mouth", re-released with different songs (UK #44)
  • 1992 "Fear Loves This Place" (UK #42)
  • 1994 "Paranormal In The West Country"
  • 1995 "Try, Try, Try" (UK #24)
  • 1996 "I Come From Another Planet, Baby" (UK #34)
  • 1996 "Planetary Sit-In" (UK #34)
  • 1997 "Propheteering"

Albums

Side projects

With Queen Elizabeth :

  • 1994 Queen Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth)
  • 1997 QE2: Elizabeth Vagina (Queen Elizabeth)

With The Serpents :

With L.A.M.F. :

With Brain Donor :

Compilations

References

Cope, Julian (1995). Krautrocksampler. ISBN-10: 0952671913.

Cope, Julian (2000). Head-On/Repossessed. Thorsons Publishers. ISBN 0-7225-3882-0.

"Head Heritage". Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage. Retrieved June 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

  • Head Heritage - Julian Cope's own frequently updated site
  • The Modern Antiquarian - An online community and resource on ancient sites in the UK & Ireland, inspired by Cope's book of the same name
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julian_Cope&oldid=145261535"