Thu Nov 4 17:51:32 EST 1993
This contains some important updates.
First off, we had 4 new subscribers today. I found them on the usenet.
Yeah!
Second, we have 11 people's votes in the polls (for you newcomers, please
mail me a list of your 5 favorite Julian Cope / Teardrop Explodes songs,
plus a "rating" of each album you've heard from 1 to 10, 10 being brilliant)
I'm going away to Blacksburg, Va this weekend, but will be back sunday
night. I intend to post the poll results monday or tuesday, so please vote if
you haven't already! Thanks!
Thirdly, As stated before, the back issues are available via anonymous ftp.
I have decided to change things a little bit.
From now on, about every month or so I will copy all the month's posting to
a file called "bunch#" where # is an integer. Then I will ship these bunches
to the ftp directory. For example, today I shipped bunch7 to the ftp dir.
This means that if you only want to look at the last month's worth of postings
to the list (actually the posting since bunch6) then all you need to do is
grab bunch7. This makes it easier for people who only want partial back orders.
I guess I'll compress them as well. Maybe not. 50K is not big.
Lastly, I'd just like to say thanks for reading this message all the way to the
end! Not a bit of it was about Julian Cope! :)
Travis
Thu Nov 4 18:19:35 EST 1993
OKay, I have rewritten my archiving scripts. Now, every month or so I
will run a program called "doit" which will copy all the previous 50K
clumps of back orders plus the new one to the ftp directory. Additionally,
it will update and copy the file "complete.tar.Z" which contains the
complete CULTURE BUNKER back orders.
Just out of curiosity, when some of you mailed off for RITE and/or SKELLINGTON
CHRONICLES, did any of you:
a) find out the address of the Julian Cope fan club if there is one
-or-
b) mention the existence of THE CULTURE BUNKER?
I'm still dreaming that one day Julian will come on-line and post something to
our list! Mark E Smith did the same for the fall group a while back(if that
was indeed him) and Billy Idol supposedly keeps in touch with his NetFans.
Travis
Fri Nov 5 07:45:26 EST 1993
From: Mike Higgott <mah@de-montfort.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1993 11:18:35 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Some songs for guitar
Here's a couple of songs from 'Fried' that I've worked out (rhythm
guitar parts anyway).
BILL DRUMMOND SAID (Julian Cope, 1984)
======================================
(4/4 time. '|' = bar)
Intro/break: |Bm C |Bm C | x4 (x3 for break)
Main part: |G |A7 |C |D | x 2
Then: |E |E |C |Am |
G A7 C
Give me one good reason why I shouldn't win
D G
(Bill Drummond said, Bill Drummond said)
G A7 C
If a falling leaf can't help my suffering
D E
(Bill Drummond said, Bill Drummond said)
C Am
And I sat around my feet, to teach me how to float
E
"Get out" she cried, in the minute she died
C Am
He folded up her coat
G A7 C
And the family cried, go spinning 'cross the sky
(Bill Drummond said, Bill Drummond said)
If I sit and pray, my Christmas tree will die
(Bill Drummond said, Bill Drummond said)
And if his life gets out of hand
And if his face turns blue
These things are sent to try us
And what more can we do?
And then he walked around my garden
And sniffed around my coat
And then I looked around to see him
His hands around her throat
(break)
(Bill Drummond said, Bill Drummond said)
If a falling leaf can't help me
(Bill Drummond said, Bill Drummond said)
If a falling leaf can't help me
(Bill Drummond said, Bill Drummond said)
If a falling leaf can't help me
(Bill Drummond said, Bill Drummond said)
If a falling leaf can't help me
SUNSPOTS (Julian Cope, 1984)
===================================
(2/4 time. '|' = bar)
intro: |C |A |D |E | x 4
Verses: |C |A |D |E |
Chorus: |F |F |C |C |E |E |E |E |
C A
Sunspots, changing there
D E
Walking round with my very best friend
C A
I've got a love song in my head
D E
Strolling round with my very best friend
C A
She looks good, fine to me
D E
I'm in love with my very best friend
F C E
M---e----oh, it goes away
F C E
And M---e----oh, it goes away
Sunspots, changing gear
Driving round with my very best friend
I got a love song in my head
Holding on to my very best friend
We look back, but I can't see
Moving on with my very best friend
She looks good, fine to me
I'm in love with my very best friend
Meeeeeeeeeeoh, it goes away
And Meeeeeeeeeeoh, it goes away
And Meeeeeeeeeeoh, it goes away
And Meeeeeeeeeeoh, it goes away, way, way...
_________________________________________________________________
| Mike Higgott | |
| CMS Research Centre | email: mah@uk.ac.dmu (JANET) |
| De Montfort University | OR mah@dmu.ac.uk (OTHER) |
| The Gateway | tel : (0533)551551 x. 8466 |
| Leicester LE1 9BH | fax : (0533)541891 |
| England UK | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fri Nov 5 17:18:15 EST 1993
From: Andrew Beattie <Andrew.Beattie@newcastle.ac.uk>
I still have one spare copy of Skellington Chronicles available for
trade (preferably) or sale (a very poor second best.)
And. Andrew.Beattie@Newcastle.ac.uk
Sun Nov 7 18:24:29 EST 1993
*******************************POLL RESULTS*********************************
Here are the results of the November 1993 Julian Cope/Teardrop Explodes
Favorite Song/Album Rating Poll.
VOTER TURNOUT - The poll lasted a week or so. 17 people voted, including
myself. I voted before everyone else so as not to be biased.
RESULTS FORMAT - To distinguish between Teardrop Explodes albums and Julian
Cope albums I will use ALL CAPS for the names of Teardrop Explodes albums.
******************************FAVORITE SONGS********************************
INTRO - Persons were asked to submit their 5 favorite Julian Cope or
Teardrop Explodes songs. Some people included 5 Cope *and* 5 Teardrops,
some included maybe 3 or 4 songs, some included 6. I didn't penalize
anyone for including the wrong number, since I was a bit ambiguous with
the instructions. :)
TOP 11 FAVORITE SONG ALBUM NUMBER OF VOTES
Sunspots Fried 6
Reynard the Fox Fried 4
Bill Drummond Said Fried 4
Charlotte Anne My Nation Underground 4
Hanging Out and Hung Up On the Line Peggy Suicide 3 or 4
SLEEPING GAS KILIMANJARO 3
World Shut Your Mouth Saint Julian 3
China Doll My Nation Underground 3
Safesurfer Peggy Suicide 3
Las Vegas Basement Peggy Suicide 3
Julian H. Cope Jehovahkill 3
All other songs had 2 or fewer votes.
COMMENTS - Way to go Fried! Of these top 11, 7 are on Floored Genius;
surprise, surprise.
In cases of ties, I listed songs chronologically. (i.e. numVotes is
primary search key, release date is secondary key)
Also, someone said that "Hung Up and Hanging Out To Dry" was one of their
favorite songs. There's a chance they meant "Hanging Out and Hung Up on
the Line." But again, it's perfectly possible they meant what they said,
so that's why I'm writing "3 or 4" for "Hanging Out..."
******************************ALBUM RATINGS*********************************
INTRO - I asked people to rate all the albums they heard from 1 to 10, 10
being awesome, 1 being awful. Some people did not rate albums, but instead
listed their favorites. This is forgivable, since there were a lot of new
subscribers this week, but it was hard to decide how to rate the albums.
This only happened twice, so it shouldn't have a huge impact.
Here are the results, with explanations below.
Number of Average Best Number of Number of
RANK ALBUM NAME Listeners Rating Rating Fav Songs Fav Votes
1 3+ Jehovahkill 14 8.7 10 (6) 7 11
2 1- Floored Genius 7 8.7 10 (1) N/A N/A
3 11+ Fried 14 8.4 10 (3) 5 16
4 3- WILDER 10 8.2 10 (2) 5 6
5 2- Peggy Suicide 17 8.0 10 (2) 8 or 9 16
6 7+ World Shut Your Mouth 11 8.0 10 (1) 5 7
7 4- KILIMANJARO 10 7.7 9 (2) 7 10
8 5- Saint Julian 16 7.4 9 (3) 5 8
9 8- Skellington 10 6.4 8 (4) 1 1
10 13+ My Nation Underground 15 6.2 10 (1) 3 8
11 14+ PIANO 6 5.7 8 (1) NONE NONE
12 10- Droolian 6 5.5 8 (1) NONE NONE
13 N/A Skellington II 7 5.3 7 (1) NONE NONE
14 12- EVERYBODY WANTS TO SHAG 12 5.1 7 (6) 2 2
15 9- Rite 7 4.1 6 (1) NONE NONE
"RANK" is the current rank of the album, plus its rank last spring. '+'
means it's more popular now that before, '-' means it's lost popularity.
"Album" is the name of the album. Teardrop Explodes albums are in ALL CAPS.
"Number of Listeners" is the # of people who rated the album.
"Average Rating" is an unweighted average.
"Best Rating" is the highest rating the album got, and number of occurances
of that rating.
"Number of Fav Songs" is the number of favorite songs from the album that
got nominated.
"Number of Fav Votes" is the number of votes for favorite songs on the album.
BIG WINNERS - If you don't have Jehovahkill because you're afraid Julian Cope
can't write songs anymore, go out and get it NOW! And look at Fried. It
has really shot up in popularity.
BIG LOSERS - Notice Peggy Suicide's drop from number 2 (behind Floored
Genius only) to number 5. Someone gave it a 2. Also, see how poorly
EVERYBODY WANTS TO SHAG faired. Two people gave it 1's!
Also, something else that surprised me was that the re-release of
Skellington (along with Skellington II) did it no real good. I was
expecting it to be more popular, but then again, look at the albums it's
competing against!
********************************GRAPHICS************************************
Here's a bar graph showing the trend of the "real" albums: (compilations
and mail-orders not included).
9------------------------------------------------------------------
xx XX
8--------XX----------xx----XX----------------------------xx----XX--
XX XX XX XX xx XX XX
7--XX----XX----------XX----XX----XX----------------------XX----XX--
XX XX XX XX XX xx XX XX
6--XX----XX----------XX----XX----XX----XX----XX----------XX----XX--
XX XX XX XX XX XX XX xx XX XX
5--XX----XX----xx----XX----XX----XX----XX----XX----XX----XX----XX--
Kili Wilder Shag World Fried Saint MyNat Skell Drool Peggy Jehov
COMMENTS - There's no apparent trend to my eyes. It looks like Jehovahkill
will be a hard album to follow up. Has anobody heard *anything* about
AUTOGEDDON recently? Is Cope in the studio, for one thing?
*****************************PARTING COMMENTS*******************************
Anyway, I hope these results made sense to you. It seems like the albums to
get are Jehovahkill and Fried if you don't have them already. Floored
Genius is an excellent compilation, for those of you who are very new to
Julian Cope and/or the Teardrop Explodes. Several of the songs are remixed,
some noticably and some not (Reynard being the most obvious one). Piano is
a not-so-hot Teardrops compilation of A-sides. Sound quality is abysimal.
Peggy Suicide still did pretty well. If you want albums with lots of songs
that people consider their favorites, Peggy Suicide and Kiliamanjaro really
deliver.
Anyway, thank you to everyone who participated in this poll. 17 out of 40
isn't too bad if you think about it. I have the feeling that many of those
23 non-voters are also non-entities. Perhaps they graduated or moved, for
instance.
Talk to y'all later,
Travis
Sun Nov 7 23:34:29 EST 1993
From: Mark Yokoyama <yokoyama@husc.harvard.edu>
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1993 21:15:21 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: Ol' Leperskin at it agin.
This message will be a bit lacking because I really don't know
much about AUTOGEDDON, but from what I read in an interview a number of
months ago, there's gonna be a lot of songs on it, but they're gonna be
shorter than the ones on PEGGY or JEHOVAHKILL. Apparently he's got a lot
of new material and I've heard he's been done with the recording for quite
a while. There's alledgedly a Ramones influence on the new album. (Sorta
like the Joan Jett influence on ST JULIAN?)
Does anyone know if CHRONICLES is still available?(or RITE for
that matter?) I sent off for it about a month ago, but since I live in
the states I don't know if they'll send it to me.
I think we should get together and do a Julian Cope tribute album.
I've always thought the line in "Bill Drummond Said" was "and the
family pride goes spinning cross the sky," but everyone else seems to
think he said "cried". Not that it makes a lot of difference to me(tho' I
do think pride sounds better.)
Around 1987 there was a british band called The Culture Bunker.
Excerpt from a letter a friend of mine sent me:
"I'm listening to 'Ouch Monkeys'.
It brings racoons to my window.
This is very cool."
sorry if this message was lame. i was only thinking, i was
thinking of a way to impress you....
MARK
Mon Nov 8 17:43:56 EST 1993
From: Mark Yokoyama <yokoyama@husc.harvard.edu>
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 17:37:13 -0500 (EST)
Hi. Just a short note. There's a compilation called in defense
of animals or something of the sort. Julian Cope has a song on it. The
song is the regular version of "Hey High Class Butcher". If you haven't
got the song it might be worth getting if you're a real fan. The song was
origionally on the sunshine playroom e.p.
mark
Tue Nov 9 11:59:16 EST 1993
From: Michael Edwards <Q0J0@UNB.CA>
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 93 12:41:33 AST
Just been redigesting the results of the favourite song/album poll and
feeling more than a little bummed that I wasn't here to take part.
Still, Its an excuse to put my tuppence worth in so here goes. Sort of
amazed that Jehovahkill is number one; maybe just because its the most
recent (real) album. To try and think of my own favourite is almost
impossible because it changes all the time - I just picked up Wilder
on vinyl and so I have been playing that to death and savouring it all
but I still have a very soft spot for World Shut Your Mouth and even
Everybody Wants To Shag. How can anyone give that a '1' when it has a
song as wonderful as Close My Eyes And Run For Cover? Sigh. Never
mind. What really did stand out in the poll is the fact that all the
albums were listed as a fav (more or less) showing the consistency
that Julian is still showing after all these years. Peggy Suicide
really was a rebirth for him after the slight disappointment of My
Nation Underground. And to hear him live in concert these days too -
that's another reason why I am bummed just now. I am originally from
Aberdeen in Scotland where there never used to be any decent concerts
after the demise of The Venue but that's another story altogether.
Last year Julian played one of his acoustic gigs there on his Highland
& Islands tour, and this year he played two more dates. And I missed
them all. Bugger. At least I have a bootleg of last years and
hopefully one on the way of this years too but still, to see himonce
more live...
But I am digressing again. My favourite albums at the moment would be
Wilder and also Peggy Suicide which I am rediscovering after picking
up the Dancing Heads EP. And that makes my favourite songs Safesurfer,
Tiny Children and, as always, Elegant Chaos if only for the cow
references. Haven't got Skellington II yet so would welcome opinions
on that. And does anyone know about the stone circle book and when it
comes out? You all saw the interview in Fortean Times I assume
although that was about a year ago now.
And that's about it - I'm all coped out. Sorry this has been a little
rambling and self indulgent but its a start. Incidentally - to ramble
a bit more - the Piano album is recorded straight off the vinyl of the
original singles and the From The Shores Of Lake Placid album which is
well worth picking up if you can find it. Has some rather good Echo &
Bunnymen songs too when they still used the drum machine Echo. That's
all for now,
Michael.
Fri Nov 12 07:49:23 EST 1993
Just to sate my curiosity, i wonder if some of you could estimate for me
Julian Cope's popularity in the area that you live. I wonder if Virginia is
the only backwoods state as far as British music goes.
Here in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, the typical top 40 listener has never
heard of Julian Cope. Out of all the people I've met in my life, maybe 10
had heard of Julian Cope thus far (I'm talking real life, not computer).
10 is a little optimistic. Maybe 4 people other than me actually have albums
by him. No one ese, of the people I've met, would come close to qualifying
as a "fan". Kinda sucks, doesn't it.
So, let me know, especially those from other sates/countries, how popular
by your estimation Julian Cope is. Thanks!
Travis
p.s. someone mentioned a tribute album. neat idea. are there any song books
around for J.C.?
Fri Nov 12 12:40:45 EST 1993
From: Mark Yokoyama <yokoyama@husc.harvard.edu>
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 10:59:53 -0500 (EST)
I live in Boston, Mass, and there are actual Cope fans here.
There's not a lot of them, but there's people who know the teardrops and
stuff. Of course, there are 37 colleges here or something like that, so
the population is a little bit geared towards youth.
I've never seen any Cope songbooks, but its not hard to figure out
his chord progressions and stuff.
I found a magazine with an excerpt from the poem "Autogeddon" by
Heathcote Williams. I can type it in if anyone's really interested. It's
pretty good, and you can see how it has influenced Cope's current diction.
About a year ago, I heard of a seven inch with two american
hardcore bands covering teardrops songs. I don't know who it was now.
Anyone heard of it? I didn't think so.
L.U.V.
mark
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: COMM_SJ@vax1.utulsa.edu
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 8:58:36 GMT
Subject: Cope who?
Hi Travis:
I've been in Tulsa, Oklahoma for 4 years now. I've met two people who know
who Julian Cope is. One owns a cool record store. The other is a student
from Massachussetts. Everyone else is without a clue. The situation was not
a whole lot different when I lived up in Wisconsin, but when I was living
in Chicago and in Urbana, Illinois (Univ. of Illinois) I knew many, many
people who were Teardrop and Cope fans. I knew a couple bands in Urbana
that covered Teardrop songs, and I was in a band that performed a Cope song
or two, and audiences dug it. Go figure...
Cheers,
Sj
Fri Nov 12 16:43:17 EST 1993
From: Michael Edwards <Q0J0@UNB.CA>
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 93 16:01:35 AST
All this talk of cover versions made me remember that a band from
Nottingham, The Fat Tulips, released a 7" single of Teardrop Explodes
songs called rather inspiringly, The Tulip Explodes. It had versions
of Passionate Friend, Reward and Treason. Kind of fun but I'm sure
they get the words wrong in some of them.
The idea of a tribute album is one that I like too; so many songs to
pick from so I'm sure it could be a possibility if some label was
nudged in the right direction.
That's all for now - just a wee note really.
Michael Edwards
afterthought: Has anyone else out there heard the song 'Therese' by
The Bodines because it REALLY sounds like Julian is singing even
though I know he isn't. Still, its spooky every time I hear it....
Fri Nov 12 21:59:16 EST 1993
I have a couple of ideas that I am willing to throw around:
1) In addition to the how-popular-is-cope-in-my-area thread, we can
also start an if-you-like-cope-you-would-probably-like-* thread.
2) post reviews, articles, whatever. For every article someone types up I will
contribute one myself. Sound cool? Sure.
Tell me what you think of these ideas!
Travis
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like Julian Cope I think you would also like...
The Soft Boys. This is the wacky British group that Robyn Hitchcock
got started in. I think most people agree that Robyn's earlier work
surpasses his latest albums. They are far more energetic. Anyway, I
just started listening to the Soft Boys about a month ago. And I really
like them.
The music is kinda Cope-ish at points, though Robyn's voice is *totally*
different! The Soft Boys have some really cool guitar work. There are
3 albums I have now:
INVISIBLE HITS - Very nice. Funny, groovy. The CD comes with a bunch of
remixes of songs that are on the album. It grows on you.
UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT - Brilliant! This is one heck of an album! It's very
retro in parts ("Have a Heart Betty" is 50's). There are so many memorable,
sing-along song, and such a nice driving guitar sound. AWESOME!!!
THE SOFT BOYS 1976-81 - This compilation/rarities 2-CD set was released last
month I think. Of the 38 tracks, 24 are unreleased. It's a very interesting
set of music. Sound quality isn't too hot on the 1st CD (distortion, pops).
Most of the 2nd CD is devoted to UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT songs. The unreleased
and rare songs divide up the on-album songs so you don't ever get bored.
Okay, I think the Soft Boys sound like some of Cope's B-sides at times. The
EP that has "I've Got Levitation" and "Nonalignment Pact" for instance sound
a bit ragged and driving, just like the Soft Boys.
Well, there aren't TOO many similarities. If I were to
recommend a vocalist who sounds like an
adolescent, third-rate Cope it'd have to be
the dude from Ocean Blue.
But check out the Soft Boys if you happen to see a CD of theirs in your
music store. Wild stuff. Very rewarding.
Travis
Sun Nov 14 13:54:13 EST 1993
I made a goof - "Have a Heart Betty" is on INVISIBLE HITS, not UNDERWATER
MOONLIGHT. Here are the complete track listings:
INVISIBLE HITS (1979)
Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole * Have a Heart, Betty * The Asking Tree *
Muriel's Hoof/Rout of the Clones * Let Me Put It Next To You *
When I Was a Kid * Rock N' Roll Toilet * Love Poisoning * Empty Girl *
Blues In the Dark * He's a Reptile * BONUS TRACKS: Have A Heart Betty
(alternate mix) * Rock N' ROll Toilet (alternate mix) *
When I Was a Kid (original mix) * Love Poisoning (original mix) *
Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole (live)
UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT (1980)
I Wanna Destroy You * Kingdom of Love * Positive Vibrations *
I Got the Hots * Insanely Jealous * Tonight * You'll Have to go Sideways *
Old Pervert * Queen of Eyes * Underwater Moonlight *
BONUS TRACKS: Vegetable Man * Strange * Only the Stones Remain *
Where Are the Prawns? * Dreams * Black Snake Diamond Rock *
There's Nobody Like You * Song No. 4
SOFT BOYS 1976-81 (many of these are different versions of album songs)
Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole * It's Not Just the Size of a Walnut * Ugly Nora *
The Yodelling Hoover * Hear My Brane * The Face of Death *
Wading Through a Ventilator * Give it to the Soft Boys *
I Want to be an Anglepoise Lamp * Fatman's Son * Where Are the Prawns? *
Salamander * Heartbreak Hotel * Caroline Says * We Like Bananas *
The Pigworker * Do the Chisel * Return of the Sacred Crab *
That's When You HeartAche Begins * THe Book of Love *
Sandra's Having Her Brain Out * Leppo and the Jooves * The Rat's Prayer *
Have a Heart Betty #1 * Mystery Train * He's a Reptile * Rock N' Roll Toilet *
Have a Heart Betty #2 * Insanely Jealous * Underwater Moonlight *
I Wanna Destroy You * Queen of Eyes * Kingdom of Love * Positive Vibrations *
Gigolo Aunt * Train 'Round the Bend * Kingdom of Love * Only the Stones Ramain
Well, I hope that was fair redemption for my Betty screw up!
the Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys mailing list is:
fegmaniax-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu
subject: SUBSCRIBE
it's really quiet, even more so than this Cope list. You might wanna
check it out if I've gotten you curious about the Soft Boys.
Travis
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Mark Yokoyama <yokoyama@husc.harvard.edu>
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 22:55:18 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: I wanna destroy you....
These sound like good ideas that Travis has. As I said earlier, I
can contribute a transcription of an excerpt from "Autogeddon" the poem,
but maybe I should hold off until a little closer to the release date for
the album, so it will be a better primer. About Copish bands, I would
reccomend any of his main influences:
Tim Buckley: Gave Cope that wild cackle of a laugh that's on "out
of my mind" and "upwards at 45 (can't find degree key, dang.)"
Can: Along with Faust and Neu, a premier krautrock band. Check out
andy of their early records, but after the first three or four they kinda
suck.
Roky Erickson: The best of them all. Roky rocks. About ten
times as insane as Cope and more brilliant in some ways (tho it's
sacrelige to say that on this newsletter). Roky's got passion and he
thinks of demons, too. His version of "I have always been here before"
(the origional), is just him with acoustic guitar. Very different from
Cope's. Different lyrics, too. Funny thing is, Roky is the one who says
"From the gargoyles to STONEHENGE from the sphynx to the pyramids..."
Definite soul mates. Roky's had more influence on cope than everyone else
combined. A must check-out.
others: of course, syd barrett and scott walker. Arthur Lee, too.
In case you can't tell, I love Roky Erickson. n.b.: Roky was the
singer for the 13th floor "does it sound like the elevators?" elevators.
The premier psychedelic band.
About newer bands, if you like the krautrock influences of
Jehovahkill, you might like the bands cul-de-sac, stereolab and the early
80's Boston band the girls, who, unfortunately, you will not be able to
find the record of.
mark
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: toad@cellar.org
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 10:50:29 EST
Here in Philly, I've never spontaneously met anyone who knows who Julian
Cope is. (Until I've played the albums long enough to get them to buy
them, that is.)
However, one time I was in this really amazingly great record store in New
Brunswick, NJ, called "Music in a Different Kitchen". Incredible place it
is, full of rarities, singles, that sort of thing. Tacked to the ceiling
were hundreds of interesting little tidbits, and near the checkout was an
autographed picture of Julian! I asked the lady behind the register, and
don't y'know, it turns out she's a HUGE fan. Met him several times, and
even has pictures of him... at home. I don't remember how she'd gotten
those pictures.
(As a side note, I later found out that this record store was owned by
Jim Babjak, guitarist for the Smithereens. If you're ever in central New
Jersey... it's defintely worth a visit.)
--
Tony Shepps toad@cellar.org
The Cellar: Public access and thoughtful conversation (USA) 215-539-3043
"Water is a non-renewable resource, y'know." - my mother, ranting blindly
Mon Nov 15 07:41:28 EST 1993
From: "A.J. Norman" <nja@leicester.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 09:36:08 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: NEW ALBUM!
My local branch of HMV has a board displaying forthcoming releases, and on the
22nd of this month it lists an album called "Foreign Genius" by JC. Anyone
know anything about this one?
Andrew.
************************************************************************
* Andrew Norman (nja@le.ac.uk) * "Digressions, incontestably, are the *
* Engineering Department, * sunshine;---they are the life, the *
* Leicester University * soul of reading" - L. Sterne *
************************************************************************
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hmmm. It might be a bootleg. It might be a companion to Floored Genius.
Has anyone else seen mention of this? Has anyone seen a release date for
AUTOGEDDON?
Travis
Mon Nov 15 19:14:11 EST 1993
Here's an interesting review of Julian Cope in the Rolling Stone Album
Guide (1992)
(stars are out of a possible 5)
* * * World Shut Your Mouth (1983)
* * 1/2 Fried (1984)
* * * * Saint Julian (1987)
* * * 1/2 My Nation Underground (1988)
* * * 1/2 Peggy Suicide (1991)
After piloting the Teardrop Explodes through two albums of occasionally
brilliant neo-psychedelia, Julian Cope abruptly broke camp and, with
Teardrop drummer Gary Dwyer, recorded _World Shut Your Mouth_. Yet though
Cope's melodic instincts are generally sure, the album's exquisite sense of
sonic detail is undercut by Cope's occasional self-indulgence and often
inpenetrable wordplay ("Kolly Kibber's Birthday"? "Metranil Vavin"?).
_Fried_ is even more bizarre, as Cope steamrollers down a variety of musical
culs-de-sac. But rather than go completely over the top, Cope goes in the
opposite direction on the masterful _Saint Julian_. Extravagant as the
arrangements sometimes are, there's no denying Cope's songcraft, and that
makes the album unexpectedly pop-friendly. From the triumphant powerchords
driving the chorus to "World Shut Your Mouth" to the insinuating melodic
line within "Eve's Volcano," Cope's unwavering tunefulness is nearly
irresistable. _My Nation Underground_ isn't quite as effervescent, but its
best songs -- "5 O'Clock World," "Charlotte Anne" -- are winning. With
_Peggy Suicide_, however, Cope outdoes himself, turning in a double-length
album that is at once stunningly ambitious and hopelessly silly. Although
the music is eloquent, Cope's convoluted, crackpot lyrics are better left
unheard. -- J.D.C.
--------
Whew! All one paragraph! To put this book's credibility in perspective,
here are some other albums compared to _Fried_:
New Kids on the Block, Mariah Carey - all their albums did as well as or
better than _Fried_.
Julian's arch-nemeses:
Guns n' Roses albums: 5, 4, 4.5 stars
U2: 4, 3, 4.5, 3, 4.5, 3, 5, 4, 5 stars
Some god-awful bands' debuts:
Falco's debut album got 2 1/2 stars
The Bee Gees' debut got 2 1/2 stars
Dolly Parton's debut got 5 stars :)
Tue Nov 16 09:18:20 EST 1993
From: "A.J. Norman" <nja@leicester.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 09:44:26 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Rolling Stone
> Here's an interesting review of Julian Cope in the Rolling Stone Album
> Guide (1992)
And a pretty good illustration of why I loathe "Q" magazine (the UK
equivalent of RS, with the same attitude towards music).
> (stars are out of a possible 5)
>
> * * * World Shut Your Mouth (1983)
> * * 1/2 Fried (1984)
> * * * * Saint Julian (1987)
> * * * 1/2 My Nation Underground (1988)
> * * * 1/2 Peggy Suicide (1991)
Hold a mirror up to this, and you have my ratings. 3/3.5/2/1/4
> After piloting the Teardrop Explodes through two albums of occasionally
> brilliant neo-psychedelia, Julian Cope abruptly broke camp and, with
> Teardrop drummer Gary Dwyer, recorded _World Shut Your Mouth_. Yet though
> Cope's melodic instincts are generally sure, the album's exquisite sense of
> sonic detail is undercut by Cope's occasional self-indulgence and often
> inpenetrable wordplay ("Kolly Kibber's Birthday"? "Metranil Vavin"?).
Self-indulgence and impenetrable wordplay are what I *like* about Copey.
> _Fried_ is even more bizarre, as Cope steamrollers down a variety of musical
> culs-de-sac.
Even more bizarre = even better. You want music for accountants, buy something
by Billy Ray Cyrus.
> But rather than go completely over the top, Cope goes in the
> opposite direction on the masterful _Saint Julian_. Extravagant as the
> arrangements sometimes are, there's no denying Cope's songcraft, and that
> makes the album unexpectedly pop-friendly. From the triumphant powerchords
> driving the chorus to "World Shut Your Mouth" to the insinuating melodic
> line within "Eve's Volcano," Cope's unwavering tunefulness is nearly
> irresistable.
But the lyrics aren't as good, and somehow the whole thing is missing that
magical "essence of Cope".
> _My Nation Underground_ isn't quite as effervescent, but its
> best songs -- "5 O'Clock World," "Charlotte Anne" -- are winning. With
> _Peggy Suicide_, however, Cope outdoes himself, turning in a double-length
> album that is at once stunningly ambitious and hopelessly silly. Although
> the music is eloquent, Cope's convoluted, crackpot lyrics are better left
> unheard. -- J.D.C.
>
Oh yes. So "Peggy Suicide", far from being an impassioned plea for the
environment, investigation of the human psyche and platform for Cope to show
us all how wonderful and horrible we are, is actually a collection of great
tunes with a load of crap being sung over it? He should have got Eric Clapton
or Mark Knopfler in to stick a few solos on top - that would keep the reviewer
happy.
The above reviews show exactly what is wrong with the "quality rock" magazines
- a complete ignorance of the fact that great rock'n'roll music isn't about
technique, musicianship, composing skills or pristine digital recording
studios, it's about PASSION, ORIGINALITY and FUN. I shudder to think what
sort of rating "Droolian" would have got, but that and "Skellington" are the
two Cope albums I listen to most.
Incidentally, HMV don't sell bootlegs, so "Foreign Genius" is going to be an
official release. I'm not sure if Cope is signed to a label in the UK yet,
my guess is it will be Island sticking a load of B-sides on an album. Not
that that is necessarily a bad thing - some of Julian's best songs are on
B-sides.
Andrew.
************************************************************************
* Andrew Norman (nja@le.ac.uk) * "Digressions, incontestably, are the *
* Engineering Department, * sunshine;---they are the life, the *
* Leicester University * soul of reading" - L. Sterne *
************************************************************************
Tue Nov 16 09:36:19 EST 1993
I agree - that last review was rather pop-oriented. I find I disagree with
a lot of the stuff in ROLLING STONE ALBUM GUIDE, while the TROUSER PRESS
RECORD GUIDE is a bit more in tune with the non-pop world.
I just thought I'd post it since we were in the topic of "Cope's Popularity".
Maybe the reason he's generally not accepted in those bloody MTV pop circles
is that he doesn't seem to want to kiss the butt of pop culture and its
bandwagon reviewers. Yeah Cope! in my opinion.
Here's another subject to ruminate:
(This is totally hypothetical. humor me)
What if Cope's next album is really poppy? What if, like the Cure, he has
a major breakthrough to the States? What if MTV decides to play his videos
and do interviews and stuff, just so they can stay "cool" with the alternative
crowd? What if MTV starts playing "World Shut Your Mouth" and "Reynard"
and "Beautiful Love" and "Sunspots?" Will you be happy for Cope, for getting
so much publicity and "success" or will you be miffed that your hero has
been castrated?
Oh yeah - release date for "Foreign Genius" is Nov 22? Anyone else see this
date or this title? I called both record stores in town as well as consulting
the new releases bullitin here on the computer and I have seen no mention of
anything Cope related. Nov 22 is not a U.S. release date - that's a monday.
I think most U.S. albums are released on Tuesdays. Anyway, someone have
word on Andrew's discovery?
(Duh - andrew *is* in Britain!) :)
Travis
Tue Nov 16 10:44:35 EST 1993
From: Michael Edwards <Q0J0@UNB.CA>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 11:24:55 AST
More Copey thoughts:
He has had a certain amount of chart success in Britain which means
that people are going out and buying his albums. For instance, the
song World Shut You Mouth did quite well and so the album Saint Julian
was boughtin some quantity. That was a good thing because he reached a
wider audience. The bad thing was that even though you tell people
that he has many better albums than that and they should be bought
too, they won't. The mentality of most music buyers is that if it gets
into the charts it is good and if it doesn't its bad. End of story.
And how quickly they forget an artist if they don't continue to
produce hits. To me Julian's greatest album is still Peggy Suicide
because of the immense amount of ground it covers. But yet it sold
badly in relative terms even though I think it had more than its fair
share of 'people-friendly' material.
Why has he not had real success? Because he doesn't subscribe to what
everyone else is doing. Was Rite a career move? Just something he
wanted to do, and similar could be said about Skellington and
Droolian. Droolian was only released in the state of Texas, and
deleted before it came out so had no chance of success. Success seems
almost incidental to him, the quality of music comes first.
So would I be upset if he became a success. No, I wouldn't, as long as
he continued to do what he is doing and not bring something out just
for the money. If he begins to reach a wider audience then he will
still be including his fan base of the past.
When I look over the above it seems really pompous, so I hope you will
all forgive me for that. That's what sleep deprivation can do for you.
Second point concerns Joss Cope. What is he up to these days? I did
pick up the Something Pretty Beautiful album and was impressed by a
couple of songs which really sounded like a higher pitched Julian -
the stand out was Freak Outburst (I think...) But where is he now? In
a band or what - any info would be appreciated.
Michael Edwards.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't have any info on Joss Cope, but that reminds me of something I was
going to post the other day but didn't:
Has anyone taken a good luck at the inside of the jacket to Floored
Genius?The middle bit is a map, with various locations related to different
recordings, photos, etc. The other day I finally noticed the bit with the
Mound, the Priory, Polesworth, etc. Scenes from "Reynard" !
Also, Does anyone remember the time delay between the recording and
release of JEHOVAHKILL? The little letter by Cope in the back is dated
September 1992, and the album came out in Nov or Dec, right? Hopefully,
we only have to wait until December or January, unless like Phish he
decides to postpone it to the Ides or March. :)
Gotta go to class!
Travis
Tue Nov 16 21:28:51 EST 1993
From: Mark Yokoyama <yokoyama@husc.harvard.edu>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 19:23:10 -0500 (EST)
well well well. I haven't got news really, but I just got my copy of the
skellington chronicles. Skellington II is really cool. I can't wait for
autogeddon. I've got my pills and t.v. is great.
About "Foreign Genius", I know this is probably the least likely
explaination that anyone could come up with, but perhaps it's Cope singing
a bunch of his songs in other languages, a la "Traison (C'est Juste Une
Histoire)". That would be very cool, I guess. ("Mundo Cierra Tu Boca" or
whatever th' fuck). "va va reynard va va va por un hora pero no termina..."
oh well, enuf of this conjecture. I thought it was a funny idea, I hope
you do to.
Also, does anyone know when the new Julian Cope album comes out? I heard
that it was going to be called "Floral Genus".
sorry.
mark
Wed Nov 17 07:49:42 EST 1993
From: my life is the disease <"warnut::fiddlerm"@warnut.enet.dec.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 93 11:06:31 MET
> HMV don't sell bootlegs,
HMV do sell 'unofficial' live recordings from Germany and Italy, just
look around the jazz section and you'll find loads!
Has anyone tried actually asking HMV what it may be? The NME comes out today,
So I'll have a look thru at lunchtime and let you know if anything is in
there.
Mikef
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey guys, I have a bit of a question for ya. When a letter comes in, I
usually post if to the list right away, so that the person gets a
response as soon as possible and so that the convo flows a little smoother.
I notice that some lists tend to "digest" their posting, so that maybe once
a night all the letters received will be posted in one big letter, like the
moderated Cure group.
So my question is: which do you guys prefer? I have the feeling that for
non-conversers, the digestified route might be more convenient, since there
are fewer letters to deal with in your mailer. However, for those who like
to keep up to date with the latest Cope news, it might be better if I just
mail the letters right away.
What's easiest for me is the mail-the-letters-right-away approach, because it
reduces the chance of overwriting letters and because it doesn't require me to
keep a set schedule.
Anyway, y'all can always use *reply* with this, since I mail it out, not
the person who wrote the message. I notice very few people have been using the
reply feature.
Blaa.
So what are your thoughts y'all?
Travis