“No mystical gush”: How lashing out at Bono and Axl Rose derailed Julian Cope’s career
Former frontman of Liverpool‘s post-punk group, The Teardrop Explodes, Julian Cope has had what can only be called a fraught relationship with the music industry.
What he described on his blog in 2000 as an uncompromising “post-ironic” outlook has made him a frequently unpalatable character for mainstream media, leading him to break away from it entirely by the late 1990s. The uncommercial nature of his solo music and opinions on alternative spirituality had already led him to fall out of favour with Island Records, but his outspoken disdain for certain contemporaries was the final straw that put him on his journey towards self-publishing.
Cope rose to fame with the band’s first album, Killamanjaro, the sessions of which were largely disrupted by Cope’s firing of guitarist Mike Finkler, refusing to compromise with the quality of the band for the sake of their friendship. According to Melody Maker in 1980, this established the reputation of Cope as something of a tyrant in the Liverpool scene. His difficult relationship with keyboard player David Balfe and heavy psychedelics usage during the band’s success led to more infighting, disrupting tours and to the band ultimately breaking up in 1984.
Despite being short-lived, his career with the band has received acclaim and many reissues, along with his later solo work, such as 1987’s World Shut Your Mouth. However, his erratic behaviour led him to be labelled an “acid casualty” not unlike one Syd Barrett, where an incident at Hammersmith Palais saw him slashing his stomach with a broken microphone in an apparent act of self-mutilation. His reputation continued to be shaped by controversy, with the cover of his 1984 solo album Fried featuring a naked Cope wearing only a turtle shell, and the lack of success of which led Polygram to drop him.
After signing with Island Records, the battle between his uncompromising artistic vision and the music industry, whom he referred to as “greedheads” on his blog in 2000, would continue. According to Mojo magazine, his 1992 LP Jehovahkill caused trouble at pressing plants due to its controversial title and the reported attacks on Axl Rose and U2 in its sleeve notes.
He had condemned Guns N’ Roses as “poor dupes, saps, knobshines in their smug LA rebellion” in the packaging, refusing to back down and releasing self-penned ads for the Fear Loves This Place EP that specifically mocked Axl Rose’s tribute duet with Elton John for Freddie Mercury and Bono’s apparent commitment to the anti-nuclear cause—both sensitive issues at the time. Shortly after, Island dropped him from their label for being too abrasive. This was undoubtedly related to the album itself as well as the promotional content, where Island MC Mark Marot allegedly stated it was “the most sonically unappealing album I ever heard”.
This incident demonstrates Cope’s dogged refusal to please the record industry, or anyone, for that matter, for the sake of his career, intentionally targeting the most popular stars of the time with his vitriol. Looking back on it he doesn’t regret his refusal to cooperate, stating, “I don’t feel bad about slagging U2 off since everybody else is licking Bono’s arse”.
After all this, it seems inevitable that this countercultural attitude would lead him to expand beyond this industry, becoming one of the first bloggers from 1997 with his own website and record label.
