Six Definitive Songs: The ultimate beginner’s guide to Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker: never have flares, skinny velvet jackets, and wiggly dance moves looked so damn good. Unlike many of his 1990s contemporaries, there was always something slightly off-kilter about Cocker. Though Pulp’s music was tossed under the Brit-pop banner, it boasted wittiness and leftfield creativity that distinguished Cocker from that scene. If you’re unfamiliar with Cocker’s work – both with and without Pulp – you’ve clearly been living under a rock for the last 30 years. But never fear, Far Out is here with the singer’s six definitive songs.
By the time Pulp released their breakthrough 1994 album His N Hers, Jarvis Cocker was already in his 30s. He’d formed the first incarnation of Pulp in 1978 at the age of 15, and things had got off to a promising start, too. In fact, they even landed a Peel session in 1981 before releasing an album.
In 1984, Pulp released a selection of angular indie folk songs under the title It. The album was a commercial failure, but looking back at tracks like ‘Everybody’s Problem’ and ‘There Was’, it’s clear that Pulp were already a dab hand at blending radio-friendly songwriting with that signature wonkiness.
Following the release of 1986’s Freaks, Cocker and bassist Steve Mackey decided to move to London. After surviving a series of chaotic concerts – including one that ended in a full-blown riot – a more experimentally-inclined Pulp released their third album, Separations, recorded at the height of the second summer of love in 1989. Many critics warmly received their single ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’, including Jarvis’s future fellow 6 Music DJ Stuart Maconie. It was a turning point. Things were finally starting to take shape.
Jarvis Cocker’s six definitive films:
‘Do You Remember The First Time?’ – His ‘N’ Hers (1994)
Pulp landed their first top 40 UK hit single ‘Do You Remember The First Time?’ in 1994, the success of which was built on the popularity of the band’s two previous releases, ‘Razzmatazz’ and ‘Babies’.
Buoyed by the success of the single, Pulp released their fourth studio album, His ‘N’ Hers, that same year. Featuring some of Cocker’s most imaginative and acerbic lyrical work to date, the Ed Buller-produced album introduced UK listeners to the voyeuristic, seedy and intensely witty frontman they would come to know and love.
‘Common People’ – A Different Class (1995)
It’s impossible to mention Cocker without also mentioning Pulp’s biggest hit: 1995’s ‘Common People’, which the band famously performed at that year’s Glastonbury Festival after agreeing to stand in for The Stone Roses at the last moment.
A Different Class also featured the controversial single ‘Sorted for E’s & Wizz’, the sleeve inlay of which featured instructions for concealing amphetamines in a DIY wrap. As you can imagine, the tabloids quickly went into moral panic mode – helping to bolster the popularity of ‘Sorted’ and ‘Common People’. Pulp also received a wave of publicity after Cocker decided to storm the stage during Michael Jackson’s self-celebratory performance of ‘Earth Song’ at the 1996 Brit Awards. After being acquitted of all charges, the singer was asked if he had anything to say to Jackson. “I wish him well,” he began. “I hope he sorts his problems out.”
‘Party Hard’ – This Is Hardcore (1998)
Pulp’s startling rise to fame secured Cocker the fame he’d been working towards for so many years. Sadly, it quickly lost its sheen when his private life became food for tabloid newspapers. The frontman’s disillusionment was one of the key influences behind his work on This Is Hardcore – released in the spring of 1998.
The album was created during a period of creative inertia for Cocker, but it landed well with fans and critics on release – boasting singles like ‘Help The Aged’, the surprisingly gothic ‘This Is Hardcore’ and ‘Party Hard’, the latter of which was perhaps the most commercial offering on the album.
‘Black Magic’ – Jarvis (2006)
No longer fulfilled by his life with Pulp, Cocker decided to leave the band behind and embark on a solo project. His debut album, Jarvis, was released in the autumn of 2006 and premiered at the previous summer’s Reading Festival.
Cocker employed former Pulp bandmates Steve Mackey and Mark Webber, as well as one of the band’s historic members Anthony Glenn. Alongside a couple of Nancy Sinatra covers, the release features the wonderful ‘Black Magic’, a psych-tinged anthem reminiscent of Andrew Oldham’s work with The Rolling Stones.
‘Room 29’ – Room 29 (2017)
Eight years after the release of a second solo album, Further Complications, Cocker teamed up with pianist Chilly Gonzales for the Room 29 project. The collaborative concept album is set at the Chateau Marmont Hotel, where Cocker stayed during a Pulp reunion tour in 2012. His room contained a baby grand piano, prompting him to wonder whether the instrument might remember the lives of previous tenants.
Released in 2017, Room 29 is a selection of solo piano ballads in which Cocker tells stories about previous guests. As well as being one of the most creative albums Cocker has ever put out, it’s also one of the funniest. Just take the opening line of ‘Room 29’: “Help yourself to pretzels
Help yourself to the minibar / I couldn’t help myself / I read a self-help book / Now I’ve gone too far.”
‘Aline’ – Chansons d’Ennui Tip-Top (2021)
When not releasing solo records or performing with his band Jarv..Is, Cocker has been known to pen music for film. His latest endeavour in this regard was a selection of reworked French pop songs called Chansons d’Ennui Tip-Top.
Designed to be a companion to Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, the album sees Cocker cover tracks by some of France’s most revered artists, including Serge Gainsbourg, Brigitte Bardot, Jacques Dutronc and Françoise Hardy. A particular highlight is Cocker’s rendition of ‘Aline’ by Christoph – a hit in France during the summer of 1965. Far from a pastiche, Cocker called the album a “sincere love-letter French pop music” during a conversation with the LA Times.
