The first albums Jarvis Cocker ever bought
Jarvis Cocker rose to fame in the early 1990s when his band Pulp started to gain popularity. After forming in 1978 whilst at school, Pulp went through various line-up changes and failed attempts at finding success. Eventually, with the release of their third album, Separations, the band gained slight recognition from the music press, particularly for the songs ‘Countdown’ and ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’.
However, after signing to Island Records and releasing the singles’ Babies’, ‘Razzmatazz’, ‘Lipgloss’ and ‘Do You Remember the First Time?’, Pulp began to receive widespread attention. They followed these singles with their critically acclaimed album His ‘n’ Hers, which reached number nine on the UK Album Charts and was nominated for a Mercury Prize. The band’s danceable and nostalgic sound helped buoy their success, which was only heightened by a national interest in the phenomenon of Britpop in the mid-1990s. Alongside bands such as Oasis, Blur and Suede, Pulp rose to become one of Britain’s biggest bands.
With the release of the sing-along hit ‘Common People’ in 1995, Pulp were riding at the height of their fame. They released Different Class that same year, which won the band a Mercury Prize. Although Cocker faced many personal problems in the following years, such as cocaine addiction, Pulp came together to make This Is Hardcore in 1998, which was significantly darker than previous releases. After taking a few years off, the band released their final album, We Love Life, in 2001, produced by Scott Walker. Pulp reunited in 2011 for a string of shows and are set to reunite for a comeback tour next year. Whilst Pulp have been inactive, Cocker has had a successful career as a solo artist, as well as contributing to works by artists such as Air, Marianne Faithfull, Feist and All Seeing I.
Although Cocker’s music, from Pulp to his solo efforts, has taken inspiration from 1960s British Invasion rockers such as The Kinks and The Beatles, disco, glam rock like T. Rex, and French crooners such as Serge Gainsbourg, he has cited punk as a significant influence on him growing up. After discovering the subculture as a young teenager, he was “relieved” that you didn’t need to be technically gifted to make good music.
He said to the BBC, “The message was ‘Here’s one chord and here’s another. Now go and form a band.’ There was nothing about having too much musical ability. In the history of Pulp, people have always been chosen more because we get on together rather than, ‘wow, you’re an amazing player.'”
In fact, a punk album was one of the first Cocker ever bought when he was young. He shared with BBC Radio 6 Music, “My mum didn’t have many records; she had about five albums. But two of those were Beatles albums, so I was excited about that. And then the first album I bought was a David Bowie Changes one, and I bought a Stranglers album too, but I hid that one at the back of the thing because I thought she’d disapprove of me having a punk record.”
Although Cocker didn’t reveal which Stranglers album he purchased, we’re glad he listened to it because the confidence that punk gave him to form his own band led to the creation of some unforgettable tracks by Pulp.
