Formed in 1978, it took Sheffield band Pulp 16 years to hit the big time but when they did they became one of the biggest bands of the 'Britpop' era.
The success began in 1994 when they released their album 'His 'N' Hers'. The first three singles, 'Babies', 'Razzamatazz' and 'Lipgloss', met with critical acclaim and cult popularity but it wasn't until the fourth single 'Do You Remember The First Time?' that they broke into the UK top 40. This meant when the album was released they'd created enough of a following to see the album peak on the UK album chart at number nine and have the album receive a Mercury Music Prize nomination that year.
1995 was a big year for Pulp. It saw the release of their single 'Common People', which was an instant classic as far as fans were concerned and is still much loved today. They then, by default of The Stone Roses having to cancel their performance due to guitarist John Squire breaking his collarbone, Pulp ended up headlining that year's Glastonbury Festival. Their performance on the Saturday night, in only the second year that the even had been televised, is still seen by many as the greatest headline set at the festival. I watched the set a couple of weeks ago when it was shown on BBC4 (amusing in itself as the BBC didn't start broadcasting Glastonbury until '97 with the festival being broadcast by Channel 4 in '94 & '95 and the festival having a year off in '96) and found the set just as exciting and enjoyable to watch as it had been 15 years earlier when I'd last seen it on TV.
Later that year the bands album 'Different Class' was released featuring the singles 'Common People' and 'Sorted for E's & Wizz/Mis-Shapes' that had preceded its release. The next single released from it was the crowd-pleaser 'Disco 2000', one of the tracks first debuted at that summers Glastonbury Festival. The album also went on to win the 1996 Mercury Music Prize.
After that things started to go awry. Key band member Russell Senior left the band and, in the wake of the break up of a long-term relationship and battling cocaine addiction, lead singer and main songwriter Jarvis Cocker struggled to write the follow-up album to 'Different Class'. As a result of all these factors the album that resulted, 'This Is Hardcore', was a bleak album.
A much lighter album, 'We Love Life', was released in 2001 but all was not well in the band and they split from record label Island in 2002 before going on hiatus.
This November, while I was away travelling in the US, I was greeted one morning by the exciting news that Pulp in their original line-up were reforming to play shows in 2011. Who knows what will happen beyond this but, suffice to say, I'll be there in Hyde Park next summer with all the same excitement I had when I saw them first time round at Kentish Town Forum in 1995.
I'll leave you with their spectacular breakthrough single from 1994, 'Do You Remember The First Time?', with the performance footage coming from that legendary headlining set at Glastonbury in 1995.
Hope you all enjoy it and I'll catch you all next week (and, realistically, next year as it'll be 2011!!). Enjoy!!
Pulp - Do You Remember The First Time?
You say you've got to go home
Cos he's sitting on his own again this evening.
I know you're gonna let him bore your pants off again.
Oh God, it's half past eight,
You'll be late.
You say you've never been sure,
Though it makes good sense for you to be together.
Still you bought a toy that can reach the places he never goes.
Oh, now it's getting late.
He's so straight.
Do you remember the first time?
I can't remember a worse time.
But you know that we've changed so much since then,
Oh yeah,
We've grown.
Now I don't care what you're doing,
No I don't care if you screw him.
Just as long as you save a piece for me,
Oh yeah
You say you've got to go home.
Well at least there's someone there that you can talk to.
And you never have to face up to the night on your own.
Jesus, it must be great to be straight.
Do you remember the first time?
I can't remember a worse time.
But you know that we've changed so much since then,
Oh yeah,
We've grown.
Now I don't care what you're doing,
No I don't care if you screw him.
Just as long as you save a piece for me,
Oh yeah
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