b. 21 October 1957, Deri, Glamorgan, Wales. Former geography teacher Cope first attracted attention as an integral part of Liverpool's post-punk renaissance, most notably as a member of the short-lived but seminal group the Crucial Three, which also included Ian McCulloch and Pete Wylie. In 1978 Cope began writing songs with Ian McCulloch in A Shallow Madness, but the pair quickly fell out over the direction of the group. While McCulloch formed Echo And The Bunnymen, Cope founded the Teardrop Explodes whose early releases enjoyed critical acclaim. The band had several hit singles but an introspective second album, Wilder, was heavily criticized before dissent within the ranks led to their demise.
In 1984 Cope embarked on a solo career with the poorly received World Shut Your Mouth, but misfortune dogged his progress. The singer intentionally gashed his stomach with a broken microphone stand during an appearance at London's Hammersmith Palais and his pronouncements on the benefits of mind-expanding substances exacerbated an already wayward, unconventional image. The sleeve of his second album, Fried, featured a naked Cope cowering under a turtle shell and commentators drew parallels with rock casualties Roky Erickson and Syd Barrett, both of whom Cope admired. Another of his heroes, Scott Walker, enjoyed an upsurge in interest in his recordings when Cope constantly gave the reclusive 60s singer name-checks in interviews (he had already overseen a 1981 compilation of the reclusive American's recordings). A third album, Skellington, was rejected by his label Mercury Records, which resulted in Cope switching to Island Records. Paradoxically he then enjoyed a UK Top 20 hit in late 1986 with "World Shut Your Mouth". The following year's Saint Julian became the artist's bestselling album to date, and he enjoyed follow-up hits with "Trampolene" and "Eve's Volcano". A tour to promote Cope's next collection, My Nation Underground, was abandoned when he became too ill to continue. The album did generate more minor hits in the shape of "Charlotte Anne", "5 O'Clock World" and "China Doll".
In the late 80s Cope maintained a low profile, but he re-emerged in 1990 at London's anti-Poll Tax demonstration dressed in the costume of a space alien, Mr Sqwubbsy. However, this unconventional behaviour was tempered by a new realism and in 1991 he enjoyed another UK hit with "Beautiful Love'. Commentators also noted a new-found maturity on the attendant double album, Peggy Suicide, which garnered considerable praise. Two albums for his mail order record companies also appeared during this time, including the previously shelved Skellington. However, none of this was enough to discourage Island Records from dropping the artist following the release of 1992's Jehovakill, though the move caused considerable surprise within critical circles (in retrospect it may have had more to do with Cope's legendary contrariness and recessionary times than any comment on his ability). 1994"s Autogeddon, released via KAK/Echo, provided no clear-cut evidence as to whether or not his powers were on the wane, but kept the faithful happy for another year. The following year's Julian Cope Presents 20 Mothers was conceived as a double album of "devotional songs ranging from pagan rock 'n' roll through sci-fi pop to bubblegum trance-music." The single "Try, Try, Try" proved commercial enough to return Cope to the UK Top 30.
In a review of 1996's Interpreter, the UK music magazine Q succinctly labelled Cope "the Andrew Lloyd Webber of garage rock", but following its release the singer retreated from the mainstream music scene to concentrate on the burgeoning cottage industry he had built up with his second wife Dorian at their home near Avebury in Wiltshire. Through his web-based label Head Heritage Cope has distributed albums by a diverse range of artists, in addition to solo albums and recordings by his occasional side projects including Queen Elizabeth (instrumentals), L.A.M.F. (ambient metal), and Brain Donor (psycho metal).
Cope is also a respected writer, publishing two witty autobiographical volumes and the passionate Krautrocksampler, a study of the German "Krautrock" bands who had such a great musical influence on him. He also completed the impressive The Modern Antiquarian, a weighty guide to Great Britain's megalithic sites which Cope spent most of the 90s researching. The follow-up The Megalithic European compiled six years of research into Europe's pagan spiritual history.
