UK indie pop troupe headed up by the inimitable Jarvis Cocker (b. Jarvis Cocker, 19 September 1963, Intake, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England). Cocker's mocking humour and cantankerous nature helped establish Pulp as one of the most interesting and original UK bands to break into the charts during the mid-90s.
Originally based in Sheffield, England, Cocker actually put the first version of Pulp (then known as Arabacus Pulp) together while still at school, with the other members including Mark Swift (drums), David Lockwood (bass) and Peter Dalton (guitar). A line-up of the newly christened Pulp, comprising Cocker (vocals/guitar), Dalton (guitar), Jamie Pinchbeck (bass) and Wayne Furniss (drums), recorded a sole John Peel radio session in November 1981. Bullied as a child for his angular, National Health-bespectacled looks, Cocker went on to work in a nursery for deaf children. Certainly his Pulp project could hardly be described as an overnight success. The 1983 mini-album It was recorded by an extended line-up featuring Cocker, Furniss, Simon Hinkler (keyboards), David Hinkler (keyboards/trombone), Peter Boam (bass), Gary Wilson (drums) and Barry Thompson (clarinet/flute).
By the mid-80s Russell Senior (b. 18 May 1961, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England; guitar/violin) and Candida Doyle (b. 25 August 1963, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland; keyboards) had been added to the ever-changing line-up of Pulp. The first real evidence of Cocker's abilities as a lyricist arrived with 1985's "Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)" ("There's a hole in your heart and one between your legs, you'll never have to wonder which one he's going to fill despite what he says"). Though singles like this and the subsequent "Dogs Are Everywhere" and "They Suffocate At Night" (also recorded for the independent Fire label) should have broken the band, it took further chapters in their history, including the recruitment of a stable rhythm section featuring Nick Banks (b. Nicholas David Banks, 28 July 1965, Rotherham, Yorkshire, England; drums) and Steve Mackey (b. Steven Patrick Mackey, 10 November 1966, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England; bass) to provide the necessary impetus. Cocker's desire for success was always explicit: "Until I've been on Top Of The Pops I will always consider myself a failure" (in fact, by 1994 he was to be seen presenting an edition).
The 1989 recording Separations was made after Pulp had relocated to London, but record company indifference meant the album did not appear until 1992. An earlier single from the album, "My Legendary Girlfriend", served notice of Cocker's more focused approach. Between 1992 and 1993, three brilliant singles for the Warp Records offshoot Gift - "O.U.", "Babies" and "Razzmatazz" - helped introduce the band to a wider audience, and a recording contract with Island Records was firm evidence of the upswing in their fortunes. The band's early 1994 single, "Do You Remember The First Time?", was accompanied by a short film in which famous celebrities were quizzed on this very subject (the loss of their virginity). The Sunday Times described such songs as being like "Mike Leigh set to music", which was ironic, given that the mother of Pulp member Doyle had previously appeared in two Leigh films. She had also, more famously, played posh employer to Hilda Ogden's cleaning lady in Coronation Street. The song appeared on Pulp's major-label debut, His 'N' Hers. The album, which also contained minor hits in "Lipgloss" and a new version of "Babies", broke Pulp into the UK Top 10 and was later nominated for the 1994 Mercury Music Prize.
Pulp's true breakthrough followed in 1995 with the release of Different Class. The album, with production supervised by regular associate Ed Buller and input from additional guitarist Mark Webber (b. 14 September 1970, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England), offered a supreme evocation of the "behind the net curtains" sexual mores of working class Britons. Island initially offered the record with a choice of 12 different covers; fortunately the music within was better than the hype. The sardonic number 2 hit single "Common People", an attack on the kind of patronising social voyeurism epitomised by the resolutely middle class Blur, became one of the anthems of the year. Further hits followed with the double a-side "Mis-Shapes"/"Sorted For E's & Whizz", "Disco 2000" and "Something Changed". The former attracted the ire of the tabloid media ("Ban This Sick Stunt!") because initial pressings featured a picture of a wrap of speed and instructions on how to construct said paper envelopes. When all the fuss died down the focus switched to Cocker's songwriting on "Sorted For E's & Whizz", a beautifully crafted and subtly ambiguous evocation of the "halcyon" days of acid house.
Cocker became the darling of the music press in 1995, and, at the height of Britpop, successfully managed to detach himself from the Blur versus Oasis media hype. During the BRIT Awards in February 1996, Cocker found the stage display by Michael Jackson sickening, and during the American singer's heavily choreographed act was seen mocking the superstar onstage. Cocker was arrested and later there was a spurious charge of actual bodily harm; it was claimed that he had deliberately hit one of the small children surrounding the godlike Jackson. Both camps were incensed, and a war of words ensued between Epic and Island. All charges were eventually dropped when sense prevailed and the accusers realized that Cocker was not a child-beater.
Russell Senior left Pulp in February 1997 (later forming Venini), and in November of that year, the band returned with a new single, "Help The Aged". It was followed by the sexually-charged This Is Hardcore, a difficult album that alienated some of the band's new fans and suffered commercially as a result. With the passing of time the album has come to be seen as a peerless commentary on the post-Britpop comedown of the late 90s. Two exquisite b-sides from this period paid testament to Cocker's sardonic take on the music industry's unlikely alliance with the new Labour government ("Cocaine Socialism") and his own public persona ("The Professional").
A long hiatus ensued during which Cocker indulged his other artistic interests, including a series of UK television documentaries on "outsider artists". The band returned to the studio in the new millennium, with the reclusive American singer Scott Walker acting as producer. The first fruits of these sessions were heard on the single "Sunrise", released in late 2001, which was followed by a strong new album We Love Life. The following year's Hits compilation featured one new track, the excellent "Last Day Of The Miners Strike", but following this release Cocker once again put Pulp on hiatus to pursue other interests. Relocating to Paris, France, with his family, he recorded an album with singer-songwriter Richard Hawley as Relaxed Muscle and worked with Richard X, Nancy Sinatra and Charlotte Gainsbourg, before releasing his solo debut in late 2006.
