JULIAN COPE

'Julian Cope' (born Julian David Cope, on 21 October, 1957) is a British rock musician, writer, antiquary, musicologist, and poet who came to prominence as singer of Liverpool post-punk band The Teardrop Explodes in 1978. Cope has since released many solo albums and is a founding member of the bands Queen Elizabeth and Brain Donor. In addition to his musical career, Julian Cope has written several books of non-fiction and autobiography.

Contents

Career

Discography

The Teardrop Explodes

Singles

Albums

Compilations

Solo

Singles

Albums

Side projects

Compilations

References

External links

Career

Born in Deri, Mid Glamorgan, South Wales, Cope grew up in Tamworth in the English Midlands. He attended the City of Liverpool College of Higher Education (COLCHE - linked to Lancaster University) near Prescot - some years later the college became part of Liverpool Polytechnic as CF Mott Campus. Cope's musical career began as bass player with a band known as Crucial Three, which also featured Ian McCulloch (future guitarist and singer for Echo and the Bunnymen) and Pete Wylie. The band lasted for little more than six weeks and disbanded without any public performances or formal recordings, although the song "Books" was later recorded by both Cope's and McCulloch's subsequent bands. Cope went on to form other short-lived bands before first achieving fame and success as the singer, original bassist and primary songwriter of The Teardrop Explodes. In 1981 he compiled '', which was released by Zoo Records, and sparked renewed interest in the work of the reclusive singer; though years later Cope commented that Walker's 'Pale White Intellectual' outlook on life no longer held any fascination for him.
After The Teardrop Explodes disbanded in late 1982 following the completion of three albums, Cope returned to live close to his hometown of Tamworth, settling in the nearby village of Drayton Bassett, and soon began recording. In 1983 he recorded some tunes for John Peel's show. He re-worked these introspective works for his first solo album, ''World Shut Your Mouth'', released in 1984. This was soon followed by ''Fried'', which featured a sleeve with Cope clad only in a turtle shell. Cope's third solo album was the well-received ''Saint Julian'' and produced the single "World Shut Your Mouth", which became his biggest solo hit, reaching the UK Top 20 in 1986.
''My Nation Underground'' spawned a Top 40 single in 'Charlotte Anne'. He recorded his next album, the low-fi ''Skellington'', in secret during the course of a single weekend, playing in the same studio used for ''My Nation Underground''. His management had no desire to release ''Skellington'', and Cope refused to record any other material while he feuded with them to try to get his new work released. This was to become the first of many feuds with his record companies. He also released by stealth an album in aid of Roky Erickson entitled ''Droolian'', and his ongoing battle with those he referred to as "greedheads" eventually saw him turn his back on the music industry. In the course of one of his stand-offs, Cope began to write his first autobiographical book, ''Head-On'' which primarily covered the years 1976 to 1982, focusing on Cope's time before and during the life of The Teardrop Explodes and ending with the break-up of the band. This was followed a few years later by ''Repossessed'', covering the years 1983 to 1989 and the recording of Cope's first series of solo albums, as well as the writing of ''Head-On''. The books were republished in one volume in 2000, titled ''Head-On/Repossessed''. ''Peggy Suicide'' and ''Jehovahkill'', both recorded in the early 1990s, reflected his interest in the occult, animal rights, the goddess and ecology. In 1995, Cope released ''20 Mothers'' spawning the single "Try, Try, Try". These three albums all achieved UK Top 20 status.
In addition to his two volumes of autobiography, Cope has written three other books of nonfiction. ''Krautrocksampler'', released in 1996 and now out of print, covers the German krautrock musical movement. Reviews at the time were ecstatic, Rolling Stone citing it as "a work of real passion and scholarship". NME agreed: "This is a superb book ... this is an extraordinary book." Mojo went further, writing: "Brilliantly researched, Krautrocksampler abounds with revelations, and Cope's enthusiasm verges on the lethal ... a sort of lysergic Lester Bangs." In the ''Sunday Times'', the reviewer wrote: "German 1970s minimalism is invading the British rock scene ... an Englishman is to blame ... Krautrocksampler is a lively history of a fascinating period, half encyclopedia, half psychedelic detective story." Before the publication of this book the genre itself had all but disappeared off the musical map; both the phrase and the genre are now firmly ingrained and have subsequently been heralded in the likes of Mojo and The Wire. The book was also the subject of fierce controversy due to Cope's outspoken remarks that Can's ''Bel-Air'' was a 'shambles'. 1998 saw the release of the widely-acclaimed bestseller ''The Modern Antiquarian'', a large and comprehensive full-colour 448-page work detailing stone circles and other ancient monuments in the British Isles, which sold out of its first edition of 20,000 in its first month of publication and was accompanied by a BBC Two documentary. The Times called the book: "A ripping good read ... it is deeply impressive ... ancient history: the new rock 'n' roll." The Independent called it: "A unique blend of information, observation, personal experience and opinion which is as unlike the normal run of archaeology books as you can imagine." The renowned archaeologist Ronald Hutton went further, calling the book: "the best popular guide to Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments for half a century." ''The Modern Antiquarian'' was followed in 2004 with an even larger 484-page study of similar monuments across Europe entitled ''The Megalithic European'', the most extensive study of European megalithic sites to date. In addition to his books on prehistoric monuments, Cope hosts a community-based Modern Antiquarian website [1] that invites contributors to add their own knowledge of the ancient sites of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Cope has lectured nationally on the subject of prehistory, and also at the British Museum on the subjects of Avebury and Odin.
Cope has opted out of the mainstream in recent years, releasing and promoting his music himself, rather than working with a major record label. He continues to record new material both under his own name and with regular collaborators under the band names Brain Donor - his proto-metal power trio, and Queen Elizabeth, an ambient two-piece. Most of his more recent releases are available either primarily or exclusively through Cope's extensive and interactive website, Head Heritage[2]. Cope is also a musicologist, and an avid champion of obscure and underground music. His Album of the Month reviews on the Unsung section of his website [3] have promoted bands such as Comets on Fire, Sunn O))) (with whom he performed a guest vocal on their White1 album) and several Japanese bands which will feature in his soon-to-be-published book ''Japrocksampler'' (September 2007). Unsung is another community-based site that invites contributors' reviews, and Cope and the site's numerous contributors have been instrumental in kickstarting the interest in bands like Sir Lord Baltimore, Blue Cheer, Les Rallizes Denudes and the Groundhogs. Cope is also considered to be one of the first bloggers; he has been airing his sometimes controversial views since 1998 via his website's "Address Drudion" on the first day of each month [4].
Cope has continued to perform live in the UK (including an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2003) and other parts of Europe in recent years. He has not toured beyond Europe for several years. In 2005, he dropped attempts to plan a tour of the United States because a work visa could not be secured through the INS.
Julian Cope lives near Avebury, Wiltshire (UK) with his wife, Dorian, and their two daughters, Albany (Big Al/Alghost) and Avalon (Vince).

Discography

The Teardrop Explodes

Singles

★ "Sleeping Gas" (1979)

★ "Bouncing Babies" (1979)

★ "Treason (It's just a Story)" (1980)

★ "When I Dream" (1980) (#UK 47)

★ "Reward" (1981) (UK #6)

★ "Treason (It's Just a Story)" (reissued 1981) (UK #18)

★ "Ha Ha I'm Drowning" (1981)

★ "Passionate Friend" (1981) (UK #25)

★ "Colours Fly Away" (1981) (UK #54)

★ "Tiny Children" (1982) (UK #44)

★ "You Disappear From View" (1983) (UK #41)

★ "Serious Danger" (1990)

★ "Count to Ten and Run for Cover" (1990)

Albums

★ 1980 ''Kilimanjaro'' (UK #35, #24)

★ 1981 ''Wilder'' (UK #29)

Compilations

★ 1990 ''Everybody Wants To Shag...The Teardrop Explodes'' - (tracks from the band's unfinished 1982 album plus rarities)

★ 1990 ''Piano'' (rarities)

★ 2004 ''Zoology'' (rarities)

Solo

Singles

★ 1983 "Sunshine Playroom" (UK #64)

★ 1984 "The Greatness And Perfection Of Love" (UK #52)

★ 1985 "Sunspots"

★ 1986 "World Shut Your Mouth" (UK #19)

★ 1987 "Trampolene" (UK #31)

★ 1987 "Eve's Volcano (Covered In Sin)" (UK #41)

★ 1988 "Charlotte Anne" (UK #35)

★ 1988 "5 O'Clock World" (UK #42)

★ 1988 "China Doll" (UK #53)

★ 1991 "Beautiful Love" (UK #32)

★ 1991 "Safesurfer"

★ 1991 "East Easy Rider" (UK #51)

★ 1991 "Head" (UK #57)

★ 1992 "World Shut Your Mouth", re-released with different songs (UK #44)

★ 1992 "Fear Loves This Place" (UK #42)

★ 1994 "Paranormal In The West Country"

★ 1995 "Try, Try, Try" (UK #24)

★ 1996 "I Come From Another Planet, Baby" (UK #34)

★ 1996 "Planetary Sit-In" (UK #34)

★ 1997 "Propheteering"

Albums

★ 1984 ''World Shut Your Mouth'' (UK #40)

★ 1984 ''Fried''

★ 1987 ''Saint Julian'' (UK #11)

★ 1988 ''My Nation Underground''

★ 1990 ''Skellington''

★ 1990 ''Droolian''

★ 1991 ''Peggy Suicide'' (UK #23)

★ 1992 ''Jehovahkill'' (UK #20)

★ 1993 ''Rite'' (Julian Cope and Donald Ross Skinner)

★ 1993 ''Ye Skellington Chronicles'' (an expanded version of Skellington along with the sequel Skellington 2)

★ 1994 ''Autogeddon'' (UK #16)

★ 1995 ''20 Mothers'' (UK #20)

★ 1996 ''Interpreter'' (UK #39)

★ 1997 ''Rite 2''

★ 1999 ''Odin''

★ 2000 ''An Audience With the Cope 2000/2001''

★ 2001 ''Discover Odin''

★ 2002 ''Rite Now''

★ 2003 ''Rome Wasn't Burned In A Day''

★ 2004 ''Live Japan '91''

★ 2005 ''Citizen Cain'd''

★ 2005 ''Dark Orgasm''

★ 2006 ''Rite Bastard''

★ 2006 '', re-released with a disc of extra material

★ 2007 ''You Gotta Problem With Me'' (#22 UK Indie)

Side projects

With Queen Elizabeth :

★ 1994 ''Queen Elizabeth'' (Queen Elizabeth)

★ 1997 ''QE2: Elizabeth Vagina'' (Queen Elizabeth)
With The Serpents :

★ 1999 ''You Have Just Been Poisoned'' (The Serpents)
★
★ For contractual reasons, participated as 'Merlin Zol
★
★
With L.A.M.F. :

★ 2001 ''Ambient Metal'' (L.A.M.F.)
With Brain Donor :

★ 2001 "She Saw Me Coming" (single)

★ 2001 "Get Off Your Pretty Face" (single)

★ 2001 ''Love Peace & Fuck'' (Brain Donor)

★ 2002 "Get Back On It" (single)

★ 2003 "My Pagan Ass" (single)

★ 2003 ''Too Freud To Rock'n'Roll, Too Jung To Die'' (Brain Donor)

★ 2005 ''Brain Donor'' (U.S. compilation album)

★ 2006 ''Drain'd Boner'' (Brain Donor)

Compilations

★ 1990 ''Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye|Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye - A Tribute to Roky Erickson (album)|Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye'' Song: I Have Always Been Here Before (Sire Records US)

★ 1992 ''Floored Genius'' ("best of" compilation of material with and without The Teardrop Explodes) (UK #22)

★ 1993 ''Floored Genius 2'' (compilation of material recorded for BBC Radio sessions)

★ 1997 ''The Followers Of Saint Julian'' (rarities compilation)

★ 1997 ''Leper Skin - An Introduction To Julian Cope'' ("best of")

★ 2000 ''Cornucopea'' (various artists compilation of acts performing at Cope's ''Cornucopea'' festival)

★ 2000 ''Floored Genius 3 - Julian Cope's Oddicon Of Lost Rarities & Versions 1978 - 98 '' (rarities)

★ 2004 ''

★ 2005 ''Due To Lack Of Interest Tomorrow Has Been Cancelled'' (Head Heritage Sampler)

★ 2007 ''Christ vs Warhol'' (rarities)

References

Krautrocksampler, Cope, Julian, , , , 1995, ISBN-10: 0952671913
Head-On/Repossessed, Cope, Julian, , , Thorsons Publishers, 2000, ISBN 0-7225-3882-0
Head Heritage

External links

★ Head Heritage - Julian Cope's own frequently updated site

★ The Modern Antiquarian - An online community and resource on ancient sites in the UK & Ireland, inspired by Cope's book of the same name