Julian Cope Album by Album by Single by EP by Pseudonym Thread

I remember reading about Skellington in the NME and that it was available at Zippo Records in Clapham. I was living in London then, but had not been to that shop. I clearly remember getting there at 10am one morning, waiting for the shop to open. Once inside I handed over my fiver, at which point the chap behind the counter said something like, "Oh, if you like Cope you might want this as well" and he showed me Droolian. I handed over another fiver and headed home. Zippo used to have a label as well, so I always figured they were the people who helped Cope release these albums, but I have no proof.

 

I'm pretty sure my original CD of Skellington is on the Zippo label, but the images on Discogs don't bear this out. I'll have to check.

 

Now you mention it, maybe it says Zippo on the LP jacket somewhere too, but it's been so long since I got the LP out to play it (my copies are on the other side of the planet at the moment so I can't check) that I don't recall properly.

 

I only have The Skellington Chronicles and Ye Skellington Chronicles on cd, but according to Discogs the original Skellington cd says

Notes

Ⓒ 1989 COPECO
Zippo Music Group
37-39 Clapham Park Road, London SW4 7EE
Made in England

Barcode and Other Identifiers

• Matrix / Runout: JUCD89 10112321 01 % MADE IN U.K. BY PDO

There's one on EBay



Julian Cope Skellington 1&2 CD | eBay


Zippo Records: 13th Floor Elevators mural, Cope's Droolian LP, MC5's mother****ers tee + The Conqueroo Dog

 

Checked it, and it does indeed credit Zippo along with CopeCo:

Oh, you beat me to it!

 

I'm semi-convinced that I sent off for Rite from a leaflet advertisement I must have got from a gig.

After a bit of searching I found out that Rite is indeed Kak (so to speak). On the Head Heritage site it says KAK 1993
Julian Cope presents Head Heritage | Discography | Julian Cope & Donald Ross Skinner - Rite
and digging around on Tripecac's old site I found this:

From: brian <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 04 May 93 09:48:49 +1000
Subject: Interviews
Nice type up Travis...
Anyway, remember a while back we were rabbiting about getting an interview
with the arch drude himself? Well, I've written the invite letter, and
will post it to the best address I can think of at the moment, which is
the KAK place which sells "Rite" (Kak is english slang for "****" BTW).

Trav's Julian Cope Site - The Culture Bunker #04

I definitely think it was the first Kak dump. I didn't know Brian May was such a bug Julian fan btw.

 

I found my VHS - I can't play it but it has a tracklist. If anyone's interested here it is.

Peggy/Jehovahkill Set
1.Upwards At 45 Degrees.
2.No Hard Shoulder
3.East Easy Rider
4.Slow Rider
5.Know (Cut My Friend Down)
6.Safesurfer
7.Soul Desert
8.Fear Loves This Place
9.Subtle Energies Commission
10.Hanging Out & Hung Up
11.You

Acoustic Set
12.Greatness And Perfection
13.Poet Is Priest
14.Robert Mitchum
15.Fa-Fa-Fa-Fine
16.Strasbourg
17.Shot Down
18.Trampoline
19.Julian H. Cope
20.Socrates Mine Enemy
21.Incredibly Ugly Girl
22.Passionate Friend

Floored Genius Set
23.World Shut Your Mouth
24.Books
25.The Great Assizes
26.Pulsar
27.Sunspots
28.Jellypop Perky Jean
29.Pristeen
30.Double Vegetation
31.Doomed
32.Beautiful Love
33.Charlotte Anne
34.Bouncing Babies
35. Out Of My Mind On Dope & Speed
36.Spacehopper
37.Reynard The Fox
38.Reward

 

I found a tape with songs 20-38 on them. The date was 26 January 1993.

I wonder what happened to songs 1-19?

Is your VHS of one gig, or multiple gigs?

 

That's the gig as I remember it! I can't risk my VHS in my machine - it eats them, and there is no date on the outside, but that was definitely the length of the gig - I remember being really impressed at the time that he was being so generous.

 

I've been an avid reader of Head Heritage for years, but have never heard a note of Cope's music. This is an excellent thread, I'm reading it with great interest. Kudos to everyone here.

 

Never heard Cope? How strange. I find so many lurkers on HH are just into Cope, and ignore all the other music being talked about/ reviewed there. You are the exact opposite.

 

FLOORED GENIUS 2: THE BEST OF THE BBC SESSIONS 1983-91 (1993)

Peel Session 5/2/83: The Greatness & Perfection of Love / Head Hang Low / Hey High Class Butcher
Peel Session 29/5/84: Sunspots / Me Singing / Hobby
David Jensen Session 5/1/84: 24a Velocity Crescent / Laughing Boy / O King of Chaos / Reynard the Fox
Janice Long Session 12/12/84: Pulsar / Crazy Farm Animal / Christmas Mourning
Janice Long Session 6/8/86: Planet Rider: Transmitting
Peel Session 11/4/91: Soul Medley: Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow – Everything Playing at Once – Are You Hung Up? – Hung Up and Hanging Out to Dry / You Think It’s Love
Richard Skinner Session 17/6/89: Double Vegetation

All tracks previously unreleased except for:
24a Velocity Crescent – originally released as b-side to ‘The Greatness & Perfection of Love’
Double Vegetation – originally released on Radio On! cassette (1992)

Expanded 2CD reissue released in 2010, adding the following tracks on the second disc:

Peel Session 5/2/83: Lunatic and Fire Pistol
Janice Long Session 12/12/84: Disaster
Janice Long Session 6/8/86: Shot Down / World Shut Your Mouth
Unknown Session 1987: Saint Julian / Trampolene / Ballad of King Plank
Richard Skinner Session 17/6/89: Robert Mitchum
Peel Session 11/4/91: The Mystery Trend / Hanging Out & Hung Up on the Line
In Concert at Derby Assembly Rooms 15/5/91: Double Vegetation / East Easy Rider / Passionate Friend

 

I picked up FG2 in 2002 after having not heard any new Cope since Interpreter (and not finding the HH site until late '01). That gave way to a large order from the HH Merchandiser, and I haven't missed out on any Cope album or HH related project since.

I should probably just buy his early albums, because I quite enjoy these sessions. I see Andrew's once highly informative Cope site Trampolene is gone, but he did have a ton of information regarding his live concerts and radio shows. I can't recall if FG2 (or the 2cd edition) was missing any tracks from these original sessions. I'm still playing catch up with his albums, just spinning the 2nd disc of the Jehovahkill deluxe today.

 

These radio sessions make for a great listen. I don't know that any of the versions here are better than the studio versions (some of which weren't recorded until several years later), but by the same token, none of them fall very far short.

 

Just one of those people I've known about since forever, but never got around to hearing the music, though I think I'm going to give something of his a try these days.

 

I remember really liking "Soul Medley", which includes a funky version of "Everything Playing at Once". I always wished Cope would remake some of his other lesser known songs the same way.

I haven't listened to FG2 much. Maybe 5 times max. I should put it on again some day soon. When I get a chance! But right now I have a million other CDs I'm trying to digest first. And that's the problem with compilations: they inevitably get the lowest listening priority.

 

THE SKELLINGTON CHRONICLES / SKELLINGTON 2 (1993)

Rerelease of the 1989 album, with Skellington 2 added.



SKELLINGTON 2 (1993)

Electrical Stormgirl / Poppins / Skip / I’ve Got My TV and My Pills / The Angel & the Fellatress / Waco-Pops / Common Land at Water’s Edge / Scud-U-Like / Grimreaper Is a Krautrocker / American Tragedy / Wayland’s Smithy Has Wings / Madonna Baglady Blues / London Underground

 

It was great to finally get Skellington on CD!

As for Skellington 2, the songs are hit-and-miss. A few are catchy, but many are either boring or annoying. I've always wondered why Cope just didn't add the catchy ones as bonus tracks to this reissue of Skellington, and leave the annoying and boring ones in the vault? Because it's not like Skellington 2 needed to be album-length, since it was presented as a bunch of extra songs tacked onto the reissue of Skellington.

 

Skellington 2 sounds to me very much like the bastard child of Skellington and Droolian, a mix of awesome stripped-down pop and the willfully weird, so I have no complaints. 'Poppins' and 'I've Got My TV and My Pills' are two of the best pure pop songs he released in the 90s (though I prefer the more fleshed-out remakes of the latter).

 

"Poppins" and "Pills" are on my like list.

I do appreciate the Jehovahkill-esque production on some of the tracks.... But there are some really grating songs as well. "Angel and Fellatriss" comes to mind. And then there are some slow/quiet lullabies/dirges I can do without.

I like Cope when he's both catchy and aggressive/energetic at the same time (like someone who is drinking lots of coffee and having a good hair day), but that doesn't seem to happen often. Usually he's either aggressively grating or boorish (like a drunk), or gently sleepy and aimless (like a stoner). I find it increasingly rare that Cope manages to "nail it" after Jehovahkill (in terms of my tastes). I feel like he is so busy with family and writing that when he finally drags himself into the studio, he struggles to find the right energy level and mindset. It's as if he'd rather be back at home.

Fortunately, Cope has released a lot of material since Jehovahkill, so even though they become "hit and miss", there is enough material for there to be several "hits", and I look forward to discussing those (and discovering what other people consider hits).

Skellington 2 was a disappointment for me. But it didn't really count, since it was just a "side project". And that's what's so interesting about Autogeddon... because in instrumentation and execution it really isn't that different from Skellington 2... but for some reason Autogeddon sounds a lot more polished. It's that little bit of extra care, in either the writing or performance or editing, that elevates Autogeddon to a "proper" album while Skellington 2 remains "secondary".

My biggest wish is/was that Cope would consistent spend that extra bit of time/care to polish his material, so that his "real" albums would feel even more "proper". But that extra time in the studio is I think what he wants to avoid. I really think his priorities have shifted away from music, or at least the recording of music. He seems to want to minimize the amount of time spent in the company of other musicians.

Skellington 2 exemplifies his [apparently] growing aversion to the "studio life". Part of his retreat from pop stardom, perhaps. Or maybe just his retreat from people and compromise?

 

I don't think Cope was having too many good hair days in 1993 / 94:

(Preview of coming attractions)

 

Great little song! Are we supposed to talk about it now, or wait for the track listing? Perhaps I'm jumping the gun but...

"Paranormal" is very stripped-down and DIY-ish, similar to something off of Skellington (1 or 2). It's catchy, and has interesting lyrics.

The EP has 4 versions of it, none of which really feel "definitive". The original version is (I think) just guitar and vocals and sounds like a demo. The "Leone Quartet" version adds strings and, more importantly, drums and bass (the strings area cheesy but the drums and bass are welcome). The "Avebury" version sounds like the whole family is singing along (it's okay). The "Krenkenhausmusik" adds all sorts of [mostly electronic] instruments and some excruciatingly loud and grating synth sounds.

I wish Cope had focused on creating one single excellent version of the song, rather than messing around with [intentionally?] weird alterations. That said, I'm still glad he recorded it, because it's a nice tune!

 

You can jump the gun if you like (too late!), but the real entry for the EP will be packed in with Autogeddon which is the next release in line.

 

I think the thing that's annoying you about Julian's later period is the same thing that keeps him recording. He's a man bursting with ideas, he's willing to try out different styles, and he'll often release stuff that others would think is not worthy of release to keep it fresh. I think he lives on spontaneity and inspiration rather than technical sophistication. That's the essence of the man - the music he loves captures a fresh, live, one take feel. That's why I rate Skellington and Droolian so highly, because they really capture that more than anything else he's recorded. Autogeddon has the same feel (Mark Chapman and Paranormal for instance) and for me it's the best of the "trilogy" of Peggy/Jehovahkill/Autogeddon (I know everyone thinks it's not as good btw). There's something more to it though, because as you say, Skellington 2 is nowhere near as good as Skellington. I think it's the songwriting is just not as inspired. TV and my Pills though is a classic. I'll have another listen and get back here about it, but I've never really played it much. It's OK, but Skellington destroys Skellington 2 easily.

 

Yeah, I see what you mean. There's the loose/experimental/adventurous/uninhibited Cope and the commercial/constrained/compromised Cope.

I prefer the more commercial, "watered down" Cope, because I think some of the collaborators and producers he worked with helped extract or distill his unique melodic ideas and then add them to conventionally palatable grooves. Basically, I like the "easy listening" Cope, or "Cope for kids". Once he starts getting too weird, I sort of lose interest.

In other words, I'm more of a Paul guy than a John guy. Out of curiosity, which post-Beatles solo material do you like best? (For me, it'd be Band on the Run and Ram)