Pulp | Artist

Pulp is a British rock band formed 1978 in Sheffield by Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Peter Dalton (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Ian Dalton (percussion), and David Lockwood (bass). At their peak, the band consisted of Jarvis Cocker, Russell Senior (guitar, violin), Candida Doyle (keyboards), Nick Banks (drums, percussion), Steve Mackey (bass) and Mark Webber (guitar, keyboards). The band's "kitchen sink drama" lyrics, coupled with its references to British culture, led to Cocker and Pulp becoming reluctant figureheads of the Britpop movement, along with Blur, Oasis and Suede. Starting out, 15 year old Jarvis Cocker and 14 year old Peter Dalton, both students of The City School in Sheffield, began rehearsing in Cocker's house, joined by Dalton's younger brother Ian. They soon added two friends, David "Fungus" Lockwood and Mark Swift, and The band played their first public gig at Rotherham Arts Centre in July 1980. Later that year, Cocker met future member Russell Senior, who recognised Cocker from his part-time job at the local fish market. in October 1981, they gave a demo tape to DJ John Peel, who granted them a Peel Session. The session was a giant leap forward for the young band, who became well known on the local music scene as a result. The tracks recorded were in the typical Sheffield sound of the time, electronic new wave and post-punk, and released in 2006 on The Peel Sessions compilation. For their first 12 years, the group languished in near total obscurity, releasing a handful of albums and singles in the '80s to barely any attention. They began to gain traction with 1994's major-label debut His 'n' Hers with a fusion of David Bowie and Roxy Music's glam rock, disco, new wave, acid house, Europop, and British indie rock and Cocker's sharp, funny musings on sex and portraits of working-class misfits. That album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and its follow-up, Different Class won the Mercury Prize, reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart and spawned four top ten singles, including "Common People" and "Mis-Shapes/Sorted for E's & Wizz". The band's sixth album, This Is Hardcore also debuted at #1 in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. At their peak, Pulp headlined the Pyramid Stage of the Glastonbury Festival twice. Despite fame and fortune, the band was rife with personnel issues fuelled by tabloid scrutiny, work pressures and drugs, leading to a series of departures and reformations. In 2002 the band announced they were leaving their label, Island. A greatest hits package was released and a music festival, Auto, was organised in Rotherham's Magna centre where they played their last gig before embarking ontaking a 9-year hiatus. Cocker became involved in side projects, including the group Relaxed Muscle with Jason Buckle, and the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where he fronted a group which included Steve Mackey and members of Radiohead. In 2006 he collaborated with Air, Neil Hannon and Charlotte Gainsbourg on her album entitled 5:55. In 2007 he appeared on Air's album Pocket Symphony, co-writing and singing. His first solo album, Jarvis, supported by Mackey, was released to critical acclaim in November 2006. Over a period of 42 years, dating from their 1983 debut, through to 2025's excellent comeback album More, Pulp only released 8 studio albums, but this meagre output includes the essential classics His 'n' Hers (1994), Different Class (1995), This is Hardcore (1998), We Love Life (2001), and More (2025). When starting out, Cocker's preference was to name the band after the film Pulp starring Michael Caine, though it was decided that this was too short. Instead, taking inspiration from a copy of the Financial Times which listed the Arabicas coffee bean in its commodity index, they named the band "Arabicus Pulp". As a matter of interest, Jarvis'  father Mac Cocker, was a DJ and actor, who left the family and moved to Sydney when Jarvis was seven, and had no contact with his son or daughter until Jarvis was in his thirties. Mac Cocker was a hugely influential radio DJ who pioneered alternative rock music broadcasting on ABC Australia's youth radio station 2JJJ.

Artist Website: jarviscocker.net

Featured Albums: Pulp

Related Artists: Jarvis Cocker