I was listening to Julian Cope's Peggy Suicide album last week. I was looking for something I hadn't heard for a long time to soundtrack my drive to the Lakes and it caught my eye. Released in 1991 it signalled a new Cope. He went on to make a further opus for Island, Jehovakill, who then dropped him, at this clear turning point in his career. It was the period when the post-80s pop Cope was formed, with his lyrical references to organised religion, feminism, paganism, ecology, Mother Earth, prehistoric sites- the Cope world view. It was also a move away from the pop sound of the previous decade and into a heavier, psychedelic rock sound. He was at a peak of press interest (the weeklies loved him and the new spate of monthlies were on board too). His hatred for the Thatcher government and the poll tax demonstrations/riots took pace during the making of Peggy Suicide, with Julian attending the London demonstration dressed as Squibsy.
Peggy Suicide is a double album and an 'artistic vision' record. The band were a mix of old (Donald Ross Skinner, Rooster Cosby) and new (Mike Joyce and Mike Mooney). Some of the songs sound, not dated maybe, but of their time- 1990/91 drum beats, Manchester funky rock- but there are some career highs here too, perfectly sequenced, leading us through the album in a certain order, lyrically and musically. Beautiful Love is a gorgeous, lightfooted calypso song about Albion and dolphins. Hanging Out & Hung Up On The Line is dense Detroit rock. Drive, She Said is a stunner. But on the drive up the M6 the one that struck me most was Safesurfer, seemingly a tribute and ode to contraception and safe sex, from the opening line 'I saw my old man exploding out of a tunnel' to the huge Mick Ronson- inspired guitar track. Eight minutes of epic Cope magnificence that no one else could have made.
Safesurfer
An album I didn’t know until a few years ago. Probably learned of it from you, actually. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI was totally onboard with Cope when he "came back" in the mid 80's freshly showered and in shiny leathers, singing about Trampolenes and the World shutting its mouth. I worried with Skellington, that Cope was losing the plot again, but then came Peggy Suicide. It is a career record. Cope doesn't require you to think listening to Peggy Suicide. He's done all the thinking, done all the crying and the shouting.
ReplyDeleteSafesurfer is a track that I have shut down many an Oasis fan with over the years - using it as proof that self indulgence can produce real beauty in rock and roll, not just some muscular faffing about.
I haven't played 'Peggy Suicide' for years, but how great does 'Safesurfer' sound on this Sunday afternoon? Marvellous. I'm off downstairs to dig out the CD.
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