Coping Well

I can't confess to being a huge Julian Cope fan, though the Teardrop Explodes remain one of my absolute favourite bands of the post-punk era and I've enjoyed bits of his solo work. Despite his penchant for the weird, the guy can write a very good pop song when he feels the need.

Even so, I probably wouldn't have even known he was playing in Manchester if a friend hadn't seen him at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival a few months ago and told me he was playing at Band On The Wall. I'd never been to the venue before it was shut for several years, but the general feeling from those I spoke it who had was that it was "grotty". Obviously they must be looking to go for a new vibe, as it all seemed a bit more upmarket to me.

Anyhoo, what Cope is also known for aside his tunes is his storytelling. His two autobiographical books Head On and Repossessed are well worth reading for anyone who hasn't, and the Cope of 2011 (dressed in leathers, shades and biker cap, looking like Marlon Brando from The Wild One after a heavy night on something stronger than pints of Old Peculiar) can still spin a yarn. Early on, he goes on a rap about creative experimentation. Turns out for his 50th birthday a few years ago, he dropped acid for the first time in ages and followed it up by trying some new substance that left him unable to drive for four months. All of which inspired a song called Julian Cope and the Underworld.

In one of his between-song muses, Cope reflected that the last time he played here, on one of the Teardrop Explodes early gigs, he was frequently heckled by scencester Jon the Postman shouting 'Louder!'. When it turned out someone in the crowd had the guy's number, Cope tried to call him up only to be put through to his answering machine.

Following this, he decides to play a very early Teardrops song, All I Am Is Loving You, which was the b-side to their second single, Bouncing Babies. Explaining that as the band's first keys player Paul Simpson (later to become leader of the wonderful Wild Swans) could only play two chords on the keyboard, he would now play the song with the third chord as he had originally written it.

Asides from the humour, what I take away from the night is that JC has always been a top songwriter, an aspect perhaps overseen by many for his previous (current?) appetite for adventures of the chemical kind. Stood up there alone for all but the encore, he's got great stage presence and still looks a star. That his voice was never particularly strong even 30 years ago has worked in his favour now, as it hasn't had the chance to decline in a way that has happened to some of his contemporaries.

A great night out then, thanks of which to go to Julian H. Cope. And yes, when he did Sunspots my friend and I did sing "Indeed! It goes away!"