What is your favourite Pulp or Pulp related story, either from the newspapers or from your own experience. Stories that made you laugh, or made you think or just you just found facinating. Some examples I've dredged from my mind.
1) The sushi story Some adventurous members of the band decided to experiement in Japanese cuisine by eating Fugu, a highly poisonous fish, which has to be prepared by highly trained experts or invariably fatality ensues. When brought to the table, the fish was apparently still alive gasping for air, so the band asked for it to taken away and killed. When it was brought back, someone moved some of the dressing aside to reveal that the flesh adorning an ajacent plate had been cut from the fish whilst still alive.
2)Russell's aeroplane phobia. Also from the Japan tour on the way back to the uk, Russell, already terrified, noticed that something was dripping on his head. Convinced it was aeroplane fuel, he got a roadie to try and plug the leak for the entire flight until someone pointed out it was just a water bottle in the overhead locker. Also in a hideously prophetic incident in 95/96, the band had to play a concert in Norway as a quintet after Russell took one look at the aircraft and blatently refused to fly.
3) Mark's herbal tea story.
4) The Day That Never Happened
6) Mark turning up to Little Stabs in 1999 with several days worth of facial hair. "Is that a songwriting beard?" I asked. "A songwriting beard?" "Yes, Brett Anderson's aparrently grown one" <pause> "No"
There's loads - practically any Jarvis/Pulp interview throws up an amusing anecdote. First one that springs to mind - Russell living with Jarvis for a time in true ''odd couple'' style. Russell turning up to band rehearsal with a list of household chores that Jarvis was to do. ''I want to be on Top of the Pops, not be bothered with hoovering'' was the riposte (or something to that effect). Less than a decade later he wrote a song called 'Dishes', much to Sturdy's chagrin.
I also enjoyed the tales that ex-Pulp members, Havenhand and Mansell, posted on this forum last year or the year before.
Actually I did those from memory (with a little prompting from an old copy of the NME and Mr. Sturdy's wonderous tome), having not seen Feelingcalledlive in years (no VCR) and haven't got the dvd yet.
Here's a few off the top of my head - the list could be endless as Eamonn says..
The whole falling out of the window malarky
Jarvis meeting John Peel in 1981
At the police station after the brit's '96 where Bob Mortimer was acting as Jarvis' solicitor and the officer's getting his autograph
Jarvis' disappearing to NY and going a bit mad
Jarvis being 'kidknapped' as a child
Writing most of DC whilest Common People was still in the top 10
1995 Smash Hit's poll winners party - the performance was highly amusing (He threw away his microphone and broke a chair which was to be used in a forthcoming performance from some old boyband) and how that came to be.
Writing lyrics to DC and TIH at his mother's kitchen table drinking a) Brandy -DC and b) Cider -TIH
Nick telling the media at the NME awards that they were in no way indebted to the music press as they had not helped in in any way until they became famous anyway. NME printed in the following issue that the reason for this being that they were crap! - Good come back!
Mark getting a bollocking from Jarvis after playing common people solo - what Mark thought was the best ever!
V festival being born out of a big Pulp concert with all their favourite bands of the time
Glastonbury 1995 - last minute headliner (and the rest)
Glastonbury 1998 - jarvis walking around the site in a gorilla costume in order to get a true sense of the festival without being mobbed!
Working with Scott Walker - gradually lifting his cap from his eyes as he got to know the band.
After having performed a whole concert in his wheelchair, Jarvis standing up and walking off at the end!
