Steven (if you're listening!) and everyone else...

In two Portfolios' time, we enter The Era of Havenhand. Here's what I've got.

3/3/87 at the Limit (Heart Trouble, Death Comes to Town, Down by the River, Rattlesnake, Separations, Don't You Want Me Anymore, Love is Blind, My First Wife, Going Back to Find Her, MOTU, They Suffocate at Night)

16/5/87 Jarvis & Russell interviewed by BBC Radio Sheffield

15/7/87 at Barracuda Club, Nottingham (Don't You Want me Anymore, My First Wife, Going Back to Find Her). Obviously the last of these has only recently(ish) come to light, but there's a suggestion that more still exists from this gig. Does anyone know if this is the case or not?

7/87 FON Records Session - Don't You Want me anymore, Rattlesnake

12/87 - FON Records Session - Death Comes to Town Mix 1, DCTT mix 2, Death Goes to the Disco

Whew! Right, well, is there anything else that I'm missing...?

You never had a go at Didn't Feel a Thing then?

I suppose they probably just kept the two singles in the set and 'Down by the River' which sort of signposted the way to 'new' Pulp. But then again, it is a bit 'Freaks' in nature really, is't it?

Was all the new stuff written in rehearsals by yourself, Nick, Russell, Jarvis and Candida then? But then, looking at the setlists, it looks like even Dont You Want Me Anymore? predates Candida's return, appearing at a gig in December '86!

Ah right. Would he come in with an acoustic guitar and already completed words then or something...? We've read stories about later Pulp wherein the band would jam for a day or so and then Jarvis would come in, hear the music and start to adlib over the top, which would eventually lead to finished tunes.

And obviously, a few of the earlier tunes - Maureen, Back in LA and maybe even Fairground had had the music written by Russell with lyrics 'elaborated on' by Jarvis.

So it seems from what you say that the group dynamics changed quite a bit. I think one of Russell's complaints when he left was that Jarvis had started coming in (in '97) with completed songs like Help the Aged and Northern Souls (later 'Cocaine Socialism') and Russell felt that his distracted from Pulp 'as a band'. Although this sounds like what had been happening in '87 anyway!

Thanks for the clarification and insight, though!

Heart Trouble was a simple song which didn't require much in terms of rehearsal. It was pretty much done & dusted in the early rehearsals of the new line up. The bass line & drum line was meant to mimic the heartbeat & Russell's violin was the breathing, which wheezes & groans throughout the song.

DCTT was originally entitled Super Eurodisco. All that was in place was the casio keyboard chord progression & the song was shaped around that.

Seperations was originally called Eastern Eurodisco & that was a barebones chord progression (two chords as I remember) which the band put the flesh on. Again built up around Jarvis' Casio, which was his new birthday prezzie at the time....although he may have been given as an early present by his mum or whoever bought it for him.

DYWMA was a complete song & was one of the first we got right in the early rehearsals, good song that one.

My First Wife was largely built around a chord structure supplied by Jarv & the performance dynamics & structure was done as a band.

GBTFH - not one of my fave's but again chords by Jarv & knocked into shape as a band.

My Legendary Girlfriend was more a band collaboration. It was originally called Barry White Beat.

Love Is Blind, basic chords Jarv & built up as a band in rehearsals.

-- Edited by H on Saturday 14th of April 2012 08:55:14 PM

I doubt if that was the sole reason why Russell became disenchanted with Pulp.

The songs were maybe not quite as complete as you suggest but Jarvis would have a pretty good understanding of what he wanted to achieve. 'Rattlesnake' was all worked out in Jarvis' head, that song must've been written before I arrived.

Mick Senior was Russell's Dad, yes.

My experience was very different to those stories, although I've no doubt they're true. It's no secret that Russell & Manners didn't see eye to eye.

Steven - lots of interesting details there, thanks!

I didn't realise My Legendary Girlfriend was written that early on. Out of curiosity, were any of the other songs that later appeared on Separations written while you were still involved? Specifically: She's Dead / Death II / Countdown / This House is Condemned.

H wrote:

---

She's Dead / Death II / Countdown / This House is Condemned were done when Steve Mackey joined, I believe.

---

Looking at the wiki, I've now remembered that Death II, She's Dead and This House is Condemned were first played at The Day That Never Happened concert in August '88. So, that would be before Steve Mackey joined, but a while after you left.

Stephen wrote:

---

I'll reply to the rest via Facebook. And if you ever were tempted to play that lost song's chorus into a nearby mic, it wouldn't go unappreciated by us lot, I think!

Cheers,

Stephen

---

http://youtu.be/NUVQONAz9F0

The link to the lost song, sorry there's not much but it gives you an idea. Also a cover of DYWMA.

-- Edited by H on Sunday 15th of April 2012 12:49:41 PM

-- Edited by H on Sunday 15th of April 2012 12:52:56 PM

The keyboard is mentioned on the stage one broadcast just before 'separations.....This song uses modern technology as you've just heard, it used to be my Grandmothers' i dont think she's missed it yet though! something like that anyway,  and its  a 'Yamaha'  machine not 'Casio' in case anyone is interested.

Stephen wrote:

---

Interesting re: Rattlesnake. There was only a month between the last Magnus/Manners gig and your arrival, so Rattlesnake must have been written in either Nov or Dec '86. Useful to know!

---

Looking at the chronology of all this, I wonder if Jarvis had been stockpiling ideas for the new Pulp for a while before this. If the gig list on the Wiki is complete, apart from that final show in November, the Manners/Magnus band hadn't played since July - so what was Jarvis doing for four months? I wouldn't be surprised if he'd spent a bit of time at home with the Portasound working out his where he was going to go next before doing the oldies one last time in November as an end of era statement. Seems a bit more likely than writing a whole new set from scratch in a couple of weeks after that gig.

Stephen wrote:

---

Mark,

Am currently listening to that last 'Freaks' gig in the November...and some of the versions blow anything previous out of the water. It very much has the feel of 'the last waltz'. However, with the TSAN video being recorded by all band members on 24th October it suggests that they believe there might have been more mileage in said lineup?

Curious, anyway.

---

 Then again, the band don't feature very heavily in that video do they...?

Seconded, Fred! Huge thanks for the (way) over-and-above dedication to the 'lost songs' cause, Steven!

That's a real treat Mr. Havenhand and can I just say it's been wonderful reading your recollections these past days.

Thanks for your comments Eamonn (& Saw119). I think that's the first time someone's said my hair looks alright in a long time. My pillow does the styling.

I just stopped posting for a while that's all.....and then I deleted my old a/c. Was nice being a Superstar Hero though.

I would also presume that it would be a Sheffield show as well. So if it's after July '87 surely there are only 2 possibilities according to the Wiki; 8th August or 21st August. It's possible that MLG developed out of that style of song that the 1st version of My First Wife seems to come from, the long rambling monlogue. At least the 1st version of My First Wife wasn't wasted as it became the barebones of Davids Last Summer! Oh yeah, and Live On too.

-- Edited by saw119 on Monday 16th of April 2012 01:40:51 PM

If we could date this review it might offer a clue:

Yes, that review does suggest mid-to-late '87, doesn't it? I should have spotted that.

Compo, Foggy, Seymour and Clegg.

OK, you get to be Sherrinford for that one. Sounds like a good proposal...

Can I be Sigerson Holmes?

It's at times like this, Steven, that I wish I'd been able to track you down while I was writing the book rather than about three days after I'd finished it!

Thanks for the info about the Adelphi gigs. I knew you'd played there around that period but it was one of those tidbits that I never managed to pin down when I was putting that date list together. (Most of the gig dates I got from that period were from the Sheffield Star band pages, which of coure wasn't much use for anything outside of South Yorkshire.) Were there any other out-of-towners while you were in the band? A trip down to London maybe?

Quite possibly. It's either that or some quality time digging through the Hull Daily Mail archives!

I do know of people who work/have worked at the Adelphi. I'll put out some feelers in that direction. There certainly do seem to be a lot of 'forgotten' Adelphi gigs if one considers that Jarvis felt love enough for the place that he played it the other year...

H wrote:

---

@@@Deleleted bit@@@

---

Aaw, that was the most interesting bit!

Smyth seems to have learnt his lesson since Don't You Want Me Anymore - a few friends have recorded with him in recent years (and, I must say, speak of him very highly) and by all accounts he's a stickler for getting everything in time! If only Beat Detective existed in 1987...

To be fair, there are also comments against Nick, and less than entirely positive comments about Candida and Russell's contributions, too. He's very much a Jarvis-and-Steve sort of man.

Not sure what Steven H said above, but I do think Alan Smyth is an amazing producer. It would have taken someone of talent to make Pulp sound that good at that time, and to create an album that still stands up well today and is a huge departure on the previous releases is no mean feat. Obviously can't comment on him as a person, but his work really is brilliant.

Sturdy wrote:

---

Oh dear, I've made it look worse than it was there. Steven wasn't slagging Smyth off or anything, just expressing regret that he didn't get to tell his side of the story in my book and pointing out that the original DYWMA? speeds up in the middle!

---

Thanks Mark.

Stephen - Nothing against Mr Smyth at all & yes, he's done some really great work. I was just expressing my annoyance at a comment he made in the book, that's all. Once it's in print those off the cuff remarks stick & it's a bit annoying when they're not entirely true. I wasn't about to send the boys round to his house or anything!

fredthe3rd wrote:

---

H wrote:

---

I wasn't about to send the boys round to his house or anything!

---

 Go on! Fuck him up!

---

 That.................made me laugh.A lot.