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H


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The Havenhand Era
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Hi Stephen. 

I've sent you a message via my Facebook page regarding all the stuff I know about, including a lost Pulp song (chorus only)........which I'll hum & strum on Youtube if begged to do so.

lots of love

Steven

 

ps Always wanted an era named after me.How cool is that?



-- Edited by H on Friday 13th of April 2012 09:23:52 PM

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H


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Hi Stephen

The 'Freaks' album was considered a bit of a disappointment within the ranks, I think. There were only three of the old songs carried over into the new set, those being 'Down By The River', 'MOTU' & 'Suffocate'. The rest of the set comprised new songs as you suggest, all written & rehearsed in a very short space of time - a good few of which featured on 'Seperations' some years later. The humour starts to come through a lot more in the late 86/87 line up & musically Pulp really started to write good pop songs, somethig which became their bread & butter just a few years down the line.



-- Edited by H on Saturday 14th of April 2012 08:26:35 AM

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Stephen


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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...?



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Stephen


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Hey Steven,

I suppose it all is a new era in a way, really. Pulp had had a fixed lineup for a couple of years and, apart from 'Down by the River' (and the obscure and amazing 'Didn't Feel a Thing') a setlist that was just 'Freaks' and 'Masters...' stuff and then, by the time of the Limit gig, just three months after Magnus and Manners had gone, there's eight new songs!

I think it'd be interesting to know how much of the old Pulp set was still being played when you joined up, or was it a case of a fresh start with you and Nick?

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

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Sturdy


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

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H


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Hi Mark

No, we didn't even rehearse that one. It was a funny time really, they didn't want to play any of the older stuff at all. Similar thing to when Russell joined & they ended up disowning the 'It' era songs. Pulp didn't look back in those days, I guess they've softened over time.

Steven



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Stephen


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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!

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H


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There was only one songwriter in Pulp at that time & of course that was Jarvis. He would come up with the basic chord structure of a song & everyone else would add their instrumentation to it.I don't know if this was something that carried over into the final Pulp line up, at the time it struck me that only one person had the authority & furthermore the ability to write a Pulp tune.



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Stephen


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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!

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H


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No, there was never an acoustic guitar in sight. Jarvis would just tell us the chords & song structure & it would go from there.

I think Rachell (Russell's sister) had a hand in writing Maureen, Maureen being Mick Senior's partner at the time. Russell was very much involved with his antiques business when I was around, hence Pulp took a back seat (for him) for a few years.This is understandable as Pulp wasn't exactly an 'earner' at the time, neither were they receiving much critical acclaim either.

I can't comment on the group dynamics after I went.Pulp weren't exactly a band which 'jammed' very much at all when I was there, at least not in the 'Black Magic Woman' sense of the word........



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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

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fredthe3rd


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I'm a bit out of the loop here as I still haven't read Truth & Beauty (sorry Sturdy, it's not you it's me) but regarding Help The Aged and Cocaine Socialism... If Jarvis had an idea for a song, he'd have to develop it there and then wouldn't he? Before he forgot the idea. Seems unreasonable of Russell to be annoyed that Jarvis came in with a song. He could have come in with a piece of music he'd thought of...

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H


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



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Stephen


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Steven,

Thanks again for the insight. The songs would arrive with chords, verses, middle eights and everything all ready then? Wow. Some of The Havenhand Era (!) is pretty riffy stuff too, isn't it? How on Earth would he go about explaining something like Rattlesnake?

I think 'Maureen' goes back to Russell's band he had with his sister, actually. Rachel Tension and the Disruptives or similar? And Mick Senior being Russell's Dad?

Stories abound that, in Manners and Magnus' day, Russell ruled Pulp with a rod of iron, and there'd be a list of admin stuff to get through before rehearsals would start. Not your experience..?

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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.



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Stephen


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Steven,

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!

Any memories of being introduced to Heart Trouble, Death Comes to Town, Separations, Don't You Want Me Anymore, Love is Blind, My First Wife or Going Back to Find Her?

That's a very long question. Don't feel under pressure to have to answer about each song if you can't be arsed :)

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Will


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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.



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H


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



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Will


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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.



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Sturdy


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Thanks for posting these Mr H - all fascinating stuff.

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

Is that the first My First Wife (as on the Limit recording) or the second one (as on the Nottingham one)?

Also, about Jarvis' keyboard - I've read that it was actually his gran's and he'd commandeered it when recovering from the Window Incident (the first songs he wrote on it being Dogs are Everywhere and Master of the Universe). Does that sound possibly right?

Thanks again!



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H


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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

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H


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The second one Mark. The other one was only played at the London & Limit gigs I think.

I think you're right about the keyboard. The casio was a major iinfluence on the new Pulp & it's likely Jarvis had been playing with his new tool for some time.



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jason


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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.



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Stephen


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Further great revelations, Steven! Hope someone is sticking these down on the wiki!

There's some good comments on Nick in the Gosepl According to Sturdy detailing the difficulties of playing live to the Casio and keeping your eye on whether or not you were on the beat or not.

GBTFH is indeed not great, is it? Considering the quality of some of the unreleased stuff out there, this one is far from up there.

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Sturdy


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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.

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