I have nicked this idea from another forum. What opinions do you have that other forum users / fans would disagree with?
I personally don't think that they could ever play "Mis Shapes" live very well. The studio version is great but it just seems to lose something when played live. See also "I'm a Man".
Also, as much as I acknowledge that it's an important entry into their discography, I don't think "Babies" is any good.
Finally, I like the "Party Hard" video and I don't think "Silence" is any worse than anything else from that period.
-- Edited by Ian on Saturday 16th of November 2019 01:09:43 PM
You've probably all heard quite enough of my unpopular Pulp opinions, but how about this - Catcliffe Shakedown is almost a classic, let down massively by an indefensible sneering tone in certain parts that's absolutely unworthy of the person who wrote Common People.
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"Yes I saw her in the chip shop / so I said get yer top off"
You've probably all heard quite enough of my unpopular Pulp opinions, but how about this - Catcliffe Shakedown is almost a classic, let down massively by an indefensible sneering tone in certain parts that's absolutely unworthy of the person who wrote Common People.
I know where you're coming from but at least they didn't release it, even as a b-side.
"Cocaine Socialism" - I loved it at the time, and for about 10 years after. However, I agree that "Glory Days" is better. At the very least, it has stood the test of time compared to its counterpart.
Here's another one (which will probably see me lynched) - I don't get what all the fuss is about re "She's a Lady". I don't think it's a bad song by any means but it's hardly the stand out track on the album ("Pink Glove" does a lot more for me).
I'd trade every other Pulp song combined for Babies. Babies is in my top 5 songs by anyone ever. I'd trade babies for Babies. I'd suffer rabies for Babies. Now I'm just being silly.
I'd trade every other Pulp song combined for Babies. Babies is in my top 5 songs by anyone ever. I'd trade babies for Babies. I'd suffer rabies for Babies. Now I'm just being silly.
I first heard it when the Chart Show that was on ITV on a Saturday played it as part of the "video vault", at that time I had only just discovered Pulp and "Babies" did very little for me. I don't think it was a mistake to release it (twice) but I do think that the other singles from that era ("Razzmatazz", "Lipgloss" etc) are much better.
Maybe not so much unpopular but I can't be fucked with much of the Pulp output from 1984-'86, the odd nugget aside (ie Snow, Srpski Jeb, Coy Mistress - but even they were never recorded properly); it's all too often dirgey and tuneless with little wit to the lyrics. So when Stephen and his portfolios shed new light on those years via hitherto unreleased live recordings I was like, yeah, whatevs.
I remember when Eve Wood who directed the Sheffield/Pulp 80's film The Beat Is The Law, was asked about the newly found footage of Pulp playing live in Chesterfield in 1986 which was one of the selling points of the DVD. One of the questions was "So, this unreleased song - The Day That Never Happened, what's it like? What's it about?" What could she reply, bearing in mind the ropey quality of the video and a typical example of mid-80s Pulp atonal abrasiveness but "Well, it's about the day that never happened!". Of course!
I feel bad cos they're my favourite group and I was made and born in 1984 (35 today!) but I can't shake off the dankness of that era.
-- Edited by Eamonn on Sunday 17th of November 2019 08:33:59 PM
I first heard it when the Chart Show that was on ITV on a Saturday played it as part of the "video vault", at that time I had only just discovered Pulp and "Babies" did very little for me. I don't think it was a mistake to release it (twice) but I do think that the other singles from that era ("Razzmatazz", "Lipgloss" etc) are much better.
Yes, agree Razzmatazz, Lipgloss and Do You Remember The First Time? are all better. But Babies is better than O.U.
I personally don't think that they could ever play "Mis Shapes" live very well. The studio version is great but it just seems to lose something when played live.
I think Mis-shapes is the worst Pulp single from 1990 onwards and should have been just a B-side for Sorted and not on Different Class at all. Its omission from the Hits CD is wholly merited.
The His 'N' Hers version of Pink Glove is flat, lifeless and a wasted opportunity. I didn't like the song at all until I heard the Peel version some time later. That recording has all the tension, drama and excitement that's sorely lacking from the studio cut.
I've never dug the song This Is Hardcore. It's a very ambitious recording for sure, but I get no enjoyment from it and always skip it.
Agreed on Pink Glove. Not so on Hardcore. Never! Although I was listening to a podcast yesterday about Phil Savidge (of PR music duo Savage and Best) who has written a Britpop book and he said that his favourite video of the era was This Is Hardcore. He kept going on about the video but barely mentioned the song's merits!
I'd trade every other Pulp song combined for Babies. Babies is in my top 5 songs by anyone ever. I'd trade babies for Babies. I'd suffer rabies for Babies. Now I'm just being silly.
I first heard it when the Chart Show that was on ITV on a Saturday played it as part of the "video vault", at that time I had only just discovered Pulp and "Babies" did very little for me. I don't think it was a mistake to release it (twice) but I do think that the other singles from that era ("Razzmatazz", "Lipgloss" etc) are much better.
For selfish reasons I am grateful they re-released Babies as it meant I discovered them ahead of Common People. By the age of 14 I got to feel very ahead of the curve. :)
And besides, The Sisters EP is one of the best records ever made!
This is a good thread. The Sisters Ep - amen! One of my favourite Pulp releases (along with This Is Hardcore single with Ladies Man, etc - RIP CD singles).
I suspect from years of reading on here many of my Pulp opinions are shared, so maybe not that unpopular, but off the top of my head :
Great song though it is, I think on some parts, the way F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E. is recorded let it down.
I really like Someone Like the Moon - it is a good mood piece that balances some of the more brash (but still excellent) tracks on HnH.
-- Edited by soap-on-a-rope on Wednesday 20th of November 2019 06:11:44 PM
That whole situation with Separations, where it took 2 and a half years to come out? Kind of Pulp's fault, really. If they'd have played it straight with Fire it'd have come out in 1990. Painting the label as the villains is convenient but not entirely true.
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"Yes I saw her in the chip shop / so I said get yer top off"
That whole situation with Separations, where it took 2 and a half years to come out? Kind of Pulp's fault, really. If they'd have played it straight with Fire it'd have come out in 1990. Painting the label as the villains is convenient but not entirely true.
In a nutshell, what happened again? I've read the book 3 times or so but having trouble remembering the specifics.
They'd done the FON tracks in 1987, shopped them around to labels, no one was interested except Fire. Fire said "Hey, let's do an album", put them in the studio to record Separations, and Pulp came up with a scheme whereby they'd delay signing the final contract with Fire for as long as possible, in the hope they'd be able to then go behind Fire's backs to get someone else to release it. Finished the album at the start of 1990, spent many months trying to get it picked up by someone else, then eventually gave in and signed with Fire. For a seven-album deal. So the initial delay was really Pulp's doing, with nothing to show for it.
My Legendary Girlfriend and Countdown came out as singles in '91, Separations would have followed shortly thereafter, then Rough Trade Distribution went bust just as a release date was set. That screwed up all of Fire's releases for a few months through no fault of theirs or the bands. By the time that was all resolved, we were into 1992 and Pulp were working with Gift, which was in breach of the contract they'd signed with Fire. That resulted in Fire sitting on the album for a few months till it was clear what the situation was.
Not saying Fire were angels, but if Pulp had played straight with them the album would probably have come out in 1990; then if Rough Trade Distribution hadn't collapsed it would have come out in 1991; then if they'd not been daft enough to sign a *seven* album deal they wouldn't have had all the problems later on. So I think Jarvis and Russell coming out with all the "Our nasty evil label sat on our album for three years!" stuff was a bit disingenuous really.
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"Yes I saw her in the chip shop / so I said get yer top off"