He's not on it, although he did once tell me it was one of the songs on TiH that he liked. He also said it was familiar to him because they messed about with an earlier, jokier form of it when he was in the band - I guess it grew out of Frightened (would have asked, but I hadn't heard it when we had this conversation!)

Yes. Interview coming this month, I promise. I finished my finals yesterday so now I can devote my attention to sending Stephen the interview draft (which shouldn't take very long)...

There's a nice little wrinkle to Russell liking Wickerman...

Simply Fuss Free wrote:

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Sturdy wrote:

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I think it's maybe a bit of an overstatement to say they didn't like some of those - with Babies and Disco 2000, wasn't it more a case that they started to wear a bit thin through having to trot them out every night for however many years?

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Ah but that seems slightly disingenuous to me since Pulp's setlists has been fairly calcified for past 30 years (minus the odd surprise song every now and again). It's not like they don't have a couple hundred songs in their songbook that they could mix up their setlist with. Nobody is making them play the same songs every night, except themselves. If their audience has come to expect "the hits" its because that's what Pulp have trained audiences to expect. I suspect Russell would agree?

Not salty, I have enjoyed the recent shows immensely and if the hits are what they want to play, so-be-it  But don't simultaneously whinge about it as if they've no other choice. 

I do think it a bit odd the various band members are dipping into nostalgic biographies largely about their glorious ne'er-do-weller youth in the '80s, and yet they'll still not bothered to revisit the songs from that era. But that's a topic for another thread.

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Its hard for a band to do a live show and not play the "hits". People expect the band to play them, maybe not all them but yeah, if they only played obscure songs, they would get booed. 

Also, people who pay for the tour usually include the contractual obligation to play certain songs nowadays. Back then, i suppose the label was also very insistent for the band to play such and such.

To be fair to the band, most people who go to the Pulp gigs have zero interest in hearing stuff pre- His and hers. I'd say even pre Different Class. Most go for DC material. 

When they played stuff like Razzmatazz or Little Girl with Blue Eeys in the gigs i went to in 2012, the crowd went silent. 

When they played Back in LA in Pomona, it got the same reaction as Dishes, as I recall. 

Ian wrote:

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andy wrote:

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lipglossed wrote:

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Russell didn't like Something Changed or Help the Aged' or Babies, Candida didn't like Disco 2000 or Babies or The Fear, Mark didn't like Sorted for E's and Wizz or A Little Soul or This Is Hardcore, Jarvis and Steve didn't like Mis-Shapes...

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How, how, how can you not like This is Hardcore. I mean, wow... It's one of the best song ever written. Shame on you Mark ! 

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Mark's comments on "This is Hardcore":
"I was never a very big fan of this song. I can appreciate that it's good work, but I never really liked it from the outset. Jarvis didn't want people to expect an album of Common People and Disco 2000. He wanted to redraw the boundaries, and recently it's been a case of Jarvis' will overriding everyone else's common sense."

I think it's more a case of him wanting different songs on the album / as singles but Jarvis not agreeing.

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Thanx for that. Well... It's a weird comment, i know pulp was some kind of democracy which is unusual in a band, but we have basically all the songs they had from that time... And it was the right choice. I'm glad it was the lead single, i'm glad they made a video with it, i'm glad Jarvis pushed for that album coz 25 years later of the day it was released, it was clear that it's 99% perfect. It's now recognized as a masterpiece, which wasn't the case back then. 

So Mark was wrong. 

That said, I think a band should properly record all the material they have at the moment of creation, because when the moment has passed... It wont ever be the same. Example : After You. 

Maybe Mark wanted some of the demos instead ? They should have recorded them, at least Street Operator and You Are the One